A CurrencyLayer alternative
without the 60-second price jump.
CurrencyLayer is a solid rate API. The friction starts when hourly data is not enough and the 60-second tier jumps to $99.99 per month, or when a refund needs the rate from a date before your plan's history window. CurrencyCore adds parity history from 1949, IMF PPP conversion, seven analytics endpoints and a hosted MCP server, with full history on a $9 Starter plan.
1,000 requests + 100 AI credits/month free · No credit card required
# Rates, USD base
curl "https://api.currencylayer.com/live?access_key=YOUR_KEY"
# Convert 100 USD to EUR
curl "https://api.currencylayer.com/convert?access_key=YOUR_KEY&from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100"# Rates, USD base
curl "https://api.currency-core.com/v1/rates" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"
# Convert 100 USD to EUR
curl "https://api.currency-core.com/v1/convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"When the rate feed is not the whole job.
CurrencyLayer is a good fit for a team that needs a rate snapshot and precious metals. The calculation changes when you need the rate from a transaction date, a purchasing-power comparison, volatility for a treasury position, or an AI agent that can fetch a rate instead of guessing one. This page is for teams at that point.
CurrencyLayer vs CurrencyCore
Public pricing and coverage checked 10 November 2026. Verify with each vendor before you buy.
| Capability | CurrencyCore | CurrencyLayer |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1,000 req/mo, 60/min, no card | 100 req/mo, daily, non-commercial |
| Commercial use on Free | Allowed on every plan | Free tier is non-commercial |
| Entry paid plan | $9/mo, 50,000 requests, full history | $14.99/mo, 10,000 requests, hourly |
| 60-second updates | Not offered; reference rates are daily fixings | $99.99/mo Enterprise+ |
| Currencies | 160 fiat | 168 + precious metals |
| Historical depth | 1949 parity; 1971 daily majors; 1999 EUR | 1999 |
| Point-in-time conversion | Yes, with date parameter | Yes, /historical |
| PPP conversion | IMF PPPEX, 197 countries | Not advertised |
| FX analytics | 7 endpoints on Growth | Not advertised |
| MCP server | 14 tools, every plan | Not advertised |
| Metals / crypto | Fiat only | Metals included |
| Response shape | rates keyed by ISO code | quotes keyed by pair, e.g. USDEUR |
Unlike plans that restrict Free usage to non-commercial projects, CurrencyCore allows commercial use on every plan, including Free. Quotas and rate limits still apply.
Competitor plans change. Check CurrencyLayer's current plan and published limits before you budget.
What the 60-second tier actually costs.
CurrencyLayer prices by update cadence. The jump is the decision, not the headline plan.
| CurrencyLayer tier | Monthly | Requests | Update cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 | Daily, non-commercial |
| Basic | $14.99 | 10,000 | Hourly |
| Enterprise | $59.99 | 100,000 | 10 minutes |
| Enterprise+ | $99.99 | 500,000 | 60 seconds |
The trade-off is honest. CurrencyCore does not sell a 60-second executable quote. It sells reference rates with a fixing date, plus the historical, PPP and analytics layers that a 60-second feed does not include. If your product needs sub-minute quotes, CurrencyLayer is the better tool. If your product needs a reproducible rate for a date, a purchasing-power comparison or a risk metric, CurrencyCore is cheaper and deeper.
Endpoint by endpoint.
The field names change. The ISO codes and the conversion math do not.
| CurrencyLayer | CurrencyCore | What changes |
|---|---|---|
/live | /v1/rates | quotes.USDEUR becomes rates.EUR when the base is USD. |
/live?source=EUR | /v1/rates/EUR | The base moves from a query parameter to the path. |
/convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100 | /v1/convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100 | The converted amount is results[0].result. |
/historical?date=2020-01-02 | /v1/history?currency=EUR&from=2020-01-02&to=2020-01-02 | Use /v1/convert?date= for a single point-in-time amount. |
/timeframe?start_date=...&end_date=... | /v1/history?from=...&to=... | The series is keyed by date instead of a quotes map. |
/list | /v1/currencies | Public, no key required. |
access_key in the query string | Authorization: Bearer | The key stops appearing in URLs and logs. |
Full parameter lists live in the rates endpoint reference and the convert endpoint reference. If you are moving a production integration, compare one full rates response before you switch traffic.
Four layers CurrencyLayer does not sell.
Parity history from 1949
GBP/USD and USD/INR include documented parity data from 1949; daily majors start in 1971 and EUR pairs in 1999. The response tells you which date it used.
IMF PPP conversion
Add ppp=true to a convert call. IMF PPPEX factors cover 197 countries, with projected years flagged rather than hidden.
Seven analytics endpoints
Volatility, correlation, drawdown, safe haven, mean reversion, history analysis and PPP analysis share the same key and history store.
MCP for AI agents
A hosted MCP server with 14 tools, OAuth and the same quota as REST. Claude, Cursor and VS Code can fetch a rate instead of inventing one.
Stay with CurrencyLayer if you need precious metals, a 60-second quote cadence, or the APILayer ecosystem. It is a capable rate API for that job. Move to CurrencyCore if the missing layer is history, PPP, analytics or agent access.
CurrencyLayer migration questions
Is CurrencyCore a drop-in replacement for CurrencyLayer?
For rates, conversion and historical data, the migration is small. CurrencyLayer returns a quotes object keyed by concatenated pairs such as USDEUR. CurrencyCore returns a rates object keyed by ISO code, plus a results array for conversions. You change the host, the auth header and the field mapping; the ISO codes stay the same.
Does CurrencyCore have a free tier?
Yes. The Free plan includes 1,000 requests per month, 60 requests per minute, 100 AI credits, 3 team members and the last 30 days of history. No credit card is required. Free plans use a test key with the same dataset; live keys are available on paid plans. Commercial use is allowed on every plan, including Free.
How does the 60-second update price compare?
CurrencyLayer's 60-second feed is on its Enterprise+ tier at $99.99 per month for 500,000 requests. CurrencyCore's reference rates are polled hourly from an aggregated central-bank feed, and the underlying fixings are daily. If you need 60-second executable quotes, CurrencyLayer is the better fit. If you need reference rates, history, PPP and analytics, CurrencyCore costs less.
Does CurrencyCore support metals or cryptocurrency?
No. The rate feed is fiat only. CurrencyLayer includes precious metals. If metals or crypto are a requirement, stay with CurrencyLayer or add a dedicated metals or crypto provider.
How do I migrate a rates call?
Replace https://api.currencylayer.com/live?access_key=YOUR_KEY with https://api.currency-core.com/v1/rates and send the key as Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY. CurrencyLayer's quotes.USDEUR becomes CurrencyCore's rates.EUR when the base is USD.
How do I migrate a conversion?
CurrencyLayer's /convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100 becomes /v1/convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amount=100. CurrencyCore returns a results array; the converted amount is results[0].result and the rate is results[0].rate.
How do I migrate historical data?
CurrencyLayer's /historical?date=YYYY-MM-DD becomes /v1/convert?date=YYYY-MM-DD for a point-in-time conversion, or /v1/history?currency=EUR&from=YYYY-MM-DD&to=YYYY-MM-DD for a series. Full history starts on Starter at $9 per month.
When is CurrencyLayer the better choice?
Choose CurrencyLayer if you need precious metals, a 60-second update cadence, a very large currency list, or the APILayer ecosystem and its existing billing relationship. Choose CurrencyCore if you need parity history from 1949, IMF PPP conversion, seven analytics endpoints, a hosted MCP server, or a lower entry price for full history.
Start with 1,000 free requests.
No credit card required.
Full history on Starter. Analytics and MCP on Growth. Migration examples above.