AllRatesToday vs APILayer Currency Data API: The 2026 Comparison

APILayer is a marketplace, not a single product. Under one subscription it operates Fixer, Currencylayer, Exchange Rates Data API, Currency Data API, and a few overlapping rate offerings. For developers searching for a "best currency API," that aggregation is convenient billing — but it also means the limitations of each underlying product become the limitations of the marketplace as a whole.

This comparison covers AllRatesToday vs APILayer's currency products in 2026 across the criteria that drive integration decisions: data freshness, base currency flexibility, HTTPS, historical rates, authentication, and DX.

What APILayer Actually Sells

APILayer's currency stack includes:

• Fixer — ECB-aligned, hourly updates on the free tier, EUR-only base on lower plans.
• Currencylayer — aggregated feeds, hourly updates on free, USD-only base on free.
• Currency Data API — rebadged Currencylayer with a different schema.
• Exchange Rates Data API — rebadged Fixer with a Bearer-token auth flow.

All four share data sources, infrastructure, and the marketplace's pricing model. Picking between them is mostly a question of which schema your code already speaks.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison Table

Update Frequency: Real-Time vs Hourly

None of APILayer's currency products serve real-time data on the free tier. Currencylayer refreshes hourly; Fixer is also hourly on the free plan. To get sub-minute updates you need to upgrade — typically to the Professional or Business tier.

AllRatesToday delivers 60-second refreshes on every plan, drawn from Reuters/Refinitiv and interbank feeds. For checkouts, payment splits, real-time conversion, or trading dashboards, this is the tier where staleness stops being a tax on your margin.

Base Currency: Locked vs Free

APILayer's currency APIs lock the base currency on lower plans:

• Currencylayer / Currency Data API — USD only on free.
• Fixer / Exchange Rates Data API — EUR only on free.

If you're building anything that converts to or from non-USD/EUR amounts, the base lock forces you to fetch one set of rates and divide your way to others. The math works, but it pushes precision-sensitive logic into application code.

AllRatesToday accepts any base currency on every plan:

curl "https://api.allratestoday.com/api/v1/latest?base=GBP&symbols=USD,EUR" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

HTTPS: Why Free Browser Use Is Hard on APILayer

Currencylayer and Fixer both serve the free tier over HTTP. Modern browsers refuse mixed-content requests from HTTPS pages, so any free-tier integration that runs in the browser fails out of the box. The Bearer-token Exchange Rates Data API does serve HTTPS, but it inherits Fixer's other constraints (EUR-only base on lower tiers, paid historical).

AllRatesToday is HTTPS-only on every plan, with CORS enabled. Static sites, Jamstack landing pages, and SPAs without a backend can call the API directly.

Historical Rates: Free vs Paywalled

Every APILayer currency product gates historical (timeseries / specific-date) endpoints behind a paid plan. You pay for them indirectly — the cheapest paid tier exists primarily to unlock historical access.

AllRatesToday includes historical rates on the free tier, going back over a decade:

curl "https://api.allratestoday.com/api/v1/historical?date=2020-04-15&base=USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Authentication and DX

APILayer products mix two auth styles:

• Currencylayer / Fixer — access_key in the query string. Logged everywhere.
• Currency Data / Exchange Rates Data — apikey in headers. Cleaner.

AllRatesToday standardises on Authorization: Bearer, the same convention used by Stripe, GitHub, OpenAI, and most modern APIs:

curl https://api.allratestoday.com/api/v1/latest \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Latency

APILayer routes requests through its marketplace gateway, which adds a hop. Independent measurements typically put Currencylayer/Fixer in the 300–400ms range from US edges. AllRatesToday averages ~214ms thanks to direct Cloudflare-edge serving with no marketplace gateway in the path.

Migration Cost

Migrating from any APILayer currency product takes <1 hour:

1. Replace the host (api.apilayer.com/... or api.currencylayer.com) with api.allratestoday.com/api/v1.
2. Move the API key from access_key / apikey to Authorization: Bearer.
3. Switch source → base. Use symbols for the target list.
4. Read from rates (flat object) instead of quotes (concatenated keys like USDEUR).

When APILayer Still Wins

APILayer is the right call if:

• You consume multiple non-currency APIs on apilayer.com and want one bill.
• You explicitly need ECB-snapshot data for regulatory alignment.
• Hourly updates and a fixed base currency are sufficient for your use case (display widgets, end-of-day reporting).

The Bottom Line

For developers in 2026, AllRatesToday is the better default for currency data:

• Real-time (60s) on the free tier — not a paid upgrade.
• Historical rates included — not a paywall.
• Any base currency, HTTPS, CORS, header auth.
• ~214ms latency vs ~350ms through the APILayer gateway.

APILayer's marketplace model is convenient if you already buy multiple APIs from them. As a single-purpose currency API choice, the underlying Currencylayer/Fixer constraints come along for the ride.

FAQ

What is APILayer?

APILayer is a marketplace operator that resells third-party APIs under one billing account. Its currency products include Fixer, Currencylayer, Currency Data API, and Exchange Rates Data API.

Is APILayer's Currency Data API the same as Currencylayer?

Functionally yes — same operator, overlapping data, shared limitations.

Why would I pick AllRatesToday over an APILayer currency API?

Real-time (60s) updates, historical on the free tier, any base currency, HTTPS and CORS by default, Reuters/Refinitiv data, and lower latency.

Can I use APILayer's currency API from the browser?

HTTPS is paid-only on Currencylayer and Fixer's free tiers, so direct browser calls fail mixed-content checks. AllRatesToday supports CORS and HTTPS on every plan.

How does pricing compare?

APILayer's free tiers cap at 100–250 calls/month with hourly updates and a locked base currency. AllRatesToday's free tier includes real-time updates, historical data, and any base currency.