Open Exchange Rates Alternative: Feature-by-Feature Comparison (2026)

Open Exchange Rates (OXR) is a well-known currency data provider that's been around since 2012. It powers currency conversion in popular JavaScript libraries like money.js and has a reputation for clean API design. But in 2026, several limitations make it worth evaluating alternatives — especially if you need fast updates, flexible base currencies, or official SDKs.

This article compares Open Exchange Rates with Exchange Rate API across pricing, update frequency, base currency flexibility, and developer tools.

Head-to-Head Comparison

The USD-Only Problem

Open Exchange Rates' most frustrating limitation is its USD-only base currency on free and lower-paid plans. If you need rates relative to EUR, GBP, JPY, or any non-USD currency, you have two options:

1. Upgrade to Enterprise ($80/month) for server-side base currency switching
2. Cross-calculate manually using USD as an intermediary

The cross-calculation approach introduces rounding errors and adds complexity to your code. Exchange Rate API solves this cleanly by supporting any base currency on all plans, including the free tier.

// Open Exchange Rates: manual cross-calculation for EUR base
const usdRates = await fetch('https://openexchangerates.org/api/latest.json?app_id=KEY');
const data = await usdRates.json();
const eurToGbp = data.rates.GBP / data.rates.EUR; // rounding errors

// Exchange Rate API: direct EUR base
const client = new ExchangeRateAPI('YOUR_KEY');
const rate = await client.getRate('EUR', 'GBP'); // clean, accurate

Update Frequency: Hourly vs 60-Second

Open Exchange Rates updates rates every hour on most plans, and every 30 minutes on the Unlimited plan ($200/month). Exchange Rate API updates every 60 seconds starting at €4.99/month.

For applications that display live rates or process real-time transactions, the difference between hourly and per-minute updates is significant. An hour-old EUR/USD rate during a volatile trading session can be off by 0.3-0.5%, which translates directly to revenue loss at scale.

Update Frequency by Plan

SDKs: Official vs Community

Open Exchange Rates doesn't maintain official SDK packages. The community has created libraries like money.js and open-exchange-rates, but these are independently maintained and may lag behind API changes.

Exchange Rate API provides official, versioned SDKs for JavaScript, Python, PHP, and Java:

# Install the official Python SDK
pip install exchangerateapi

# Use it
from exchangerateapi import Client
client = Client("YOUR_API_KEY")

# Historical rate
rate = client.get_historical_rate("EUR", "USD", "2026-01-15")
print(f"EUR/USD on Jan 15: {rate}")

# Latest rates
all_rates = client.get_all_rates("EUR")
for currency, value in all_rates.items():
    print(f"EUR/{currency}: {value}")

Official SDKs are tested against every API release, handle edge cases consistently, and provide proper typing for IDE autocompletion.

Pricing Comparison

Open Exchange Rates uses a tiered pricing model that gets expensive as you need more features:

Exchange Rate API gives you any base currency and 60-second updates at €4.99/month. To match that on OXR, you'd need the Unlimited plan at $200/month — and even then, OXR's fastest update speed is 30 minutes, not 60 seconds.

When Open Exchange Rates Is the Better Choice

• You already use money.js and its built-in OXR integration
• You only need USD-based rates
• You want the highest free-tier request count (1,000/month)
• You need OXR's specific time-series or OHLC endpoints

When to Choose Exchange Rate API

• You need non-USD base currencies without enterprise pricing
• You need real-time (60-second) updates
• You want official SDKs with proper maintenance and versioning
• You want historical rates on the free tier
• You want the best price-to-feature ratio

FAQ

Can I use a non-USD base currency with Open Exchange Rates?

Only on paid plans. OXR's free tier locks you to USD. The Developer plan ($12/month) also restricts you to USD. You need the Enterprise plan ($80/month) for server-side base currency switching. Exchange Rate API allows any base currency on all plans, including free.

How often does Open Exchange Rates update its data?

Hourly on most plans, and every 30 minutes on the Unlimited plan ($200/month). Exchange Rate API updates every 60 seconds on all paid plans starting at €4.99/month.

What is a good alternative to Open Exchange Rates?

Exchange Rate API is the leading alternative. It offers 60-second updates, any base currency on all plans, official SDKs for four languages, and free historical data — all starting at €4.99/month.

Need any-base-currency rates with 60-second freshness? Get your free Exchange Rate API key and start building today.

npm install @exchangerateapi/sdk