openfootball vs Football Charts (2026)
Short answer: openfootball scores slightly higher (53 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 openfootball if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Football projects that want public-domain fixtures and results as plain-text or JSON files with no key and no usage limits.
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Apps needing live scores, detailed player stats or a hosted API; data is fetched from GitHub repositories and is not live.
What developers say
Free public-domain (CC0) football fixtures and results published as plain text and JSON files on GitHub, with no key needed. Developers use it for World Cup apps, prediction models and tutorials. Limits: static files rather than a live API, and Hacker News commenters debated whether its plain-text format is easy to parse.
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
| openfootball | Football Charts | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 53/100 (#41) | 49/100 (#59) |
| Popularity | 36 | 20 |
| Community & reliability | 52 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 90 | 100 |
| Developer experience | 48 | 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 | Fixtures, Historical data, Results, Standings | Fixtures, Historical data, Odds, Predictions, Results, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Not disclosed | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | Not disclosed | REST |
| Live / in-play | No | Not disclosed |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Allowed | Commercial: Paid plans only |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 13 | 1 |
| GitHub repos | 17 | 14 |
| Community tone | Neutral | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is openfootball or Football Charts better?
- openfootball scores slightly higher (53 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, openfootball or Football Charts?
- openfootball: Free tier. Football Charts: from €9/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do openfootball and Football Charts have a free tier?
- openfootball: yes. Football Charts: yes.