# Coinlayer

> Coinlayer is a real-time and historical cryptocurrency exchange rate REST API, used by 25,000+ customers to power price tickers and dashboards, portfolio and wallet apps, crypto-to-fiat checkout pricing, accounting and tax tooling, and market analysis. It covers more than 385 cryptocurrencies aggregated from 25 integrated exchanges, convertible into 166 fiat target currencies, with historical end-of-day data reaching back to 2011. Responses are flat, lightweight JSON returning a success flag, a UTC timestamp, the target currency, and a rates object mapping each symbol to its value; with extended results enabled, each rate expands to include the day's high, low, trading volume, and market cap. JSONP callbacks are supported, and every plan connects over 256-bit SSL. The service runs on distributed infrastructure backed by an uptime SLA, with response times as low as 20 milliseconds. Coinlayer is part of the APILayer suite (one account, one API key, one dashboard across the APILayer product family).
A free API key is available at https://coinlayer.com/signup/free — the Free Plan includes 100 requests per month with hourly rate updates, historical data, SSL, and USD as the only target currency, restricted to non-commercial use and without support; paid plans add commercial-use rights, standard support, all 166 target currencies, extended results, faster refresh, and the conversion, time-frame, and change endpoints. Paid tiers are Basic ($9.99/month, 5,000 requests, hourly updates, adds the conversion endpoint), Professional ($39.99/month, 30,000 requests, 10-minute updates, adds the time-frame endpoint), and Professional Plus ($79.99/month, 100,000 requests, 60-second updates, adds change data), with volume-based Enterprise pricing and up to 15% off on annual billing. To call the API, append your access_key as a query parameter. The base URL is api.coinlayer.com. A single lookup is one HTTP GET request: api.coinlayer.com/live?access_key=YOUR_KEY&symbols=BTC,ETH. The API offers 6 endpoints: List (all supported cryptocurrencies and target currencies), Live (latest rates), Historical (rates for a specific past date), Convert (an amount between any two supported currencies — crypto-to-fiat, fiat-to-crypto, or crypto-to-crypto), Time-Frame (a daily series between a start_date and end_date), and Change (fluctuation and percentage change between two dates). Three optional parameters shape the response: symbols limits output to a comma-separated set of coin codes and cuts bandwidth, target switches the fiat currency away from the USD default (paid plans only), and expand set to 1 returns the extended high, low, volume, and market cap fields (Basic plan and above). Usage notifications are sent at 75%, 90%, and 100% of the monthly allowance, after which overage fees apply. Code examples and integration guides are provided for multiple languages.
## Getting Started
- [Coinlayer Homepage](https://coinlayer.com/): Real-time and historical crypto exchange rate API for 385+ coins
- [API Documentation](https://docs.apilayer.com/coinlayer/docs/api-documentation): Full reference — all six endpoints, parameters, response objects, errors, and code examples
- [Getting Started Guide](https://docs.apilayer.com/coinlayer/docs/getting-started): Endpoint summary, HTTPS, JSONP callbacks, and authentication
- [Free API Key Signup](https://coinlayer.com/signup/free): Create a free account with 100 monthly requests
- [Login](https://coinlayer.com/login): Access your dashboard, API key, and usage statistics
- [Pricing](https://coinlayer.com/pricing): Free and premium plan tiers with request volumes, refresh rates, and endpoint access
## Tools
- [API Status](https://coinlayer.com/api-status): Updates on API performance and uptime
- [Overage Billing Documentation](https://coinlayer.com/billing-overages-documentation): How per-request charges apply once a plan's monthly quota is reached
## Resources
- [FAQs](https://coinlayer.com/faq): Common questions on data sources and exchanges, historical coverage, plans, and payment
- [APILayer Blog](https://blog.apilayer.com/): Tutorials, use cases, and product updates
## Support
- [Contact Us](https://coinlayer.com/contact): Sales and technical support
- [Get a Quote](https://coinlayer.com/contact/quote): Custom and high-volume plan inquiries