API-Sports / API-Football vs StatPal (2026)
Short answer: API-Sports / API-Football scores clearly higher overall (70 vs 43). StatPal is the better pick for Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day 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.
- ✓ want to start on a free tier
- ✓ want a lower entry price ($19/mo vs $29/mo)
- ✓ need Australian football, Handball, MMA
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
- ✓ 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 StatPal if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day trial.
- ✓ need Motorsport, Golf
Not ideal for: Free-tier projects; there is no free plan. Usage rights for revenue-generating products are unclear in the terms.
What developers say
Sports API with flat monthly plans and a soccer xG feature. One bettor tried it as an xG source claimed to rival Sportmonks. A sports project's issues report endpoints (teams, injuries, rosters) returning 404 and soccer livescores being routed to the wrong API version, suggesting integration pitfalls or version changes. Little else known.
Side by side
| API-Sports / API-Football | StatPal | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 70/100 (#3) | 43/100 (#97) |
| Popularity | 79 | 7 |
| Community & reliability | 49 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 100 | 85 |
| Developer experience | 53 | 65 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from $19/mo | from $29/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| 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), American football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice hockey, Formula 1, Motorsport, Golf |
| Data | Fixtures, Injuries, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, News, Odds, Predictions, Results, Live scores, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | REST | REST |
| 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 | 0 |
| 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 StatPal better?
- API-Sports / API-Football scores clearly higher overall (70 vs 43). StatPal is the better pick for Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day trial.
- Which is cheaper, API-Sports / API-Football or StatPal?
- API-Sports / API-Football: from $19/mo. StatPal: from $29/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do API-Sports / API-Football and StatPal have a free tier?
- API-Sports / API-Football: yes. StatPal: no.