CurrencyBeacon alternative: fxapi vs CurrencyBeacon

This comparison is for teams running on CurrencyBeacon (currencybeacon.com) and for anyone evaluating a CurrencyBeacon alternative for a new project. CurrencyBeacon, which grew out of CurrencyScoop and is operated by HATCHSQUARE Technologies LLC, offers a generous 5,000-request free plan, daily history back to 1996 and its own MCP server. fxapi is the better fit when you need any base currency without a $99 plan, fluctuation and IAS 21 period averages, 60-second updates at a lower price, or flexible time series in CSV.

fxapi vs CurrencyBeacon at a glance

Competitor information checked on October 9, 2026 from currencybeacon.com, its pricing, API documentation, MCP, about and terms pages. Plans change – verify on their site.

Where CurrencyBeacon is strong

• A large free quota with history. 5,000 requests a month, and the free plan includes historical rates and conversion.
• History back to 1996. Daily end-of-day rates from 1 January 1996 on every plan.
• High volume for $10. The Basic plan includes 50,000 requests a month with 15-minute updates.
• Its own MCP server. Six tools, the same key and the same quota as the REST API.
• Named sources. Its about page lists central banks and institutions such as the ECB, the IMF and the Bank of Canada, plus commercial forex data.
• Bearer authentication. The key can travel in an Authorization header, as its docs recommend for production.

Where fxapi is different

Any base currency on every plan

CurrencyBeacon’s Free and Basic plans can’t change the base currency; that starts with Startup at $99 a month. fxapi accepts any code as base_currency on every plan, so EUR-, GBP- or CHF-based apps don’t need to compute cross rates.

Fluctuation and IAS 21 averages

/v1/fluctuation returns start_rate, end_rate, change and change_pct per currency, and /v1/average returns monthly, quarterly or yearly averages with min and max. Neither endpoint is documented at CurrencyBeacon.

60-second updates for $34.99

fxapi Professional refreshes every 60 seconds with 600,000 requests for $34.99 a month; CurrencyBeacon’s one-minute updates start with Startup at $99.

Time series with more accuracies and CSV

/v1/range returns daily series for up to 366 days, week-end and month-end series back to 1999, and hourly, 15-minute or minute data for recent periods. Add format=csv for spreadsheets and warehouses.

Crypto and metals in the same codes

16 cryptocurrencies and four precious metals use the same endpoints and response format as fiat – see the crypto and gold and silver pages.

Terms to check before you switch

CurrencyBeacon’s terms ask you to credit CurrencyBeacon in your terms or about page, say its data may not be cached or stored for more than eight hours, and rule out resale. If you store historical rates for reporting or cache them for longer, read the terms of whichever provider you choose.

Migrating from CurrencyBeacon to fxapi

Endpoint mapping

Response shape

CurrencyBeacon wraps results in meta (status code and disclaimer) and response (date, base, rates). fxapi returns meta.last_updated_at and a data object keyed by currency code, where each entry has code and value. Status codes map closely – 401 invalid key, 403 endpoint not in your plan, 429 quota used up – and fxapi adds 422 with an errors object per invalid parameter.

Before and after

CurrencyBeacon:

curl "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/latest?base=USD&symbols=EUR,GBP" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

fxapi:

curl -G "https://api.fxapi.com/v1/latest" \
  -d base_currency=USD -d currencies=EUR,GBP \
  -H "apikey: $FXAPI_KEY"

import os
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.fxapi.com/v1/latest",
    params={"base_currency": "USD", "currencies": "EUR,GBP"},
    headers={"apikey": os.environ["FXAPI_KEY"]},
    timeout=10,
)
resp.raise_for_status()
body = resp.json()

# CurrencyBeacon-style "response" object for existing code
response = {
    "date": body["meta"]["last_updated_at"],
    "base": "USD",
    "rates": {code: item["value"] for code, item in body["data"].items()},
}

See the Python guide for caching and error handling.

Verdict

Choose CurrencyBeacon if a large free quota with historical rates matters most, your app is USD-based, and the attribution and eight-hour caching terms fit how you use the data. Choose fxapi if you need any base currency without a $99 plan, fluctuation and period averages, 60-second updates for $34.99, or time series in CSV. Both offer an MCP server, so AI-agent workflows work either way – compare them with your own pairs using fxapi’s free plan.

fxapi is a FX rates API by Everapi GmbH (Austria): live and historical rates for 190+ currencies, time series, conversion, fluctuation and period averages.

Frequently asked questions