The best betting apps for sport this January
With our phones in our pockets, people want betting at their fingertips, so it’s all about sport betting apps now when having a flutter.
All the major betting sites in the UK gambling industry take a huge amount of their custom via app but the quality of the betting experience does differ from company to company. With that in mind, we’ve rated and reviewed the best sport betting apps for you to use.
Betting apps UK: Best in class
Rather than arbitrarily ranking the betting apps from one to 10, we have broken down the best apps for each of the most popular sports such as football, horse racing and tennis, as different apps have different specialities.
To find out more about our process and gambling responsibly scroll down this page.
Best betting app for football: BetVictor
BetVictor’s app is well laid out, easy to navigate and quick to load, making for a good user experience. And it really shines as a betting app for football.
They have a wide range of markets available and their very competitive in-play odds help them stand out. If you’re an acca lover, their bet builder is easy to navigate, with every market you could want in an accessible list.
If you sign up with BetVictor, opt in, deposit and bet £10 on any football market with odds of at least evens, you’ll be rewarded with £40 worth of free bets, which are: a £10 accumulator free bet (minimum of four selections), a £10 bet-builder free bet for football, a £10 in-play free bet and a £10 free bet for any sports market.
Best betting app for horse racing: BetUK
BetUK may be a new betting site but it’s a good option for horse racing betting. Its Free Bet Club allows players to earn a £3 free bet if they opt in and bet £15+ on horse racing between Monday and Sunday (at odds of evens or greater). The £15 must be a single racing bet but you can do it on two occasions during the week.
Their welcome offer allows you to earn £30 worth of free bets when you sign up, deposit and bet £10 on any sport. That £30 is made up of a £10 horse racing free bet, a £10 free bet builder and a £10 football free bet.
BetUK also offer daily specials, and there is a free-to-play weekly predictor game where you win up to £50,000.
Best betting app for golf: Bet365
Bet365 are regularly market-leading in terms of golf prices due to their enhanced each-way terms around major tournaments.
Bet365 also have more extensive in-play markets than many other companies, as well as shot tracker for every player at major championships, plus live leaderboards, stat packs and hole-by-hole breakdowns. The wealth of information means golf lovers will have everything they need.
Best betting app for tennis: William Hill
The William Hill app is clean and easy to use and when it comes to tennis, they’re hard to beat.
They offer a huge range of matches and markets in the sport, including first-set winner and handicap betting, while they also often offer enhanced odds. William Hill provide stat packs to help mobile users make informed tennis bets.
A £10 bet after signing up (at odds of 1/2 on any sports market) will get you £30 of free bets as three £10 tokens, available to use on any sport.
Best betting app for rugby: Betfred
While rugby union and rugby league are two of the UK’s most popular sports, they often get overlooked when it comes to betting, but not on Betfred.
They offer plenty of markets on domestic and international matches and have regular promotions on mobile. Their rugby odds are also competitive in comparison to other companies.
Their welcome offer includes £50 in free bets when you bet £10. You just need to enter ‘SUMMER50’ when you register and deposit (using a debit card) to be eligible. Once you’ve done that and placed a bet of at least £10 on any sports market (at odds of at least evens), you’ll be rewarded with the £50 of free bets. Those will be 3x £10 free bets for any sports market and 2x £10 accumulator free bets, all of which have to be used within seven days.
Top betting apps for alternative betting features
While some betting apps are better for individual sports, other shine when making a particular type of bet. There are lots of ways to place a wager, from standard single bets to accumulators, where you combine selections for greater odds, or bet builders, where you combine bets on a number of different markets in an individual match.
It’s also important to consider different betting features, such as live-streaming and cash out options, when choosing an app, so we’ve rated and recommended the best UK betting apps for these alternative features.
Best betting app for accumulators: BoyleSports
BoyleSports have a number of features that make them an enticing choice, in addition to a wide range of markets and smart-looking app.
The Acca Loyalty programme awards customers with a £5 free acca once they’ve placed five £5 accumulators (with at least five selections and total odds of greater than 3/1).
Meanwhile, Acca Rewards allows you to either boost or insure your accumulator. In any acca bet of at least three legs (on any sport), Insure means you get your stake back as a free bet if one selection lets you down, while Boost increases your prospective winnings (from a 3 per cent boost for a three-leg acca, to a 100 per cent boost for a 14-strong selection).
Best betting app for bet builders: Unibet
Bet builders have become an increasingly popular way of betting in recent times. They allow you to combine selections on specific markets for a match to provide greater odds.
What makes Unibet stand out is their ability to combine bet builders across different matches. They also allow a large number of selections on a single bet builder and bet builders for a number of sports.
Their ‘Uniboost’ feature is also a neat way of increasing bet builder odds. Once per day, customers receive a Uniboost bet builder token which will enhance the odds of any bet builder (with at least three selections) in a single click up to a maximum bet of £10.
Best betting app for cash out: Kwiff
Kwiff are disrupting the status quo with innovative, unique features.
The purple and black aesthetic is visually arresting and their app has a 4.4-star rating on the Play Store. They offer plenty of free bets and these are often ‘surprise bets’ – a bet generated by their algorithm that could be on any sport or bet type.
Their cash out offer is also unique as customers can qualify for a ‘Supercharged’ cash out. Not every cash out will be supercharged but it adds more funds to the total cash out amount available when randomly triggered. Kwiff’s cash out facility is easy to use and speedy, with transactions quickly settled.
Best betting app for live streaming: Bet365
Bet365 have become known as the home of live streaming among betting sites. They often have more than 30 live streams at any one time.
Unlike many horse racing betting sites, Bet365 stream every racing meet in the UK and Ireland, including every race from major events such as the Cheltenham Festival. They also have selected international meetings available.
Most sports streams are free to watch, provided Bet365 accounts are funded, but occasionally a nominal bet on an individual event may be required. The quality of their feeds is also consistent and reliable.
How we rank and review the best sports betting apps
There were numerous factors to consider when ranking apps:
Regulation: Any gambling app has to be fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
Reputation: Reputation is important and while the likes of William Hill and Bet365 have established themselves, we also considered the burgeoning renown of the newer companies.
Being responsible: How committed the bookmaker is to responsible gambling is important to us. We considered their approaches to vital tools such as deposit limits and self-exclusion.
Customer experience: If the app design is smart and well laid out, with good useability, then it makes for a better customer experience.
Promotions: A betting company can also be judged on its promotions and offers. For example, were apps offering deals that really enticed us to sign up?
Responsible gambling
Remember to gamble responsibly. Betting should only be considered a form of entertainment. When betting, only bet what you can afford to lose, and take steps to remain in control of your budget.
Make sure you use the responsible gambling tools offered by betting companies such as deposit limits, reality checks, loss limits and self-exclusion.
There are several UK charities and institutions that offer support, advice, and information, with a few listed below: