specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: FXRatesAPI
providerId: fxratesapi
created: '2026-07-12'
modified: '2026-07-12'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Foreign Exchange
- FX
- Currency
- Exchange Rates
- FinOps
- Cost Management
description: >-
  FinOps view of FXRatesAPI spend. FXRatesAPI bills on a subscription model
  keyed to a monthly request quota (free tier plus paid tiers), not on
  per-request usage-based metering. Cost is driven by which tier an account
  subscribes to and how much of the monthly request allowance is consumed.
  Exact per-tier prices are not reconciled in this artifact (see plans).
notes: >-
  reconciled=false. Per-tier prices and quotas must be verified against
  fxratesapi.com/pricing during reconciliation. Modeled as subscription /
  recurring pricing based on the observed free-plus-paid-tier structure.
sources:
- https://fxratesapi.com/pricing
- https://fxratesapi.com/docs/endpoints/usage
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: FXRatesAPI
serviceCategory: Financial Data
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: FXRatesAPI
  ServiceCategory: Financial Data
  ProviderName: FXRatesAPI
  PublisherName: FXRatesAPI
  InvoiceIssuerName: FXRatesAPI
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Purchase
  PricingCategory: Subscription
meters:
- name: monthly_requests
  description: API requests counted against the subscription's monthly quota.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - endpoint
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track monthly request consumption against the plan quota in the FXRatesAPI account usage page.
- name: Allocation
  description: Issue separate API keys per workload/team to attribute request consumption.
- name: Optimization
  description: Cache latest and currency-list responses; batch currencies in a single request; use time-series for ranges instead of many historical calls; right-size the subscription tier to actual monthly volume.
- name: Accountability
  description: Review monthly request burn against the plan quota to avoid overage or forced upgrades.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com