Both are sports odds APIs built for developers. SharpAPI (sharpapi.io) packages EV, arbitrage, and betting-splits analytics as a bundled, tier-gated product with a TypeScript-first SDK. ParlayAPI covers more distinct sources and a deeper prop-market catalog, with a credit-based free tier and no request-per-minute wall. Neither claim here is invented - ours come from our own measured ledger, theirs come from their own public pricing and docs pages.
ParlayAPI numbers are measured against our own production database and API, as of 2026-08. SharpAPI numbers are read from their own public pricing and docs pages, sourced and dated inline below. Where we couldn't find a public number for SharpAPI, we say so instead of guessing.
| Feature | ParlayAPI | SharpAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Distinct sportsbooks & sources | 45 wrote data in the trailing 24h (27 game lines, 43 player props) | “35+ US sportsbooks” claimed sitewide but the top paid tier (Sharp, $399/mo) unlocks only 25; Free is capped at 2 |
| Sports / leagues | 92 sports advertised (55 soccer leagues, 7 esports, 5 tennis / 6 table-tennis) | NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAAF, NCAAB, MLS, UFC, “major soccer” no total league count published |
| Distinct prop market keys | 4,241 distinct prop market keys in the trailing 24h | Player props offered as a market type no market-count published |
| Data freshness | 2-4 second freshness on top sources (measured against real-world event time) | “Sub-second odds updates” via streaming but Free/Hobby tiers serve data delayed up to 60s - source: https://sharpapi.io/pricing, accessed 2026-08-09 |
| Prediction markets | ✓ Polymarket + Kalshi | ✓ Polymarket + Kalshi tie - both cover this |
| Historical / closing-line archive | 1,778,766 historical game-line rows (continuous from 2005); 30,399,378 prop closing lines (since 2022-06) | A “closing line” odds endpoint is documented retention window / row counts not published |
| Streaming | WebSocket and SSE endpoints; see /docs for current tier gating | SSE included on paid plans (sub-89ms P50 on paid tiers); WebSocket is a $99/mo add-on on top of any plan |
| Built-in analytics (EV / arb / no-vig / middles) | Available via /ev, /arbitrage, /consensus, /v1/verdict, /v1/calc/middles |
Bundled, but split across tiers: Hobby gets arbitrage only; Pro adds +EV, middles, and low-hold; Sharp adds sharp-book access |
| Public betting splits (bet% / handle%) | Not currently published | Dedicated endpoint, listed from the Pro tier ($229/mo) up |
| Official SDK | Python (parlay-api-python on GitHub, MIT) | TypeScript-first, “full types and auto-complete” |
| Free tier | 1,000 credits/month, no credit card required | $0/mo, 12 requests/minute, 2 sportsbooks, data delayed 60s, no card required |
| API endpoints | 200 documented endpoints | Endpoint categories documented (odds, events, splits, opportunity detection, streaming, account) total count not published |
| MCP / LLM tool access | 22-tool MCP server (parlayapi-mcp on PyPI) |
No public MCP server listing found as of 2026-08-09 |
| Pricing model | Credit-based; see /pricing for current tiers | Flat monthly fee per tier: Hobby $79, Pro $229, Sharp $399, plus add-ons |
All SharpAPI figures were read directly from sharpapi.io's own pricing and docs pages on 2026-08-09 and are marked inline. All ParlayAPI figures come from our internal verified-numbers ledger, measured 2026-08-09 against production. Dollar pricing for ParlayAPI is intentionally not shown here - it lives at /pricing so this page can't drift stale.
The operator brief we write these pages under requires naming what the other product does better. Here it is, plainly.
SharpAPI ships a TypeScript SDK with full typings and IntelliSense out of the box . If you're a Node/TS shop, that's a smoother day-one experience than our Python-only SDK.
SharpAPI publishes bet%/handle% betting-splits data as a dedicated product feature from its Pro tier up . We don't currently publish this. If public money/handle percentage is what you need, they have it built and we don't.
Not every developer needs what we optimized for. Here's when SharpAPI is the better call, honestly.
SharpAPI charges a flat monthly fee per tier with request-per-minute caps and add-ons. ParlayAPI is credit-based with a larger free tier and no request-per-minute wall on the free plan. We don't hardcode our dollar pricing here since it can change - current tiers are always live at /pricing.
Paid tiers scale by credits, not request-per-minute caps. See current pricing and limits at /pricing - we don't reprint dollar amounts here so this page can't go stale.
Read directly from sharpapi.io/pricing on 2026-08-09. Verify current pricing on their site before deciding - prices drift on both sides.
ParlayAPI doesn't mirror SharpAPI's request/response shape, so this isn't a one-line swap the way a same-shape migration would be. It's a normal REST integration: get a key, call the endpoint, read the JSON.
# sign up free at /auth?signup=1, then: curl "https://parlay-api.com/v4/sports/basketball_nba/odds?regions=us&markets=h2h&apiKey=YOUR_KEY"
pip install parlay-api from parlay_api import ParlayAPI client = ParlayAPI(api_key="YOUR_KEY") events = client.odds("basketball_nba", regions="us", markets="h2h,spreads,totals") # Plus our extensions props = client.props("baseball_mlb", markets=["player_strikeouts"]) fair_o, fair_u = ParlayAPI.devig(over_price=-110, under_price=-110)
SDK on GitHub: JacobiusMakes/parlay-api-python (MIT-licensed, ships with example +EV scanner, arbitrage finder, and WebSocket stream tools). Full endpoint reference at /docs.
Sign up free with 1,000 credits, no card required. Compare the data yourself before you commit to either product.