API-Sports / API-Football vs Sportmonks (2026)
Short answer: The two score about the same (70 vs 69). Sportmonks is the better pick for football apps and betting models that need many leagues, lineups, xG and stats on a self-serve monthly plan with a free tier and trial.
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
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
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 Sportmonks if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football apps and betting models that need many leagues, lineups, xG and stats on a self-serve monthly plan with a free tier and trial.
- ✓ need Cricket
Not ideal for: Projects that need US sports or the full league list on a small budget; leagues per plan are capped and history is on Enterprise only.
What developers say
Widely used paid football data API for side projects, dashboards and betting models, with many wrappers and GitHub repos. Users like the stats depth and reasonable price versus Opta or Sportradar, but call it pricey for hobby use, say premium odds lack player props, and report unreliable live data and sales or custom-plan frustrations.
Side by side
| API-Sports / API-Football | Sportmonks | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 70/100 (#3) | 69/100 (#4) |
| Popularity | 79 | 76 |
| Community & reliability | 49 | 49 |
| Transparency | 100 | 100 |
| Developer experience | 53 | 51 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from $19/mo | from €29/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| Sports | Football (soccer), Australian football, Baseball, Basketball, Formula 1, Handball, Ice hockey, MMA, American football, College sports, Rugby, Volleyball | Football (soccer), Cricket, Formula 1 |
| Data | Fixtures, Injuries, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, News, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats, Widgets, xG |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | REST | REST |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Allowed | Commercial: Allowed |
| Betting products | Betting: Licence required | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 60 | 40 |
| GitHub repos | 1.6k | 207 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Mixed |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is API-Sports / API-Football or Sportmonks better?
- The two score about the same (70 vs 69). Sportmonks is the better pick for football apps and betting models that need many leagues, lineups, xG and stats on a self-serve monthly plan with a free tier and trial.
- Which is cheaper, API-Sports / API-Football or Sportmonks?
- API-Sports / API-Football: from $19/mo. Sportmonks: from €29/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do API-Sports / API-Football and Sportmonks have a free tier?
- API-Sports / API-Football: yes. Sportmonks: yes.