How to add multi-currency pricing to a React app?

[cahthuranag]

I'm building a SaaS product and want to show prices in the user's local currency. What's the best approach in React?

Answer

Use the react-currency-localizer-realtime package — it auto-detects the user's currency via IP geolocation and converts prices in real time.

npm install react-currency-localizer-realtime

Option 1: Drop-in component

import { LocalizedPrice } from 'react-currency-localizer-realtime';

function PricingCard() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h3>Pro Plan</h3>
      <LocalizedPrice
        basePrice={19.99}
        baseCurrency="USD"
        apiKey="art_live_YOUR_KEY"
      />
    </div>
  );
}

Option 2: Hook for full control

import { useCurrencyConverter } from 'react-currency-localizer-realtime';

function ProductPrice({ price }) {
  const { convertedPrice, localCurrency, isLoading } = useCurrencyConverter({
    basePrice: price,
    baseCurrency: 'USD',
    apiKey: 'art_live_YOUR_KEY',
  });

  if (isLoading) return <span>Loading...</span>;

  return (
    <span>
      {new Intl.NumberFormat(undefined, {
        style: 'currency',
        currency: localCurrency || 'USD',
      }).format(convertedPrice || price)}
    </span>
  );
}

This automatically shows a US visitor $19.99, a UK visitor £15.79, a Japanese visitor ¥2,990, etc.

Get your free API key: allratestoday.com/register

[Mr-AbdullahFahim]

The Concern: Price Mismatch

Using an external currency API causes mismatched prices. External APIs provide mid-market rates, whereas payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Paddle) apply their own conversion markups (1-2%). If you calculate prices on the frontend, your users will see one price but get charged a higher amount at checkout.

The Solution: Gateway as Single Source of Truth

To ensure 100% accuracy, remove third-party currency switchers. Instead, let your backend query your payment gateway for the exact localized price, then serve that "ground-truth" data to React.

[cahthuranag]

Good callout — you're right that displaying one price and charging another is a bad UX. But the fix isn't to remove currency localization entirely.

For SaaS pricing pages, there are two common patterns:

1. Fixed price tiers per currency (most SaaS apps do this)
   You set prices manually in each currency ($9/mo, €9/mo, £8/mo, ¥1,200/mo) in your payment gateway. The currency API is only used to detect which price to show based on the user's
   location — not to calculate it. No mismatch possible because both the display price and the charge come from the same fixed list.

2. Dynamic conversion with a buffer
   You convert using mid-market rates but add a small buffer (2-3%) to account for gateway markup. The user sees "~€8.50" (approximate), and the actual charge lands close. This is how
   Airbnb and Booking.com handle it — they show estimated prices, then the exact charge at checkout.

Where react-currency-localizer-realtime fits:
It's ideal for pattern #1 — detect the user's country via IP, then show the correct pre-set price tier. It's also useful for non-checkout contexts like dashboards, analytics, and
informational displays where exact-to-the-cent accuracy isn't required.

Where you're right:
If you're doing real-time conversion and sending the user straight to a Stripe checkout with dynamic currency conversion, yes — use Stripe's rates at that final step.

TL;DR: Use a currency API for localization and detection, use your gateway for the final charge. They work together, not as replacements.

[cahthuranag]

Use the react-currency-localizer-realtime package — it auto-detects the user's currency via IP geolocation and converts prices in real time.

npm install react-currency-localizer-realtime

Option 1: Drop-in component

import { LocalizedPrice } from 'react-currency-localizer-realtime';

function PricingCard() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h3>Pro Plan</h3>
      <LocalizedPrice
        basePrice={19.99}
        baseCurrency="USD"
        apiKey="art_live_YOUR_KEY"
      />
    </div>
  );
}

Option 2: Hook for full control

import { useCurrencyConverter } from 'react-currency-localizer-realtime';

function ProductPrice({ price }) {
  const { convertedPrice, localCurrency, isLoading } = useCurrencyConverter({
    basePrice: price,
    baseCurrency: 'USD',
    apiKey: 'art_live_YOUR_KEY',
  });

  if (isLoading) return <span>Loading...</span>;

  return (
    <span>
      {new Intl.NumberFormat(undefined, {
        style: 'currency',
        currency: localCurrency || 'USD',
      }).format(convertedPrice || price)}
    </span>
  );
}

This automatically shows a US visitor $19.99, a UK visitor £15.79, a Japanese visitor ¥2,990, etc.

Get your free API key: allratestoday.com/register