Bottom line: BALLDONTLIE is the cheaper way into CS2 data: a free tier, every CS2 endpoint for $39.99 a month, and an MCP server for AI tools. EsportsOdds costs $49 a month and covers more of what surrounds a match: Counter-Strike results from 2021, map vetoes, a player's history across matches, team form and head-to-head, and a de-vigged market line, all with one key.
The short version
BALLDONTLIE is a multi-sport developer API that now covers Counter-Strike 2. Its CS2 API is well built: per-match and per-map player stats with KAST and rating, team stats for every round including the economy, and generous rate limits. If you want CS2 stats on a small budget, or you already use it for other sports, it is a sensible choice.
It is thinner on context. Its CS2 docs don't say how far back the data goes, there is no map veto data, rankings are current only, and player stats come one match at a time, so a player's season means one request per match. There is no CS2 odds data and no WebSocket.
EsportsOdds is CS2 only and built around that context: results, maps, vetoes, rounds and player stats for matches back to 2021, history endpoints for players and teams, and a market line, for a flat $49 a month.
Facts about BALLDONTLIE come from its CS2 docs, CS2 OpenAPI spec, homepage and terms, as read on 12 October 2026.
BALLDONTLIE vs EsportsOdds at a glance
| BALLDONTLIE (CS2) | EsportsOdds | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (teams, players, tournaments), $9.99 (adds rankings and map pools), $39.99 (every CS2 endpoint) | $49 a month, every endpoint |
| Trying it first | Free tier, plus a 48-hour trial of the top plan (card required) | A free live demo; no free tier and no trial |
| Limits | Up to 600 requests a minute, no monthly cap stated | 20 a second (bursts of 100), 50,000 a month |
| How far back | Not stated in the docs | Completed matches from 2021, over 1,000 a year (CS until September 2023, CS2 since) |
| Map vetoes | Not documented | Pick and ban order per match, where reported |
| Round data | Team stats per round, with economy; per-player hit-group accuracy | Team stats per round, with economy, plus player depth: weapons, grenades, hit groups and duels |
| Player history | Per match or per map only | Career totals, per-map figures, recent matches, teams and weapons |
| Rankings | Current only | Current, plus up to a year of weekly snapshots |
| Odds | None for CS2 | A de-vigged market line per outcome |
| Updates | REST polling | REST, a change feed (?changed_since=) and a WebSocket |
| AI assistants | MCP server with CS2 tools | Python client; works with any HTTP tool |
| Other sports | 20+ leagues | CS2 only |
Where BALLDONTLIE genuinely wins
Price and a free start. Its free tier covers teams, players and tournaments, and every CS2 endpoint costs $39.99 a month. We have no free tier.
Throughput. Up to 600 requests a minute on the top plan with no monthly cap in the docs. Our plan includes 50,000 requests a month, enough for most apps but a real limit for a heavy backfill.
AI tooling and breadth. Its hosted MCP server already exposes CS2 tools, and the same API covers more than 20 leagues across sports, each priced separately.
Permissive terms. Its terms allow commercial use and redistribution without credit, apart from reselling the raw data or building a competing service.
Where EsportsOdds goes further
History. Over 1,000 completed matches a year from 2021, about nine in ten with map scores and most with player stats, round rows and vetoes (coverage by tier). Useful for anything that needs more than one season, from Elo models to "how has this map changed" questions.
Map vetoes. The pick and ban order per match, plus each team's record of picks, bans and deciders by map (/teams/{id}/vetoes).
Player and team history in one call. A player's career, per-map figures and recent matches; a team's form, head-to-head record, roster history and round stats. No looping over match ids.
A market line. One de-vigged line per outcome, as a time series, combined from several bookmakers and exchanges. CS2 data and a line under one key.
Staying in sync. A change feed (?changed_since=), a bulk endpoint for backfills, and a WebSocket that pushes updates as we ingest them.
Here is a full match with its vetoes and rounds in one request, then a player's recent matches:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ESPORTSODDS_API_KEY" \
"https://api.esportsodds.gg/v1/cs2/matches/MATCH_ID?include=maps,vetoes,rounds,stats"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $ESPORTSODDS_API_KEY" \
"https://api.esportsodds.gg/v1/cs2/players/PLAYER_ID/matches"
To see exactly what comes back, read one real match in JSON, field by field.
Who should choose BALLDONTLIE
Pick BALLDONTLIE if price is the deciding factor, if you need high request rates without a monthly cap, if you want CS2 next to other sports from one API, or if you want an MCP server today.
Who should choose EsportsOdds
Pick EsportsOdds if your product needs history (models, season reviews, map trends), vetoes, player or team history without looping over matches, or a market line next to the stats. The pricing page has the details, and the quickstart gets you to a first call. For the wider field, see the best esports data APIs and how PandaScore compares.
Frequently asked questions
Is BALLDONTLIE's CS2 API free?
Partly. The free tier covers teams, players and tournaments. Rankings and map pools need the $9.99 plan, and matches and every stats endpoint need the $39.99 plan.
Does BALLDONTLIE have CS2 odds?
Its CS2 docs and spec include no odds endpoints; its odds data covers traditional sports. EsportsOdds serves a de-vigged market line for CS2 matches.
How far back does CS2 data go on each?
BALLDONTLIE's docs don't say. EsportsOdds has completed matches from 2021, over 1,000 a year, with CS matches until CS2 replaced it in September 2023.