vs
football-data.org vs Goalserve (2026)
Short answer: football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 45). Goalserve is the better pick for teams wanting XML or JSON soccer feeds, with odds, injuries and historical stats, bought as separate per-feed subscriptions.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose football-data.org if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football apps and side projects that need fixtures, tables and scores for major European leagues, with a free tier and small monthly upgrades.
- ✓ want to start on a free tier
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
Not ideal for: Projects that need sports other than football, or detailed live and event data on the free plan.
What developers say
Popular free-tier choice for hobby football projects: World Cup predictors, score trackers, league tables, and a fallback when API-Football quota runs out. Developers like the free key and simple docs. Complaints: free tier gives fixtures and final scores but no shots, xG or lineups, history starts around 2019, and a low request rate.
Choose Goalserve if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Teams wanting XML or JSON soccer feeds, with odds, injuries and historical stats, bought as separate per-feed subscriptions.
- ✓ need American football, Golf
- ✓ want WebSocket push instead of polling
Not ideal for: Budget projects or those wanting a permanent free tier; paid feeds start at 150 USD per month and there is only a trial.
What developers say
Per-feed sports data subscriptions in XML/JSON. Few real opinions: people shopping for sportsbook-grade data call it and similar providers costly, and note it lacks live bet settlement. Older Stack Overflow questions show developers consuming its in-play soccer feed. A handful of small bot and app repos use it.
Side by side
| football-data.org | Goalserve | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 64/100 (#11) | 45/100 (#87) |
| Popularity | 65 | 34 |
| Community & reliability | 55 | 52 |
| Transparency | 85 | 70 |
| Developer experience | 55 | 32 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from €12/mo | from $150/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Multi-sport (40+), Football (soccer), American football, Golf |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, Odds, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Injuries, Lineups, Odds, Results, Live scores, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Streaming (WebSocket) |
| Protocols | REST | REST, WebSocket, Webhooks |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 31 | 5 |
| GitHub repos | 9.0k | 7 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Mixed |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is football-data.org or Goalserve better?
- football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 45). Goalserve is the better pick for teams wanting XML or JSON soccer feeds, with odds, injuries and historical stats, bought as separate per-feed subscriptions.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.org or Goalserve?
- football-data.org: from €12/mo. Goalserve: from $150/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.org and Goalserve have a free tier?
- football-data.org: yes. Goalserve: no.