Free
- 12 requests/min
- 2 sportsbooks
- 60s data delay
Trusted by 100+ developers for real-time sports data
Custom rate limits, dedicated SLAs, and priority support for high-volume operations.
The full feature breakdown across all four tiers, side by side.
Every sports odds API prices its free tier differently. Here's how the major sports data APIs compare in 2026 for free-tier access.
| Provider | Free Tier | Rate Limit | Odds Access | Historical Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SharpAPI | $0/mo: no card | 12 req/min (17,280/day) |
| Pre-match odds, 60s delay |
| Enterprise only |
| The Odds API | $0/mo free tier | 500 credits/mo (~16/day) | Live odds, no live score feed | Paid plans only |
| OddsPapi | $0/mo (250 req) | 250 req/mo total | Limited | Paid plans |
| API-Sports (API-Football) | $0/mo free tier | 100 req/day | Live scores native | Paid plans |
SharpAPI covers US sports betting markets: moneylines, spreads, totals, and props across 45+ books. API-Sports is the leading free live score and live sports app data provider (API-Football covers soccer specifically). These are different products: SharpAPI delivers betting odds and +EV signals; API-Sports delivers live scores and fixtures.
Your free tier API key with SharpAPI works with both REST and SSE streaming endpoints. Pre-match odds from 2 sportsbooks (DraftKings and FanDuel), delivered with a 60-second delay at 12 requests/min. Upgrade to an eligible paid plan for real-time and live/in-play odds. Paid tiers add more sportsbooks, arbitrage detection, value betting signals, and +EV detection; historical odds endpoints are Enterprise-only.
If you are here from a search like "the odds api free tier limits 2026" or "the odds api pricing free tier," this is the head-to-head.
| Plan | SharpAPI (2026) | The Odds API (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan, monthly limit | ~17,280 requests/day (no monthly cap) | 500 credits/month on the free plan |
| Free plan, requests per day | 12 req/min ≈ 17,280/day | ~16 requests/day (500 credits ÷ 30) |
| Credit card required for free? | No | No |
| Entry paid plan | $79/mo Hobby: real-time, 5 books | $30/mo: 20,000 credits |
| Real-time streaming | SSE push on every paid plan | REST polling only, no streaming |
| +EV detection / no-vig odds | Built-in on Pro ($229/mo) | Not available, build it yourself |
| Sport keys list | NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAAF, NCAAB, MLS, UFC, and major soccer | 40+ global sports including niche markets |
| Bookmakers | 45+ US sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, Bet365, Pinnacle) | 40+ global including SBOBET, Asian sharp books |
Credit pricing on The Odds API is complex. Each request spends 1 credit per sport key per region. A single NBA bookmaker odds fetch from US + UK is 2 credits. Our per-request pricing is simple: one call, one count against your rate limit. Update intervals and polling frequency affect your daily usage differently across providers.
500 credits/month. Effectively ~16 requests per day if spread evenly. Hit the cap early and you wait until the monthly reset.
Still active in 2026. The free plan shipped in 2020 and has not been deprecated. Paid plans have shifted credit allocations occasionally, verify current limits at the-odds-api.com.
You need real-time streaming, +EV detection, arbitrage scanning, or higher request limits. You also want a developer-friendly API with a first-party TypeScript SDK and deep US sportsbook coverage.
Bottom line: The Odds API's free tier is fine for a weekend project or a demo. For production apps, SharpAPI's free tier gives you 1,000× more requests and no monthly cap, with real-time SSE streaming on the paid plans. You will go much further before needing to upgrade.
No credit card required
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