Free Crypto APIs: A Comparison of Provider Offerings
In the world of cryptocurrency APIs, finding one that's both free and usable can be challenging. However, a closer look at some popular providers reveals that there are indeed options available. CoinMarketCap, CoinPaprika, CoinGecko, Kraken, and Binance all offer free tiers, but they differ significantly in what they include.
CoinMarketCap's Basic plan is free, carries commercial-use rights, and includes 15,000 call credits a month with 50 requests per minute. The Keyless Public API also allows for unauthenticated access to data across 18 Standard and 17 DEX endpoints. CoinPaprika's free plan, on the other hand, has personal-use restrictions and limits calls to 20,000 per month.
CoinGecko offers a Demo tier that requires attribution rather than granting commercial license, while Kraken and Binance publish market-data routes with no authentication required. The choice of provider depends on specific needs, such as building a product that will charge users or testing before committing to anything.