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PandaScore vs Retrosheet (2026)
Short answer: PandaScore scores clearly higher overall (65 vs 55). Retrosheet is the better pick for baseball researchers and hobbyists who want free bulk MLB play-by-play, game logs and schedules as downloadable CSV files.
From public data checked . How we know
Choose PandaScore if you…
Esports data
Best for: Esports apps and stats sites that need schedules, results and post-match data per game, with a free fixtures tier and an optional live WebSocket feed.
- ✓ need Esports
- ✓ need live / in-play data
- ✓ want WebSocket push instead of polling
Not ideal for: Building odds or betting products from the stats plans; those plans bar betting use and redistribution, so betting customers must go through sales.
What developers say
Esports data provider with REST API covering LoL, CS, Dota and others. Seen in dev questions for upcoming-match apps and a few GitHub wrappers and bots. Community remarks are sparse and mostly old: one user notes odds are paywalled, and it appears as one of few usable esports APIs. No real user verdict on quality or pricing.
Choose Retrosheet if you…
Free / open data
Best for: Baseball researchers and hobbyists who want free bulk MLB play-by-play, game logs and schedules as downloadable CSV files.
- ✓ need Baseball
- ✓ care most about what developers report in practice
Not ideal for: Apps that need a live API or current-day data; Retrosheet offers bulk file downloads only, with a copyright notice on the data.
What developers say
Volunteer-run archive of MLB play-by-play, game logs and schedules as downloadable files, not a hosted API. Recommended on HN and betting forums for model building and ETL practice, and widely used by tools such as Chadwick and boxball Docker images. Free and deep history back to 1914; you must parse and host it yourself.
Side by side
| PandaScore | Retrosheet | |
|---|---|---|
| SportDex Score | 65/100 (#9) | 55/100 (#31) |
| Popularity | 53 | 36 |
| Community & reliability | Not enough data | 69 |
| Transparency | 90 | 75 |
| Developer experience | 61 | 51 |
| Type | Esports data | Free / open data |
| Starting price | from €400/mo | Free tier |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sports | Esports | Baseball |
| Data | Fixtures, Historical data, Odds, Play-by-play, Results, Live scores, Team stats | Fixtures, Historical data, Play-by-play, Results, Team stats |
| Delivery | Streaming (WebSocket) | CSV download |
| Protocols | REST, WebSocket | CSV download |
| Live / in-play | Yes | No |
| Commercial use | Commercial: Paid plans only | Commercial: not disclosed |
| Betting products | Betting: Not allowed | Betting: not disclosed |
| Documentation | Docs | Docs |
| Developer discussions | 8 | 6 |
| GitHub repos | 195 | 347 |
| Community tone | Too little discussion | Mostly positive |
Empty fields mean the provider does not say, not that the feature is missing.
Quick answers
- Is PandaScore or Retrosheet better?
- PandaScore scores clearly higher overall (65 vs 55). Retrosheet is the better pick for baseball researchers and hobbyists who want free bulk MLB play-by-play, game logs and schedules as downloadable CSV files.
- Which is cheaper, PandaScore or Retrosheet?
- PandaScore: from €400/mo. Retrosheet: Free tier. Entry plans differ in limits and coverage, so compare what each plan includes.
- Do PandaScore and Retrosheet have a free tier?
- PandaScore: yes. Retrosheet: yes.