What is a gambling licence, and how do you get one?
An iGaming licence is the gateway to operating legally in regulated gambling markets. Without one, online betting and casino operators cannot offer services, process payments, or advertise to customers in most jurisdictions.
However, obtaining a licence is far from a simple box-ticking exercise. Regulators require operators to demonstrate strong financial controls, consumer protection measures, and responsible gambling practices before granting approval.
Each jurisdiction has its own regulator and requirements, from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) in the UK to the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) in Malta.
So, how difficult is it for operators to obtain an online gambling licence? How much does it cost, and what challenges must they overcome?
Key Findings
- Gambling licences are mandatory for operators to legally offer betting and casino services in regulated markets.
- Licensing is an ongoing compliance process, with regulators able to fine or revoke licences for breaches.
- Different jurisdictions vary widely in licence costs, requirements, and market access.
- Operating without a licence can lead to fines, payment blocks, and enforcement action.
- Licensed operators must meet player protection, responsible gambling, and anti-money laundering standards.
Why gambling licences matter for players and operators
According to the UKGC, just 9% of online gamblers had intentionally placed wagers on a website that did not have a licence to operate in the UK.
For most users, gambling on unlicensed platforms, which are not held accountable by a gambling commission for their approach to financial transparency, fair play, or player protection, is unappealing.
Beyond consumer trust-building activities, obtaining a gambling licence is also critical for improving the brand’s image and increasing its visibility.
Non-UKGC-licensed platforms cannot use adverts to market their services in the UK, meaning that even the small number of users who are willing to gamble with an illegal platform may not be aware of their existence in the first place.
How does a gambling licence work?
An iGaming licence is not a one-off certification of approval, but an ongoing regulatory standard that operators must meet.
After initially securing an online gambling licence by demonstrating financial stability, strong security measures, and compliance with responsible gambling regulations, sportsbooks and casinos are regularly audited to ensure that they’re maintaining high player protection standards.
If a sportsbook or online casino is not adhering to a gambling commission’s regulations, they can issue fines or remove their licence.
In 2025, TGP Europe left the UK market after the UKGC threatened the gambling platform with a £3.3 million fine for multiple violations of anti-money laundering regulations.
TGP Europe are just one of several sportsbooks that have had disputes with the UKGC, an organisation that intends to make gambling “safer and fairer”, according to its mission statement.
Types of gambling licences
iGaming is a broad industry with countless platforms each offering slightly different services, including online casinos, mobile-first betting apps, and sportsbooks with high-street stores.
As such, each type of betting platform must meet different iGaming licence qualifying criteria to ensure that bettors remain safe.
Operating licences
An operating licence is a licence that authorises a business to provide gambling services legally.
In the UK, operators must obtain an operating licence from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission before they can offer gambling products or services to customers.
The UKGC offers three types of operating licences: remote, non-remote, and ancillary.
Gambling platforms which operate online on desktop or mobile platforms must obtain a remote licence, enabling the gambling company to operate online within the jurisdiction. However, a sportsbook with a remote UKGC operating licence is not automatically permitted to trade in other countries.
Sportsbooks need a betting licence covering fixed-odds wagering as part of their remote operating licence.
Those who operate in high-street stores, racecourse operating stalls, or bingo halls, among other offline outlets, must secure a non-remote operating licence.
An increasingly limited number of gambling platforms are land-based but accept bets through telephone calls or emails. Those platforms must obtain an ancillary licence in addition to their non-remote certificate.
Personal licences
Not only does the gambling organisation need to be licensed, but so do the senior figures and key decision-makers at each operator.
Some directors, CEOs, finance directors, compliance managers, heads of IT, and marketing executives must receive a Personal Management Licence (PML).
Applicants typically undergo due diligence checks on their identity, criminal record, financial history, and relevant experience before receiving a PLM.
Premises licences
Even if the operator is already licensed and each senior figure has been granted their PLM, land-based sportsbooks and casinos must receive a premises licence before trading at a particular location.
For example, if bet365, a major UKGC-licensed bookmaker, were to open a new store, they must receive a premises licence, even though the sportsbook and senior figures have already been approved by the Gambling Commission.
UKGC mandates premises licences to ensure that the location cannot be accessed by those under the age of 18 and is suitable for gambling.
Who issues gambling licences? Key regulators compared
Gambling licences are issued by numerous commissions around the world, most notably the UKGC and MGA.
UK Gambling Commission (UKGC)
A UKGC operating licence enables platforms to offer numerous services, including casino games, bingo, fixed-odds sports betting, and slot machines.
For online casino operators with a gross gambling yield (GGY) of less than £550,000, a UKGC remote casino licence application costs £4,224. If approved, platforms must pay an annual fee of £4,199 to keep their licence.
While licence costs are greater than in other jurisdictions, the UK betting market generated £6.7 billion in 2025, making a UK gambling licence among the most lucrative in the world.
Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)
MGA stipulates that iGaming companies must pay a one-time, non-refundable €5,000 to apply for an operating licence.
Successful applicants pay a flat annual licence fee of €25,000 for a Type 1, 2 or 3 B2C licence (€10,000 for Type 4). On top of that, operators pay a separate Compliance Contribution calculated monthly on gaming revenue — for a Type 1 licence, for example, 1.25% of the first €3 million, declining in steps thereafter, with a minimum of €15,000 and a maximum of €375,000 a year
Sportsbooks with a Malta gambling licence can operate internationally in jurisdictions where Maltese licensing is accepted or where local licensing is not required.
However, to operate in regulated markets, such as the UK or the United States (U.S.), they must also obtain a local gambling licence, such as a UKGC licence or state-specific U.S. licence.
Other European & offshore gambling licence options
The start-up and recurring costs associated with securing a UKGC or MGA licence may price out smaller gambling operators.
Many operators holding a crypto gambling licence, such as Stake.com, Rollbit, and Vave, have a Curaçao gambling licence; applications cost €4,600, and annual licence fees cost £40,549.
With crypto-friendly regulations and fast application processing times, Curaçao is a jurisdiction that benefits international operators seeking speed and flexibility.
How much does a gambling licence cost? Fee comparison
| Jurisdiction | Application Fee | Annual / Renewal Fee | Key Dynamic |
|---|---|---|---|
| UKGC | £4,224 to £91,686, tiered by gross gambling yield | £4,199 to £793,729+, tiered by gross gambling yield; all bands rise by 25% from 1 October 2026 (exact revised per-band figures not yet published) | Scaled purely by your projected annual gross gambling yield category, not a flat rate |
| MGA | €5,000 flat, non-refundable | €25,000 flat for a Type 1, 2 or 3 B2C licence (€10,000 for Type 4), plus a separate Compliance Contribution scaled to gaming revenue, capped between €375,000 and €600,000 depending on licence type | The fixed licence fee is low, but the revenue-linked Compliance Contribution is the real cost driver at scale |
| Curaçao | €4,592, non-refundable | €47,450 for a B2C operator, split into a €24,490 National Treasury fee and a €22,960 CGA supervisory fee; B2B suppliers pay a €24,490 supervisory fee only | Sub-licences are gone entirely; this is the direct CGA licensing framework introduced under the LOK from December 2024 |
| Estonia | €47,940 for the games of chance activity licence, plus €3,200 for the operating permit | None — this is a one-off fee; the licence has no fixed expiry | Requires €1,000,000 in fully paid-up share capital just to apply, separate from the fee itself |
| Cyprus | Not charged separately | €30,000 for a 1-year Class A/B betting licence, or €45,000 for a 2-year licence, paid upfront and covering the full term | Requires a €550,000 bank guarantee and a €500,000 minimum share capital to secure, on top of the licence fee |
| Isle of Man | £5,250 | £36,750 for a full licence, or £52,500 for a network licence | Flat fee structure regardless of how much revenue you make |
How to get a UKGC gambling licence
UK gambling licence requirements follow nine core steps, from confirming you need one to ongoing compliance:
- Confirm you need a licence: Apply for an operating licence if you want to provide gambling services to customers in Great Britain, including online betting and casino services.
- Select the correct licence type: Choose the operating licence that matches your gambling activities, such as remote betting, casinos, bingo, or software provision.
- Submit an application: Complete the UKGC application form, pay the application fee, and provide details about your business.
- Provide company documentation: Submit ownership structures, management details, incorporation documents, business plans, financial records, and proof of funding.
- Demonstrate compliance procedures: Show that you have policies covering anti-money laundering, responsible gambling, customer protection, and fair play.
- Provide technical information: Remote operators must submit details about their platform, software suppliers, system architecture, and testing processes.
- Obtain Personal Management Licences: Key individuals responsible for regulated activities must pass UKGC checks and receive approval.
- Complete regulatory assessment: The UKGC reviews the operator’s finances, ownership structure, systems, and ability to protect customers.
- Pay ongoing fees and maintain compliance: Approved operators must pay annual licence fees and continue meeting UKGC regulatory standards.
Onshore vs offshore gambling licences: What’s the difference?
“Onshore” and “offshore” describe where a licence sits relative to the market it lets you serve, not just where the regulator is based.
- An onshore licence, such as one from the UKGC, the Dutch KSA or Sweden’s Spelinspektionen, is tied to a specific regulated market and is the only lawful way to accept players from that country.
- Offshore licences, by contrast, authorise an operator to serve international markets from a single base, without being tied to any one country’s consumer protection regime.
Offshore licensing splits into two tiers. Malta and the Isle of Man sit at one end, with heavier compliance requirements and strong standing with banks and payment processors. Curaçao and Anjouan sit at the other end, offering faster, lower-cost licensing.
None of these licences substitutes for an onshore one in markets like the UK or Germany, which require their own domestic licence.
| Onshore (e.g. UKGC, KSA) | Offshore, higher-compliance (MGA, Isle of Man) | Offshore, lighter-touch (Curaçao, Anjouan) |
|
| Cost and speed | Highest cost; typically 3–4 months or more | Mid-to-high cost; several months | Lower cost; can be granted in weeks to a few months |
| Market access | Direct legal access to that specific regulated market only | Broad international access; does not substitute for an onshore licence | International markets without a point-of-consumption licensing requirement; not valid for the UK or EU markets that do require one |
| Payment-processor trust | Highest; treated as lowest risk by banks and PSPs | Strong; widely accepted | Weaker; some PSPs and banks apply extra due diligence or decline services |
What happens if you operate without a licence?
Operating without a licence in a regulated market carries legal, financial and reputational consequences, and the exposure has grown in the UK over the past two years.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, the UK Gambling Commission issued more than 3,140 cease-and-desist and disruption notices and referred over 447,000 URLs linked to illegal gambling to Google and Bing for removal.
In June 2026, the UK government confirmed £26 million in additional funding for the Commission over three years to scale up and automate its work disrupting unlicensed operators, and the regulator is separately exploring court-backed ISP-level blocking powers so illegal sites can be made unreachable at the network level rather than simply reappearing under new domains.
The Commission also works with Visa and Mastercard to block payments to unlicensed sites, on top of geo-blocking and search engine takedowns. And the risks for operators go beyond fines: unlicensed gambling is a criminal offence in Great Britain, and losing access to payments and search visibility alone can sink the business.
Gambling licence and player protection
Player protection requirements are attached directly to the licence, not offered separately, and they vary meaningfully between regulators. UKGC-licensed operators must integrate with Gamstop, the UK’s national self-exclusion scheme, which has been a mandatory licence condition since 2020.
Operators must also provide deposit limits, loss limits, session time limits and reality check reminders as standard, not optional, features.
The Malta Gaming Authority requires equivalent tools, including deposit limits, self-exclusion and session reminders, and it operates its own Player Support Unit to handle complaints.
The practical takeaway for operators and players alike is that the strength of player protection behind a licence is not uniform: it is worth checking what the specific regulator actually requires, rather than assuming all licences offer comparable safeguards.
FAQs
What is a gambling licence?
A gambling licence is the legal certificate that operators must receive to trade in a given jurisdiction. Depending on the type of service provided, operators may also need to receive personal and premises licences, along with an operational certificate.
How much does a gambling licence cost?
The cost of securing a gambling licence varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with the UKGC charging operators with a GGY of less than £550,000 a year a one-time £4,224 application fee, along with a £4,199 annual renewal. Commissions such as the UKGC and MGA require operators with greater annual GGY to pay larger fees.
How do you get a gambling licence?
Securing a gambling licence requires completing several steps, including demonstrating regulatory compliance, company documentation, and technical information. Beyond the firm’s operating casino licence, senior figures must receive personal management licences, while land-based operators must obtain premises licences.
Do you need a gambling licence to run a raffle or bingo event?
Private or charity-funded raffle and bingo events don’t require organisers or the premises to receive a casino licence in the UK. However, commercial, online, and bingo-specific locations must obtain licences to operate in the UK.
How long does a gambling licence last?
UKGC gambling licences don’t have a fixed expiry date and are not a one-time certificate of approval. The Gambling Commission can fine or seize an operator’s licence if they fail to meet regulatory standards or pay the relevant annual fees.
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