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football-data.org vs Live Score API (2026)
Short answer: football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 36). Live Score API is the better pick for football websites and apps that need live scores, standings, lineups and odds for 500+ competitions at a modest monthly price.
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
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
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 Live Score API if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football websites and apps that need live scores, standings, lineups and odds for 500+ competitions at a modest monthly price.
Not ideal for: Projects covering sports other than football, needing a free tier, or using team logos commercially.
What developers say
Little independent discussion. Evidence of use is a handful of small GitHub demos and student football score sites built on it, plus the vendor's own tutorial videos. No reviews of pricing, latency or data quality. Other hits are generic live-score questions or an unrelated WordPress plugin.
Side by side
| football-data.org | Live Score API | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 64/100 (#11) | 36/100 (#120) |
| Popularity | 65 | 22 |
| Community & reliability | 55 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 85 | 70 |
| Developer experience | 55 | 28 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from €12/mo | from €11/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Football (soccer) |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, Odds, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Live scores, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | REST | REST |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Not found |
| Developer discussions | 31 | 0 |
| GitHub repos | 9.0k | 19 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is football-data.org or Live Score API better?
- football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 36). Live Score API is the better pick for football websites and apps that need live scores, standings, lineups and odds for 500+ competitions at a modest monthly price.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.org or Live Score API?
- football-data.org: from €12/mo. Live Score API: from €11/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.org and Live Score API have a free tier?
- football-data.org: yes. Live Score API: no.