goldprice.dev vs metals.dev
metals.dev is a fast multi-metal catalog that blends LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA into one number. We expose every source separately and go further — spot, futures settlement, and forward view, plus per-country dealer prices, each with its own license and timestamp.
Breadth and speed, with a clean free tier.
- →Precious + industrial coverage. Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc — all on one key. If your product needs the long tail, they have it.
- →170+ currencies out of the box. Direct conversion rates for 170+ currency pairs, backed by LME and IBJA data. goldprice.dev serves gold spot in 31 currencies (live exchangerate.dev FX).
- →Authority endpoint. A dedicated endpoint for LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA rates — useful if you need a named benchmark rather than a blended spot feed.
- →Free tier with no card required. 100 requests/month free, real-time data included (up to 60-second delay). Low-friction first call.
We show our work. Every source, every response.
- ✓Every source visible.
sources[]via?include=sources— live oracle XAU + XAG, continuous spot reference, gold + silver + copper futures settlement, ECB reference rates, tokenized gold PAXG, each with its own license and source timestamp. metals.dev blends feeds into a single number with no per-source attribution. - ✓Live oracle + futures settlement as distinct sources. Gold oracle and futures settlement (GC/SI/HG) are separate attributed rows, not a blended midpoint. metals.dev serves a single spot figure per metal without separating oracle vs settlement.
- ✓30 years of gold daily history. XAU daily bars go back to 1996. metals.dev offers 5+ years of daily history with a 30-day-per-request limit.
- ✓The real price of gold at the counter, by country. Live dealer sell & buyback quotes with premium-over-spot across 12 countries, from $10Physical. metals.dev blends benchmark rates into a single number; it doesn't ship a per-country dealer feed.
- ✓MCP on every plan. Native Model Context Protocol server with nine tools — no wrapper needed for AI agents. metals.dev has no MCP offering.
- ✓Forward view: futures settlement curve. Pro+ gets a multi-horizon settlement curve (GC/SI/HG) for quant models and forward pricing. metals.dev has no forward view endpoint.
- ✓Published methodology, versioned. Our methodology docnames every provider, license, and staleness threshold. metals.dev names its four authority sources but doesn't publish blend weights or per-source thresholds.
- ✓No auto-bill overage. We
429you. No surprise charges at end of month.
Head-to-head, line by line
Feature-level comparison against metals.dev's published documentation as of June 2026.
| Feature | goldprice.dev | metals.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Data coverage | ||
| Gold (XAU) spot + history | ✓ | ✓ |
| Silver (XAG) spot | ✓ Pro+ | ✓ |
| Platinum / Palladium | — | ✓ |
| Copper (HG) futures | ✓ Pro+ | ✓ |
| Industrial metals (Al, Ni, Zn, Pb…) | — | ✓ |
| Currencies supported | 31 | 170+ |
| XAU daily history depth | 30 years (1996+) | 5+ years |
| Historical window per request | Unlimited range | 30-day max |
| Live oracle XAU/USD (real-time, attributed) | ✓ Physical+ | — |
| Gold futures settlement (GC) | ✓ Pro+ | — |
| Silver futures settlement (SI) | ✓ Pro+ | — |
| ETF · CB · COT data | ✓ | — |
| Per-country dealer prices (12 countries) | ✓ Physical+ | — |
| Analytics | ||
| Forward view: futures settlement curve | ✓ XAU all plans · XAG/HG Pro+ | — |
Cross-source divergence via /v1/prices/divergence | ✓ | — |
| Developer experience | ||
| MCP server | All plans | — |
| Published methodology (per-source provenance) | ✓ | — |
sources[] array via ?include=sources | ✓ | — |
is_stale flag | ✓ | — |
| Authority-named data sources | ✓ | ✓ LBMA/LME/MCX/IBJA |
| Pricing & limits | ||
| Free tier | ✓ no card | ✓ 100 req/mo |
| Entry paid plan | $10/mo · 20,000 req | $1.79/mo · 2,000 req |
| 100k-request plan | $30/mo | $39.99/mo |
| Overage policy | 429, never auto-bill | Plan-based quota |
Source: metals.dev/pricing + public docs. Last verified 2026-06-29.
Reference prices for informational purposes only. Not investment advice.
Who should pick which
If you need a multi-metal catalog fast, go there. If gold, silver, or copper are the product — not a data point — come here.
You need a wide multi-metal feed with minimal setup.
You're building a commodity dashboard, a price-display widget, or an app that needs gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and industrial metals on a single key. Fast to integrate, broad coverage, generous free tier.
Gold (or silver, copper) is the product, not a line item.
You're building a commodity-focused fintech, an AI agent that reasons about metals, or a quant tool that needs the basis between spot and futures settlement, a 30-year history for gold, what gold actually costs to buy in 12 countries, and a provenance trail your audit can follow.
FAQ
Is goldprice.dev a good alternative to metals.dev for agent and quant builders?
Yes, specifically if you need per-source transparency and a forward view. goldprice.dev exposes the live oracle spot and futures settlement as separate attributed rows in the sources[] array — gold starts at $10 Physical, silver and copper at $30 Pro. metals.dev blends prices from LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA into a single number per metal without exposing which source contributed at what weight. Fine for a price widget; not enough for a quant tool that needs to reason about basis and provenance.
metals.dev covers platinum, palladium, and industrial metals. Does goldprice.dev?
No. goldprice.dev covers gold, silver, and copper (copper as futures settlement, Pro+). If you need platinum, palladium, aluminum, nickel, or zinc on the same key, metals.dev is the right call — breadth is their product.
Which has better historical data?
goldprice.dev for gold depth: XAU daily bars go back to 1996 (30 years). metals.dev advertises 5+ years of daily historical data with a maximum 30-day window per request. For silver and industrial metals historical coverage, metals.dev has more breadth.
Does metals.dev have MCP support?
No. metals.dev has no Model Context Protocol offering. goldprice.dev ships a native MCP server with nine tools on every plan including Free — an AI agent can call get_spot_price, get_historical, get_forward_view, and more without a wrapper layer.
Which is cheaper for low-volume use?
metals.dev's cheapest paid plan is $1.79/mo for 2,000 requests; goldprice.dev starts with a no-card Free tier (1,000 requests) and Physical at $10/mo for 20,000 requests. metals.dev is cheaper at the very bottom — but goldprice.dev costs less per request once you need volume: Pro is $30/mo for 100,000 requests vs metals.dev's $39.99/mo for the same 100,000.
Does metals.dev tell me what gold actually costs to buy?
No. goldprice.dev's Physical tier ($10+) covers live dealer sell and buyback quotes with premium-over-spot across 12 countries. metals.dev blends LBMA, LME, MCX, and IBJA into a single number per metal — it doesn't ship a per-country dealer feed.