CurrencyFreaks is the currencylayer alternative for developers who outgrow 100 free calls a month: its free plan gives 1,000 API calls a month, ten times the currencylayer allowance, it covers 1,000+ currencies including crypto and precious metals, and paid plans start at $9.99 a month against currencylayer's $14.99. Currencylayer does one thing better on the free tier: it includes historical rates back to 1999, which CurrencyFreaks offers only from the paid Starter plan.
Currencylayer's API pricing starts with a free plan capped at 100 API calls a month, for non-commercial use, with the base (source) currency fixed to USD. If your application requires EUR, GBP, or another base currency, you must upgrade to the Basic plan at $14.99/month ($13.99/month billed annually). Both providers restrict the free tier to a USD base currency, so the practical difference on the free plan is call volume and currency coverage rather than base currency.
Currencylayer figures were checked on 15 October 2026 against its pricing page, FAQ, supported currencies list and API reference. Its own pages disagree on free-plan updates: the plan card says daily, one FAQ answer says every 60 minutes. This post uses the plan card. CurrencyFreaks figures come from our pricing page and documentation.
CurrencyFreaks Vs. Currencylayer
| Features | CurrencyFreaks | Currencylayer |
|---|---|---|
| Free Calls per Month | 1,000 | 100 (non-commercial use) |
| Base Currency on Free Plan | USD only | USD only |
| Update Interval, Free Plan | Every 24 hours | Daily (per its plan card) |
| Update Interval, Paid Plans | Hourly (Starter), 10 min (Growth), 60 sec (Professional and Enterprise) | Hourly (Basic), 10 min (Enterprise, $59.99), 60 sec (Enterprise+, $99.99) |
| Starting Price | $9.99/month (Starter, 15,000 calls) | $14.99/month (Basic, 10,000 calls), $13.99/month billed annually |
| History Starts | 28 November 1984 for major fiat currencies (Starter and up) | 1999 for most currencies (all plans, including free) |
| Currencies | 1,000+ (fiat, crypto, precious metals) | 168 world currencies and precious metals |
| Crypto | ✔️ | Bitcoin (BTC) only |
| Precious Metals | ✔️ | Gold (XAU) and silver (XAG) |
| Response Format | JSON, XML | JSON (JSONP via callback) |
| Security | SSL encryption on all plans | HTTPS on all plans, including free |
| Desired Currencies Rates Only | ✔️ All plans | ✔️ All plans |
| Change Base Currency | ✔️ Starter and up | ✔️ Basic and up |
| Latest Rates Conversion | ✔️ Starter and up | ✔️ Basic and up |
| Historical Rates Conversion | ✔️ Starter and up | ✔️ Basic and up |
| Time Series Endpoint | ✔️ Professional ($99.99) and up | ✔️ Time-frame queries, Enterprise ($59.99) and up, up to 365 days per request |
| Fluctuation Endpoint | ✔️ Professional ($99.99) and up | ✔️ Currency-change queries, Enterprise+ ($99.99) |
| IP To Currency | ✔️ Growth ($49.99) and up | ❌ |
Two rows favour currencylayer. Its free plan already includes historical rates, and its time-frame endpoint unlocks at $59.99 a month, $40 below the CurrencyFreaks time series plan. If neither matters to you, the call allowance and the price of the first paid plan decide it.
Switch From Currencylayer in 5 Minutes
A currencylayer integration usually needs four edits: the URL, the key parameter, the way you read a rate, and the error check. Rates in currencylayer come under quotes with the source currency glued to the front (USDEUR). CurrencyFreaks puts them under rates with the plain code (EUR) and sends them as strings.
Latest rates with curl
# currencylayer
curl 'https://api.currencylayer.com/live?access_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY¤cies=EUR,GBP'
# CurrencyFreaks
curl 'https://api.currencyfreaks.com/v2.0/rates/latest?apikey=YOUR_APIKEY&symbols=EUR,GBP'
Currencylayer answers like this (example from its API reference, trimmed to two rates):
{
"success": true,
"terms": "https://currencylayer.com/terms",
"privacy": "https://currencylayer.com/privacy",
"timestamp": 1430401802,
"source": "USD",
"quotes": {
"USDEUR": 0.918019,
"USDGBP": 0.650364
}
}
CurrencyFreaks returns this shape (example from our documentation, trimmed to two rates):
{
"date": "2026-08-25 13:26:00+00",
"base": "USD",
"rates": {
"EUR": "0.9278605451274349",
"GBP": "0.8172754173817152"
}
}
The same change in Python
import requests
-resp = requests.get(
- "https://api.currencylayer.com/live",
- params={"access_key": "YOUR_ACCESS_KEY", "currencies": "EUR,GBP"},
-)
-data = resp.json()
-if not data["success"]:
- raise RuntimeError(data["error"]["info"])
-eur = data["quotes"]["USDEUR"]
+resp = requests.get(
+ "https://api.currencyfreaks.com/v2.0/rates/latest",
+ params={"apikey": "YOUR_APIKEY", "symbols": "EUR,GBP"},
+)
+resp.raise_for_status()
+data = resp.json()
+eur = float(data["rates"]["EUR"])
The error check changes because the two APIs fail differently. Currencylayer returns HTTP 200 with "success": false and an error object, so you have to read the body. CurrencyFreaks returns an HTTP error status (401 for a bad key) with a message field, so raise_for_status() catches it. We confirmed both with an invalid key on 15 October 2026.
Field map
| Currencylayer | CurrencyFreaks | What to change |
|---|---|---|
access_key | apikey | Rename the query parameter |
source | base | Rename. Paid plans only on both APIs |
currencies | symbols | Rename. Same comma-separated codes |
quotes.USDEUR | rates.EUR | Drop the source prefix from the key |
| Rate as number | Rate as string | Wrap in float() or Number() |
timestamp (Unix seconds) | date (2026-08-25 13:26:00+00) | Parse a date string instead of an integer |
success: false, HTTP 200 | HTTP 4xx with message | Check the status code |
Endpoint map
| Currencylayer | CurrencyFreaks | CurrencyFreaks plan |
|---|---|---|
/live | /v2.0/rates/latest | All plans |
/historical?date= | /v2.0/rates/historical?date= | Starter and up |
/convert?from=&to=&amount= | /v2.0/convert/latest?from=&to=&amount= | Starter and up |
/convert with date | /v2.0/convert/historical?date=&from=&to=&amount= | Starter and up |
/timeframe?start_date=&end_date= | /v2.0/timeseries?startDate=&endDate= | Professional and up |
/change?start_date=&end_date= | /v2.0/fluctuation?startDate=&endDate= | Professional and up |
Watch the date parameters on the last two rows: currencylayer uses start_date and end_date, CurrencyFreaks uses startDate and endDate. Full parameters for every endpoint are in the CurrencyFreaks documentation, and the Python currency converter guide has a longer working example.
What is CurrencyFreaks?
CurrencyFreaks is a high-performance currency conversion and forex exchange rate API providing real-time and historical data for 1000+ world currencies, including 166 fiat currencies, 4 metals, and 874 cryptocurrencies.
With SSL-encrypted requests, geolocation-based routing for 20-40 ms global latency, and update frequencies from daily on the free plan up to every 60 seconds on paid tiers, CurrencyFreaks ensures fast, secure, and accurate currency data for developers, businesses, and financial platforms.
Its REST API supports both JSON and XML formats and includes endpoints for live rates, historical data, currency conversion, fluctuations, time series, and IP-to-currency mapping.
Designed for ease of use, CurrencyFreaks offers free and paid plans to suit all needs, from 1,000 free API calls per month to high-volume enterprise solutions.
Developers benefit from detailed documentation with working examples in multiple programming languages, priority customer support, and flexible base currency options on paid plans.
Trusted by global companies such as Equiti, HP, and Gartner, CurrencyFreaks delivers reliable, developer-focused currency solutions for both simple integrations and complex financial applications.
What is Currencylayer by APILayer?
Currencylayer by APILayer is a real-time JSON API providing exchange rates for 168 world currencies and precious metals, sourced from banks and commercial data providers.
Updates run daily on the free plan and every 60 minutes, 10 minutes or 60 seconds on paid plans, depending on the tier.
Its RESTful endpoints support live rates, historical data back to 1999, currency conversion, source currency switching, time-frame and currency-change queries, all delivered over 256-bit HTTPS. Its two top plans can also return bid/ask spread data.
Currencylayer offers a free plan for non-commercial use and paid plans from $14.99/month, with custom Enterprise pricing for higher volumes. Paid plans list a per-request price for calls beyond the monthly allowance.
Developers get interactive documentation with examples in multiple programming languages and usage alerts at 75%, 90% and 100% of the monthly allowance.
Currencylayer is part of the APILayer suite, which also runs the Fixer API.
Conclusion
Consider your specific requirements when choosing between CurrencyFreaks and Currencylayer for your Exchange Rates REST API needs. CurrencyFreaks is the cheaper start: 1,000 free calls, 1,000+ currencies including crypto and metals, and a $9.99 first paid plan. Currencylayer provides real-time and historical exchange rates with historical data on its free plan and easy integration.
Both APIs encrypt every plan, including the free ones. CurrencyFreaks also offers location-based currency conversion, which Currencylayer lacks.
In practice, the free tiers suit different jobs. With 100 calls a month, Currencylayer's free plan covers a proof of concept or a handful of manual tests, but an hourly cron job would exhaust it in under five days. CurrencyFreaks' 1,000 calls a month is enough to refresh rates once an hour for a full month with room to spare, which is the usual pattern for a pricing page or a dashboard that caches rates server-side and serves every visitor from that cache.
Your choice depends on your project's needs, budget, and support requirements. See the CurrencyFreaks pricing page for every plan, or compare more providers in our 10 best currency exchange APIs roundup. Start with the free currency converter API, no credit card required.
FAQs
Is There a Cheaper Alternative to Currencylayer?
Yes. CurrencyFreaks starts at $9.99 a month for 15,000 calls on its Starter plan, while currencylayer's Basic plan costs $14.99 a month ($13.99 billed annually) for 10,000 requests. The CurrencyFreaks free plan also gives 1,000 calls a month against currencylayer's 100, and covers 1,000+ currencies including crypto and precious metals.
Is the Currencylayer API Free?
Currencylayer has a free plan with 100 API calls a month, daily updates per its plan card, USD as the only source currency, historical rates and HTTPS. It is for non-commercial use only. CurrencyFreaks' free Developer plan gives 1,000 calls a month with updates every 24 hours and USD as the base currency, with no credit card required.
How Much Does the Currencylayer API Cost?
Currencylayer's paid plans cost $14.99 a month for 10,000 requests (Basic, hourly updates), $59.99 for 100,000 (Enterprise, 10-minute updates) and $99.99 for 500,000 (Enterprise+, 60-second updates), with up to 15% off on annual billing. CurrencyFreaks charges $9.99 for 15,000 calls, $49.99 for 150,000 and $99.99 for 550,000.
Does the Currencylayer Free Plan Allow Base Currency Changes?
No. The Currencylayer free plan restricts the base currency to USD only. To use other base currencies like EUR or GBP, you must upgrade to a paid plan. The CurrencyFreaks free Developer plan has the same USD-only restriction, with every base currency available from the $9.99 Starter plan.
How Do I Switch From Currencylayer to CurrencyFreaks?
Change the endpoint from api.currencylayer.com/live to api.currencyfreaks.com/v2.0/rates/latest, rename access_key to apikey, currencies to symbols and source to base, then read rates from rates.EUR instead of quotes.USDEUR. CurrencyFreaks returns rates as strings and signals errors with HTTP status codes rather than "success": false.
Sign Up for free at CurrencyFreaks and get real-time and accurate rates for your applications.
