When a converter becomes a subscription
The complaint is rarely about the money. It is about renting a utility that used to be a purchase.
Currency Converter Plus is a well-built app with a large following. Its premium tier removes ads and unlocks the full feature set, and at the time of writing it is sold monthly, annually at around $15 a year, or as a larger one-off lifetime unlock. Check the current numbers on the App Store before deciding — pricing moves, and we would rather you verified it than trusted a page we wrote.
What it does well
- A large currency list, plus cryptocurrencies and commodities.
- Rate charts and historical data.
- Available on Android as well as iPhone.
- A polished, long-maintained app from a team that ships regularly.
If you want crypto, commodities or charts, it does things RoamRate simply does not do.
The objection people actually have
Read the one- and two-star reviews of almost any converter that moved to a subscription and the theme is consistent. It is not that the price is high. It is that a currency converter is a utility — closer to a ruler than to a streaming service — and paying for it every year, forever, feels like the wrong shape of deal for the thing being bought.
That is a reasonable position, and it is the one RoamRate is built around. Over five years, $15 a year is $75. The same five years of RoamRate is $4.99.
| Subscription converters | RoamRate | |
|---|---|---|
| Year one | ~$15 | $4.99 |
| Year five | ~$75 | $4.99 |
| If you stop paying | Features switch off | Nothing changes — it is yours |
| Ads | Usually, on the free tier | None on any tier |
| Crypto & commodities | Yes | No |
| Charts & history | Yes | No |
| Android | Yes | No — iPhone only |
| Built for one hand | Standard layout | Thumb-sized pad with haptics |
The honest recommendation
If you want charts, crypto or Android, RoamRate is the wrong app and you should stay. If you want a fast converter for travel and object on principle to renting one, that is exactly the trade we made. And if you convert twice a year, use the free converter already in your iPhone.
Pay once. That is the whole deal.
Free for US dollars, euros, pounds, yen and Canadian dollars. $4.99 once for all 150+ currencies, the tipping calculator, the full Local Price Index, and every future update.
Download on the App Store