football-data.co.uk vs Football Charts (2026)
Short answer: football-data.co.uk scores clearly higher overall (60 vs 49). Football Charts is the better pick for football hobby and research projects needing daily results, tables, model probabilities and season projections for 98 leagues, with a free key and cheap paid tiers.
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.
- ✓ 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 Football Charts if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Football hobby and research projects needing daily results, tables, model probabilities and season projections for 98 leagues, with a free key and cheap paid tiers.
Not ideal for: Live-score apps; data refreshes daily around 06:00 UTC. Not for redistribution, and free and Personal keys are personal use only.
What developers say
Small football results and projections API with a free keyless tier, MCP server and client libraries covering lower leagues. Every mention found comes from its own maker (a self-disclosed Reddit post, integration requests, companion repos). No independent user feedback on quality, limits or pricing exists yet.
Side by side
| football-data.co.uk | Football Charts | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 60/100 (#18) | 49/100 (#59) |
| Popularity | 48 | 20 |
| Community & reliability | 69 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 75 | 100 |
| Developer experience | 54 | 48 |
| Type | Free / open data | Free / open data |
| Starting price | Free tier | from €9/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Football (soccer) |
| Data | Historical data, Odds, Results, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Odds, Predictions, Results, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | CSV download | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | CSV download | REST |
| Live / in-play | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: Paid plans only |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 7 | 1 |
| GitHub repos | 3.6k | 14 |
| Community tone | Mostly positive | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is football-data.co.uk or Football Charts better?
- football-data.co.uk scores clearly higher overall (60 vs 49). Football Charts is the better pick for football hobby and research projects needing daily results, tables, model probabilities and season projections for 98 leagues, with a free key and cheap paid tiers.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.co.uk or Football Charts?
- football-data.co.uk: Free tier. Football Charts: from €9/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.co.uk and Football Charts have a free tier?
- football-data.co.uk: yes. Football Charts: yes.