AllRatesToday vs ExchangeRate-API.com: Real-Time vs Daily in 2026

ExchangeRate-API.com is the cleanest of the "free FX API" options. Simple endpoint, fast responses, no surprises — if you can live with daily updates. That last bit is the whole conversation.

This comparison covers AllRatesToday vs ExchangeRate-API.com in 2026 across the criteria that matter for production: update frequency, accuracy, historical rate access, latency, free-tier scope, and DX.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison Table

Update Frequency: Real-Time vs Daily

This is the core trade-off. ExchangeRate-API.com refreshes once every 24 hours on the free tier. The data is then aggressively cached at the edge, which is why responses are so fast — but the rate you fetch at 3pm is the same rate everyone else fetched at 9am, and at 4am the day before.

For some use cases that's fine: a static "currency converter" widget, an end-of-day reporting tool, an admin dashboard that shows yesterday's totals. For anything that converts money in real time — checkouts, payment splits, expense tracking, marketplace fees — daily rates are not safe. Major pairs routinely move 0.5–2% intraday, and that delta becomes a tax on your gross margin.

AllRatesToday refreshes every 60 seconds on every plan, sourced from institutional foreign exchange market data. The ~80ms latency penalty over ExchangeRate-API.com's daily-cached responses is worth a 1,440x improvement in freshness.

Historical Rates: Pro Plan vs Small Plan

ExchangeRate-API.com gates the historical/timeseries endpoint behind the Pro plan. The free Open tier returns latest rates only.

AllRatesToday does not include history on the free tier either. Historical rates come with every paid plan, starting with Small at €4.99/mo: daily market rates up to one year back, plus central-bank archives that go back decades.

# AllRatesToday: historical rate (paid plans)
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=USD&target=EUR&time=2026-01-15" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

If you're building anything that touches past rates — invoice reconciliation, accounting, P&L conversion, backtesting, charts — compare the entry price of each provider's history-enabled plan.

Accuracy: Live Market Data vs Aggregated Central-Bank Feeds

ExchangeRate-API.com aggregates "rates from multiple commercial sources" plus central-bank end-of-day publications. The result is a clean mid-market rate, but it can lag actual interbank by hours during active sessions.

AllRatesToday serves mid-market rates aggregated from institutional foreign exchange market data, refreshed every 60 seconds for major pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY) and the rest of its 160+ currencies.

For most consumer-facing display use cases, the accuracy difference is invisible. For anything where 5–20 basis points compounds — payments, marketplace settlement, B2B FX — it shows up in the bottom line.

Latency

ExchangeRate-API.com is genuinely fast: ~134ms average response time from a US edge, because the daily-cached payload sits in CDN memory. AllRatesToday averages ~214ms, which includes the cost of serving rates refreshed every 60 seconds.

If your only criterion is "fastest GET", ExchangeRate-API.com wins. If your criterion is "accurate enough to charge a customer," AllRatesToday's extra ~80ms is the cost of correctness.

Free Tier: What You Actually Get

ExchangeRate-API.com's Open plan is straightforward:

• 1,500 requests / month.
• Daily updates.
• Latest rates only (no historical).
• Any base currency, HTTPS, CORS.

AllRatesToday's free tier:

• no credit card.
• Real-time (60s) updates.
• Latest rates only; historical rates need a paid plan from €4.99/mo.
• Personal, non-commercial use only.
• Any base currency, HTTPS, header auth; keyless endpoints (official rates, symbols) for browser use, keyed API server-side.

Different shapes. ExchangeRate-API.com gives far more free requests on daily data; AllRatesToday gives fresher data but a small one-time quota meant for evaluation, with commercial use and history on paid plans.

Authentication and DX

ExchangeRate-API.com puts the API key in the URL path:

https://v6.exchangerate-api.com/v6/YOUR-API-KEY/latest/USD

This is functional but means the key appears in browser history, server logs, and CDN access logs. AllRatesToday uses a standard Authorization: Bearer header:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Migrating from ExchangeRate-API.com

The migration is straightforward:

1. Replace v6.exchangerate-api.com/v6/<KEY>/latest/<BASE> with allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates?source=<BASE>.
2. Move the API key from the URL path to Authorization: Bearer.
3. Read each rate from the returned array of source/target/rate objects instead of the conversion_rates map.
4. Optionally add &target=EUR to scope the response to one pair (smaller payloads).

When ExchangeRate-API.com Still Wins

• You need maximum free request quota (1,500/month is high) and daily rates are sufficient.
• Latency is your hard constraint and freshness isn't.
• Display-only widgets, daily reporting, static-site converters.

The Bottom Line

For any use case where the rate touches money — checkouts, conversions, settlement, accounting — AllRatesToday is the right call:

• 60-second updates vs daily snapshots.
• Historical rates from €4.99/mo (Small plan).
• Live institutional FX market data vs aggregated central-bank feeds.
• Same HTTPS / any-base basics, plus header auth (keyed API is called from your server; keyless endpoints work in the browser).

ExchangeRate-API.com remains a strong choice when freshness genuinely doesn't matter and request volume does.

FAQ

Is ExchangeRate-API.com free?

Yes — the Open plan is 1,500 requests/month with daily updates and no historical data. Paid plans add real-time and historical.

How often does ExchangeRate-API.com update?

Daily on the free tier. Hourly or 60-second updates on paid plans.

Why pick AllRatesToday over ExchangeRate-API.com?

Real-time (60s) updates are included on the AllRatesToday free tier, and historical rates come with every paid plan from €4.99/mo. ExchangeRate-API.com's free tier updates daily and its historical endpoint requires the Pro plan. AllRatesToday serves mid-market rates aggregated from institutional foreign exchange market data.

Are the rates accurate?

Both publish mid-market rates. AllRatesToday sources directly from institutional foreign exchange market data; ExchangeRate-API.com aggregates central-bank end-of-day data.

How do I migrate from ExchangeRate-API.com?

Point requests at allratestoday.com/api/v1/rates, move the key from the URL path to Authorization: Bearer, and read rates from the returned array instead of conversion_rates.

npm install @allratestoday/sdk