Tinker Tools

Currency Converter Live Rates

Convert between 20 major world currencies with exchange rates fetched from a free public API.

ResultLive exchange rate

Enter an amount to see the conversion result.

How it works

1. Select Currencies

Choose your source and target currencies from 20 major world currencies. Use the swap button to quickly reverse the conversion direction.

Easy Swap

2. Live Rate Fetch

Exchange rates are fetched from a free public API when you load the page or change the source currency. No API key required.

Real-time

3. Instant Conversion

Enter any amount and see the converted value instantly. View the full rate table to compare rates across all supported currencies.

Instant Result

What Is Currency Conversion?

Currency conversion is the process of exchanging one national currency for another at a determined rate. That rate — the exchange rate — represents how much of one currency you need to buy a single unit of another. If the USD/KRW rate is 1,300, you need 1,300 Korean won to purchase one US dollar. Exchange rates fluctuate continuously during trading hours, driven by supply and demand in the global foreign exchange market. This market — commonly called forex or FX — is the largest and most liquid financial market on the planet, with daily trading volume regularly exceeding 7 trillion USD. Central banks, commercial banks, hedge funds, corporations, and individual travelers all participate in this market, though their motivations and transaction sizes differ enormously.

Several types of exchange rates exist, and understanding the differences matters when you are converting money. The spot rate is the current market price for immediate delivery — typically settled within two business days. The forward rate is a price agreed upon today for a currency exchange that will occur at a specified future date. Forward rates embed expectations about interest rate differentials between two countries, a relationship described by covered interest rate parity. Cross rates are exchange rates derived indirectly through a third currency. If you know the USD/KRW rate and the USD/JPY rate, you can calculate the KRW/JPY cross rate without needing a direct quote. Banks and brokers also quote bid and ask prices — the bid is what they will pay to buy a currency from you, and the ask is what they will charge to sell it to you. The gap between them — the spread — is one way financial institutions earn revenue on currency transactions.

For individuals, currency conversion most commonly arises during international travel, overseas remittances, foreign online purchases, and investment in foreign-denominated assets. Each scenario involves different costs. Airport kiosks typically offer the widest spreads — sometimes 5% to 8% worse than the mid-market rate. Banks offer better rates but may charge flat transaction fees. Online remittance services and fintech platforms often provide rates closest to the mid-market rate with transparent fee structures. Knowing where to look and how to read a quote can save you a meaningful percentage on every transaction.

Key Features of the Currency Converter

  • Real-Time Rate Display — The converter shows current exchange rates sourced from financial data providers. Rates update throughout the trading day so you see a price that reflects actual market conditions — not a stale quote from yesterday. Each rate is timestamped so you know exactly when it was last refreshed.
  • Bid/Ask Spread Visibility — Beyond the mid-market rate, the tool displays bid and ask prices where available. This transparency lets you see the true cost of a conversion. A mid-market rate of 1,300 KRW per USD might translate to a bid of 1,295 and an ask of 1,305 at your bank. That 10-won spread is the implicit fee you pay, and seeing it upfront helps you compare providers honestly.
  • Multi-Currency Support — Convert between dozens of global currencies — from major pairs like USD/EUR, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD to emerging market currencies like KRW, THB, and BRL. You can also compute cross rates between two non-USD currencies without performing the math manually. The tool handles the triangulation through the common USD base rate.
  • Historical Rate Charts — View how an exchange rate has moved over the past week, month, quarter, or year. Trend lines help you decide whether now is a favorable time to convert or whether waiting might be worthwhile. Past performance does not predict future rates, but it provides context for where the current rate sits relative to recent history.
  • Fee-Inclusive Calculation — Enter the fee structure of your bank or remittance provider — percentage-based, flat fee, or a combination — and the calculator shows you the total cost of conversion including all charges. This final number is what actually leaves or arrives in your account, stripped of the optimistic illusion that the mid-market rate creates.
  • Purchasing Power Context — Exchange rates tell you the price of one currency in terms of another, but they do not tell you what that money can buy. The tool provides a purchasing power parity reference point for select currency pairs. If the PPP-implied rate differs significantly from the market rate, it suggests one currency may be relatively overvalued or undervalued in terms of real purchasing power.

How to Convert Currencies Accurately

  1. 1

    Select Your Source and Target Currencies

    Choose the currency you currently hold — the source — and the currency you want to receive — the target. Use the standard three-letter ISO 4217 codes: USD for US dollars, KRW for Korean won, EUR for euros, JPY for Japanese yen, and so on. If you are unsure of the code, the dropdown menu lists the full currency name alongside each code. Getting this selection right is step one — reversing the pair gives you the reciprocal rate, which is a common source of confusion. Converting from KRW to USD and from USD to KRW are different operations with different rates.

  2. 2

    Enter the Amount to Convert

    Type in the amount of source currency you want to convert. The tool accepts both small and large values — from a few dollars for an online purchase to millions of won for a property transaction or corporate payment. Use the amount you actually plan to exchange, not a round number for estimation, because fees often have minimum thresholds or tiered structures that only show their true impact at realistic amounts.

  3. 3

    Check the Quoted Rate

    The converter displays the current mid-market rate along with the bid and ask rates if available. The mid-market rate is the midpoint between what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are asking. It represents the fairest possible rate — but almost no provider actually gives you this rate. Banks, brokers, and remittance services add their margin on top. Compare the rate shown in the converter with the rate your provider is offering. The difference, expressed as a percentage, is the true cost of the transaction beyond any stated fees.

  4. 4

    Add Provider Fees

    Most currency conversions involve fees beyond the exchange rate spread. Your bank might charge a flat wire transfer fee of 20,000 KRW or a percentage-based fee of 0.5%. Online platforms may charge lower percentages but add fixed processing fees. Some credit cards apply a foreign transaction fee of 1% to 3% on overseas purchases. Enter these fees into the calculator to see the all-in cost. The tool subtracts fees from the converted amount, giving you the actual number of target currency units you will receive after everything is accounted for.

  5. 5

    Review and Compare

    With the rate and fees entered, the calculator shows your final converted amount. Now compare this result across different providers. Run the same conversion with your bank's fee structure, then with a fintech remittance service, then with a credit card foreign transaction setup. Even small percentage differences add up. On a 10 million KRW transfer, a 1% difference in the effective exchange rate means 100,000 KRW — enough to justify spending five minutes comparing options. The historical chart also helps you decide whether executing the conversion today or waiting a few days might be advantageous.

Expert Tips for Currency Conversion

The forex market operates 24 hours a day from Monday morning in Sydney to Friday evening in New York — but not all hours are equal. Liquidity and spreads vary depending on which trading sessions overlap. The tightest spreads for USD/KRW typically occur during Asian business hours when Korean banks are active. If you are converting between EUR and USD, the London-New York overlap — roughly 13:00 to 17:00 UTC — offers the deepest liquidity and the narrowest spreads. Converting during off-peak hours, weekends, or holidays usually means wider spreads and less favorable rates. Timing your conversion to coincide with peak liquidity can shave basis points off the cost.

Purchasing power parity — PPP — is a useful concept for understanding whether a currency is cheap or expensive in real terms. The idea is simple: a basket of goods should cost roughly the same amount in every country when prices are converted at the exchange rate. The Economist's Big Mac Index is a lighthearted version of this. If a Big Mac costs 6,500 KRW in Seoul and 5.50 USD in New York, the implied PPP rate is about 1,182 KRW per USD. If the actual market rate is 1,300, the won appears undervalued by roughly 10% against the dollar on a PPP basis. This does not mean the won will appreciate to 1,182 — markets can diverge from PPP for years — but it provides a benchmark for whether the current rate is historically stretched or reasonable.

Remittance costs deserve close scrutiny. The World Bank tracks the global average cost of sending remittances, and it has hovered around 6% of the transfer amount for years — well above the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%. Costs vary wildly by corridor. Sending money from Korea to the Philippines might cost 3% through a specialized remittance app but 8% through a traditional bank wire. The difference is partly the exchange rate markup and partly the fixed fees. For small, frequent transfers — like monthly support payments to family abroad — high fixed fees are especially punishing. A 10,000 KRW flat fee on a 100,000 KRW transfer is a 10% charge. That same fee on a 1,000,000 KRW transfer is only 1%. Batching smaller transfers into less frequent, larger ones reduces the per-unit cost dramatically.

Central bank intervention adds a layer of unpredictability to certain currency pairs. The Bank of Korea has historically intervened in the FX market to smooth excessive volatility in the won, though it rarely targets a specific rate level. Intervention typically takes the form of dollar sales when the won weakens rapidly, or dollar purchases when it strengthens too fast. These actions are not announced in advance and can cause sharp, sudden rate movements. If you are planning a large conversion — for a property purchase, tuition payment, or business transaction — consider splitting it across multiple dates to average out rate fluctuations. This approach, sometimes called dollar-cost averaging in the investment world, reduces the risk that you convert your entire amount at a local peak or trough.

Related Tools

Inflation Calculator

Understand how purchasing power changes over time — exchange rates move currencies across borders, inflation moves them across time

Loan Interest Calculator

Evaluate the true cost of foreign-currency-denominated loans where exchange rate movements affect your repayment burden

Salary After Tax Calculator

Convert foreign job offers into net local-currency income to compare opportunities across countries

Currency conversion sits at the intersection of international finance and everyday life. The Inflation Calculator helps you understand that even after converting currencies at a favorable rate, local inflation in the destination country erodes the purchasing power of those funds over time. The Loan Interest Calculator becomes essential if you hold debt denominated in a foreign currency — a 2% interest rate advantage can evaporate if the exchange rate moves against you by 3%. And the Salary After Tax Calculator lets you translate a foreign salary offer into your home currency after taxes, giving you the real comparison you need when weighing international career moves. Together, these tools help you navigate the financial complexity of living, working, and transacting across borders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recommended Tools

Salary After Tax

Calculate your net salary after South Korean income tax and social insurance deductions.

Monthly Salary Calculator

Calculate monthly take-home pay with South Korean tax brackets and insurance premiums.

Severance Pay Calculator

Calculate severance pay based on Korean labor law. Enter work period and average wage.