CoinGecko API beginner's guide — what it is, how it works, when to use it
With any new API, the hardest part is figuring out what it actually does and where it's useful. Let's start there.
What is CoinGecko API?
Leading crypto API — prices, trading volumes and history for 10,000+ coins.
CoinGecko is one of the top crypto data providers. The public API is completely free and key-less — prices, market data, history, NFTs and DeFi TVL. Throttled to 10-30 rpm. Pro tier is pricey but offers high rate limits.
Who it's for
- Crypto wallets and exchanges
- Investor dashboards
- Trading bots
- Financial news
A first example
Here is the shortest path to seeing something work:
curl "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin,ethereum&vs_currencies=usd,ils"When to use it, when not to
CoinGecko API is a great fit for most of what it covers, but not every case. If you only need small, static data once or twice, it may be simpler to download and cache locally. For real products that need fresh data, the API is the way.