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fastFOREX API vs XE

The developer-priced alternative to XE Currency Data

XE's Lite package is $799/year for 10,000 requests a month of daily rates — with minutely 'live' rates a $400/year add-on. fastFOREX API gives you 1,000,000 calls at 60-second freshness for $18/month, and true 1-second updates for $54. Same job, very different bill.

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Competitor figures from XE's public Currency Data pricing, verified 10 September 2026.

The difference, quantified.

~$67

XE Lite per month ($799/yr) — for 10k daily-rate calls

100x

More calls on our $18 plan than their $799/yr package

1s

Our fastest updates — theirs are minutely, as a paid add-on

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

XE

Plans & pricing

Entry paid plan

$18/mo

$799/yr (~$67/mo)

API calls included

1,000,000

10,000

Update frequency (entry plan)

60 seconds

Daily

Fastest published updates

1 second ($54)

Minutely — add-on from $400/yr, or Enterprise

Cheapest time-series plan

$18/mo (One) — every plan

$799/yr (~$67/mo), in every package

Currency coverage

ISO 4217 national & supranational currencies

155 of 155

153 of 155

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

172

172 (excl. historic codes)

Cryptocurrencies

500+ (750+ pairs)

Selected

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

“100+ reputable global sources” (unnamed)

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

Yes

Beta

OHLC candles down to the minute

Yes

No

Historical data depth

55+ years (1970, to the minute)

28 years (1998, 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 documented

Multiple users / team access

You can add other users & accounting email addresses

Not stated

Support

365 days/yr

Email & phone

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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 XE 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 XE.

How hard is it to migrate from XE?
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.
XE vs fastFOREX API: what's the main difference?
The head-to-head table above compares XE 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 XE pricing compare?
The table above shows what XE offers and what it costs, with sources and retrieved dates. fastFOREX API starts at $18/month with 1,000,000 API calls included.
Isn't XE more trustworthy because of the brand?
XE is a respected consumer brand with 30+ years in FX, and their data is solid. The question is fit and price: their packages are built for enterprise procurement (annual billing, per-entity licensing, add-on pricing for live rates), while fastFOREX API publishes developer-first plans you can buy in minutes — with fresher data at a fraction of the cost.

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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. XE 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.

Enterprise data, without enterprise procurement.

1-second updates, bid/ask, OHLC, metals and an MCP server — from $18/month, self-serve, cancel anytime.

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