Currency Converter
Convert between currencies at the European Central Bank reference rate, with the date shown so you always know how fresh the figure is.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded
Loading today’s rates…
This is the one tool here that uses the network
Everything else on this site is arithmetic or file work your browser can do alone. An exchange rate cannot be: it is a fact about the world today, and it has to come from somewhere.
So this page fetches a public table of rates when it loads. That request asks for the table and carries nothing about you — the amount you type is never sent anywhere, and the conversion itself happens here once the table has arrived. It is stated plainly rather than quietly excepted from what the rest of the site promises.
You will not get this rate
These are European Central Bank reference rates: the mid-market figure, published once each working day at around 16:00 Central European Time. They are what the currency is worth, and not what anyone will sell it to you for.
A bank or a card adds a spread on top, typically between 0.5 and 3 per cent, and often a fixed fee as well. Airport bureaux are far worse. The useful thing about a mid-market rate is that it tells you how much of a spread you are being charged — compare the quote you are offered against this figure and the difference is the cost.
Watch for dynamic currency conversion
When a card machine abroad offers to charge you in your home currency, say no and choose the local one. That offer is dynamic currency conversion, and the rate is set by the terminal operator rather than by your card network. It is routinely three to six per cent worse.
It is presented as a convenience and it is a fee. The same applies to the equivalent option on foreign websites at checkout.
The rates are a day old, deliberately
The ECB publishes once per working day, so there is no weekend update and no intraday movement. For working out what a holiday cost, what to charge an overseas client, or whether a price is reasonable, that is entirely adequate.
For anything where the minute matters — trading, or a large transfer being timed — a daily reference rate is the wrong instrument, and this is the wrong tool. The date the figures were published is shown with every result so you always know how fresh they are.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the rate I will actually get?
No, and no mid-market rate ever is. These are European Central Bank reference rates — what the currency is worth, not what anyone will sell it to you for. A bank or card adds a spread of roughly 0.5 to 3 per cent on top, and a bureau at an airport a great deal more. The value of a mid-market figure is that it shows you how large that spread is.
How often do the rates update?
Once each working day, at around 16:00 Central European Time. There is no weekend update and no intraday movement. That is fine for working out what a trip cost or what to invoice a client, and it is the wrong instrument for anything where the minute matters.
Why does this page use the network when nothing else here does?
Because an exchange rate is a fact about the world today and cannot be computed locally. The page fetches a public table of rates when it loads; that request carries nothing about you, the amount you type is never sent anywhere, and the conversion itself happens in your browser once the table has arrived. It is the one exception on this site and it is stated rather than hidden.
What is dynamic currency conversion?
When a card machine abroad offers to charge you in your home currency, that is dynamic currency conversion, and the rate is set by the terminal operator rather than your card network. It is routinely three to six per cent worse. Always choose the local currency — the offer is presented as a convenience and is a fee.
What happens if the rates cannot be loaded?
The tool says so and shows nothing. For a currency converter, a plausible wrong number is far more damaging than an honest blank, so the response is checked before any of it is displayed and a stale or unexpected reply is refused rather than used.