fastFOREX API vs CurrencyAPI

The complete alternative to CurrencyAPI

CurrencyAPI's Medium plan is decent value for simple rate lookups, and it even ships a hosted MCP server. But it's midpoint-only data: no bid/ask, no OHLC candles, no WebSockets, and no base metals. fastFOREX API covers the full market-data stack from $18 — and every plan includes 1,000,000 calls.

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Competitor figures from CurrencyAPI's public pricing, verified 10 September 2026.

The difference, quantified.

60x

Fresher entry-level data — 60s at $18 vs hourly at $9.99

2,300+

Bid/ask FX pairs — they publish midpoint only

Metals instruments, base metals included — they list four precious-metal codes

Head to head

Feature comparison.

What you get on comparable plans.

Currency, time-series, metals, sign-in, account and MCP rows were checked on 2 October 2026. Currency counts come from each provider's published currency list, classified against the official ISO 4217 list (SIX Group, published 17 September 2026). Other rows were checked on 10 September 2026.

Compare plans

fastFOREX API

CurrencyAPI

Plans & pricing

Entry paid plan

$18/mo

$9.99/mo

API calls included

1,000,000

15,000

Update frequency (entry plan)

60 seconds

Hourly

Fastest published updates

1 second ($54)

60 seconds ($39.99)

Cheapest time-series plan

$18/mo (One) — every plan

$39.99/mo (Medium)

Currency coverage

ISO 4217 national & supranational currencies

155 of 155

153 of 155

Total currencies listed (fiat, pegged, supranational & instruments)

172

169

Cryptocurrencies

500+ (750+ pairs)

Limited

Metals

Precious metals

Gold, silver, platinum, palladium (from Premium, $54/mo)

Gold, silver, platinum, palladium (listed as currencies)

Base metals

Copper, aluminium, lead, nickel, zinc

None listed

Market data

Data sources

100+ named institutional contributors

“Financial data providers and international banks” (unnamed)

Live bid/ask quotes (2,300+ pairs)

Yes

OHLC candles down to the minute

Yes

Historical data depth

55+ years (1970, to the minute)

Available (depth not published)

Streaming & AI

WebSocket streaming

Premium + WS plan

MCP server for AI agents (official)

Yes

Yes — hosted server, 12 tools

Account & support

Sign-in options

Google, GitHub, email

Email, Google, GitHub, GitLab, Microsoft Azure

Multiple API keys

Multiple keys (live, dev, test)

1 key; 2 on Medium, 5 on Large

Multiple users / team access

You can add other users & accounting email addresses

Team management from $39.99/mo

Support

365 days/yr

Email (paid plans)

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Data that never sleeps
Midpoint rates every 60, 30 or 1 second by plan — and crypto every second on every plan. If your app shows a price, it should be the current one.
Trading-grade market data
Beyond midpoint rates: live bid/ask on 2,300+ pairs, OHLC candles down to the minute, real-time gold and metals, and over 55 years of history for backtesting.
A million calls, one price
Every fastFOREX API plan includes 1,000,000 API calls per month from $18. No metering anxiety, no surprise overage bills.
Built for the AI era
A native MCP server connects ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and your agents straight to live FX data, with 25 tools including six for metals.

Switch in under an hour.

Both APIs speak JSON over HTTPS, so migrating from CurrencyAPI is usually a base-URL and response-shape change. Follow the migration guide, run both side by side on your free trial, and cut over when the numbers check out.

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"We had intermittent failures with our previous currency exchange API provider. We switched to fastFOREX — setup was easy, and we always get fast response times. That's all we need."

Esteban Tósta

Beyond Bath & Bed — switched to fastFOREX API

Switching questions.

What developers ask when moving from CurrencyAPI.

How hard is it to migrate from CurrencyAPI?

Both APIs return simple JSON over HTTPS, so most migrations are a base-URL and response-shape change. Most developers are done in under an hour.

Can I test both side by side?

Yes. The 7-day free trial gives full access to your plan's features with no credit card, so you can benchmark latency and data quality against your current provider before switching.

Where does fastFOREX API data come from?

We aggregate from 100+ FX contributors, major OTC inter-dealer brokers, and the dealing rooms of leading market-making banks including HSBC, JPMorgan, Barclays Capital and UBS. See our data sources.

What if I need more than a million calls?

Top up in 1M blocks at $18/month, with volume discounts from 10M calls per month.

CurrencyAPI vs fastFOREX API: what's the main difference?

The head-to-head table above compares CurrencyAPI with fastFOREX API line by line — update speed, data depth, limits, pricing and support — with every figure sourced and dated 10 September 2026.

How does CurrencyAPI pricing compare?

The table above shows what CurrencyAPI offers and what it costs, with sources and retrieved dates. fastFOREX API starts at $18/month with 1,000,000 API calls included.

CurrencyAPI's Medium plan has 600k calls at $39.99 — isn't that cheaper per call?

For midpoint-only lookups at 60 seconds, it's competitive. The comparison changes when you need more than midpoints: bid/ask, OHLC and streaming aren't available at any price there, and metals stop at gold, silver, platinum and palladium. On fastFOREX API they're part of the published plans — and top-ups keep high volumes cheap.

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Free 7-day trial, no credit card, cancel anytime.

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Sources & verification

Competitor figures were taken from the public pages below, last verified 2 October 2026 (pricing rows 10 September 2026). Plans and prices may have changed since.

CurrencyAPI — Pricing & Plans — retrieved 10 September 2026
CurrencyAPI — Documentation — retrieved 10 September 2026
CurrencyAPI — Log in — retrieved 2 October 2026
CurrencyAPI — MCP server docs — retrieved 2 October 2026
CurrencyAPI — Currency list — retrieved 2 October 2026

Read how we compare providers. CurrencyAPI is a trademark of its owner; we reference it only to describe a factual comparison. Spot something outdated? Tell us and we'll correct it promptly.

Midpoint lookups are table stakes.

Bid/ask, OHLC, metals, streaming and an MCP server — the full stack from $18/month.