football-data.co.uk vs TheStatsAPI (2026)
Short answer: football-data.co.uk scores clearly higher overall (60 vs 50). TheStatsAPI is the better pick for football apps and models that need fixtures, player stats, xG and odds from five bookmakers at a fixed monthly price, with a 7-day trial.
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.
- ✓ want to start on a free tier
- ✓ 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 TheStatsAPI if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football apps and models that need fixtures, player stats, xG and odds from five bookmakers at a fixed monthly price, with a 7-day trial.
- ✓ need live / in-play data
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
Not ideal for: Projects needing sports other than football, or that plan to resell raw data; the licence limits use to the customer's own end-user apps.
What developers say
Football API with stats, xG and odds. Feedback is thin and unfavourable: one user reported more than twenty missing odds and stats datapoints across top leagues and no reply from support, and another let their subscription lapse while shopping for cheaper options like API-Football, Sportmonks and football-data.org. A handful of small repos use it.
Side by side
| football-data.co.uk | TheStatsAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 60/100 (#18) | 50/100 (#49) |
| Popularity | 48 | 34 |
| Community & reliability | 69 | 26 |
| Transparency | 75 | 100 |
| Developer experience | 54 | 58 |
| Type | Free / open data | Sports data API |
| Starting price | Free tier | from $50/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Not stated | 7 days |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Football (soccer) |
| Data | Historical data, Odds, Results, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Results, Live scores, Team stats, xG |
| Delivery | CSV download | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | CSV download | REST |
| Live / in-play | Not disclosed | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: Allowed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 7 | 3 |
| GitHub repos | 3.6k | 23 |
| Community tone | Mostly positive | Mostly negative |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is football-data.co.uk or TheStatsAPI better?
- football-data.co.uk scores clearly higher overall (60 vs 50). TheStatsAPI is the better pick for football apps and models that need fixtures, player stats, xG and odds from five bookmakers at a fixed monthly price, with a 7-day trial.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.co.uk or TheStatsAPI?
- football-data.co.uk: Free tier. TheStatsAPI: from $50/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.co.uk and TheStatsAPI have a free tier?
- football-data.co.uk: yes. TheStatsAPI: no.