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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.

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At a glance

FeatureGoldAPI.ioMetals.dev
Pricing & access
Free tierNot stated in their public docs100 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 handlingAuto-billsPlan-based quota
Coverage & data depth
Currencies supported160+170+
Metals catalogGold + silver at parity; no copperGold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, zinc
XAU historical depth20+ years5+ years
Historical window per requestNot stated in their public docs30-day max per request
Real-time update delayNot stated in their public docsUp to 60 seconds
Source attribution
LBMA fixYes, redistribution rightsBlended as one of four authority sources, no per-source breakdown
Named benchmark sources in responseNot stated in their public docsYes, dedicated LBMA/LME/MCX/IBJA endpoint
Published methodology / blend weightsNone publishedNone published
Developer experience
SDKs (TypeScript / Python)Community-maintainedNot stated in their public docs
MCP (Model Context Protocol)None, as of April 2026None

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.

Frequently asked questions

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 gold, silver and copper spot on every plan, live spot and dealer prices from Basic ($19/mo), plus a per-source sources[] array on every plan, something neither competitor ships.

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