Betfair has released a new version of its API called API-NG (next generation). Also it has announced that previous versions of API (5.0 and 6.0) will retire on 1st Nov 2014. Therefore all software using old API will stop working on 1st Nov 2014. If you have one you need to start thinking how to move it to the new API-NG.

Difference between API 6.0 and API-NG.

API-NG is whole different comparing to 6.0 version. It uses a light weight data format (JSON) which allows faster communication with Betfair servers than previous XML format. Considering this Betfair servers will have less loading issues. There are also new functions available, for example, generic market search. User can enter a search text like in Google and find related markets.

Why to use API-NG.

First of all you should use API-NG because previous versions will expire in 2014. Second, but very important, API-NG does not charge user for excessive data requests, like it used to be with previous versions. Currently Betfair API-NG is free to trial for non commercial use that ends on 30 April 2014.

Useful resources

API-NG documentation

Official release notes