API-Sports / API-Football vs OpenFoot API (2026)
Short answer: API-Sports / API-Football scores clearly higher overall (70 vs 49). OpenFoot API is the better pick for football developers who want a free-to-start REST API with fixtures, lineups, live events and shot-level xG, plus streams and webhooks on paid plans.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose API-Sports / API-Football if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football-first apps that want self-serve REST access with fixtures, live scores, lineups, stats and pre-match odds, starting from a free daily-request plan.
- ✓ need Australian football, Baseball, Basketball
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Betting, TV or mass-media products that need licensed data; the provider grants no publication licence and leaves rights clearance to you.
What developers say
Very widely used for football side projects, prediction models and live-score apps, praised for broad league coverage, decent docs and low price (about $19/month). Complaints: free plan limited to past seasons and 100 requests/day, inconsistent or missing stats, closing odds gaps, a reported quality drop, and thin non-football depth.
Choose OpenFoot API if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football developers who want a free-to-start REST API with fixtures, lineups, live events and shot-level xG, plus streams and webhooks on paid plans.
- ✓ want a lower entry price ($14/mo vs $19/mo)
Not ideal for: Other sports or xG outside the top five leagues; the API is football-only and still labelled beta.
What developers say
Newer football API with a free tier and low-priced paid plans. Only one thread names it, listing it at about $14 a month among cheap options for post-match stats next to Sportmonks and API-Football. A community MCP server and a couple of hobby repos use it; no hands-on reviews yet.
Side by side
| API-Sports / API-Football | OpenFoot API | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 70/100 (#3) | 49/100 (#58) |
| Popularity | 79 | 15 |
| Community & reliability | 49 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 100 | 90 |
| Developer experience | 53 | 67 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from $19/mo | from $14/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Demo access |
| Sports | Football (soccer), Australian football, Baseball, Basketball, Formula 1, Handball, Ice hockey, MMA, American football, College sports, Rugby, Volleyball | Football (soccer) |
| Data | Fixtures, Injuries, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Lineups, Odds, Predictions, Results, Live scores, Standings, xG |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Streaming (SSE) |
| Protocols | REST | REST, SSE, Webhooks |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Allowed | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: Licence required | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 60 | 1 |
| GitHub repos | 1.6k | 3 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is API-Sports / API-Football or OpenFoot API better?
- API-Sports / API-Football scores clearly higher overall (70 vs 49). OpenFoot API is the better pick for football developers who want a free-to-start REST API with fixtures, lineups, live events and shot-level xG, plus streams and webhooks on paid plans.
- Which is cheaper, API-Sports / API-Football or OpenFoot API?
- API-Sports / API-Football: from $19/mo. OpenFoot API: from $14/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do API-Sports / API-Football and OpenFoot API have a free tier?
- API-Sports / API-Football: yes. OpenFoot API: yes.