How do odds API credits work?
Credit metering explained: how odds APIs charge per request, with ParlayAPI's actual cost formulas.
Most odds APIs, including ParlayAPI and the-odds-api, meter usage in credits rather than raw requests. An odds call costs the number of markets requested multiplied by regions, so h2h plus spreads for one region costs two credits. Flat and variable costs for every ParlayAPI endpoint are published at /v1/meta/credit-costs.
More detail
ParlayAPI has three cost shapes. Variable endpoints scale with the request: odds cost markets multiplied by regions, and historical odds cost ten times that, reflecting archive query weight. Flat endpoints charge a fixed amount, for example three credits for a props call or ten for the server-side arbitrage scan. Meta and discovery endpoints, like the sports list and credit-cost table itself, are free.
Every response also reports the charge, so client code can track spend per call instead of reconstructing it. For planning, GET /v1/meta/quote prices a request without executing it, and /v1/meta/batch-quote prices a whole workload at once.
The practical consequence: request only what you need. Asking for every market in every region on every poll is the single most common way developers overspend on any credit-metered odds API.
Endpoint
GET /v1/meta/credit-costs
curl 'https://parlay-api.com/v1/meta/credit-costs'
Why developers use it
- Published cost formula per endpoint, machine readable
- Free quote endpoints price a request before you spend
- Per-response charge reporting for spend tracking
FAQ
What does one credit buy?
One market in one region from the live odds endpoint. A three-market single-region board pull costs three credits; adding a second region doubles it to six.
Why do historical requests cost more?
Historical odds carry a ten times multiplier over live odds, reflecting archive query weight. Closing-line and coverage endpoints have their own flat costs, listed at /v1/meta/credit-costs.
Are any endpoints free to call?
Yes. Discovery and meta endpoints, including /v1/sports, /v1/meta/credit-costs, and /v1/meta/quote, charge nothing, so cost planning never costs credits.
Related
/pricing/answers/odds-api-pricing/answers/cheapest-sports-odds-api/docs