Currency converter
Thirty-odd currencies against each other at the ECB’s daily reference rates, with the update date shown, because a rate without a date is a guess.
Guide
How to use it
- Enter the amount and pick the two currencies, the swap button reverses direction.
- Read the conversion and the rate line beneath it, both directions of the rate are shown.
- Note the rates-updated date: reference rates publish each working day around 16:00 central European time, weekends carry Friday’s.
- For actual spending, expect your card to apply a margin on top, the honest planning number is this rate plus 1 to 3%.
Examples
Reading the numbers like a traveller
The headline conversion for a weekend away. The reference rate is the fair midpoint, your card will settle slightly worse, and airport bureaux dramatically worse.
The rate line, both ways round. The reciprocal (1 EUR = 0.86 GBP) is the same fact, quoting whichever makes menus easier to read.
When a foreign card machine offers to charge you in GBP, decline: that conversion (dynamic currency conversion) uses the machine’s rate, typically 3 to 6% worse than your bank’s. Always pay in the local currency.
Method
How it works
Rates come from the European Central Bank’s daily reference fixing, fetched once a day via the free Frankfurter API and cached in your browser, subsequent conversions are pure local arithmetic, and your amounts never leave the page. Cross-rates (GBP to JPY, say) derive through the euro, exactly as the ECB publishes them.
Reference rates are for orientation, not settlement: they are a daily snapshot, not live market pricing, and no bank owes you this rate. The page says so on its face, which most converters somehow omit.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How current are the rates?
Each working day around 16:00 CET, the shown date is the truth. Weekend conversions use Friday’s fixing, which for planning purposes is fine.
Why does my bank give a different rate?
Banks and cards add a margin (typically 1 to 3% on decent cards, more on poor ones) and settle at their own timestamp. The reference rate is the fair yardstick to measure their markup against.
Is this rate good for invoicing clients abroad?
It is a defensible reference to name in a contract ("ECB reference rate on invoice date"). For the actual transfer, compare providers, the margin varies wildly.
Why is my currency missing?
The ECB publishes about thirty currencies, majors and European neighbours. Currencies outside that list need market-data sources beyond a reference fixing.
Does it work offline?
After the first load each day, yes, the day’s rates are cached locally, and the page says when it is showing cached figures.
Bitcoin?
No. Crypto prices move by the second and vary by venue, a daily reference fixing is the wrong instrument, and pretending otherwise would be exactly the false precision this site avoids.
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