Best football API for a football manager game
A football manager-style game lets players run a club: pick a squad, play a season, buy and sell players.
Real data makes it feel real — real fixtures, real players, club badges and artwork. Most games start as hobby projects, so a free plan matters.
What you need
- Fixtures — real season schedules (listed by 13 of 17 providers)
- Player stats — player details and numbers to rate players (listed by 10 of 17 providers)
- Lineups — who plays for each club (listed by 9 of 17 providers)
- Transfers — real-world player moves (listed by 5 of 17 providers)
- Media — club badges, artwork and highlights (listed by 2 of 17 providers)
Not every app needs every item. Start with the first two or three.
Good places to start
How we chose: each pick must have a self-serve way to start (free plan, trial with stated limits, or a public price); and fixtures listed; and a free plan (not just a trial); and player stats, lineups or media (artwork) listed. Facts below are quoted from the provider's public pages, checked 2026-10-19.
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TheSportsDB
Free plan: Yes · From: $9/mo
- Start: Free plan "Free" — $0: 30 requests/min; most queries limited.
- Paid plans from $9/mo.
- Lists: fixtures, media (artwork + YouTube highlight links).
Watch out
- Not confirmed on public pages: player stats, lineups, transfers.
- Per-league coverage not confirmed on public pages — check their coverage page.
- Multi-sport, community-edited database.
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API-Football (API-Sports)
Free plan: Yes · From: $19/mo
- Start: Free plan "Free" — $0/mo: 100 requests/day; free plans limited in available seasons.
- Paid plans from $19/mo.
- Lists: fixtures, player stats, lineups, transfers.
- Confirmed leagues: Premier League, Championship, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Primeira Liga, MLS, Champions League.
- Coverage: 1,249 leagues & cups (coverage page, list updated 2026-10-18); all competitions on all plans.
Watch out
- All 9 tracked leagues are listed on the coverage page (updated 2026-10-18). How much data each league has (events, lineups, stats) is not confirmed.
Recommendations are based only on public data we've checked; nobody pays for placement. Always check the provider's terms (especially for commercial use and betting).
Budget option and if you grow
- Budget option: Cheapest paid plan among these picks: TheSportsDB, from $9/mo (face value; € and $ aren't converted).
- If you grow: TheSportsDB's clear public monthly prices run from Single Developer at $9/mo (100 requests/min; 2-min livescore; highlights links) to Small Business at $20/mo (120 requests/min; no data limit; private key).
- If you grow: API-Football (API-Sports)'s clear public monthly prices run from Pro at $19/mo (7,500 requests/day) to Mega at $39/mo (150,000 requests/day).
Considered, but the data doesn't support it yet
- OpenLigaDB — public pages don't confirm player stats, lineups or media (artwork) listed. German-focused; homepage shows current Bundesliga 1–3, CL, EL, LaLiga matchdays.
Other providers that also match
These pass the same rules from our data. They're not ranked.
- football-data.org — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: €12/mo
- Highlightly — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: $9.49/mo
- SportDevs — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: from €19
- Sportmonks — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: €29/mo
- SportsGameOdds — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: $99/mo
- StatsBomb Open Data (Hudl) — free plan: Yes, cheapest paid: Free only
Next steps
- Open a pick's page and copy its Build with AI starter prompt.
- Sign up on the provider's site and get an API key — here's what that means.
- Paste the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Lovable, and put your key in the tool's secrets or environment variables — never in the chat.