The Betfair Exchange API, and running a bot on it
Yes. Betfair’s general terms say bot users act entirely at their own risk, and its API supports a non-interactive login built for bots. A Delayed App Key is free; a Live App Key costs a one-off, non-refundable GBP 499.
Bots on Betfair
Yes. Betfair’s general terms say bot users act entirely at their own risk, and its API supports a non-interactive login built for bots.
Some customers make use of programs designed to automatically place bets within certain parameters set by them (e.g., to back or lay at a certain price) ("bots"). These bots may be active in any or all Markets at any time and you should not assume that you can place bets on quiet Markets that will not be automatically matched simply because the Market otherwise appears quiet. Additionally, bot users should be aware that bots might be prone to exploitation by other customers. Users of these programs do so entirely at their own risk.
Non-interactive Login Applications running autonomously (e.g bots). Non-interactive endpoint with SSL certificate.
You can enter into betting transactions either on our Website/apps, by telephone, or by the Application Programs Interface (API)(i.e., direct API access & licensed third party 'API' apps that enable betting on the Exchange).
Keys and what they cost
A Delayed App Key is free; a Live App Key costs a one-off, non-refundable GBP 499.
API access is free for development purposes (using the Delayed App Key) for private betting customers and licensed software vendors.
A one-off activation fee of £499 applies for Live App Key access for betting purposes. This is debited directly from your Betfair account once access is approved.
Activation fees are non-refundable.
Two App Keys are assigned to a single Betfair account, one live App Key and one delayed App Key for testing.
Delayed key prices lag by 1 to 180 seconds, and its stream sends one conflated message every 3 minutes.
The delay is variable between 1 and 180 second snapshots.
Stream API data will be conflated when returned using the Delayed App Key. This means that you will receive any changes that have occurred in the last 3 minutes in a single message every 3 minutes.
Endpoints
JSON-RPC: https://api.betfair.com/exchange/betting/json-rpc/v1
REST: https://api.betfair.com/exchange/betting/rest/v1.0/
Every request carries X-Application (the Application Key), X-Authentication (the sessionToken), Accept: application/json. Sample code is published for Java, JavaScript (Node.js), Python, PHP, Excel/VBA, C#, curl, Perl. Read the docs.
Limits and charges
sum (Weight) * number of market ids must not exceed 200 points per requests The following tables explain the "weighting" of data for each MarketProjection or PriceProjection. If you exceed the maximum weighting of 200 points, the API will return a TOO_MUCH_DATA error.
Transaction Charges only apply to customers recording more than 5000 qualifying transactions in any given hour
The limit for successful login requests per minute has been exceeded. New login attempts will be banned for 20 minutes
Thrown when subscribed to more markets than allowed to - set to 200 markets by default
What you may do with it
Only for your own betting; any commercial use of the API or its data needs Betfair’s approval.
App Key generation is for personal betting purposes only. All data/API usage in any commercial context must be approved by Betfair.
Software vendors pay a licence fee, which Betfair's own pages state two ways:
There is a £1499 license fee for Software Vendors which is payable once the application has been submitted for security certification.
Once submitted for security certification, a license fee of £999 applies
From the US
No. The API is part of the same service, and Betfair does not accept US customers. US venues with open APIs are the Kalshi API and the Polymarket API.
