CoinGecko API alternatives for historical OHLCV data
CoinGecko's coin-chart history is not one exchange's candles. See what its docs say and compare exchange APIs, CCXT, CoinAPI, CoinDesk Data and Comparand.
CoinGecko's coin-chart request gives one price series per coin, with market cap and volume. It does not give candles from one exchange: its published request fields have no exchange or contract setting. If you need Binance or Coinbase bars, CCXT, an exchange's own API, CoinAPI or Comparand's free venue_bars tool fits better.
Hourly detail has limits too. The docs say hourly data starts on 30 January 2018, and an explicit hourly request can cover the past 100 days. Detail turns daily above 90 days when you let it choose. This guide compares CoinGecko with exchange APIs, CCXT, CoinAPI, CoinDesk Data and Comparand, and says what CoinGecko does better.
What does the CoinGecko API give you?
CoinGecko's coin-chart request returns price, market cap and volume histories. You ask by coin ID and quote currency, such as the US dollar.
Its catalog also lists separate requests for coin OHLC, exchanges, derivatives and on-chain pool data. OHLC means open, high, low and close, the four prices in a candle. These are different requests, so check each one for the exchange and bar size you need.
Plan prices and plan history depth change, and we could not confirm the current plan page. We do not quote them here. Read CoinGecko's pricing page before you choose a plan.
Why is coin-level history not the same as one exchange's candles?
A coin-level series is one price per coin, built for the whole market. An exchange candle comes from one market on one exchange. Binance BTCUSDT perpetuals (futures contracts that never expire) and Coinbase BTC-USD spot (the coin itself, priced in US dollars) are different markets with different prices.
The coin-chart request has no exchange or contract selector. So it cannot stand in for the Binance BTCUSDT perp or Coinbase BTC-USD spot candles. This matters if you test a trading rule, because the fills you imagine would happen on one exchange. Our guide on why Bitcoin prices differ between exchanges measures the gap.
What are the alternatives?
Figures are as each source publishes them. We did not test the data.
| Option | What it gives you | Published limits | Published price | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| An exchange's own API (example: Hyperliquid) | Candles from that exchange. Hyperliquid's candle request takes coin, interval and start and end times | Hyperliquid serves only the most recent 5,000 candles | Hyperliquid's API is free to call | One exchange, recent history |
| CCXT | One open-source library for 100+ exchanges and prediction markets | One call returns a page, not years; each exchange's limits apply | Free (MIT license) | Developers who will write and run code |
| CoinAPI | OHLCV, trades, quotes, order books, funding, open interest, liquidations; 400+ exchanges | 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 REST credits a day by plan | Startup $79/month, Streamer $249, Pro $599; pay as you go with $25 free credits | Developers who want one hosted API |
| CoinDesk Data | Trade, derivatives, order book and on-chain data; 300+ exchanges, 10,000+ coins; back to 2010 | No rate limits found on its pages | No public price found | Firms that talk to a sales team |
| Comparand | Free exchange bars, funding and trades, plus past-chart search | Bars from 1 minute to 1 day; a key needed | Free tools on any key; pay as you go from $5 | Researchers and AI agents |
Sources: CoinGecko docs, Hyperliquid docs, CCXT, CoinAPI and CoinDesk Data.
CoinDesk Data announced that its free API tier would end on 21 May 2026. After that, accounts without a subscription stop returning data.
What does CoinGecko do better?
CoinGecko's coin-chart request returns market cap, which Comparand does not. Its docs also list exchange and derivatives requests, and on-chain data for tokens and pools on decentralized exchanges.
It also runs an MCP server. MCP is a standard way for AI apps to use outside tools. The keyless remote server is free and has shared rate limits. A keyed remote server and a local package give higher limits and the full tool set. Each tool call counts against your plan's limits. The MCP page lists prices, market caps and volumes with history, exchange data, trending coins and on-chain data. It does not say how far back the history goes or which exchanges it covers.
If you want coin metadata, market cap, trending coins or decentralized-exchange data, CoinGecko fits that job and Comparand does not.
What does Comparand's free exchange data cover?
Comparand's market data covers Hyperliquid plus dozens of other exchanges. Most of those are price bars only. Three free tools matter here:
- venue_coverage lists the exchanges and prediction markets served now, with their datasets and bar sizes.
- venue_markets lists the markets one exchange offers, so you can find the exact symbol.
- venue_bars returns open, high, low, close and volume for one symbol over a start and end, completed bars only. If you would rather write your own download code, our guide to CCXT vs a hosted data API shows what paging through years of candles takes.
A request names an exchange and symbol, so you get that market's bars. It does not average across exchanges. The six venue tools are free with any key. A key comes with a plan or a first pay-as-you-go purchase of $5 or more.
Comparand also finds past charts that look like today's. A search compares a coin only with its own past on the same exchange. It shows past cases, not a forecast. To connect an agent, see connecting Claude or ChatGPT to crypto data.
Where is Comparand narrower?
Comparand has fewer exchanges than CoinAPI, CoinDesk Data or CCXT claim. It has no market cap, no coin metadata and no decentralized-exchange data. It does not offer order-book depth. For the chart search, hourly bars start in January 2017 on Coinbase and September 2019 on Binance. Hyperliquid starts in April 2025.
How can you check any source before you trust it?
Our guide to checking crypto data provenance covers this in more detail. The quick version:
- Pick one market, such as Binance BTCUSDT perps, and request one week of hourly bars.
- Count the bars. A full week has one bar for each hour.
- Check a few closes against the exchange's own chart.
- Find the first available date for your market, not just for Bitcoin.
How we measured this
We read official documentation and pricing pages from each source and linked the main ones. We recorded published limits and prices. We did not download data from any service, so we did not test gaps, speed or accuracy. We left out CoinGecko plan prices and plan history years because we could not confirm them. We make no claim about which source has the better numbers.
Try this in Comparand
Ask your connected AI agent:
- "Which exchanges and markets can I request?" venue_coverage lists them with datasets and bar sizes.
- "List the markets on this exchange that match this name." venue_markets finds the exact symbol.
- "Show completed hourly bars for this symbol over these dates." venue_bars returns open, high, low, close and volume. Bar sizes run from 1 minute to 1 day.
All three are free on every key. See the pricing page for plans, or try 3 coins free to see past-chart search.
The short version
- CoinGecko's coin-chart request is coin-level, not one exchange's candles.
- Its docs say hourly data starts on 30 January 2018, and an explicit hourly request covers the past 100 days.
- Exchange APIs and CCXT are free but limited, and you write the code.
- CoinAPI and CoinDesk Data are hosted; CoinDesk Data shows no public price.
- Comparand's free venue tools return one exchange's bars; it has no market cap or decentralized-exchange data.
Questions people ask
Does the CoinGecko API give OHLCV candles for one exchange?
Its coin-chart request returns price, market cap and volume for a coin. Its published fields have no way to pick an exchange or contract, so it is not the same as Binance or Coinbase candles. CoinGecko's catalog has other requests, including coin OHLC, that need their own check.
How far back does CoinGecko give hourly prices?
CoinGecko's docs say hourly data on its coin-chart request starts on 30 January 2018, and an explicit hourly request can cover the past 100 days. Detail turns daily above 90 days when you let it choose.
What is a free alternative to the CoinGecko API for exchange candles?
CCXT is a free open-source library that asks each exchange for candles. Hyperliquid's own API is free to call but serves only its most recent 5,000 candles. Comparand's venue_bars tool is free on any key and returns completed bars from one exchange's market.
Is CoinGecko better than Comparand?
They do different jobs. CoinGecko lists market cap, trending coins and on-chain DEX data. Comparand returns one exchange's bars and searches a coin's own past for look-alike charts. It has no market-cap or DEX data.