Oanda Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons

The Oanda Exchange Rate API is an HTTP API that gives users access to Oanda’s real-time, daily exchange rate days. With the API, business owners can programmatically request rates that they can process and save in a format that works for their organization. 

The exchange rates API automatically provides data on over 200 currencies with access to 25 central bank exchange rates. 

The API also automatically delivers daily averages, tick-level, real-time (spot) forward rates, etc. into the TMS, ERP, website, app, and digital product of clients. 

Developers can select from Oanda’s pre-built integrations and connections that can be used almost immediately or they can build their API integration. 

The API can easily be integrated into any system, application, or software. 

Oanda provides integration documentation as well as sample code and a handy guide that can help developers integrate the API into their platforms. 

Oanda offers a 7-day free trial for the Exchange Rates API. The free trial gives users access to unlimited free quotes. Users can also choose an API package that suits their FX data needs. 

With the free trial, developers can test various currency pairs and outputs using the interactive API documentation page. 

Oanda offers flexible API pricing plans. The plans start from $4,500 per year. As already stated, users can choose a customized plan that is tailored to suit their needs. 

Oanda partners with accounting software providers, ERPs, treasury management systems, and integration platforms to make the installation of the Exchange Rates API seamless and efficient. 

Users can easily connect their ERP systems with Oanda using the pre-built integrations which allows users to use pre-built interfaces. 

All you need to do is to enter your API key in the ERP system and define a schedule for your updates. Once this is done, your ERP will start receiving rates from Oanda for system-wide use. 

The exchange rates provided by the API are averages from the global foreign exchange market and are gathered from frequently updated sources including leading market data vendors, contributing financial institutions, and Oanda’s FX trade currency trading platforms. 

In addition, the rates are based on thousands of different price points that are collected every tick, every second, 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year. 

Once the rates are collected, it is validated by Oanda’s state-of-the-art technology which uses algorithms to detect and filter anomalies. 

The system calculates the average of all data collected over 24 hours and makes it available to customers. That said, the rates displayed on Oanda may vary from other sources, this is due to several reasons, one of which is the source of the rate. 

Oanda derives its FX rates by constantly updating several sources. Since Forex is an over-the-counter market, it means that OTC contracts are not executed or cleared on a central exchange. This means the source and quality of Forex rates can vary between data providers. Oanda’s rates may differ from that of other data providers if the providers make use of a single source or non-tradeable rates. 

The exchange rate data for the API is updated at 00:00 UTC. That said, Oanda offers 96 fixings points daily. This allows users to customize their reporting period. 

Authentication with an API key is required for users to access all of Oanda’s API endpoints.

Depending on the plans chosen, some subscription plans have quote limits. The limits are applied to the number of quotes returned by the rates endpoints, limits are not applied to the number of API requests made. 

Oanda does not count requests made to other endpoints such as the remaining quotes and currencies endpoints against a user’s quote limit. But access to this will be blocked once the quote limit is reached. 

Users can view the number of quotes they have remaining for each period by checking the rates endpoint response header or by counting the Remaining Quotes endpoint.