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Sportmonks vs Highlightly (2026)
Short answer: Sportmonks scores clearly higher overall (69 vs 57). Highlightly is the better pick for apps that combine scores, stats and odds with video highlight clips across football, US leagues, cricket, rugby, volleyball and handball.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose Sportmonks if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Football apps and betting models that need many leagues, lineups, xG and stats on a self-serve monthly plan with a free tier and trial.
- ✓ need Formula 1
- ✓ need commercial use allowed in the public terms
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Projects that need US sports or the full league list on a small budget; leagues per plan are capped and history is on Enterprise only.
What developers say
Widely used paid football data API for side projects, dashboards and betting models, with many wrappers and GitHub repos. Users like the stats depth and reasonable price versus Opta or Sportradar, but call it pricey for hobby use, say premium odds lack player props, and report unreliable live data and sales or custom-plan frustrations.
Choose Highlightly if you…
Sports data API
Best for: Apps that combine scores, stats and odds with video highlight clips across football, US leagues, cricket, rugby, volleyball and handball.
- ✓ need American football, Basketball, Baseball
Not ideal for: Projects needing bookmaker-grade odds feeds; odds and momentum data are informational only and there is no uptime or latency guarantee.
What developers say
Sports API pairing scores and stats with video highlights. Little independent opinion exists: a few freelance requests to build sites on it, one repo issue comparing it with cheaper providers for backtesting, and AI-generated football video channels crediting it as a data source. Adoption seems modest and unproven.
Side by side
| Sportmonks | Highlightly | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 69/100 (#4) | 57/100 (#25) |
| Popularity | 76 | 45 |
| Community & reliability | 49 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 100 | 85 |
| Developer experience | 51 | 49 |
| Type | Sports data API | Sports data API |
| Starting price | from €29/mo | from $12.49/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| Sports | Football (soccer), Cricket, Formula 1 | Football (soccer), American football, Basketball, Baseball, Ice hockey, Cricket, Rugby, Volleyball, Handball, College sports |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Lineups, News, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats, Widgets, xG | Fixtures, Lineups, Odds, Player stats, Predictions, Live scores, Standings, Team stats, Video |
| Delivery | Polling only (REST) | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | REST | REST |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Allowed | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 40 | 2 |
| GitHub repos | 207 | 43 |
| Community tone | Mixed | Too little discussion |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is Sportmonks or Highlightly better?
- Sportmonks scores clearly higher overall (69 vs 57). Highlightly is the better pick for apps that combine scores, stats and odds with video highlight clips across football, US leagues, cricket, rugby, volleyball and handball.
- Which is cheaper, Sportmonks or Highlightly?
- Sportmonks: from €29/mo. Highlightly: from $12.49/mo. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do Sportmonks and Highlightly have a free tier?
- Sportmonks: yes. Highlightly: yes.