Every operator business case starts with the same question: how much does it cost to open an online casino, and when does it pay back? This free calculator answers it with your own figures instead of a range copied from a blog post. Enter your budget, your cost lines and your expected volumes, and it returns a twelve-month view of spend, GGR and revenue. A vertical toggle covers sportsbook too, so one model serves both plans.
The tool is platform-agnostic by design. It works from any provider's quote, your in-house estimates, or a mix of the two, and nothing in it assumes you buy from us. The price of a full casino build is simply one input line among many.
The calculation itself is free and ungated. Your inputs are not stored unless you ask us for the spreadsheet at the end.
How the calculator works: Quick mode and Full mode
Quick mode takes four inputs: first-year budget, monthly marketing budget, expected CPA and expected ARPU. It turns marketing spend into acquired players, then players into an annual revenue projection. Use it when you are sizing an opportunity and want an answer in under a minute.
Full mode is a three-step financial model, built for a plan you intend to defend in front of a board or an investor.
- Pre-launch costs. Legal entity, licence, software, website and initial marketing.
- Monthly operating costs. Thirteen recurring lines, from licence and platform fees through to bonuses, taxes and bankroll.
- Revenues. Monthly bet count, average bet, and total win or RTP.
Flip the toggle to sportsbook and the model swaps game provider fees for odds and data feed fees. Everything else in the casino launch budget stays directly comparable, which is what lets you weigh one vertical against the other on the same page.
What the 12-month P&L gives you
Full mode returns four headline outputs alongside the statement itself: yearly total bet sum, yearly GGR, yearly total revenue, and total pre-launch plus operating expenses. Underneath sits a month-by-month P&L across the first year.
That statement is where the cost to start a casino stops being one intimidating number and becomes a schedule. You see the month your cash position bottoms out, the month marketing starts returning more than it consumes, and how far the plan sits from break-even. Change a single input and the whole year recalculates.
The on-screen result stays free. Only the pre-filled, editable spreadsheet is email-gated, so your finance team receives a working file rather than a screenshot.
The cost lines, explained
Pre-launch spend covers what you buy once: incorporation, licence application and fees, a turnkey build or platform setup, front end and brand, plus the first campaign.
The thirteen monthly lines are where an online casino cost model usually goes wrong. They are licence maintenance, software or platform fee, salaries, office, marketing, affiliate traffic, payment processing fees, game provider fees, bonus budget, gaming taxes, bankroll, player support, and other.
Three of them deserve special attention, because operators routinely underweight them. Bankroll is working capital rather than spend, yet it must be funded before you accept a first bet. Bonus budget comes out of GGR and quietly sets your NGR, while payment fees scale with deposit volume instead of revenue, so they grow fastest exactly when the business is working.
How much does it cost to open an online casino? Three inputs decide it
- Licence Your jurisdiction sets the application fee, the capital requirement, the gaming tax rate and how long you wait before a first bet. It also gates which markets and payment methods you can serve at all, so it shapes the revenue side as much as the cost side.
- Content and platform Game provider fees and the platform share are recurring percentages of GGR, so they scale with success rather than sitting flat. A wider catalogue costs more to run but lifts retention, and the model makes that trade-off visible instead of leaving it to instinct.
- Marketing For most new brands this is the largest line by a distance. CPA and ARPU compound across twelve months, so a small error in either assumption swings the annual result further than any licence fee does. Our guide on how to start a casino walks through the sequencing behind these inputs before you model them.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to launch an online casino?
There is no single figure, which is why this page is a calculator and not a price list. The total is driven by your jurisdiction, your content mix and your marketing plan, and the model turns those three into a twelve-month number.
Why do published casino cost estimates vary so much?
Most quote pre-launch spend only and omit recurring lines such as bonus budget, gaming taxes, payment fees and bankroll. A first-year total that ignores those understates reality by a wide margin.
How much does a casino cost to build from scratch?
An in-house build is the most expensive route and the slowest, typically 12 to 18 months before a first bet, with engineering salaries running the entire time. The calculator lets you compare that path against buying a platform.
What is the cheapest way to launch?
White label is normally the lowest upfront route, because you launch under an existing licence and platform. The white label casino cost trade is lower control and a revenue share, so model it over twelve months rather than judging it on day one.
How does white label online casino cost compare with turnkey?
White label keeps the entry price down and hands you less control; turnkey costs more upfront and leaves you owning the brand and the player database. Run both in Full mode and compare the P&L, not the setup fee.
How long does it take to go live?
Benchmark ranges are roughly 1 to 3 weeks for white label, 2 to 4 weeks for turnkey, 4 to 8 weeks for modular software, and 12 to 18 months for an in-house build. Timeline matters financially, because every week before launch is a week of costs without revenue.
How do I estimate a sportsbook budget?
Switch the vertical toggle. The structure is identical, with odds and data feed fees in place of game provider fees, and margin driven by your hold rather than by RTP.
What licence costs should I enter?
Use the real application, annual and compliance figures for your target jurisdiction, plus any capital requirement. If you are still choosing a market, run the model twice with two jurisdictions and compare.
How much bankroll should I budget?
Enough to absorb variance and pay out a peak win without touching operating cash. It is a funding requirement rather than an expense, and the calculator keeps it on its own line for that reason.
Is the calculator really free, and do you keep my numbers?
The calculation is free and ungated, and inputs are not stored unless you request the P&L download. Only the pre-filled spreadsheet asks for a business email.
How accurate is the projection?
It is exactly as accurate as your inputs, which is the point. Treat it as a structured model of your own assumptions rather than a market forecast, and revisit CPA and ARPU once you have real traffic.
Can I use it if I am not your client?
Yes. The tool is provider-agnostic, works with any vendor's quotes, and carries no obligation to talk to us afterwards.
Get your 12-month P&L
Run the calculator, then download the pre-filled, editable statement to share with your finance team. If you would rather pressure-test the assumptions with someone who has launched before, talk to sales and we will walk the model through with you.