Quick Start Guide: Get Up and Running in 5 Minutes with odds-api.io

Overview

Welcome to Odds-API.io! This guide will walk you through everything you need to start fetching real-time sports betting odds from 250+ bookmakers. You'll go from zero to your first API call in under 5 minutes.

What you'll accomplish:

• ✅ Create your account and get your API key

• ✅ Make your first API call to fetch sports data

• ✅ Understand the basic workflow for getting odds

• ✅ See real odds data from multiple bookmakers

Step 1: Create Your Account & Get Your API Key

Getting started with Odds-API.io is simple and requires no credit card for the free trial.

Sign Up for Your Free Trial

1. Visit odds-api.io and click "Get Started"

2. Enter your email address to create your account

3. You'll receive a 10-day free trial with full API access

   • No credit card required

   • 5,000 requests/hour included

   • Access to all 250+ bookmakers

   • Full feature access

Receive Your API Key

Within seconds, you'll receive an email containing:

• ✉️ Your unique API key

• 📚 Links to documentation

• 🚀 Quick start resources

Your API key looks like this: 8adfbfjdubjva7313481832...

⚠️ Important: Keep your API key secure! Never share it publicly. Always use environment variables to store it (never direct in your code)

Step 2: Make Your First API Call

Let's start with the simplest endpoint that doesn't even require authentication - fetching the list of available sports.

Fetch Available Sports (No API Key Required)

This endpoint returns all sports currently available through the API:

Example
javascript
python
php
cURL
Copy
const response = await fetch('https://api.odds-api.io/v3/sports'); const sports = await response.json(); console.log(sports);

Expected Response

You'll receive a JSON array of sports objects:

json

[
  {
    "name": "Football",
    "slug": "football"
  },
  {
    "name": "Basketball",
    "slug": "basketball"
  },
  {
    "name": "Tennis",
    "slug": "tennis"
  }
  // ... more sports
]
```

Step 3: Let's walk through each step:

1️⃣ Get Sports

What it does: Returns all available sports (football, basketball, tennis, etc.)

When to use: Starting point to see what sports you can access

Endpoint: GET /v3/sports

2️⃣ Get Leagues

What it does: Returns leagues within a specific sport

When to use: After choosing a sport, find specific leagues (e.g., Premier League, La Liga)

Endpoint: GET /v3/leagues?sport=football

Example:

javascript

const apiKey = process.env.ODDS_API_KEY;  const response = await fetch(  `https://api.odds-api.io/v3/leagues?apiKey=${apiKey}&sport=football` ); const leagues = await response.json();

3️⃣ Get Events

What it does: Returns upcoming and live matches/games

When to use: After choosing a league, find specific events to get odds for

Endpoint: GET /v3/events?sport=football&league=england-premier-league

Example:

javascript

const apiKey = process.env.ODDS_API_KEY;  const response = await fetch(  `https://api.odds-api.io/v3/events?apiKey=${apiKey}&sport=football&league=england-premier-league&status=pending&limit=10` ); const events = await response.json();

Parameters:

• sport - The sport slug (from step 1)

• league - The league slug (from step 2)

• status - pending (upcoming) or live (in progress)

• limit - Maximum number of events to return

4️⃣ Get Odds

What it does: Returns betting odds from multiple bookmakers for a specific event

When to use: After selecting an event, get the actual odds to compare bookmakers

Endpoint: GET /v3/odds?eventId={eventId}&bookmakers={bookmakers}

Example:

javascript

const apiKey = process.env.ODDS_API_KEY; const eventId = 123456; // From step 3 const bookmakers = 'Bet365,Unibet,SingBet'; // Comma-separated list  const response = await fetch(  `https://api.odds-api.io/v3/odds?apiKey=${apiKey}&eventId=${eventId}&bookmakers=${bookmakers}` ); const odds = await response.json();

Step 4: Your First Complete Workflow

Let's put it all together with a complete example that gets odds for an upcoming Premier League match:

JavaScript/Node.js - Complete Example

Example
javascript
python
Copy
// Store your API key in environment variables
const apiKey = process.env.ODDS_API_KEY;

async function getFirstOdds() {
  try {
    // Step 1: Get available sports (no auth needed)
    const sportsRes = await fetch('https://api.odds-api.io/v3/sports');
    const sports = await sportsRes.json();
    console.log('✅ Available sports:', sports.length);

    // Step 2: Get Premier League events
    const eventsRes = await fetch(
      `https://api.odds-api.io/v3/events?apiKey=${apiKey}&sport=football&league=england-premier-league&status=pending&limit=1`
    );
    const events = await eventsRes.json();
    
    if (events.length === 0) {
      console.log('No upcoming events found');
      return;
    }
    
    const event = events[0];
    console.log(`✅ Found event: ${event.home} vs ${event.away}`);

    // Step 3: Get odds from multiple bookmakers
    const oddsRes = await fetch(
      `https://api.odds-api.io/v3/odds?apiKey=${apiKey}&eventId=${event.id}&bookmakers=Bet365,Unibet,SingBet`
    );
    const oddsData = await oddsRes.json();

    // Step 4: Find best home odds
    let bestHomeOdds = null;
    Object.entries(oddsData.bookmakers).forEach(([bookmaker, markets]) => {
      const mlMarket = markets.find(m => m.name === 'ML');
      if (mlMarket?.odds[0]?.home) {
        const homeOdds = parseFloat(mlMarket.odds[0].home);
        if (!bestHomeOdds || homeOdds > bestHomeOdds.odds) {
          bestHomeOdds = { bookmaker, odds: homeOdds };
        }
      }
    });

    console.log(`✅ Best home odds: ${bestHomeOdds.odds} at ${bestHomeOdds.bookmaker}`);
    
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('❌ Error:', error.message);
  }
}

getFirstOdds();

Storing Your API Key Securely

Never hardcode your API key directly in your code if you are pushing a project live, it’s best practice to keep it safe. Instead, use environment variables:

You can use your API key in your code if you are just playing around with a non deployed codebase.

Need Help?

If you run into any issues or have questions:

• 📧 Email: hello@odds-api.io

• 📖 Documentation: Full API docs and guides

• ⏱️ Response Time: Usually within 24 hours

or use the live chat.

Quick Reference

Key Endpoints

Common Parameters

• apiKey - Your API authentication key

• sport - Sport slug (e.g., "football", "basketball")

• league - League slug (e.g., "england-premier-league")

• eventId - Specific event ID

• bookmakers - Comma-separated list of bookmaker names

• status - "pending" (upcoming) or "live" (in progress)

• limit - Maximum number of results to return

🎉 Congratulations! You're now ready to start building with Odds-API.io. Happy coding! And remember, utilise tools like chatgpt to help you understand things, just copy and paste our documentation to it.