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Football-Data.org alternative

The best Football-Data.org alternative for production apps

Football-Data.org is the friendliest free on-ramp to football data. When your project becomes a product, here is how Sportmonks compares on depth, coverage, and reliability, and where Football-Data.org is still the right call.

Trusted by 1,200+ companies 10 years in production From €29/month
Sportmonks · by the numbers
0Uptime
0Leagues
0Builders
0Requests/mo
from €29/mo
Football-Data.org is the best free football API for learning and student projects, with a permanent free tier covering 12 major competitions and paid plans up to €199/month. Sportmonks is built for production apps: 2,200+ leagues, deep stats (xG, Pressure Index, predictions), 99.99% uptime, and human support, from €29/month. Use Football-Data.org to learn or prototype; move to Sportmonks when you ship something real.

Sportmonks vs Football-Data.org at a glance

 SportmonksFootball-Data.org
Entry priceFree plan + €29/monthFree tier; up to €199/month
League coverage2,200+12 free; limited on paid
Data depthxG, Pressure Index, predictions, full statsBasic scores, fixtures, tables, lineups
Rate limitsHourly, scalable10 requests/min (free)
Support7-day human + personal CSMinimal
Uptime99.99%Not published
Best forProduction appsLearning, hobby projects

Figures current as of June 2026. Verify on each provider's site.

Where each one wins

Choose Football-Data.org when

  • You are learning to work with sports data
  • You are building a student or hobby project
  • The 12 free competitions cover your needs
  • You want a simple free start with no card required

Choose Sportmonks when

  • Your project becomes a product with real users
  • You need full stats: xG, Pressure Index, and predictions
  • You need broad coverage across 2,200+ leagues
  • You need published reliability and human support

The differences that show up in production

Reliability

Built for live traffic

Sportmonks publishes 99.99% uptime and handles 6.4 billion API requests per month, with 7-day human support and a personal CS contact. Football-Data.org does not publish uptime and offers minimal support, which is fine for learning but thin once real users depend on the feed.

Value

Depth and headroom to grow

Sportmonks delivers full match and player statistics, xG, Pressure Index, and predictions across 2,200+ leagues. Football-Data.org covers the basics, scores, fixtures, tables, and lineups, on a handful of free competitions. Start on the Sportmonks free plan and scale without re-architecting.

Experience

One provider as you scale

Start free, then move through Starter, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise on the same API, with includes-and-filters that let you pull related data in a single request. No switching providers or re-architecting when your needs deepen.

Why teams switch to Sportmonks

One API call. Every use case. Real teams.

Football-Data.org's coverage thins out where production apps need it most. With Sportmonks, a single response carries lineups, events, statistics, xG and predictions — consistently, across 2,200+ leagues. Hover a team to see the exact slice of this response they build on.

Drag to resize · hover a team below
Match Centre · built from the response PL · MD 34
Manchester City
Manchester City
2
1
Full Time
19 Apr 2026 · Etihad Stadium
Arsenal
Arsenal
Goal 16' Cherki
Goal 65' Haaland
Goal 18' Havertz
Nathan Aké Antoine Semenyo
90'+6
Nico González Rodri
88'
Phil Foden Rayan Cherki
85'
Erling Haaland
83'
84'
Viktor Gyökeres Martín Zubimendi
Erling Haaland Goal2–1
65'
Marc Guéhi
60'
46'
Gabriel Martinelli Noni Madueke
18'
Goal Kai Havertz1–1
Rayan Cherki Goal1–0 · assist Nunes
16'
Manchester CityManchester City
25Gianluigi Donnarumma
20Bernardo SilvaC
16Rodri
10Rayan CherkiGoal
9Erling HaalandGoal
ArsenalArsenal
1David Raya
8Martin ØdegaardC
41Declan Rice
29Kai HavertzGoal
6Gabriel Magalhães
59%Ball Possession41%
15Total Shots9
1.76Expected Goals (xG)1.38
498Total Passes348
85%Pass Accuracy75%
8Corners5
5Fouls12
Pre-match · Full Time Result
Man City
41.5%
Draw
24.1%
Arsenal
34.4%
Both Teams to Score
Yes
61.3%
No
38.8%
Total Goals
Over 2.5
58.9%
Under 2.5
41.1%
Model called it. Pre-match favoured City (41.5%) over Arsenal (34.4%). BTTS predicted at 61.3% — Cherki and Havertz both scored inside 20 minutes. Final 2–1 was the model's second-most-likely scoreline (8.7%).
GET /v3/football/fixtures/19427734?include=lineups.player;events;statistics;xgfixture;predictions 200 OK
{
  "data": {
    "id": 19427734,
    "league_id": 8,
    "name": "Manchester City vs Arsenal",
    "starting_at": "2026-04-19 15:30:00",
    "xgfixture": [
      { "participant_id": 9,  "location": "home", "data": { "value": 1.7624 } },
      { "participant_id": 19, "location": "away", "data": { "value": 1.3798 } }
    ],
    "lineups": [
      {
        "player_id": 154421, "team_id": 9,
        "player_name": "Erling Haaland", "jersey_number": 9,
        "type_id": 11,
        "player": { "image_path": "…/players/21/154421.png" }
      },
      // … 21 more lineup entries (full XI per team + bench)
    ],
    "events": [
      { "minute": 16, "type_id": 14, "player_name": "Rayan Cherki", "related_player_name": "Matheus Nunes", "result": "1-0" },
      { "minute": 18, "type_id": 14, "player_name": "Kai Havertz", "result": "1-1" },
      { "minute": 65, "type_id": 14, "player_name": "Erling Haaland", "result": "2-1" },
      // … 14 more events (subs + cards through 90+6')
    ],
    "statistics": [
      { "type_id": 45, "location": "home", "data": { "value": 59 } },  /* Possession */
      { "type_id": 42, "location": "home", "data": { "value": 15 } },  /* Shots */
      { "type_id": 80, "location": "home", "data": { "value": 498 } }, /* Passes */
      // … 75 more bilateral stat entries
    ],
    "predictions": [
      { "type_id": 237, "predictions": { "home": 41.53, "draw": 24.07, "away": 34.36 } },  /* FT Result */
      { "type_id": 231, "predictions": { "yes": 61.25, "no": 38.75 } },  /* BTTS */
      { "type_id": 240, "predictions": { "scores": { "1-1": 11.12, "2-1": 8.66 } } }
    ]
  }
}

Hover a team to see what they build — and the exact slice of this one response behind it.

lineups · events · statistics · xgfixture · predictions

Which fits your use case?

Livescore portals

Real-time scores and in-play events across 2,200+ leagues with consistent formats, well beyond the basics a free tier provides.

Live Score API

Fantasy games

Consistent player and match statistics across every league, the depth Football-Data.org's core data does not reach.

Fantasy Football API

Betting platforms

Pre-match and in-play odds, predictions, and data-integrity practices in a single feed.

Sports Betting API

Sports media

Match facts, xG, and editorial-ready data for publishing at scale.

Sports Media

Migrating from Football-Data.org to Sportmonks

Going from a basic free API to production-grade data with Sportmonks is a measured step, not a leap. Most Football-Data.org integrations map cleanly onto Sportmonks' v3 REST API. The main shift is Sportmonks' includes-and-filters model: instead of stitching together the basics, you pull related data, scores, events, statistics, in a single request by adding includes.

What you call in Football-Data.orgSportmonks v3 equivalent
Matches / scoresGET /v3/football/fixtures + ?include=scores;events;statistics
Competition standingsGET /v3/football/standings/seasons/{id}
Teams & squadsGET /v3/football/teams/{id} + ?include=players
Scorers / lineupsGET /v3/football/fixtures/{id} + ?include=lineups.player;events
Stats, xG & predictions?include=statistics;xgfixture;predictions
Signup is self-serve and your API token is issued instantly. Swap the base URL and auth token, remap the endpoints above, and pull the deeper data you need, full stats, xG, and predictions, with includes and filters. Because the trial is instant, you can run both APIs in parallel and compare coverage and depth before you cut over, so the move is a measured decision. See the docs for exact include and filter names.

Pricing

Both have free tiers. Football-Data.org's paid plans run €12–199/month for more requests and competitions. Sportmonks starts at €29/month (Starter) and scales to €99 (Growth), €249 (Pro), and custom Enterprise for all 2,200+ competitions, with a 14-day free trial on paid plans (a credit card is required to activate it). The decision is rarely about price at the bottom of the range; it is about whether you need production-grade depth and reliability.

Which should you choose?

Choose Football-Data.org if you are learning, building a hobby project, or prototyping and the 12 free competitions cover your needs.

Choose Sportmonks when your project becomes a product: real users, deeper data, broader coverage, and reliability you can depend on.

Frequently asked questions

Is Football-Data.org really free?

Yes, it has a permanent free tier covering 12 major competitions at 10 requests per minute. Paid plans add more competitions and higher limits up to €199/month.

What does Football-Data.org not include?

It focuses on core data (scores, fixtures, tables, lineups) and lacks the deeper stats many products need, such as xG, advanced player metrics, and predictions. Sportmonks includes these.

When should I move from Football-Data.org to Sportmonks?

When you outgrow the free tier's coverage or need production reliability, deeper stats, or support. Sportmonks' free plan and 14-day trial let you test the move before committing.

Does Sportmonks have a free tier like Football-Data.org?

Yes. Sportmonks offers a permanent free plan (two leagues) plus a 14-day free trial on every paid plan.

Ready when you are

Start building today

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