CoinMarketCap review
A free cryptocurrency price tracker and market-data API covering more than 62 million coins and tokens across 978 exchanges.
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
CoinMarketCap screenshots & video
CoinMarketCap in 20 seconds
Best for: Retail crypto investors tracking live prices and market caps for free, and developers needing a metered crypto/DEX data API.
Pricing: The website is free to browse; the API starts free (10K calls/month, no historical data) and scales through $29/mo Hobbyist, $79/mo Startup, $299/mo Standard, and $699/mo Professional tiers, with annual billing discounts and custom Enterprise pricing.
- CoinMarketCap was founded in May 2013 by Brandon Chez.
- The platform tracks more than 62 million cryptocurrencies across 978 exchanges (as fetched November 2025).
- The free API tier provides 30+ data endpoints and 10,000 call credits per month but no historical data.
- The Professional API tier costs $699/month ($8,388/year billed annually) and unlocks all-time historical data.
- DexScan, CoinMarketCap's on-chain data tool, covers roughly 70 blockchain networks and lists tokens automatically from smart contract data.
Limitations: No historical price data on the free API tier.; Full all-time historical data requires the $699/mo Professional plan or higher.; Lower API tiers are capped at 30 requests per minute.; The consumer website mixes sponsored trending/ad placements with organic listings.
Top alternatives: CoinGecko, CoinStats, CryptoCompare, Messari, Live Coin Watch — full list
What is CoinMarketCap?
CoinMarketCap is a cryptocurrency market data platform that shows live and historical prices, market capitalization, trading volume, and circulating supply for tens of millions of coins and tokens. It also includes a portfolio tracker, watchlist, currency converter, NFT rankings, an on-chain DEX data tool called DexScan, and an AI assistant called Ask CMC AI. Traders, investors, journalists, and developers use it as a reference source for crypto prices and market rankings, and developers can pull the same data through its REST API.
CoinMarketCap is a website that lists real-time and historical prices, market capitalizations, and trading volumes for cryptocurrencies, tokens, and NFTs. Founded in May 2013 by Brandon Chez, it tracks over 62 million cryptocurrencies and 978 exchanges, and adds on-chain DEX data through its DexScan product. The core website is free to browse; CoinMarketCap also sells a metered Crypto & DEX Data API for developers, starting at a free tier and scaling to a $699/month Professional plan.
Standout feature: DexScan, a built-in on-chain data tool that lists newly created tokens directly from smart contracts across roughly 70 chains, extending coverage beyond the manually verified coin listings.
Biggest weakness: Free API access includes zero historical data, and full all-time historical data is locked behind the $699/month Professional tier or custom Enterprise plans; the consumer site is also heavily mixed with sponsored "trending" placements and ad content alongside organic rankings.
CoinMarketCap: pros and cons
Pros
- Tracks more than 62 million cryptocurrencies across 978 exchanges with live and historical price charts, free to browse on the website
- Bundles portfolio tracking, a watchlist, a currency converter, NFT rankings, and an AI query tool (Ask CMC AI) alongside price data
- API has a genuine free tier (10,000 call credits/month, 30+ endpoints) before any paywall
- DexScan adds automated on-chain token data for chains and tokens not yet manually verified
Cons
- Free and Hobbyist API tiers cap historical data at none and 12 months respectively; full history requires the $699/mo Professional tier
- Lower API tiers are rate-limited to 30 requests per minute, tight for high-frequency applications
- Consumer site interleaves paid/sponsored trending and ad placements with organic market rankings
- Does not vet every token for legitimacy; low-quality or scam tokens can still appear via DexScan's automated listing
CoinMarketCap pricing
Free tier · paid from $29/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | 30+ data endpoints, 10K API call credits/month, no historical data, personal use only |
| Hobbyist | $29/mo | 40+ data endpoints, 110K call credits/month, 12 months of historical data, personal use ($348/year if billed annually) |
| Startup | $79/mo | 50+ data endpoints, 300K call credits/month, 24 months of historical data, commercial use ($948/year if billed annually) |
| Standard | $299/mo | Recommended tier on the endpoint comparison table; sits between Startup and Professional in data coverage |
| Professional | $699/mo | All data endpoints, 3M call credits/month, all-time historical data, commercial use ($8,388/year if billed annually) |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom call limits, full-resolution all-time historical data, custom license, dedicated infrastructure, 99.9% SLA |
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