Exchange Rate API and exchangerate-api.com are similar enough in name that buyers often confuse them, but they are in fact two separate, competing REST APIs for currency conversion — worth reading the fine print before picking one.
Exchange Rate API, exchangerate-api.com
Different proof points for trust
Exchange Rate API leans on its data sourcing — rates pulled from Reuters and interbank feeds — as its credibility signal. exchangerate-api.com leans on documented usage by companies like Salesforce and Mastercard as its credibility signal. Both are reasonable ways to evaluate reliability, just from different angles.
Exchange Rate API, exchangerate-api.com
Float Financial isn't a rate API at all
Float Financial doesn't provide currency data — it's a spend-management and business-banking platform with corporate cards, bill pay, and high-yield accounts, built specifically for Canadian companies. It shouldn't be evaluated against the other two as if it does the same job.
Float Financial
All three lead with a free plan, but for different reasons
The two FX APIs offer free tiers to attract developers into their ecosystem, while Float Financial's free Essentials plan is designed to attract Canadian businesses onto its card and banking rails, where it likely earns through interchange and other financial services revenue rather than API fees.
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Exchange Rate API
Free — $0/month free
Paid — €4.99/month monthly
exchangerate-api.com
Free — $0/month free
Pro — $10/month ($100/year) monthly
Business — $30/month ($300/year) monthly
Float Financial
Essentials — Free Monthly
Professional — $10/user/month CAD (active-user pricing from $100/month for the first 10 users) Monthly
Enterprise — Custom (contact sales) Custom
Pros & Cons
Exchange Rate API
Pros
Updates rates roughly every minute, faster than many budget currency APIs
Free tier available with no credit card required
Price-lock policy protects existing subscribers from future price hikes
Historical data included for reporting and reconciliation use cases
Official SDKs simplify integration for common languages
Cons
Pricing is quoted in euros, which adds currency conversion overhead for non-EU budgets
Free tier's 300 requests per month is low for anything beyond testing
Less brand recognition than larger competitors like Open Exchange Rates or Fixer
Company headquarters and team size are not publicly disclosed
exchangerate-api.com
Pros
Genuinely usable free tier with 1,500 requests per month
Long operating history since 2010 with a stated commitment to endpoint stability
Multi-source data blending reduces reliance on a single feed
Reasonably priced paid tiers compared to some competitors
Used by large, recognizable companies, supporting reliability claims
Cons
Free plan only updates rates once daily, unsuitable for time-sensitive use cases
Highest update frequency (5-minute) is reserved for the more expensive Business plan
Company headquarters location isn't publicly disclosed
No mobile SDKs advertised beyond the core REST API
Float Financial
Pros
No personal guarantee or personal credit check required to open an account
High-limit CAD and USD corporate cards with cashback up to 1% and a free permanent tier
CDIC-insured business account earning up to 3.5% interest with no monthly fees
AI-powered transaction coding reduces manual bookkeeping work for finance teams
Cons
Only available to businesses incorporated in Canada, not usable outside the country
Advanced accounting integration with NetSuite requires the paid Professional tier
Active-user pricing on the Professional plan can grow costly as headcount scales
Enterprise pricing and implementation require contacting sales rather than transparent self-serve pricing
Use Cases
Choose Exchange Rate API: Developers who want a free currency conversion API sourced from Reuters and interbank feeds.
Choose exchangerate-api.com: Developers who want an FX API with a track record at large enterprise customers like Salesforce and Mastercard.
Choose Float Financial: Canadian companies that want corporate credit cards, AI-assisted expense management, bill pay, and high-yield accounts in one platform.
Exchange Rate API
Converting prices in an online store — An e-commerce platform uses the API to display product prices in a shopper's local currency at checkout.
Financial reporting and reconciliation — An accounting team pulls historical rates to reconcile foreign currency transactions at the rate that applied on the transaction date.
Prototyping a currency-aware app — A solo developer uses the free tier to test currency conversion features before committing to a paid plan.
exchangerate-api.com
Adding currency conversion to an app — A developer integrates the API to show live converted prices inside a mobile or web app.
Powering e-commerce checkout pricing — An online store uses hourly-updated rates to display accurate local pricing to international shoppers.
Financial dashboards and reporting — A finance team pulls historical rates into internal reporting tools for multi-currency reconciliation.
Float Financial
Startup expense and card management — Startups use Float's free Essentials plan to issue physical and virtual cards to employees, capture receipts automatically, and avoid the personal guarantees typically required by traditional bank corporate cards.
Scaling finance operations with approvals and AI coding — Growing companies use Float's Professional plan for multi-level approval workflows, NetSuite integration and AI-assisted transaction coding to keep finance operations efficient as headcount and transaction volume increase.
Spend control for nonprofits and agencies — Nonprofits, agencies and hospitality businesses use Float to manage distributed team spend, control budgets across departments, and process fee-free vendor and reimbursement payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the actual difference between Exchange Rate API and exchangerate-api.com?
Both are free-forward REST APIs for currency conversion with very similar names, which causes real confusion. Exchange Rate API highlights Reuters and interbank data sourcing, while exchangerate-api.com highlights coverage of 165 currencies and documented use by enterprise customers like Salesforce and Mastercard. Check the exact domain before integrating — they are separate products.
Is Float Financial an alternative to Exchange Rate API or exchangerate-api.com?
No. Float Financial doesn't provide currency conversion data at all — it's a Canadian business-banking and spend-management platform with corporate cards, bill pay, and high-yield accounts. It solves a completely different problem than an FX rate API.
Which FX API is more proven for enterprise use, Exchange Rate API or exchangerate-api.com?
Based on what's documented, exchangerate-api.com has a stronger enterprise trust signal since it names large customers like Salesforce and Mastercard. Exchange Rate API's differentiator is its stated Reuters and interbank data sourcing. Both offer free tiers, so testing both against your accuracy and uptime requirements is reasonable before committing.
Is Float Financial only useful for companies based in Canada?
Yes. Float Financial is explicitly built for Canadian companies, offering corporate credit cards, expense management, bill pay, and high-yield business accounts tailored to that market.
Are all three of these free to start with?
Yes. Exchange Rate API and exchangerate-api.com both offer free access to their currency conversion APIs, and Float Financial offers a free Essentials plan for its card and banking platform.