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TheSportsDB vs Cito API (2026)
Short answer: TheSportsDB scores clearly higher overall (65 vs 45). Cito API is the better pick for developers building UFC and MMA apps or betting models who need fighters, cards, round stats and odds, with a free key to start.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose TheSportsDB if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Hobby and early-stage apps that need team, player and event metadata plus artwork across many sports, at a low monthly price.
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Projects that need live scores on the free tier, licensed logos or photos, or a published app without a paid key.
What developers say
Crowd-sourced sports database popular for hobby apps, tutorials, student projects and Plex metadata agents, with many wrappers in several languages. Praised as free and good for artwork. The free tier is tight, paid keys are needed for more, and developers report image and RapidAPI access problems and gaps in per-season artwork.
Choose Cito API if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Developers building UFC and MMA apps or betting models who need fighters, cards, round stats and odds, with a free key to start.
- ✓ want WebSocket push instead of polling
Not ideal for: Teams that need official or rights-cleared league data, or wide coverage beyond MMA, esports and tennis.
What developers say
Newer unified sports and esports API with UFC, CS2, Dota 2 and LoL data, a free key and paid plans. Only a few small hobby repos use it, plus an automatic OpenAPI import issue. There are no user discussions, so quality, limits and pricing feedback are unknown.
Side by side
| TheSportsDB | Cito API | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 65/100 (#8) | 45/100 (#89) |
| Popularity | 70 | 15 |
| Community & reliability | 54 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 85 | 75 |
| Developer experience | 52 | 68 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from $9/mo | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Demo access |
| Sports | Multi-sport (40+) | MMA, Esports, Tennis |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Images, Results, Live scores, Standings, Team stats, Video | Fixtures, Historical data, Odds, Player stats, Results, Live scores, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Streaming (WebSocket, SSE) |
| Protocols | REST | REST, WebSocket, SSE |
| Live / in-play | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Paid plans only | Commercial: Paid plans only |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 5 | 0 |
| GitHub repos | 919 | 11 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is TheSportsDB or Cito API better?
- TheSportsDB scores clearly higher overall (65 vs 45). Cito API is the better pick for developers building UFC and MMA apps or betting models who need fighters, cards, round stats and odds, with a free key to start.
- Which is cheaper, TheSportsDB or Cito API?
- TheSportsDB: from $9/mo. Cito API: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do TheSportsDB and Cito API have a free tier?
- TheSportsDB: yes. Cito API: yes.