Currency Converter
Convert between 28 major currencies with live rates. Cached locally, no signup, no upsell.
Rates from exchangerate-api.com (free tier). Cached 1 hour. Mid-market rates — your bank or card may charge a 2-4% spread.
Convert between 28 major currencies with live mid-market rates. Cached for an hour, no signup, no ads on this page above the fold.
Currency Converter is the kind of tool you reach for 5 times a year — checking a hotel price abroad, comparing salaries across countries, deciding whether a SaaS subscription priced in EUR is reasonable for your USD budget. The 'official' tools (Google's, your bank's) are fine, but they often show only one direction or pull from a delayed feed.
Pickrack's Currency Converter uses live mid-market rates from [exchangerate-api.com](https://www.exchangerate-api.com/), sourced from major banks. Pickrack's server holds the API key and proxies requests through /api/currency/rates — your browser never sees the key, the upstream domain isn't even in the page's allowed Content-Security-Policy. The server caches rates in memory for 60 minutes; your browser additionally caches them in localStorage so repeat conversions are instant.
Free, no signup, no ads on this page. The CSV/Excel-style precision matches what banks quote internally — your *actual* transaction rate will be 1-4% worse (banks pocket the spread), so use this for estimation, not for trading.
Key features
- 28 major currencies — USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CNY, VND, AUD, CAD, CHF, HKD, SGD, INR, KRW, THB, MYR, IDR, PHP, TWD, BRL, MXN, NZD, SEK, NOK, DKK, PLN, TRY, ZAR, AED.
- Live rates, hourly cache — Rates come from exchangerate-api.com via Pickrack's server proxy (API key stays server-side). Cached on the server for 60 minutes and in your browser localStorage so repeat conversions are instant.
- Swap currencies in one click — Click the swap button to invert from→to (USD→VND becomes VND→USD instantly).
- Decimal handling per currency — VND, JPY, KRW, IDR display without decimals (those currencies don't have subunits); USD, EUR, GBP, etc. show 2 decimals.
- Force refresh button — If you suspect a rate changed (e.g., during major news), click the timestamp to fetch fresh data immediately.
How to use
- Step 1: Enter the amount — Type the amount you want to convert. Use the source currency's natural format (e.g., 100 for USD, 100000 for VND).
- Step 2: Select source currency — Pick the 'From' currency. The currency list shows the 3-letter ISO code plus the full name.
- Step 3: Select target currency — Pick the 'To' currency. The conversion happens live as you type or change selections.
- Step 4: Read the result — Big number shows the converted amount. Below: the per-unit rate and last-updated timestamp.
- Step 5 (optional): Swap or refresh — Click the ↔ button to flip from/to. Click the timestamp to force-refresh rates.
When to use
- Hotel price comparison — see if €120/night is cheaper than $135 at your bank's effective rate
- SaaS pricing comparison — Notion charges $10/mo for individuals; what's that in your currency?
- Remote salary negotiation — convert a $90k USD offer into VND, INR, or your home currency for context
- Travel budget planning — figure out what 30,000 JPY is in USD before booking a Tokyo Airbnb
- Freelance invoice prep — invoice a US client in USD, know the EUR/VND equivalent for your local bank deposit
- Currency trend awareness — check today's rate, compare to your bank's transfer rate; bank usually charges 2-4% on top
Frequently asked questions
How accurate are these rates?
Rates come from exchangerate-api.com which sources from major banks and central bank feeds. They're updated hourly. Mid-market rates (the rate banks use to trade with each other) typically match Google's quoted rate within 0.1%. Your *transaction* rate at a bank or credit card will be 1-4% worse — that's the bank's spread.
Why don't the rates match my bank's exchange rate?
Your bank quotes you a retail rate that includes their margin (usually 2-4%). Credit cards typically charge 1-3% currency conversion fee + a markup. Wire transfers can be 4-7% all-in. Use mid-market rates (this tool) to know the *fair* rate; subtract 2-4% to estimate what you'll actually get.
Are the rates cached?
Two layers: Pickrack's server caches in memory for 60 minutes per source currency; your browser additionally caches in localStorage. After 1 hour, the next conversion fetches fresh rates. Click the timestamp text to force-refresh.
Where does the rate data come from?
Pickrack's server fetches mid-market rates from exchangerate-api.com using a server-held API key, caches them in memory for 60 minutes, and serves them to your browser through /api/currency/rates. The API key never leaves our server. If the upstream is down, we serve the last cached rates. Source code: github.com/pickrack/pickrack.
Can I convert cryptocurrency (BTC, ETH)?
Not in this tool. Crypto rates move every second and require a different data source. For BTC↔USD, use a dedicated exchange (Coinbase, Kraken) or a crypto-aware tool. Adding BTC/ETH to this tool is on the roadmap but not yet shipped.
What if exchangerate-api.com is down?
Pickrack's server serves the last cached rates (within 60 minutes old) automatically. If both the upstream and the server cache are unavailable, the browser falls back to its own localStorage cache. Extended outages are rare; the cache covers most.
Why these 28 currencies and not more?
These cover ~95% of remote work, travel, and SaaS pricing for Pickrack's audience based on search data. Adding all 167 ISO currencies clutters the dropdown without adding value for most users. Open an issue at github.com/pickrack/pickrack if a specific currency you need is missing.
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