# CoinMarketCap API Overview

The CoinMarketCap API is built for teams that want the **most trusted** and **comprehensive** cryptocurrency market data in the industry. As the industry authority and the world’s number one cryptocurrency market data API, it gives developers access to real-time and historical market data, exchange data, global metrics, and DEX data through a single REST API.

Trusted by everyone from individual developers to major finance and crypto institutions, the API combines broad coverage with production-ready scale: **14 years** of historical data, **2.4 million+** tracked assets, **790+** exchanges, **40+** endpoints, and more than **1 billion** API calls per month. Whether you are building a wallet, exchange, portfolio tracker, analytics platform, trading system, AI product, or research workflow, CoinMarketCap provides the depth and reliability needed to power serious crypto applications.

The platform is designed to scale with your product, from free experimentation to enterprise deployment. Developers can start with a free plan, while commercial and professional tiers unlock higher call limits, broader endpoint access, longer historical coverage, and enterprise-grade licensing. Most plans offer data refreshed every **1 minute**, making it well suited for live experiences, market intelligence, and high-frequency crypto products.

## What data is available

- **Market data**: Live cryptocurrency prices, market cap, volume, listings, quotes, and historical OHLCV data.
- **Exchange data**: Exchange metadata, rankings, market pairs, volume data, and proof-of-reserves assets.
- **DEX data**: On-chain token, pair, liquidity, platform, and OHLCV data across decentralized ecosystems.
- **Market intelligence**: Global market metrics, Fear and Greed, content, community trends, and broader market signals.

## Common use cases

- Build live price widgets, watchlists, and portfolio dashboards
- Power ranked market views, screeners, and discovery experiences
- Fetch historical data for charts, analytics, and backtesting
- Monitor exchange activity, market pairs, and liquidity
- Add DEX token, pair, and on-chain market data to your product
- Combine market data with headlines, trends, and community signals

## Start here

1. **Get an API key**

   Sign up at [pro.coinmarketcap.com](https://pro.coinmarketcap.com/signup) to receive your API key.

1. **Make your first API call**

   Follow the [quick start guide](/api/documentation/guides/quick-start) to make one successful request against the production API.

1. **Choose the right part of the API**

   Use [common workflows](/api/documentation/guides/common-workflows) or [choose an endpoint](/api/documentation/pro-api-reference/endpoint-overview) to find the right starting point.

## Explore the docs

- [Quick start](/api/documentation/guides/quick-start): Make your first production request and understand what to do next.
- [Common workflows](/api/documentation/guides/common-workflows): Start from the task you want to accomplish, not just the category tree.
- [Choose an endpoint](/api/documentation/pro-api-reference/endpoint-overview): Find the right API family for prices, history, exchange data, DEX data, and more.
- [Response format and IDs](/api/documentation/guides/standards-and-conventions): Understand response structure, stable IDs, timestamps, and how to bundle requests.
- [Rate limits and troubleshooting](/api/documentation/guides/errors-and-rate-limits): See the main error types, rate limit behavior, and practical troubleshooting guidance.
- [Best practices](/api/documentation/guides/best-practices): Learn the patterns that scale well for production integrations.

## AI Agent Hub

Use the AI Agent Hub to bring CoinMarketCap data into AI agents and development environments. Connect via MCP for real-time data, use x402 for pay-per-request access, or install pre-built skills for market reports and token research.

- [IDE integrations](/api/documentation/ai-agent-hub): Set up CMC MCP in Cursor, Claude Code, or Windsurf.
- [Skills for AI Agents](/api/documentation/ai-agent-hub/skills/overview): Pre-built workflows for market analysis and token research.
- [x402 Protocol](/api/documentation/ai-agent-hub/x402): Pay $0.01 USDC per request — no API key needed.

## Changelog

Track API updates, new endpoints, and version history.

- [Version history](/api/documentation/changelog): Full changelog of API updates from the latest release back to the original launch.

Additional answers to common questions can be found in the [CoinMarketCap API FAQ](/faq).