vsFootyStats vs openfootball (2026)
Short answer: The two score about the same (53 vs 53). openfootball is the better pick for football projects that want public-domain fixtures and results as plain-text or JSON files with no key and no usage limits.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose FootyStats if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football apps, stats sites and ML projects that need cards, corners, BTTS and over/under statistics across many leagues, with a free tier to test.
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
Not ideal for: Projects that need sports other than football or sub-minute live updates; results refresh about every 20 minutes.
What developers say
Soccer stats API and CSV downloads covering many leagues, used by betting-model builders and scrapers for BTTS, corners and over/under data. Bettors mention it as an affordable broad source, but several say data has gaps, odd or inconsistent numbers and weaker xG than FBref-style sources. Used with other feeds for odds.
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
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.
Side by side
| FootyStats | openfootball | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 53/100 (#36) | 53/100 (#41) |
| Popularity | 52 | 36 |
| Community & reliability | 50 | 52 |
| Transparency | 60 | 90 |
| Developer experience | 50 | 48 |
| Type | Sports data API | Free / open data |
| Starting price | Free tier | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Football (soccer) | Football (soccer) |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Player stats, Results, Standings, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Results, Standings |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Not disclosed |
| Protocols | REST | Not disclosed |
| Live / in-play | Not disclosed | No |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: Allowed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 6 | 13 |
| GitHub repos | 95 | 17 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Neutral |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is FootyStats or openfootball better?
- The two score about the same (53 vs 53). openfootball is the better pick for football projects that want public-domain fixtures and results as plain-text or JSON files with no key and no usage limits.
- Which is cheaper, FootyStats or openfootball?
- FootyStats: Free tier. openfootball: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do FootyStats and openfootball have a free tier?
- FootyStats: yes. openfootball: yes.