What you get with a free crypto API from CoinAPI ($25 credits)

Stop wasting hours searching for reliable crypto data. Get started instantly with $25 in free API credits from CoinAPI and finally access real, high-quality market data when you need it most.

Quants, fintech builders, and developers who want the fastest way to validate their next crypto project get instant access to real crypto market data, no upfront cost or subscription required. With $25 in free API credits, you can test live endpoints, analyze data from 370+ exchanges, and experience the data accuracy that separates leaders from laggards.

To receive free credits, you'll need to generate an API key and add a verified payment method (there are no charges unless you purchase or upgrade). You can also unlock credits by purchasing a plan or adding funds. There is no long-term commitment, just the fastest path to production-ready data.

Ready to unlock the full potential of your next idea? Dive in, discover what's included, how to stretch every dollar of credit, and why the world's most technical teams trust CoinAPI for their crypto data needs.

Trusted by industry leaders

CoinAPI powers crypto data solutions for leading fintechs, global trading firms, and innovative startups. Our APIs are trusted by clients like Wyden, Bitwise, MIT, Paysafe, and dozens more featured in our case studies.

"CoinAPI does what a good crypto API is supposed to do: quickly and easily provide live data on any cryptocurrency and their trading volume. We use CoinAPI to power our tax calculation," Bitcoin.tax CEO Colin Mackie

What’s included in your $25 Free crypto API credits from CoinAPI?

Access to CoinAPI's cryptocurrency API endpoints for testing and development - you get full PAYG (Pay-As-You-Go) account access with $25 in credits to explore.

• $25 in free cryptocurrency API credits to explore over 370 exchanges and 15,000+ crypto assets before committing to additional purchases.
• A verified payment method is required to activate your free credits (no charges unless you purchase or upgrade). You'll need to generate an API key and then add a payment method, purchase credits, or buy a subscription to unlock the credits.
• Full API access: With your $25 credits, you have access to the same endpoints and data quality as any PAYG account holder.
• Track usage easily in the customer portal or via API headers to manage your crypto API balance.
• Credits never expire: Your $25 in credits remain available on your account until you use them - there's no expiration date.

Which endpoints are included in your $25 free crypto API credits from CoinAPI?

With your $25 credits, you can explore and test CoinAPI's full range of REST endpoints and even test WebSocket streaming. Each request simply deducts from your available credits. This lets you try real-world crypto data workflows and validate your use case before any commitment.

Market data endpoints:

• /v1/exchangerate: Get current or historical exchange rates for crypto and fiat assets. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/exchangerate/BTC/USD?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY> returns the current BTC/USD rate. For historical data, add time_start and period_id (e.g., 1HRS).
• /v1/ohlcv: Access OHLCV (Open, High, Low, Close, Volume) data for market analysis. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/ohlcv/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?period_id=1DAY&time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00&limit=100>.
• /v1/trades: Retrieve historical trade data for specific trading pairs. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/trades/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00>.
• /v1/quotes: Fetch historical quote data (bid/ask prices). Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/quotes/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00>.

Metadata endpoints:

• /v1/assets: List available crypto and fiat assets. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/assets?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY>.
• /v1/symbols: Get trading pairs and exchange details. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/symbols?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY>.

Sample responses

To help you understand the data format, here’s a sample JSON response for an OHLCV request:

1json
2
3[
4  {
5    "time_period_start": "2025-06-01T00:00:00.0000000Z",
6    "time_period_end": "2025-06-01T01:00:00.0000000Z",
7    "price_open": 60000.00,
8    "price_high": 60500.00,
9    "price_low": 59800.00,
10    "price_close": 60250.00,
11    "volume_traded": 150.5,
12    "trades_count": 120
13  }
14]
15

Sample response for an exchange rate request (/v1/exchangerate):

1json
2
3{
4  "asset_id_base": "BTC",
5  "asset_id_quote": "USD",
6  "rate": 65000.00,
7  "time": "2025-06-01T00:00:00.0000000Z"
8}

Quick-reference table: Free crypto API vs. Paid plans

Check the exact scope at /v1/assets and /v1/symbols during the trial.

$25 credits - What you should know

• Usage-based billing: Your credits are consumed based on API usage - different endpoints have different costs per request.
• Data Scope: You have access to the full dataset, with costs per request varying (e.g., setting limit=1000 uses more credits than limit=10).
• WebSocket Available: You can test WebSocket streaming endpoints with your credits.
• No Expiration: Credits remain on your account until used - they never expire.
• PAYG Account: You're not on a "free tier" - you have a full Pay-As-You-Go account with $25 in credits to get started.

These credits give you full access to test the most important features and workflows for your use case. Make sure to plan your evaluation and prioritize the endpoints that matter most to you. If you need more credits, you can purchase them at any time to continue with the same account and integration.

How to test data efficiently

To get the most out of your $25 credits, use these steps to evaluate both historical and current crypto data with CoinAPI's REST API. For best results, test your calls in a sandbox or local development environment to optimize your credit usage.

1. Understand Historical Data Endpoints

Main Endpoint: Use /v1/ohlcv for OHLCV data, perfect for analyzing price trends. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/ohlcv/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?period_id=1DAY&time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00>. Exchange Rates: Use /v1/exchangerate for historical prices. Example: GET <https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/exchangerate/BTC/USD/history?period_id=1HRS&time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00>.

2. Optimize API Requests

• Use the limit parameter (up to 100,000 data points) to fetch more data in one call.
• Filter by exchange and pair using /v1/symbols to avoid unnecessary data.
• Request data in CSV for lighter responses.

3. Monitor Your Usage

• Track limits via headers and /api/subscriptions/usage/rest/history.
• Cache data locally to minimize repeat requests.

4. Test Real-time Features

• Try WebSocket connections to evaluate streaming data quality and latency.

Tip: Before running large queries, test your API calls with small limit values and a few assets or trading pairs. This will help you avoid unexpected credit consumption.

Would you like this version inserted into your document, or do you want any further customization for your target audience (e.g., focusing on quants, fintech, or developers)?

Sample workflow: Test BTC/USD OHLCV data

1. Confirm the trading pair exists: GET /v1/symbols?filter_symbol_id=BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD
2. Fetch 1 day of hourly OHLCV data: GET /v1/ohlcv/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?period_id=1HRS&time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00&time_end=2025-06-02T00:00:00
3. Save to CSV with Python:

1python
2
3import requests
4import pandas as pd
5url = "https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/ohlcv/BITSTAMP_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?period_id=1HRS&time_start=2025-06-01T00:00:00&time_end=2025-06-02T00:00:00"
6headers = {"X-CoinAPI-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
7response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
8data = response.json()
9df = pd.DataFrame(data)
10df.to_csv("btc_usd_historical.csv", index=False)

1. Visualize trends in Jupyter Notebook or Excel.

1python
2
3import pandas as pd
4import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
5df = pd.read_csv("btc_usd_historical.csv")
6df["time_period_start"] = pd.to_datetime(df["time_period_start"])
7df.plot(x="time_period_start", y="price_close", title="BTC/USD Closing Prices")
8plt.show()

Tip: To test multiple pairs, loop through the symbols retrieved from /v1/symbols.

Want to choose the most efficient way to access crypto data? Read our guide on REST API or Flat Files: Choosing the Best Crypto Data Access Method.

Need deep-dive tips on fetching historical ticks, quotes, or order book snapshots? Check out How to Access Historical Crypto Data with CoinAPI: Ticks, Quotes, and Order Books.

Lightning-fast developer onboarding

With extensive API documentation and client libraries for popular languages, most developers make their first successful API call in under 5 minutes. Rapid prototyping and scalable integration, no longer a setup or learning curve.

Crypto API pricing: When should you upgrade?

While your $25 in free crypto API credits lets you test real endpoints and evaluate CoinAPI, you may need additional credits for extended testing, larger datasets, or production use.

CoinAPI offers flexible PAYG pricing where you simply add credits as needed, with no subscription required.

See our crypto API pricing page to understand credit costs per endpoint and decide when adding more credits makes sense for your business.

Free crypto API plans: CoinAPI vs. Competitors

For advanced/enterprise & quant teams

Your $25 credits provide full API access for evaluation and prototyping. For production use, you can:

• Add more credits: Purchase additional PAYG credits as needed.
• Upgrade to plans: Access volume discounts and priority support
• Enterprise solutions: Custom integrations, FIX protocol access, S3 flat-file delivery.

CoinAPI maintains backward compatibility for all endpoints and ensures stable schemas. This means your integration built during the $25 credit evaluation will work seamlessly when you scale up - no migration required.

Curious how quant teams are using CoinAPI for advanced research? See How Crypto Quant Teams Use CoinAPI Index API to Build Macro Trading Signals.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Q: What happens if I use up my $25 credits?
A: You can purchase additional credits to continue using the same account and integration. No migration required.

Q: Can I keep my API key when I upgrade? A: Yes. Your integration remains active when you switch to a paid plan.

Q: Are there differences in data granularity, latency, or refresh rates between the $25 credit and paid accounts? A: No differences in data quality, granularity, or refresh rates. You get the same high-quality data that our enterprise customers rely on.

Q: How do I know what’s available in my $25 free API credits? A: Use /v1/assets and /v1/symbols endpoints, and check the CoinAPI documentation.

Q: Who uses CoinAPI?

A: CoinAPI is trusted by hundreds of teams worldwide, including fintech innovators, trading firms, hedge funds, academic labs, and enterprise finance leaders. Our users include:

• Finance managers seeking audit-ready, consolidated data streams
• Crypto fund managers need real-time, reliable market data
• Quant researchers and trading bot developers working with clean, research-grade tick data
• Data scientists and ML engineers are training models on granular, historical crypto data
• Backend and infrastructure engineers building scalable trading and analytics platforms
• Portfolio valuation and risk teams standardizing NAV and benchmarks across exchanges
• Tax, compliance, and accounting devs streamlining reporting and reconciliations
• Academic researchers and professors using CoinAPI for publication-ready datasets
• DeFi, Web3, and analytics teams bridging on-chain and off-chain data

CoinAPI serves leading quant trading desks, crypto hedge funds, academic research institutions, fintech startups, and enterprise infrastructure teams, solving their toughest data, integration, and reliability challenges.

See our case studies for real-world examples.

Explore resources

• API Docs: https://docs.coinapi.io/
• Support: Sign up for the Customer Portal, or email support@coinapi.io.

CoinAPI offers a flexible, usage-based free crypto API for developers and businesses evaluating crypto data solutions. The $25 free API credits let you test key endpoints, monitor your usage, and validate performance before choosing a plan. This approach gives you full control over your crypto API trial and sets you up for a smooth transition to CoinAPI’s production-ready, real-time crypto market data.

Ready for more credits?

Use your trial usage data in the portal to estimate costs and select a plan with higher limits and access to real-time, WebSocket, FIX, and S3 delivery.

For custom features, contact sales@coinapi.io or check pricing.