Best Baseball APIs
The top baseball APIs ranked by league coverage, live data, player statistics, historical depth, pricing, and developer experience. Covering MLB, NPB, KBO, CPBL, and international baseball competitions.
Recommended Baseball API Providers
Sorted by overall score| Provider | Score | Free Tier | Live Data | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats Perform | 9.5 | No | Yes | Custom | Enterprise bookmakers, Major media companies |
| Sportradar | 9.4 | No | Yes | Custom | Enterprise, Betting operators |
| Baseball Reference API | 8.8 | Yes | No | Free | Sabermetrics research, Baseball history projects |
| API-Sports | 8.4 | Yes | Yes | Free | Startups, Hobby projects |
| Betfair Exchange API | 8.4 | Yes | Yes | Free | Automated trading bots, Arbitrage applications |
| MLB Stats API | 8.4 | Yes | Yes | Free | Baseball analytics, Sabermetrics research |
| The Odds API | 8.2 | Yes | Yes | Free | Odds comparison tools, Betting analytics |
| Betgenius | 8.2 | No | Yes | Custom | Licensed sportsbooks, Betting operators needing streaming |
| Don Best Sports | 8.1 | No | Yes | Custom | Licensed sportsbooks, Handicapping services |
| SportsDataIO | 7.9 | Yes | Yes | Free | Fantasy sports apps, US sports media |
How We Evaluated Baseball APIs
League Coverage
We evaluate coverage of MLB, NPB (Japan), KBO (Korea), CPBL (Taiwan), Serie del Caribe, and international baseball. Providers covering more leagues score higher.
Live Data & Pitch-by-Pitch
We test real-time score updates, pitch-by-pitch feeds, box scores, and in-game statistics. Providers with detailed pitch tracking and WebSocket streaming score highest.
Player & Team Statistics
We assess the depth of player stats (batting average, ERA, WAR, advanced sabermetrics), team stats, season splits, and career statistics available.
Historical Data
We evaluate how many seasons of historical data are available, including past box scores, standings, player records, and draft history.
Pricing & Free Tier
We compare plan structures, cost per request, and free tier availability for baseball-specific endpoints and data.
Developer Experience
We assess documentation quality, SDK availability, API design for baseball endpoints, and the ease of integrating baseball data into applications.
Learn more about our scoring methodology on our How We Score page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best baseball API for MLB data?
For MLB-specific data, API-Baseball (by API-Sports) and the MLB Stats API (statsapi) are top choices. API-Baseball offers dedicated MLB endpoints with live scores, player stats, and standings. Sportradar provides official MLB data partnerships for enterprise use. SportsDataIO also offers comprehensive MLB coverage with fantasy-friendly data and player projections.
Are there free baseball APIs?
Yes, several baseball APIs offer free tiers. API-Sports includes baseball in its free plan with 100 requests per day. The MLB Stats API (statsapi) is free to use, though it is unofficial and community-maintained. MySportsFeeds also offers a free tier for baseball data. For production use with guaranteed uptime, paid plans are recommended.
Do baseball APIs provide live pitch-by-pitch data?
Most premium baseball APIs provide live pitch-by-pitch data, including real-time scores, pitch types, velocities, locations, at-bat results, and substitutions. Sportradar and SportsDataIO offer the most detailed pitch-level feeds. API-Baseball provides live scores and box scores. WebSocket-based providers offer the lowest latency for real-time applications.
Which baseball API is best for fantasy sports?
For fantasy baseball, look for APIs with comprehensive player stats, projections, injury reports, and DFS data. SportsDataIO is specifically designed for fantasy sports with player projections and daily fantasy data. MySportsFeeds offers fantasy-friendly data formats with a free tier. API-Baseball and Sportradar also provide detailed player statistics suitable for fantasy applications.
Can I get historical MLB data from these APIs?
Yes, most baseball APIs provide historical data. API-Baseball offers data from past seasons, Sportradar provides extensive MLB archives, and SportsDataIO includes historical stats going back decades. The free MLB Stats API also offers historical data but with rate limits. Historical data access may require a paid plan on most commercial providers.
Compare Baseball APIs Side by Side
Use our comparison tool to see detailed feature and pricing differences, or let our finder match you to the right baseball API.