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fastFOREX API vs CurrencyLayer

The fast alternative to CurrencyLayer

CurrencyLayer's $14.99 Basic plan updates hourly with 10,000 requests, and 60-second updates cost $99.99/month. fastFOREX API includes 1,000,000 calls with 60-second updates for $18 — and its free plan updates daily, not hourly.

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Competitor figures from CurrencyLayer's public pricing, verified 10 September 2026. CurrencyLayer, Fixer and ExchangeRatesAPI.io are all APILayer products with near-identical pricing.

The difference, quantified.

60x

Fresher entry-level data — 60s vs hourly

100x

More calls at entry — 1,000,000 vs 10,000

$82

Cheaper 60-second data — $18 vs their $99.99

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.

fastFOREX API

CurrencyLayer

Plans & pricing

Entry paid plan

$18/mo

$14.99/mo

API calls included

1,000,000

10,000 (+$6/1k overage)

Update frequency (entry plan)

60 seconds

Hourly (free plan: daily)

Fastest published updates

1 second ($54)

60 seconds ($99.99)

Cheapest time-series plan

$18/mo (One) — every plan

$59.99/mo (“Enterprise” plan)

Currency coverage

ISO 4217 national & supranational currencies

155 of 155

147 of 155

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

172

164

Cryptocurrencies

500+ (750+ pairs)

Bitcoin only

Metals

Precious metals

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

Gold and silver only (listed as currencies)

Base metals

Copper, aluminium, lead, nickel, zinc

None listed

Market data

Data sources

100+ named institutional contributors

“Broad base of commercial sources and banks” (unnamed)

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

Yes

No

OHLC candles down to the minute

Yes

No

Historical data depth

55+ years (1970, to the minute)

27 years (1999, daily)

Streaming & AI

WebSocket streaming

Premium + WS plan

No

MCP server for AI agents (official)

Yes

None found

Account & support

Sign-in options

Google, GitHub, email

Email + password only

Multiple API keys

Multiple keys (live, dev, test)

One key per account

Multiple users / team access

You can add other users & accounting email addresses

Not stated

Support

365 days/yr

Standard (paid plans); none on free

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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 CurrencyLayer 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.

Read the Migration GuideStart Side-by-Side Trial

"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 CurrencyLayer.

How hard is it to migrate from CurrencyLayer?
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.
CurrencyLayer vs fastFOREX API: what's the main difference?
The head-to-head table above compares CurrencyLayer 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 CurrencyLayer pricing compare?
The table above shows what CurrencyLayer offers and what it costs, with sources and retrieved dates. fastFOREX API starts at $18/month with 1,000,000 API calls included.
Aren't CurrencyLayer, Fixer and ExchangeRatesAPI the same thing?
They're three brands of the same company (APILayer, Vienna) with near-identical plans and prices. Whichever brand you compare, the numbers against fastFOREX API come out the same: hourly vs 60-second entry updates, and 10,000 vs 1,000,000 included calls.

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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.

Read how we compare providers. CurrencyLayer 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.

A million 60-second calls for $18.

1s updates, bid/ask, OHLC, metals and an MCP server — from $18/month with a million calls included.

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