The Odds API vs BoltOdds
Updated onCompare The Odds API and BoltOdds side-by-side. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and target market.
The Odds API
Developer-focused sports odds API that offers aggregated bookmaker odds, widgets, and tiered plans including a free tier for testing.
Starts at $0 / monthly
vs
BoltOdds
Real-time sports betting odds and data provider offering low-latency WebSocket feeds and affordable subscription plans for developers, bettors, and small teams.
Starts at $99 / monthly
Which should you choose?
The Odds API
You want a low-cost, REST-based odds API with a permanent free tier, broad global sports and bookmaker coverage, and built‑in historical odds, and you are comfortable polling for updates instead of needing ultra‑low‑latency streaming.
BoltOdds
You need push‑based WebSocket streaming with near‑zero‑latency odds updates for things like live trading bots or in‑play arbitrage and are willing to pay higher monthly fees and manage a streaming integration to get that speed.
Typical cost comparison
Scenario: Small team running a production odds application for several major leagues with regular updates
The Odds API
$30 per month
BoltOdds
$99 per month
The Odds API saves you $69 per month in this scenario.
Key differences
| Category | The Odds API | BoltOdds | Why? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of Integration for Basic Apps | The Odds API exposes simple REST endpoints with clear docs, code samples, and even Excel or Google Sheets add‑ons, whereas BoltOdds requires setting up and maintaining a WebSocket client plus subscription filters, which is slightly more complex even though example code is provided. | ||
| Historical Data & Analytics | The Odds API explicitly includes historical odds access on all of its listed plans, while BoltOdds marketing and docs focus on real‑time streaming and do not emphasize a separate historical odds product. | ||
| Pricing | The Odds API has a permanent free tier with 500 credits per month and paid plans starting around $30 per month, while BoltOdds is positioned higher with a roughly $99 per month starting point even though it offers a time‑limited free trial. | ||
| Real-time Delivery & Latency | BoltOdds delivers odds over a WebSocket stream with near‑zero latency and no polling, whereas The Odds API uses standard HTTP REST endpoints that you poll on an interval, which is typically slower for live trading. | ||
| Use Cases Requiring Ultra‑Low Latency | BoltOdds is tailored to high‑frequency, real‑time use cases such as automated trading bots and in‑play models that need sub‑second odds updates, while The Odds API is better suited to dashboards, value‑bet finders, and general betting tools where second‑level latency from polling is acceptable. |
Feature comparison
| Feature | The Odds API | BoltOdds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Betting markets (moneyline, spreads, totals) | The Odds API documents head‑to‑head, spreads, totals, and outrights plus some props and alternate lines, and BoltOdds examples show at least moneyline and spread markets in its streaming filters. | ||
| Breadth of sports and competitions | Both providers cover major US sports, soccer, tennis, and more, with The Odds API highlighting many global leagues plus some non‑sport markets and BoltOdds listing a wide range of leagues across hockey, basketball, baseball, football, tennis, combat sports, esports, and global soccer. | ||
| Free tier or free trial | The Odds API offers a permanent free tier with 500 credits per month, while BoltOdds advertises a 14‑day free trial on its Everyone plan and mentions a free tier path into paid and enterprise plans. | ||
| Starting paid price (approximate) | The Odds API public pricing shows its first paid plan at about $30 per month for 20K credits, whereas the provided metadata lists BoltOdds starting around $99 per month for its entry paid subscription. | ||
| Excel or Google Sheets integrations | The Odds API explicitly offers add‑ons for Excel and Google Sheets so non‑developers can pull odds data directly into spreadsheets, while BoltOdds focuses on API and WebSocket integrations without spreadsheet add‑ons. | ||
| Historical odds data | The Odds API clearly markets historical odds access on all listed plans, but BoltOdds materials emphasize live streaming and do not clearly describe a separate historical odds product, so historical coverage there is unclear. | ||
| Number and variety of bookmakers | The Odds API markets coverage from dozens of named US, UK, EU, and Australian bookmakers, while BoltOdds states that it supports multiple sportsbooks and continues to add more but does not enumerate as many by name. | ||
| Primary access method: REST HTTP API | The Odds API is a classic REST HTTP service for listing sports, events, and odds, while BoltOdds mainly pushes odds over WebSocket and uses HTTP GET endpoints only for metadata like sports, games, and markets. | ||
| Player props and alternate lines | The Odds API indicates that player props and alternate spreads or totals are available for selected sports and bookmakers, whereas BoltOdds docs and marketing do not clearly call out props or alternate lines. | ||
| Typical latency profile | BoltOdds positions itself as near‑zero‑latency with odds that can update even before the sportsbook front end, whereas The Odds API delivers fresh odds via polling which is real time enough for many apps but not optimized for sub‑second trading. | ||
| Example usage in trading bots | There is a public NHL trading bot project that uses the BoltOdds WebSocket API to drive automated Polymarket trades, while similar open examples for The Odds API are not as prominently showcased. | ||
| Primary access method: WebSocket streaming odds | BoltOdds is built around a WebSocket API that streams odds updates in real time, whereas The Odds API does not expose a WebSocket interface and relies on polling HTTP endpoints instead. |
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