The comparison table
If you need xG and lineups on a side-project budget, the cheapest realistic entry point is OpenFootAPI's $14 Developer plan. If you need very high request volume, API-Football's daily quotas are hard to beat on raw numbers. If you only need fixtures and standings for a handful of big leagues and you're fine with a delay, football-data.org's free tier is still the best zero-cost option. Sportmonks is the enterprise answer, priced accordingly.
Quota style is the hidden variable. API-Football's $19 plan gives 7,500 requests per day — roughly 225,000 a month. OpenFootAPI's $14 plan gives 25,000 per month. If you're running a high-frequency polling app, the cheaper sticker price is not the cheaper plan. If you're running a normal product that caches sensibly, 25,000 monthly calls is plenty and you've saved while getting xG.
| Provider | Free tier | Entry paid plan | xG / shot maps | Lineups & live events | Quota style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenFootAPI | 2,000 req/month, 15 req/min | $14/mo — 25,000 req/month, 100 req/min | Yes, on $14 plan | Yes, on $14 plan | Monthly |
| API-Football | 100 req/day | $19/mo — 7,500 req/day | Not a headline feature | Yes | Daily |
| football-data.org | 12 competitions, 10 req/min | ~€29/mo — adds lineups, subs, cards, squads | No | Lineups on paid | Rate-limit based |
| Sportmonks | Free plan available | €29/mo + analytics bundle | Add-on bundle on higher tiers | Yes | Monthly, league-gated |
When to pick each provider
Pick football-data.org if your budget is exactly zero: A permanent free tier covering 12 major competitions at 10 requests per minute is genuinely useful, and it's the standard answer to 'free football API' for a reason. Fine for a standings widget, wrong for a live-score product.
Pick API-Football if you need volume above everything: 7,500 requests a day at $19, scaling to 75,000/day at $29, is a lot of headroom, and coverage is broad. It's the default choice for people building live-score apps that poll aggressively.
Pick OpenFootAPI if you need analytics features cheaply: The differentiator is what's included at $14: Expected Goals and shot analytics, starting XI, benches and formations, live key events and commentary, plus derived signals — form, Elo, rest days, table position, and model-derived fair odds.
Pick Sportmonks if you're an established business: Deep catalogue, enterprise support, and pricing structured around base leagues plus add-on metric packages. Realistically the wrong shape for a side project.
- Stable IDs: Match, team and player IDs don't change between requests, so seasonal joins don't break.
- Provenance per response: Every response identifies its provider and licence, so you always know whether a number is live, historical or derived.
How to evaluate a football API in 20 minutes
Follow this structured framework before choosing a subscription.
- 1. List the exact leagues you need. Not 'European football' — the specific competitions.
- 2. List the exact fields you need. Fixtures and scores are commodity; xG, formations and event timelines diverge sharply.
- 3. Estimate real request volume. Requests per user session × sessions per day, then add a cache layer.
- 4. Test the failure cases. What comes back for a postponed fixture? A 404? Is it metered against quota?
- 5. Check overage policy. Avoid surprise bills — OpenFootAPI returns 429 at quota instead of overage charges.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best value football API with xG data?
At the time of writing, OpenFootAPI's Developer plan at $14/month is the lowest entry price that includes Expected Goals and shot analytics rather than gating them behind a higher tier.
Is there a genuinely free football data API?
Yes — football-data.org (12 competitions, 10 req/min) and API-Football's free tier (100 requests/day) are both permanently free. OpenFootAPI's free Starter plan gives 2,000 authenticated requests a month with no credit card.
Why do request limits differ so much between providers?
Because some meter daily and some monthly. Convert everything to the same unit before comparing, then divide by your actual polling frequency.
Sources and further reading
Product descriptions and examples were checked against the OpenFootAPI v1 contract on 26 August 2026.