Exchangerate.host SDKs & Libraries: Language Integrations (2026)

SDKs overview

Exchangerate.host provides an API for accessing real-time and historical currency exchange rates, as well as currency conversion functionalities. While the service emphasizes direct API interaction through standard HTTP requests, it also facilitates integration through various language-specific examples and community-contributed libraries. These resources aim to streamline the process of retrieving financial data, enabling developers to incorporate exchange rate information into web applications, financial tools, and other software without extensive manual API request construction.

The API supports both JSON and XML response formats and enforces HTTPS for all requests, enhancing data security. Developers can access comprehensive documentation including code examples in cURL, Python, PHP, and JavaScript to assist with initial setup and usage. The architecture is designed for ease of use, focusing on clear endpoints and predictable data structures.

Official SDKs by language

Exchangerate.host primarily supports direct API calls and provides extensive documentation with code examples across several programming languages. While there are no conventionally packaged "official SDKs" in the traditional sense (e.g., installable client libraries maintained by the vendor), the detailed code examples serve a similar purpose by offering ready-to-use snippets for common operations. These examples cover the core functionalities such as fetching latest rates, historical rates, and performing conversions.

The following table outlines the primary languages for which Exchangerate.host provides direct code examples and instructions, which act as de facto official integration methods:

These examples are available directly within the Exchangerate.host documentation, illustrating how to construct requests and parse responses for various API endpoints. Such an approach allows developers to integrate the API using familiar tools and patterns in their preferred language.

Installation

Given the emphasis on direct API interaction, installation typically involves setting up a basic HTTP client library in your chosen programming language rather than an Exchangerate.host-specific SDK. The following provides common installation steps for the essential libraries used in the official examples:

Python

For Python, the requests library is widely used for making HTTP requests. It simplifies the process of sending requests and handling responses.

pip install requests

You can verify the installation by importing it in a Python interpreter:

import requests
print(requests.__version__)

PHP

PHP typically leverages its built-in cURL extension or file_get_contents function for making external HTTP requests. No additional library installation is usually required beyond ensuring your PHP environment has the cURL extension enabled.

To check if cURL is enabled:

<?php
  if (extension_loaded('curl')) {
    echo "cURL is enabled.";
  } else {
    echo "cURL is not enabled. Please enable it in your php.ini.";
  }
?>

JavaScript (Node.js)

In a Node.js environment, the node-fetch library provides a similar API to the browser's native Fetch API. For browser-based JavaScript, Fetch is natively available and requires no installation.

npm install node-fetch

If you are working with modern JavaScript environments, you might also consider using axios, another popular HTTP client library, which can be installed via npm:

npm install axios

More information on installing and using package managers like pip for Python or npm for Node.js can be found in their respective documentation, such as the pip installation guide or the npm install documentation.

Quickstart example

The following example demonstrates how to retrieve the latest exchange rates using Python and the requests library. This snippet fetches the current exchange rates relative to a base currency (e.g., USD) and prints the data.

import requests

# Define the API endpoint for latest rates
API_URL = "https://api.exchangerate.host/latest"

# Parameters for the request (optional, can specify base and symbols)
params = {
    "base": "USD",  # Base currency
    "symbols": "EUR,GBP,JPY" # Specific target currencies
}

try:
    # Make the GET request to the API
    response = requests.get(API_URL, params=params)
    response.raise_for_status()  # Raise an HTTPError for bad responses (4xx or 5xx)

    # Parse the JSON response
    data = response.json()

    # Check if the request was successful based on API's own 'success' field
    if data.get("success"):
        print(f"Latest exchange rates (Base: {data.get('base')}):")
        for currency, rate in data.get("rates").items():
            print(f"  {currency}: {rate}")
    else:
        print(f"API Error: {data.get('error', 'Unknown error')}")

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
    print(f"Request failed: {e}")
except ValueError:
    print("Failed to parse JSON response.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"An unexpected error occurred: {e}")

This script first defines the API endpoint and any necessary parameters, then uses requests.get() to send the request. Error handling is included to catch network issues or API-specific errors. The response.json() method is used to parse the JSON output into a Python dictionary, from which specific rate data can be extracted and displayed.

For more detailed examples and different API endpoints, refer to the Exchangerate.host API documentation.

Community libraries

While Exchangerate.host directly provides API examples, the open-source nature of web development frequently leads to community-contributed libraries that can further simplify integration. These libraries often wrap the raw API calls, providing more idiomatic interfaces for specific programming languages.

Developers searching for community-maintained wrappers can typically find them on popular package repositories such as:

• PyPI (Python Package Index): For Python, search for packages like exchangerate or exchange-rates. These might offer higher-level abstractions over the requests library.
• NPM (Node Package Manager): For JavaScript and Node.js, look for packages named similarly, e.g., exchangerate-api or currency-exchange.
• Packagist (PHP): For PHP, search keywords like exchangerate or currency to find Composer packages that might encapsulate API interactions.

When using community libraries, it is advisable to check several factors:

• Maintenance Status: Ensure the library is actively maintained and compatible with the latest API versions.
• Documentation: Good documentation helps understand how to use the library effectively.
• Licensing: Verify the license is suitable for your project.
• Community Support: Look for indicators of an active community (e.g., GitHub issues, forums).

A good starting point for discovering such libraries is often by searching on GitHub or the specific language's package registry, using terms related to "Exchangerate.host" or "currency exchange API". For example, a search on GitHub for "Exchangerate.host Python" might reveal relevant projects. These resources, though not officially supported, can sometimes offer more convenient or feature-rich interfaces for specific use cases.