Since the creation of a Bitcoin in 2009, interest in cryptocurrencies has increased drastically and now gained its highest popularity. Now, many crypto companies create their own APIs to let users track relevant information about blockchains, coins, exchange rates, etc. in real-time. These APIs are extremely helpful for developers because they have low limits on the number of requests one can make in a period of time (a day or an hour), and what is more important, some of them are free and can be easy to use.

In this post, I’ve listed the top 5 crypto APIs that can help developers dive into the world of modern cryptocurrencies.

Hope you’ll enjoy it!

1. Binance API

This is probably the most popular crypto API that exists nowadays. The main advantage is that it is free, and to get access, you just need to have an authorized Binance account and generate your personal API token there. The process of getting a token is extremely simple and doesn’t require much effort and time. Another great advantage of this API is that it has REST and WebSocket endpoints. So, you can choose the one that is most suitable for you.

Furthermore, if you don’t have an authorized Binance account, you still can get access to some API endpoints and get basic information, such as the average coin price or exchange rates. As for the request limits, you can send up to 1200 requests per minute.

For users with an access token, the following actions are available: start/cancel the transaction, sell/buy cryptocurrencies.

Binance REST API documentation: https://binance-docs.github.io/apidocs/spot/en/#change-log
Binance Websocket API documentation: https://binance-docs.github.io/apidocs/websocket_api/en/#change-log

2. CoinGecko API

The CoinGecko offers users a multifunctional API that has more than 30 endpoints, which are updated on a regular basis. This API is free, you don’t need any access tokens to send requests, and its rate limits are 10-50 calls per minute. By using the CoinGecko API, you can: get the current price of any cryptocurrency (updates with each request), get a list of all supported currencies on the platform, get historical market and coin data, etc. What is worth mentioning is that this API has multiple languages and an enormous amount of cryptocurrency data (more than 12,000 coins and tokens).

• For those who need a wider range of API functions, CoinGecko offers different subscription plans that include special endpoints and requests which are different from the free version.

The official API documentation can be found here: https://www.coingecko.com/en/api/documentation

3. Kraken API

Another great API was created by the Kraken cryptocurrency trading platform. This API is completely free and has several endpoints that do not require auth keys or tokens and can be accessed publicly to explore different aspects of market data like asset info, recent trades, or tradable asset pairs. Rate limits are not extremely high – around 60 requests per minute – but it is quite enough for exploring the API.

Kraken API also has authenticated endpoints, which are only available with an access token. After authentication, user can use API to manage trading orders, withdraw funds, and personal accounts. Moreover, there is Websocket endpoint available as well to get streaming data.

Kraken REST API endpoints: https://docs.kraken.com/rest/
Kraken Websocket API endpoints: https://docs.kraken.com/websockets/

4. Coinbase API

The Coinbase API is a comprehensive and multifunctional cryptocurrency API. Some of the REST endpoints are free and require only an access key (which can be easily created in your personal account). Free endpoints are divided into two categories: Wallet API endpoints and Data API endpoints. You can discover information about users, accounts, addresses, transactions, and payment methods that is publicly available, as well as perform actions with your personal assets (make transactions, buy/sell crypto). The exchange rates, currencies and prices are also available with historic data. As for the rate limits, each API key or app is limited to 10,000 requests per hour.

For those who need to have greater access, there is a special Advanced Trade API (paid) that offers not only an extended number of REST endpoints but also allows connecting to the server via the WebSocket protocol to get real-time data.

Explore the docs: https://docs.cloud.coinbase.com/sign-in-with-coinbase/docs/welcome

5. CoinMarketCap API

This API allows users to use various RESTful JSON endpoints to get accurate market data. To gain access, you’ll need two things: getting an auth token (the detailed instruction are described in the API docs) and a subscription plan. What is great is that users are able to use a free version of the API and still get a huge amount of data. The free version provides users with 11 endpoints and allows getting the following data: cryptocurrency referential info and logo assets, latest cryptocurrency rankings and market quotes, latest global market cap, volume and stats, etc. The only disadvantage here is that the free version does not allow getting historical data, but at the same time the rate limits are great – you can make 10,000 calls per month.

Check the official docs here: https://coinmarketcap.com/api/documentation/v1/

Do you know what is common to all the aforementioned APIs? You can easily access any of them by using the greatest app – API Tester :)

Leave a comment below which API you liked the most and describe your experience!

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