Who this guide is for
Founders planning a first real-money casino, affiliates moving from sending players to holding them, and land-based groups adding an online brand. Operators replacing a platform should start with the provider guide.
It comes down to nine decisions taken in order, because each one narrows the next. Most guides start at the software. Start one step earlier, with whether the market lets you in at all, and two steps later than most of them stop, with who will process a gambling payment for a brand that has no history. Those two are where plans fail.
The nine steps at a glance
Each row blocks the ones under it, which is why the order matters.
| Step | The decision | What it blocks until settled |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Market | Where the players are, and whether you may serve them | Everything else |
| 2. Licence | Your own, or someone else's under a white label | Payments, studios, ad accounts |
| 3. Launch model | White label, turnkey or your own build | Budget, contracts, timeline |
| 4. Platform | Which build meets the licence's technical rules | Certification, integrations |
| 5. Games | Which studios will serve that licence | Lobby, revenue share |
| 6. Payments | Which acquirers and rails will take you | First deposit |
| 7. KYC and AML | Who signs off compliance, and when checks run | Licence grant, first payout |
| 8. Marketing | Which channels the licence lets you buy | Player acquisition |
| 9. Timeline | Which clock is longest | Launch date |
Step 1: check whether you may serve the market
This is the step most of the top-ranking guides we read skip, and for a reader in the United States it usually ends the plan. Legality is set state by state; there is no federal casino licence. Seven states run regulated online casinos. Maine became the eighth to legalise them in January 2026, limited to the four Wabanaki Nations with one commercial partner each, and was still not live in July 2026.
| Where your players are | What that means | Models open to you |
|---|---|---|
| A US state | Only that state's own licence, in the few states that issue one | None of the offshore routes on this site |
| Great Britain | A Gambling Commission licence; remote gaming duty rose from 21% to 40% of profits on 1 April 2026. We do not file in the UK | Your own UK licence |
| Finland, from 1 July 2027 | The operator itself must hold the licence | Turnkey or own build; no white label |
| Cyprus | Online casino is a criminal offence; Class B covers betting only | No casino at all |
| Markets outside every restricted list | An offshore licence, minus its restricted list: Anjouan excludes the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Australia | White label, turnkey or crypto |
If a target market licenses its own operators, an offshore licence does not make it legal to serve; it only adds that market to the list you must geo-block.
Step 2: choose the licence route
Either you hold the licence or you operate a brand under someone else's. Holding it means a licensed company, named key persons and a clock; the Isle of Man also wants the company on the island. Anjouan and Tobique take two to eight weeks. The Isle of Man decides 10 to 12 weeks after a complete file, but a Manx company and two resident directors come first. Curaçao publishes no processing time. Finland takes about six months. The licence comparison sets fees, tax and banking side by side.
Step 3: pick the launch model
White label trades margin for time: no application, no merchant onboarding, a share of GGR for as long as you stay. Turnkey trades setup cost for control: your licence, your merchant accounts, your player data. A custom build adds engineering time on top of turnkey's obligations. The launch-models guide compares control, data and responsibilities; the prices sit on the white label and turnkey pages.
Step 4: choose a platform the licence will accept
Judge the platform on what your licence forces it to do. Finland requires strong electronic ID, deposit limits set before play and a bonus engine capped at 5× wagering on retention offers. Tobique requires KYC before €2,000 is wagered and a bi-weekly encrypted backup. The Isle of Man requires player registration on island servers. Ask each vendor to show those controls running. The casino software page lists what a platform has to include.
Step 5: sign the studios your licence allows
Studios keep their own lists of accepted jurisdictions, so the licence picks the lobby. Anjouan has required every supplier to hold a B2B recognition certificate since 1 July 2025; Curaçao accepts game testing only from test houses it has certified, each accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 with a scope covering gaming systems and RNGs. Commercially, studios are paid a revenue share, a market range of 10% to 20% of the GGR their games generate, usually through an aggregator so one integration reaches many studios.
Step 6: payments, where most plans break
Card gambling sits under merchant category code 7995, which Visa classes as a Tier 1 high integrity risk. An acquirer needs a separate Visa approval for that category before it may even sign you, so the pool of banks that will take a casino is small, and those that will ask for a licence they recognise and a processing history a new brand does not have. Opening MCC 7995 acquiring takes months.
The cost follows. Published ranges for gambling merchants run from 2.5% to 8%, against 1.5% to 3% for low-risk merchants. Acquirers also hold a rolling reserve of 10% to 25% of volume for months: at €500,000 of monthly card volume, a 10% reserve on a six-month hold keeps €300,000 out of your account. Tier-one acquirers decline offshore licences, which is why Anjouan brands run on crypto and local rails such as Pix, UPI or Interac. The payment gateway page covers routing and dispute ratios.
Step 7: name the people who sign off compliance
Most licences on this site require an AML programme with a named MLRO or compliance officer at application, and Curaçao sets the qualifications for the role. The licence also sets when KYC runs: Tobique within 30 days of first deposit and before any payout, Tuvalu before payout or above USD 10,000 of deposits. Budget a person, not a policy document.
Step 8: check which marketing the licence permits
Google Ads accepts gambling only from certified advertisers holding a valid local licence for every country targeted, and in the US only in states where the operator is licensed. Meta requires authorisation backed by evidence of a licence and bars targeting under 18. Finland bans affiliate marketing and acquisition bonuses. An offshore brand is therefore built on affiliates, organic search and retention rather than paid ads, and the plan should say so before the budget does.
Step 9: find the longest clock
The slowest of three clocks sets the launch date, and it is rarely the software.
- White label: four to six weeks from contract on our timeline, including a test of every payment method.
- Turnkey: up to four months once the licence exists, plus the licence's own clock. On the Isle of Man, nine months from first step to first bet is a sensible plan.
- Merchant onboarding: months, in parallel with both.
Who should not start a casino this year
- Anyone whose players are in a market that licenses its own operators, without a route to that licence.
- A plan built on card deposits under an offshore licence.
- A budget that covers the platform but not the reserve, the licence fees and six months of marketing before revenue. The cost guide lists every line.
Questions to put to any provider, including us
- Which licence would my brand run under, and what is its restricted-country list?
- Which studios on your list will serve that licence, and do they hold the certificates it requires?
- Which acquirers have taken brands on this licence in the last year, and at what reserve?
- Who owns the player database, and what does the exit clause move?
- Who pays for a failed certification, and what happens to the launch date?
Frequently asked
Can I start an online casino without a licence?
Not legally for real money. A white label is not an exemption: the brand operates under the licence holder's licence and accepts its rules. Many white label offers also exclude markets you may want, which is why the licence question comes before price.
How long does it take to open an online casino?
Four to six weeks on a white label. On your own licence, the licence clock first, from two to eight weeks on Anjouan or Tobique to about six months in Finland, then up to four months of build and certification, with merchant onboarding running alongside.
Can I start an online casino in the US?
Only under a state licence in a state that issues one. Seven states run regulated online casinos, Maine's market was legislated in January 2026 for the Wabanaki Nations only, and the offshore licences on this site all exclude the US.
Can I run a crypto-only casino to avoid the card problem?
Yes, on an offshore licence, and it removes the acquirer from the plan. It closes Finland, which prohibits crypto deposits, and Cyprus, which permits electronic payments only. Curaçao adds its own crypto policy, including withdrawal to the deposit wallet. See crypto casino.
What does it cost to start?
There is no single figure, because the licence sets most of it. The cost guide breaks it into one-off fees, percentages of GGR and capital the acquirer or regulator holds back.