GoldAPI.io vs Metals.dev
Search for a gold price API and both GoldAPI.io and Metals.dev turn up early in the results, but they answer different questions. GoldAPI.io is a gold and silver specialist with LBMA fix redistribution rights; Metals.dev is a broad multi-metal catalog that blends four benchmark sources into a single number per metal. This page compares them on pricing, coverage, and how each handles source attribution.
| Feature | GoldAPI.io | Metals.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & access | ||
| Free tier | Not stated in their public docs | 100 requests/month, no card required |
| Cheapest paid plan | $4.99/mo | $1.79/mo (2,000 requests) |
| Top published plan | $129/mo | $39.99/mo (100,000 requests) |
| Overage handling | Auto-bills | Plan-based quota |
| Coverage & data depth | ||
| Currencies supported | 160+ | 170+ |
| Metals catalog | Gold + silver at parity; no copper | Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, zinc |
| XAU historical depth | 20+ years | 5+ years |
| Historical window per request | Not stated in their public docs | 30-day max per request |
| Real-time update delay | Not stated in their public docs | Up to 60 seconds |
| Source attribution | ||
| LBMA fix | Yes, redistribution rights | Blended as one of four authority sources, no per-source breakdown |
| Named benchmark sources in response | Not stated in their public docs | Yes, dedicated LBMA/LME/MCX/IBJA endpoint |
| Published methodology / blend weights | None published | None published |
| Developer experience | ||
| SDKs (TypeScript / Python) | Community-maintained | Not stated in their public docs |
| MCP (Model Context Protocol) | None, as of April 2026 | None |
Source: goldapi.io public pricing page (last verified 2026-04-20) + metals.dev/pricing and public docs (last verified 2026-06-29), as cited on goldprice.dev's own comparison pages for each.
Two different bets on precision
GoldAPI.io bets on depth within a narrow catalog: gold and silver, LBMA fix redistribution rights, and 20+ years of history. Metals.dev bets on breadth: nine metals under one key, with LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA blended together rather than exposed as separate rows. Neither approach is wrong, they're built for different buyers.
Pricing
Metals.dev's entry point is considerably cheaper: $1.79/mo for 2,000 requests against GoldAPI.io's $4.99/mo, and Metals.dev's free tier (100 requests/month, no card) is explicitly documented where GoldAPI.io's free-tier limits aren't spelled out in its public pricing page. At the top end, GoldAPI.io's $129/mo production plan sits well above Metals.dev's $39.99/mo for 100,000 requests, though the two aren't metering the same thing (a production-scale redistribution license vs a request-volume cap).
Coverage: narrow vs broad
GoldAPI.io claims the deeper historical record on gold specifically, 20+ years against Metals.dev's 5+ years, and Metals.dev caps any single historical request to a 30-day window. Metals.dev wins decisively on catalog width: platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc are all in scope, none of which GoldAPI.io's own comparison page claims to cover.
Source attribution
Metals.dev names its authority sources (a dedicated LBMA/LME/MCX/IBJA endpoint exists) but still returns one blended number per metal without disclosing how the blend is weighted. GoldAPI.io holds LBMA fix redistribution rights, a real license claim, but its public docs don't describe a named-source breakdown the way Metals.dev's authority endpoint does. Neither publishes per-source timestamps or a staleness flag.
FAQ
- What's the core difference between GoldAPI.io and Metals.dev?
- GoldAPI.io focuses on gold and silver, holds LBMA AM/PM fix redistribution rights, and claims 20+ years of historical daily data. Metals.dev covers a much wider catalog, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc, on one key, and blends LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA into a single number per metal rather than exposing them separately.
- Which one is cheaper to start with?
- Metals.dev, by a wide margin: its cheapest paid plan is $1.79/mo for 2,000 requests, and its free tier gives 100 requests/month with no card required. GoldAPI.io's cheapest paid plan is $4.99/mo, and its public docs don't spell out a free-tier request allowance the way Metals.dev's do.
- Which one has deeper historical gold data?
- GoldAPI.io claims 20+ years of historical daily data. Metals.dev states 5+ years of XAU daily history with a 30-day maximum window per historical request, a meaningfully shallower and more request-constrained offering. If historical depth on gold specifically is the deciding factor, GoldAPI.io's own claim is the stronger one.
- Does either one break out prices by benchmark source?
- Metals.dev is the closer fit here, with a dedicated endpoint naming LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA rates, though it still blends them into one number per metal without disclosing blend weights. GoldAPI.io holds LBMA AM/PM fix redistribution rights but its public docs don't describe a comparable named-source breakdown. Neither publishes a sources array with per-source license and timestamp the way a fully attributed API would.
- Which API covers more metals beyond gold?
- Metals.dev, decisively. Its catalog spans platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc alongside gold and silver, all under one key. GoldAPI.io's public comparison shows silver at spot and futures parity with gold, but no copper futures and no broader industrial-metals catalog.
- Where does goldprice.dev fit next to these two?
- goldprice.dev sits closer to GoldAPI.io's precious-metals focus than to Metals.dev's broad industrial catalog, but adds a live oracle spot price, futures settlement on Pro ($30/mo), and a forward view for gold on every plan including Free (silver and copper on Pro), plus a per-source sources[] array on every plan, something neither competitor ships.
/v1/prices/divergence, and where it fits
/v1/prices/divergence is the endpoint neither GoldAPI.io nor Metals.dev has an equivalent for: a signed deviation flag between live spot oracle and futures settlement on the same asset, at the same timestamp, useful for catching a stale feed before it reaches a customer. It ships on goldprice.dev Pro ($30/mo) alongside the probability surface for gold and silver, and a sources[] array names each upstream feed on every plan. The forward view for gold is on every plan too; silver and copper join it on Pro.