KickoffAPI vs football-data.org — Free Football API Compared (2026)

AT A GLANCE

Side by side

Feature	KickoffAPI	football-data.org
Free tier scores	Real-time	Delayed
Free tier coverage	All endpoints, 900+ leagues	12 competitions, 10 calls/min
Player stats on free	Limited but available	Not included
Paid entry	$19 / 20,000 req per day	€12 / mo (12 comps) → €99 (50 comps) → €199 (100 comps)

Comparison based on football-data.org's public pricing page, 25 September 2026. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

THE ACTUAL RESPONSE

What you parse

The fastest way to judge an API is to read one response. This is a real, unedited KickoffAPI call — Liverpool v Bournemouth, Premier League, matchday one of 2025.

REAL RESPONSE — v2 fixtures200

$ curl -G "https://api.kickoffapi.com/api/v2/fixtures" \
    -d "league=39&season=2025&limit=1" -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY"

{
  "data": [{
    "id": "fx_j3AR8hjl9tRa",
    "date": "2025-08-15T20:00:00.000Z",
    "status": { "long": "Match Finished", "short": "FT" },
    "league": { "id": "lg_49706223160bbba4", "name": "Premier League" },
    "home":   { "id": "tm_8d1cf3beebe33484", "name": "Liverpool FC" },
    "away":   { "id": "tm_3b1b1f15d2ccae5e", "name": "AFC Bournemouth" },
    "score":  { "home": 4, "away": 2, "halftime": { "home": 1, "away": 0 } },
    "source": "owned"
  }],
  "meta": { "count": 1, "nextCursor": "1", "source": "owned" }
}

One envelope on every endpoint — { data, meta }, with the cursor always in the same place. Prefixed ids (fx_, lg_, tm_) so an id tells you what it points at. And a source field on every row naming the store that produced it, because we keep our own reconciled history rather than reselling one upstream feed. Rate limits come back as headers on every authenticated call, not buried in a dashboard.

WHICH ONE FOR YOU

The honest verdict

CHOOSE KICKOFFAPI IF

You need real-time

If your product shows live scores, a delayed free tier won't cut it — and stacking add-ons (livescores, deep data, stats, odds) adds up fast. KickoffAPI is real-time from the free tier and scales on flat, predictable plans.

FOOTBALL-DATA.ORG IS FINE FOR

Learning projects

Prototypes and study projects that only need a handful of major European leagues and can tolerate delayed data.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is football-data.org real-time?

Its free tier serves delayed scores; real-time requires a paid livescores add-on. KickoffAPI serves real-time scores from its free tier.

Which has more coverage for free?

KickoffAPI — all endpoints across 900+ leagues on the free tier, versus about 12 competitions on football-data.org's free plan.

Is KickoffAPI a good football-data.org alternative?

Yes — especially if you need real-time scores, player statistics, or broader league coverage without stacking add-ons.

KickoffAPI vs football‑data.org