A forex API prices currency pairs such as EUR/USD, not the US stocks and options Market Data sells. We do not sell forex data at all, so we ranked 13 forex API and forex data API providers that do, and EODHD ranks first, on 1,100+ pairs and 20 years of history.
We have said “US markets only” to prospects every year from 2022 to 2026, including prospects writing from the UK, Poland, Hungary and Saudi Arabia. If you also need US stocks or options, see our stock API or options API; for currency pairs, one of the 13 below is the right search.
How did we rank the forex APIs?
Each provider was scored from 0 to 10 on five criteria. Forex coverage and real-time delivery each count double. History and cost each count one and a half, and developer experience counts once. Every figure is checked against the provider’s own pricing page, current on 26 September 2026.
The weighting favors a developer who wants one pair, or a handful, streamed live; a bank pricing an entire currency curve intraday is a different buyer. For that buyer, EODHD’s 1,100+ pairs and Databento’s order-book depth matter more than the scores below show.
Which forex api ranks best?
| Rank | Provider | Score | Best for | Paid plans from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EODHD | 7.8 | Deep, cheap historical FX with global breadth | $16.58/mo |
| 2 | Twelve Data | 7.6 | Broadest FX symbol coverage on one API | $66/mo |
| 3 | Tiingo | 6.5 | Streaming FX at a low flat price | $25/mo |
| 4 | Massive | 5.6 | Developers who want FX inside a unified API | $23.20/mo |
| 5 | Alpha Vantage | 5.4 | Developers wanting FX alongside 50+ indicators | $41.58/mo |
| 5 | Finnhub | 5.4 | Developers wanting FX in a 6-language SDK | $49.99/mo |
| 7 | Financial Modeling Prep | 5.2 | Breadth-first buyers who want FX plus fundamentals | $22/mo |
| 8 | Alpaca | 4.8 | Alpaca API users adding light FX rates | $99/mo |
| 9 | Yahoo Finance | 4.1 | A free, casual FX quote check | $9.95/mo |
| 10 | Barchart | 3.5 | Sales-assisted forex forward-curve pricing | $8.25/mo |
| 11 | Databento | 3.0 | Buyers comfortable verifying an unresolved FX claim | $199/mo |
| 12 | Marketstack | 2.6 | Nobody yet -- forex billing is unconfirmed | $8.99/mo |
| 13 | Unusual Whales | 2.4 | Options-flow buyers who also want a few FX endpoints | $42/mo |
The six highest-ranked providers, side by side:
| Feature | EODHD | Twelve Data | Tiingo | Massive | Alpha Vantage | Finnhub |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | Good, 1,100+ pairs 1 | Excellent, 1,300+ pairs 2 | Good, 140+ pairs since 2020 3 | Good, ~1,200 pairs (Currencies) 4 | Good, FX intraday and daily 5 | Good; premium + websocket 6 |
| Crypto | Good 1 | Excellent, 1,900+ pairs 2 | Good, 160+ venues 7 | Good, ~600 pairs (Currencies) | Good, intraday and daily 5 | Good; websocket + premium history 6 |
| Futures | No | No | No | Good, real-time on Advanced ($199) 8 | Basic, commodities only 5 | No 6 |
| WebSocket streaming | Yes, ALL-IN-ONE+ only 9 | Yes, wss stream 2 | Yes, multiple feeds 10 | Yes 11 | No 5 | Yes (trades, news, press releases) 12 |
| Official SDKs | Python, Node.js, R, PHP, C#, Java, MATLAB 13 | Python, Node.js, Go, Java, R, CLI 14 | None official; community only 15 | Python, JS/TS, Go, Java/Kotlin 16 | Community only, no official SDK 5 | Python, Go, JS, Ruby, Kotlin, PHP 12 |
| Free tier | 20 calls/day, 1yr history 9 | 800 req/day, trial symbols only 17 | 1,000 req/day, DOW 30 fundamentals 18 | 5 calls/min, 2yr history, EOD only 19 | 25 req/day, EOD only, no real-time 20 | Undocumented; ~60 calls/min (3rd-party) 21 |
| Cheapest paid plan | $16.58/mo (EOD, annual) 9 | $66/mo (Grow, annual) 17 | $25/mo (Power, annual) 18 | $23.20/mo (Stocks Starter, annual) 19 | $41.58/mo (Premium 1, annual) 20 | $49.99/mo (marketdata-basic) 22 |
Sources for this table, checked 2026-09-26
- eodhd.com/lp/historical-eod-api
- twelvedata.com/
- tiingo.com/
- massive.com/currencies
- alphavantage.co/documentation/
- finnhub.io/static/swagger.json
- tiingo.com/documentation/general/changelog
- massive.com/futures
- eodhd.com/pricing
- tiingo.com/documentation/
- massive.com/pricing?product=options
- finnhub.io/docs/api
- eodhd.com/financial-apis/quick-start-with-our-financial-data-apis
- twelvedata.com/docs
- tiingo.com/documentation/appendix/integrations
- github.com/massive-com
- twelvedata.com/pricing
- tiingo.com/about/pricing
- massive.com/pricing
- alphavantage.co/premium/
- apicostcalc.com/finnhub.html
- finnhub.io/pricing
EODHD
7.8/10 1,100+ pairs with 20+ years of history is the deepest forex offering here, but full real-time needs the $99.99/mo ALL-IN-ONE plan.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 9/10
- Real-time ×2
- 6/10
- History ×1.5
- 10/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 5/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 10/10
Strengths
- 1,100+ currency pairs with 20+ years of history
- 1-minute-delayed FX on the $24.99/mo EOD+Intraday tier, free Sheets/Excel add-ins, 72-tool MCP server
Weaknesses
- True real-time forex is gated to the $99.99/mo ALL-IN-ONE plan
- Websocket streaming is confined to that same top plan
EODHD covers 1,100+ currency pairs with 20 years of history, the deepest forex data set we scored. Full real-time forex needs the $99.99-a-month ALL-IN-ONE plan; cheaper tiers hold forex to a one-minute delay.
Twelve Data
7.6/10 1,300+ forex pairs with real-time claimed even on the free tier, though that free tier is restricted to trial symbols only.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 10/10
- Real-time ×2
- 7/10
- History ×1.5
- 6/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 6/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 9/10
Strengths
- 1,300+ forex pairs claimed on the homepage
- WebSocket streaming, 6 official SDK languages, and a documented MCP server
Weaknesses
- Free tier is restricted to trial symbols only, not the full market
- Meaningful daily limits start at the $66/mo (annual) Grow tier
Twelve Data claims real-time delivery on 1,300+ forex pairs, including on its free tier, but that free tier is restricted to trial symbols rather than the pairs traders actually want. Paid access starts at $66 a month, billed annually.
Tiingo
6.5/10 140+ pairs with websocket streaming that moved to subsecond feeds in 2026, bundled into the same $25/mo Power plan as stocks.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 6/10
- Real-time ×2
- 8/10
- History ×1.5
- 5/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 7/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 6/10
Strengths
- 140+ currency pairs with websocket streaming, subsecond as of a 2026-09-08 changelog entry
- History from 2020 onward, bundled into the $25/mo (annual) Power plan
Weaknesses
- No official SDK for any language, community-maintained only
- History only reaches back to 2020, shallower than dedicated FX vendors
Tiingo streams 140+ pairs over websocket, and a 2026 changelog entry says that feed moved to subsecond cadence. It shares the same $25-a-month Power plan, billed annually, as Tiingo’s stocks and crypto.
Massive
5.6/10 About 1,200 currency pairs are bundled in the Currencies subscription, but real-time/delay tiering isn't itemized separately from crypto.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 8/10
- Real-time ×2
- 6/10
- History ×1.5
- 3/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 3/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 8/10
Strengths
- About 1,200 currency pairs per the Currencies product page
- REST, WebSocket, official SDKs in 4 languages, and a dedicated MCP server
Weaknesses
- Real-time vs. delayed tiering for currencies is not itemized on the product page
- No forex history depth published
Massive bundles roughly 1,200 currency pairs into the same Currencies subscription as crypto, inside one API that also covers stocks. Massive’s pricing page does not itemize forex delay separately from crypto on that subscription.
Alpha Vantage
5.4/10 FX_INTRADAY and FX_DAILY/WEEKLY/MONTHLY endpoints cover real-time and historical forex, but only on a $49.99/mo-plus paid plan.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 6/10
- Real-time ×2
- 5/10
- History ×1.5
- 5/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 5/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 6/10
Strengths
- Dedicated FX_INTRADAY, FX_DAILY, FX_WEEKLY, and FX_MONTHLY endpoints
- Official hosted MCP server and a free Google Sheets add-on
Weaknesses
- No real-time forex on the free tier -- $49.99/mo Premium 1 required
- No websocket delivery for streaming FX ticks
Alpha Vantage’s FX_INTRADAY and FX_DAILY endpoints cover real-time and historical forex, but only once you’re on a paid plan; the free tier caps out at 25 requests a day with no real-time data at all. Paid plans start at $41.58 a month, billed annually.
Finnhub
5.4/10 Dedicated /forex/exchange, /forex/symbol, /forex/rates, and /forex/candle endpoints exist, but all are marked 'Premium Access Required' with an unpublished price.
- Forex coverage ×2
- 5/10
- Real-time ×2
- 6/10
- History ×1.5
- 4/10
- Cost ×1.5
- 5/10
- Developer experience ×1
- 8/10
Strengths
- Dedicated forex exchange, symbol, rate, and candle endpoints
- Websocket trade streaming includes forex, plus 6 official SDK languages
Weaknesses
- Every forex endpoint is marked 'Premium Access Required' with no published price
- No free-tier limit published on finnhub.io/pricing itself
Finnhub’s /forex/candle and /forex/rates endpoints exist and stream over websocket, but every one is marked “Premium Access Required” on Finnhub’s own docs, with no forex-specific price published.
Seven more providers fill out the ranking, from Financial Modeling Prep in seventh place to Unusual Whales last. FMP claims 1,500+ pairs behind a top-tier websocket. Alpaca’s forex rates exist in its docs, but depth and delay are unverified anywhere. Yahoo Finance’s currency quote pages are free with no official API behind them. Databento’s own homepage contradicts itself on spot FX, calling it “coming soon” in one place and “100+ currency pairs from 40+ liquidity providers” in another.
Is there a free forex data api?
Only a slow one. Alpha Vantage’s free tier returns real currency pairs, at 25 requests a day with no real-time data, and Twelve Data’s free tier works on trial symbols only.
Which forex api is cheapest for real-time streaming?
Tiingo’s $25-a-month Power plan, billed annually, is the cheapest real-time forex feed with genuine pair breadth and a websocket. EODHD only turns on real-time forex on its $99.99-a-month top tier, four times Tiingo’s price, though EODHD’s pairs run to 1,100+ against Tiingo’s 140+.
Why would a forex developer on serverless hosting choose another provider?
Because the exchanges classify our product as a controlled platform only while one customer device at a time reads the data. Serverless platforms send requests from rotating egress IPs, which breaks that promise, so we allow no IP allowlists or exemptions.
A paying customer asked us for an allowlist in July 2026, for a personal portfolio monitor on edge functions. We said no, and gave him the only alternative the exchanges allow: uncontrolled access with no IP limit, which means historical data only, with every intraday and real-time price switched off.
Where do we send commercial requests for the data we do sell?
We stopped selling to business customers ourselves in February 2025, when IEX ended free redistribution of real-time stock prices for business use. From then on, every business plan carried exchange fees per customer and compliance work our small team could not carry.
So we refer commercial buyers to our partner Intrinio. Between 1 and 25 September 2026 we sent it 22 commercial enquiries, about one a day. The test we apply is display: if other people see the prices, or scores built from them, the use is commercial.
Where does Market Data fit if you trade forex and US options?
Nowhere, for currency pairs. Our real-time options start on the Trader plan, $30 a month billed annually, but that plan covers US stocks and options only, never a currency pair.
The ranking of financial data providers covers all of these companies across every asset class, and our own best stock API ranking is the better read once forex isn’t the whole job.