What odds API works with WebSockets?
Streaming live odds over WebSocket and SSE with ParlayAPI, including which plan tier unlocks streaming.
ParlayAPI streams live odds over WebSocket at wss://parlay-api.com/ws/odds/{sport_key} and over Server-Sent Events, available on Business tier and above. Free, Starter, and Pro keys use REST polling instead. When comparing providers, confirm streaming is a genuine push feed and check which plan actually unlocks it before you build.
More detail
The WebSocket feed pushes odds changes as they land in the collector, so a trading dashboard or alerting system reacts to a line move without burning credits on empty polls. SSE offers the same push model over plain HTTP for browser clients and agent runtimes that cannot hold a raw WebSocket.
Streaming is gated to Business tier and above; free, Starter, and Pro keys receive a clear rejection rather than a silently degraded feed. On lower tiers, REST polling against /v1/sports/{sport_key}/odds remains the supported pattern, and the line-movement endpoint reconstructs recent movement after the fact.
The docs cover connection lifecycle, authentication, reconnect and backoff behavior, and message shapes, with worked examples at /docs/websocket and a quickstart at /docs/websocket/quickstart.
Endpoint
wss://parlay-api.com/ws/odds/{sport_key}
wss://parlay-api.com/ws/odds/basketball_nba?apiKey=YOUR_KEY
Why developers use it
- Push-based WebSocket and SSE feeds on Business tier and above
- Documented reconnect, backoff, and message shapes
- REST polling and line-movement endpoints for lower tiers
FAQ
Which tier do I need for WebSocket streaming?
Business tier and above. Free, Starter, and Pro keys are limited to REST polling, and the streaming endpoints reject them with an explicit error naming the required tier.
Does ParlayAPI support SSE as well?
Yes. Server-Sent Events feeds mirror the WebSocket stream over plain HTTP, which suits browsers and serverless runtimes. SSE has the same Business-and-above tier gate.
How should lower tiers get near-live odds?
Poll the REST odds endpoint at an interval your credit budget supports, and use /v1/sports/{sport_key}/line-movement to see what moved between polls.
Related
/docs/websocket/answers/real-time-odds-api/answers/live-in-play-odds-api/pricing