---
title: "Open Exchange Rates Alternative: 60-Second Updates from €4.99"
description: "Open Exchange Rates updates hourly on its free and $12 plans, and 5-minute updates cost $97/mo. AllRatesToday refreshes every 60 seconds on every plan, from €4.99/mo, with any base currency and CSV/XML/XLSX output."
canonical: https://allratestoday.com/compare/openexchangerates-alternative/
source: AllRatesToday (https://allratestoday.com/) — Markdown mirror of the page above; index of all pages at https://allratestoday.com/llms.txt
generated: 2026-10-19T13:44:00.044Z
---

# Open Exchange Rates Alternative: 60-Second Updates from €4.99

Open Exchange Rates updates hourly on its free and $12 plans, and 5-minute updates cost $97/mo. AllRatesToday refreshes every 60 seconds on every plan, from €4.99/mo, with any base currency and CSV/XML/XLSX output.

By [Madhushan](https://allratestoday.com/authors/madhushan/), Founder & Lead Developer

Open Exchange Rates (OXR) is a long-standing, developer-friendly currency API. Its pricing ties freshness to plan size: the Free and Developer ($12/mo) plans update hourly, Enterprise ($47/mo) every 30 minutes, and Unlimited ($97/mo) every 5 minutes. AllRatesToday refreshes mid-market rates every 60 seconds on every plan, starting at €4.99/mo.

## At a glance

|  | AllRatesToday | Open Exchange Rates |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | 300 requests (one-time), 60-second updates | 1,000 requests/mo, hourly |
| Free tier base currency | Any of 160+ | USD only |
| Entry paid plan | €4.99/mo, 5,000 requests, 60-second updates | $12/mo, 10,000 requests, hourly |
| Fastest updates | 60 seconds, all plans | 5 minutes at $97/mo; faster on VIP (by quote) |
| Historical data | From €4.99 plan | All plans, including free |
| Output formats | JSON, CSV, XML, XLSX | JSON |
| Official central bank rates | 121 central banks + 3 tax authorities, same key | Not offered |

OXR details from openexchangerates.org/signup as of October 2026. Verify the latest details before making a purchasing decision.

## Why teams switch from OXR to AllRatesToday

### 1. Minute-level rates at the entry price

Hourly rates are fine for a static report but visibly stale for user-facing conversion. With OXR, getting below 30 minutes means the $97 Unlimited plan. Every AllRatesToday plan refreshes every 60 seconds.

### 2. Pick your own base currency

OXR's free plan is fixed to USD, so EUR- or GBP-based apps cross-divide on the client. Any AllRatesToday key, free included, can request any base: `/api/v1/rates?source=EUR&target=USD,GBP`.

### 3. Files, not just JSON

Add `format=csv`, `format=xml` or `format=xlsx` and the same request returns a file for Excel, an ERP importer or an audit pack. See the [Excel guide](https://allratestoday.com/blog/excel-exchange-rates/).

## Official central bank rates, which no market feed offers

Beyond live market rates, AllRatesToday serves the *official published rates* of [121 central banks](https://allratestoday.com/central-bank-rates-api/) and [3 tax authorities](https://allratestoday.com/tax-authority-rates-api/) (including HMRC and the US Treasury) under the same API key, each under the bank's own publication date. A market feed tells you what a pair trades at. Invoicing, customs and audit rules usually tell you which publisher's rate you must use. (Our [central bank API comparison](https://allratestoday.com/blog/best-central-bank-exchange-rate-api-2026/) covers the options.)

## Code example

```
// Before: Open Exchange Rates (USD base only on free)
fetch('https://openexchangerates.org/api/latest.json?app_id=APP_ID')

// After: AllRatesToday (any base, any targets)
fetch('https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=EUR&target=USD,GBP', {
  headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' }
})
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(rows => console.log(rows));
// => [{ rate: 1.1255, source: 'EUR', target: 'USD', time: '...' }, ...]
```

## Honest pros and cons

#### Where AllRatesToday wins

- 60-second updates on every plan
- Base currency choice on the free key
- Lower entry price
- CSV, XML and XLSX output
- SDKs for JavaScript, Python, PHP, Go, Rust and React

#### Where OXR may still suit you

- You need a recurring free quota (OXR: 1,000 a month; ours is a one-time 300)
- You need historical data on a free plan
- You need bid/ask or OHLC prices (OXR VIP)

    Migration tip: our native endpoint returns an array of `{rate, source, target, time}` rows rather than OXR's `rates` object. Map it once in your client and the rest of your code stays the same.

## FAQ

### Will my OXR code work with minor changes?

Mostly. You change the URL, send the key as `Authorization: Bearer` (or `?api_key=`), and read rows instead of a `rates` object.

### Do you support historical rates?

Yes, on all paid plans from €4.99/mo, by date or as a daily series.

### Same data quality as OXR?

Both serve mid-market rates. Ours are aggregated from institutional foreign exchange market data with no retail markup.

## Try AllRatesToday free

Minute-level rates on the free key, no credit card required.

 [Get free API key](https://allratestoday.com/register/) [See pricing](https://allratestoday.com/pricing/)

## Related

  [Fixer.io alternativeFixer comparison](https://allratestoday.com/compare/fixer-alternative/) [XE API alternativeXE Currency Data plans from $799/yr](https://allratestoday.com/compare/xe-api-alternative/) [OANDA API alternativeOANDA plans start from $4,850/yr](https://allratestoday.com/compare/oanda-alternative/) [ExchangeRate-API alternativeFeature-by-feature](https://allratestoday.com/compare/exchangerate-api-alternative/) [Best free forex APIsRoundup of free options](https://allratestoday.com/best/best-free-forex-api/)