Currency Converter

Convert money between currencies at reference rates

Currency Converter turns an amount in one currency into another using the European Central Bank’s daily reference rates.

The rates come from Frankfurter, a free open-source service that republishes the ECB data. Your browser downloads the whole rate table and does the arithmetic itself, so the amount you type and the currencies you choose are not part of that request.

How to convert an amount to another currency

1. Once the rates have loaded and the lists unlock, type an amount in the Amount box (it starts at 100).
2. Choose the currency you have under From and the one you want under To. Common ones such as USD, EUR, GBP, INR and JPY are listed first, followed by the rest in alphabetical order.
3. Read the converted amount underneath. Press the swap button to convert in the opposite direction.

What the numbers mean

• Converted amount: formatted in the target currency. Results below 1 get up to four decimal places so tiny amounts don’t show as zero.
• Rate line: the exchange rate in both directions — 1 unit of each currency in the other — to six significant figures.
• “Rates as of” date: the working day the ECB published the rates in use. At weekends it shows the last working day.
• Connection warning: if the rate service can’t be reached, the tool falls back to the last rates saved in your browser, says which date they’re from, and shows a Try again button.

When a quick currency conversion helps

• Shopping online or abroad: get a rough idea of what a foreign price comes to before checking out.
• Quoting clients: sanity-check a fee in a client’s currency — one reason it features in our tools every freelancer should bookmark.
• Adding a fee or tip: convert the amount, then work out a percentage on top with the Percentage Calculator.

Reference rates explained

Why your bank’s rate is different

An ECB reference rate is a single daily snapshot with no margin added. Banks, card providers and exchange bureaus build their own margin or fee into the rate they give you, so the amount you actually pay or receive will usually be a little less favourable. Treat the result here as a guide, not a quote.

How often the rates change

The ECB publishes new rates once each working day, around 16:00 CET, and not at weekends or on its holidays. When you open the page, the converter reuses rates it downloaded within the last six hours and only fetches a fresh table after that.

Every rate is quoted against the euro, so a pair such as GBP to JPY is calculated through the two euro rates.

Currency Converter: common questions