If you're shopping for a sports odds API and OddsJam came up first: here's the honest comparison. We built ParlayAPI because OddsJam's $499/month entry tier and sales-call signup loop block hobbyist and indie devs from the same data we all want.
Both ParlayAPI and OddsJam aggregate 21+ sportsbooks with arbitrage and +EV pre-computation. ParlayAPI's entry tier starts at $19/month, has a real free tier with no credit card, ships an MCP server for AI agent integration, and includes Kalshi + Polymarket prediction markets that OddsJam doesn't cover. OddsJam's entry tier starts at $499/month and requires a sales call. If you're building an indie tool or evaluating before committing, ParlayAPI is the lower-friction path. Sign up free →
Pricing tiers, coverage, and feature availability as of 2026.
| Feature | ParlayAPI | OddsJam |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes (1,000 req/mo, no credit card) | No |
| Entry tier price | $19/month (Starter) | $499/month |
| Self-serve signup | Yes | No (sales call) |
| Sportsbooks covered | 21+ | ~30 |
| DFS apps (PrizePicks, Underdog, etc.) | Yes (5) | Yes |
| Prediction markets (Kalshi, Polymarket) | Yes | No |
| Exchanges (Novig, ProphetX) | Yes | Yes |
| Arbitrage pre-computed | Yes | Yes |
| +EV pre-computed | Yes | Yes |
| WebSocket streaming | Pro tier ($99) | Higher tier |
| MCP server (Claude/Cursor/agent integration) | Yes | No |
| llms.txt / agents.json (LLM discovery) | Yes | No |
| Historical archive | 1.15M+ rows back to 2005 | Pro+ addon |
| Affiliate program | 25% recurring | Unknown |
| Public no-auth try-it endpoint | Yes (/v1/try/{sport}/odds) | No |
No sales call. No credit card. Sign up with email, get a key, run your first request in under 60 seconds. That's table-stakes for most APIs but not for sports odds.
Prediction-market arbitrage against sportsbook lines is one of the highest-edge plays available right now. We expose Kalshi and Polymarket prices in the same schema as sportsbook prices so you can cross-reference in one query. OddsJam doesn't carry these.
If you're building with Claude, Cursor, Continue, or any other agent, plug ParlayAPI's MCP server in and your AI can directly query odds, props, and edges. The first odds API to ship one.
OddsJam's $499 entry tier is fine for serious commercial users. ParlayAPI's $19 Starter tier covers 100K requests/mo across the same kind of source pool — enough to run a real arb bot or +EV screener.
Backtesting works on the free tier. Multi-source cross-verification (we have 12 books per soccer game, 5+ for most US-sport games). See full coverage report.
If you're already coding against the-odds-api.com's /v4/ URL pattern, change the host and your code works. Our /v4/* endpoints alias to /v1/* for migration. Same JSON shape.
| Tier | ParlayAPI | OddsJam (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 1,000 req/month | N/A |
| Hobbyist / Starter | $19/mo · 100K req | N/A |
| Pro | $99/mo · 1M req · WebSocket | $499/mo (entry) |
| Business | $499/mo · 10M req | Custom (sales) |
| Enterprise | $2,499/mo · 100M req · SLA | Custom (sales) |
If you're already on OddsJam (or a competitor), porting to ParlayAPI is one line:
// OddsJam style
const r = await fetch('https://api.oddsjam.com/v2/sports/baseball_mlb/odds?key=YOUR_KEY');
// ParlayAPI: same fetch, different host. Schema lines up.
const r = await fetch('https://parlay-api.com/v1/sports/baseball_mlb/odds', {
headers: { 'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_KEY' }
});
const events = await r.json();
Quickstart docs live at /docs. Full LLM-readable spec at /llms.txt.
Not pretending we're the right pick for everyone. Here's where OddsJam is genuinely the better fit: