football-data.co.uk vs CollegeFootballData.com (2026)
Short answer: football-data.co.uk scores slightly higher (60 vs 57). CollegeFootballData.com is the better pick for College football analysts, hobbyists and apps that need games, play-by-play, recruiting and betting-line history through a free key.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose football-data.co.uk if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Analysts and modellers who want free downloadable CSV files of historical football results, match stats and bookmaker odds.
- ✓ need Football (soccer)
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Apps needing live data or an API; this is a static CSV archive updated periodically.
What developers say
Long-standing free CSV archive of results, match stats and bookmaker odds, the default starting point for football modelling and used by thousands of GitHub projects. Users value the free historical odds, but say league coverage is limited (few lower or secondary leagues) and files are downloads, not a live API.
Choose CollegeFootballData.com if you…
Free / open data
Best for: College football analysts, hobbyists and apps that need games, play-by-play, recruiting and betting-line history through a free key.
- ✓ need College sports, American football, Basketball
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
Not ideal for: Projects that need other leagues, redistribution of the data, or live data on the free tier; higher tiers run through Patreon.
What developers say
Free college football API behind a Python wrapper and the cfbfastR R package, shown in public-API lists, tutorials and BI-tool walkthroughs. Used for scores, betting lines and play-by-play. One user notes plays lack formation data. Little direct opinion beyond that, so assessment is mostly adoption-based.
Side by side
| football-data.co.uk | CollegeFootballData.com | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 60/100 (#18) | 57/100 (#26) |
| Popularity | 48 | 46 |
| Community & reliability | 69 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 75 | 65 |
| Developer experience | 54 | 68 |
| Type | Free / open data | Free / open data |
| Starting price | Free tier | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | College sports, American football, Basketball |
| Data | Historical data, Odds, Results, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Odds, Play-by-play, Player stats, Results, Team stats |
| Delivery | CSV download | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | CSV download | REST, GraphQL |
| Live / in-play | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: Allowed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 7 | 2 |
| GitHub repos | 3.6k | 1.1k |
| Community tone | Mostly positive | Neutral |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is football-data.co.uk or CollegeFootballData.com better?
- football-data.co.uk scores slightly higher (60 vs 57). CollegeFootballData.com is the better pick for College football analysts, hobbyists and apps that need games, play-by-play, recruiting and betting-line history through a free key.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.co.uk or CollegeFootballData.com?
- football-data.co.uk: Free tier. CollegeFootballData.com: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.co.uk and CollegeFootballData.com have a free tier?
- football-data.co.uk: yes. CollegeFootballData.com: yes.