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MoneyPuck Data vs Lahman Baseball Database (2026)
Short answer: MoneyPuck Data scores slightly higher (54 vs 48). Lahman Baseball Database is the better pick for baseball analysts and students who want free historical MLB batting, pitching, fielding and standings data from 1871 on, as CSV or SQL files.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose MoneyPuck Data if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Analysts, students and journalists who want free NHL shot-level and game-by-game CSV downloads with history from 2007.
- ✓ need Ice hockey
- ✓ value a large open-source ecosystem of wrappers and examples
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Commercial products, live data or API access: downloads are non-commercial, updated nightly and delivered as zip files.
What developers say
Free downloadable NHL shot-level and expected-goals data, widely used in hobbyist betting models, xG projects and MCP or Python helpers, usually alongside the NHL API. Praised for real xG and long history. One bettor found the files hard to download. Non-commercial terms apply, and there is no live API.
Choose Lahman Baseball Database if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Baseball analysts and students who want free historical MLB batting, pitching, fielding and standings data from 1871 on, as CSV or SQL files.
- ✓ need Baseball
Not ideal for: Live or current-game data and API-style access; it is an annual downloadable dataset, and the dataset license is not stated on saved pages.
What developers say
Free downloadable MLB history database (1871 onward) with R and Python packages and SQL ports. Mostly cited as a data source in side projects, tutorials and chart videos, often alongside the MLB Stats API and Retrosheet. Little direct opinion; it is a static dataset, not a live API.
Side by side
| MoneyPuck Data | Lahman Baseball Database | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 54/100 (#33) | 48/100 (#67) |
| Popularity | 28 | 31 |
| Community & reliability | 69 | Not enough data |
| Transparency | 85 | 75 |
| Developer experience | 51 | 50 |
| Type | Free / open data | Free / open data |
| Starting price | Free tier | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Ice hockey | Baseball |
| Data | Historical data, Player stats, Results, Team stats | Historical data, Player stats, Results, Standings, Team stats |
| Delivery | CSV download | CSV download |
| Protocols | CSV download | CSV download |
| Live / in-play | No | No |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Licence required | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: not disclosed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 3 | 1 |
| GitHub repos | 232 | 61 |
| Community tone | Mostly positive | Neutral |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is MoneyPuck Data or Lahman Baseball Database better?
- MoneyPuck Data scores slightly higher (54 vs 48). Lahman Baseball Database is the better pick for baseball analysts and students who want free historical MLB batting, pitching, fielding and standings data from 1871 on, as CSV or SQL files.
- Which is cheaper, MoneyPuck Data or Lahman Baseball Database?
- MoneyPuck Data: Free tier. Lahman Baseball Database: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do MoneyPuck Data and Lahman Baseball Database have a free tier?
- MoneyPuck Data: yes. Lahman Baseball Database: yes.