vs
football-data.org vs StatPal (2026)
Short answer: football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 43). StatPal is the better pick for Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day trial.
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 StatPal if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day trial.
- ✓ need American football, Basketball, Baseball
Not ideal for: Free-tier projects; there is no free plan. Usage rights for revenue-generating products are unclear in the terms.
What developers say
Sports API with flat monthly plans and a soccer xG feature. One bettor tried it as an xG source claimed to rival Sportmonks. A sports project's issues report endpoints (teams, injuries, rosters) returning 404 and soccer livescores being routed to the wrong API version, suggesting integration pitfalls or version changes. Little else known.
Side by side
| football-data.org | StatPal | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 64/100 (#11) | 43/100 (#97) |
| Popularity | 65 | 7 |
| Community & reliability | 55 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 85 | 85 |
| Developer experience | 55 | 65 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from €12/mo | from $29/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Football (soccer), American football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice hockey, Formula 1, Motorsport, Golf |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, Odds, Live scores, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, News, Odds, Predictions, Results, 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 | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 31 | 1 |
| GitHub repos | 9.0k | 0 |
| 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 StatPal better?
- football-data.org scores clearly higher overall (64 vs 43). StatPal is the better pick for Scoreboards, betting tools and fantasy apps that need live scores and odds across many sports and 1,000+ soccer leagues at flat monthly prices, with a 14-day trial.
- Which is cheaper, football-data.org or StatPal?
- football-data.org: from €12/mo. StatPal: from $29/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do football-data.org and StatPal have a free tier?
- football-data.org: yes. StatPal: no.