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.
| Sportmonks | Football-Data.org | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free plan + €29/month | Free tier; up to €199/month |
| League coverage | 2,200+ | 12 free; limited on paid |
| Data depth | xG, Pressure Index, predictions, full stats | Basic scores, fixtures, tables, lineups |
| Rate limits | Hourly, scalable | 10 requests/min (free) |
| Support | 7-day human + personal CS | Minimal |
| Uptime | 99.99% | Not published |
| Best for | Production apps | Learning, hobby projects |
Figures current as of June 2026. Verify on each provider's site.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Manchester City
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Bernardo SilvaC
Rodri
Rayan Cherki
Erling Haaland
Arsenal
David Raya
Martin ØdegaardC
Declan Rice
Kai Havertz
Gabriel Magalhães{
"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 } } }
]
}
}
"Fast and consistent — critical for live features."
Getting started was very smooth; within a short time we were retrieving data and integrating it into the platform.
predictions[]
Squads & ratings
"Real-world football, inside FIFA Career Mode."
SoFIFA pulls up-to-date squads, ratings and historical seasons straight into the game.
lineups[]
Media automation
"Automated sports media at scale."
ScorePlay powers media management with real-time Sportmonks data — every match, every moment.
statistics[]
AI commentary
"AI football commentary in 12+ languages."
Botbrains scales generative match commentary across markets, powered by Sportmonks events.
events[]"Worldwide coverage at unmatched price."
Depth of coverage on the worldwide package was unmatched at the price point.
xgfixture[]
Betting models
"Logic over gut feeling in sports betting."
Fine Line replaces guesswork with data-driven decisions across 2,200+ leagues.
predictions[]Hover a team to see what they build — and the exact slice of this one response behind it.
lineups · events · statistics · xgfixture · predictionsReal-time scores and in-play events across 2,200+ leagues with consistent formats, well beyond the basics a free tier provides.
Live Score API →Consistent player and match statistics across every league, the depth Football-Data.org's core data does not reach.
Fantasy Football API →Pre-match and in-play odds, predictions, and data-integrity practices in a single feed.
Sports Betting API →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.org | Sportmonks v3 equivalent |
|---|---|
| Matches / scores | GET /v3/football/fixtures + ?include=scores;events;statistics |
| Competition standings | GET /v3/football/standings/seasons/{id} |
| Teams & squads | GET /v3/football/teams/{id} + ?include=players |
| Scorers / lineups | GET /v3/football/fixtures/{id} + ?include=lineups.player;events |
| Stats, xG & predictions | ?include=statistics;xgfixture;predictions |
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Yes. Sportmonks offers a permanent free plan (two leagues) plus a 14-day free trial on every paid plan.
Sign up, get your API token, and make your first football API call in the same session. No sales call, no procurement.
14-day free trial · Cancel any time