vsOpenF1 vs Jolpica-F1 (2026)
Short answer: OpenF1 scores clearly higher overall (66 vs 50). Jolpica-F1 is the better pick for Formula 1 projects, especially ones migrating from the retired Ergast API, that need free historical results and standings.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose OpenF1 if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Hobby projects, dashboards and analysis of Formula 1 sessions that need free historical lap, telemetry and position data over a keyless REST API.
- ✓ need live / in-play data
- ✓ want WebSocket push instead of polling
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Commercial products needing official F1 data or guaranteed uptime; it is an unofficial project and live data needs a paid sponsorship for personal use.
What developers say
Free open-source F1 API (lap times, telemetry, positions, weather, race control) used heavily in fan dashboards, replay tools, videos and analysis posts; historical data from 2023 needs no key, live access is paid. Users note it is unofficial, lacks pre-2023 data, has had outages that forced self-hosting, and deprecates fields. FastF1 and Jolpica are common alternatives.
Choose Jolpica-F1 if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Formula 1 projects, especially ones migrating from the retired Ergast API, that need free historical results and standings.
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
Not ideal for: Commercial products needing guarantees: it is volunteer-run, rate-limited and the licence does not address the data.
What developers say
Free, volunteer-run Formula 1 API that took over from the retired Ergast service with compatible endpoints. Widely adopted: roughly thirty GitHub repos, popular F1 data-visualisation posts, and projects that integrate it for historical results and standings. Little explicit praise or criticism in discussion; no pricing or reliability complaints surfaced.
Side by side
| OpenF1 | Jolpica-F1 | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 66/100 (#7) | 50/100 (#52) |
| Popularity | 54 | 33 |
| Community & reliability | 72 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 85 | 75 |
| Developer experience | 62 | 53 |
| Type | Free / open data | Free / open data |
| Starting price | from €9.90/mo | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Formula 1, Motorsport | Formula 1, Motorsport |
| Data | Historical data, Results, Live scores, Standings, Team stats, Tracking data | Fixtures, Historical data, Results, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | Streaming (WebSocket) | Polling only (REST) |
| Protocols | REST, WebSocket | REST |
| Live / in-play | Yes | Not disclosed |
| Commercial use | Commercial: not disclosed | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 10 | 2 |
| GitHub repos | 675 | 1.6k |
| Community tone | Mostly positive | Neutral |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is OpenF1 or Jolpica-F1 better?
- OpenF1 scores clearly higher overall (66 vs 50). Jolpica-F1 is the better pick for Formula 1 projects, especially ones migrating from the retired Ergast API, that need free historical results and standings.
- Which is cheaper, OpenF1 or Jolpica-F1?
- OpenF1: from €9.90/mo. Jolpica-F1: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do OpenF1 and Jolpica-F1 have a free tier?
- OpenF1: yes. Jolpica-F1: yes.