Best Betting Apps

Below you will find our expert picks for the best betting apps. The table highlights our pick of the five best betting apps and you can join any of those featured on the list. Simply click any link to your chosen online bookmaker to register, while you can also claim free bets and other welcome offers.

We strongly recommend all the UK betting apps we’ve included in our list and believe it is worth joining all of them. Remember, the more you join, the more bonuses you can claim and you’ll always be a click away from getting the market’s best price on your wagers.

Rank	Betting App	Racing Post Rating
#1	bet365 App	4.8/5
#2	Betfair App	4.7/5
#3	Paddy Power App	4.75/5
#4	Sky Bet App	4.75/5
#5	William Hill App	4.8/5

 

The boring stuff

When searching for the best betting app to join, you should always start with the legal stuff. Yes, it’s boring, but it’s extremely important as it will protect you from scams and illegal bookmakers. You also want to avoid the risk of falling foul of a scam and providing your details to a bookmaker that’s not as it seems. 

Checking if a firm is worthy of your custom is easy. Simply search the app for its licensing information. Are they licensed and regulated by a trusted source, and who provided the licence? Is a bookmaker permitted to trade in your region or could you get in trouble for joining and playing with that bookmaker? All this information should be on the bookmaker’s app and website.

All of the betting apps we recommend come from fully licensed and trusted online bookmakers, so as long as they legally operate in your region you can sign up with confidence.

Sports and markets

Now, it’s time to look at the more interesting side of the best betting apps, finding those with great sports coverage and many markets. The best betting app in the UK covers all the top sports, including:

• Horse racing & greyhound racing
• Football
• Cricket
• Rugby
• Boxing
• Golf
• Tennis
• F1
• UFC
• Baseball
• Basketball & NBA

For our expert selections of the best betting apps for each sport, simply click the link for your chosen sport in the list above. If you want a strong mix of many sports to wager on, each of our top five best betting app picks meets our high expectations.

Betting promotions

You can tell a lot about an online betting app by the generosity of their promotions. The most popular betting promotion is the new customer welcome bonus. It works as an incentive to encourage customers to choose one bookmaker over the mountain of competition in an ultra-competitive market. The welcome bonus comes in a few forms, but the most popular with bookmakers and bettors is free bets. Join a bookmaker, deposit funds, place a qualifying first bet and you’ll get free bets to the value specified in the offer.

Other promotions exist for new customers, with the cream of the crop being the no-deposit free bet. These deals are very rare nowadays but are occasionally available.

The leading apps don’t just look after their new customers with welcome bonuses, but also have regular betting offers for existing customers to reward their loyal bettors.

Highest-rated mobile betting apps in the UK

If you are searching for the best betting app you can join today, our team has done the research for you. However, we do recommend that you check if the online bookmaker fulfills your needs and you are eligible for their welcome bonus, so you can find the perfect fit for you.

The best way to get a feel for a bookmaker is to read reviews, and our experts have also provided detailed reviews of all the online bookmakers we feature here. You can find links to our reviews within each bookmaker’s summary below.

Customer reviews are also a helpful resource. Not every customer review out there is accurate, especially on the App Store and Google Play Store as you’ll find many disgruntled customers eager to complain about a generally well-regarded betting app. The key here is to make sure you read reviews across the rating spectrum, not just those promoting the app or slating it as you’ll often find the truth somewhere in the middle. Check out how fellow bettors rated our best betting app picks.

Bookmaker	App Store Rating	Google Play Rating
bet365 App	4.5	3.4
Betfair App	4.5	3.7
Paddy Power App	4.4	4.4
Sky Bet App	4.7	3.1
William Hill App	4.0	4.3

Best betting apps breakdown by bookmaker

It’s now time to pull back the curtain and look at each app in a bit more detail. It’s always worthwhile checking the ratings of major bookmakers, but nothing beats finding out for yourself. 

Keep reading as we explain what impressed us about each name mentioned in our list of the best betting apps and click the links for our full reviews and a rundown of their latest free bet sign-up offers.

bet365

No aspect of online betting shows how much the industry has improved more than live streaming, and bet365 boast the best live stream of any betting app in our list. They are head and shoulders above the chasing pack with this technology. They are getting results as customers join to benefit from the faultless, modern and reliable live-streaming of football, horse racing, greyhounds, and more.

The live streaming at bet365 works best with horse racing, allowing customers to wager on a race and watch the contest using their mobile from anywhere.

bet365 free bets are also some of the most competitive in the industry and their overall service as a bookmaker is second to none. You can find out more in our full bet365 review

Betfair

We love Betfair as they offer two ways to bet through their sportsbook and exchange, increasing your chances of getting the best odds and value each time you wager. Sign up through this page and get access to Betfair free bets for betting on an array of markets within the biggest sports, competitions and teams.

Click the exchange tab and back or lay selections to increase your chances of landing a profit. Your login allows you to use both the sportsbook and the exchange, and the shared wallet means you can better control your spending. For more information on how this all works, check out our full Betfair review.

Paddy Power

There’s lots to like about this world famous online bookmaker, but we’ll focus on Paddy Power’s free bets. The welcome bonus offered to new customers is more generous than most other bookmakers. The promotions tab is packed tight with recurring deals and offers, including free bets, loyalty reward points, cashback for losing wagers and profit boosts.

The betting app from Paddy Power is also renowned among bettors for its user-friendly interface and live streaming of events you’ve bet on. Our full Paddy Power review has all the information for knowing if it’s the right betting app for you.

Sky Bet

We are big fans of Sky Bet’s free bets and their in-play betting features. They aren’t the only betting app to offer in-play betting, of course, but they are certainly ahead of the competition. Sky Bet also offers dozens of pre-match markets, extending to hundreds for the biggest events such as the Champions League final. Almost all the pre-match markets continue to live betting, allowing customers to wager before the start or at any time during the contest. For more on what makes Sky Bet’s in-play betting stand out from the rest and their other top features, go over our full Sky Bet review.

William Hill

The online bookmaker with generous odds on more sports, most of the time. William Hill free bets include a fantastic welcome bonus and some great recurring deals, but this UK bookmaker prefers to offer customers market best-price odds they can rely on. Alongside their best odds guarantee, you can get more information on their user-friendly app in our full William Hill review.

Which betting app has the best payout speeds?

If you’ve landed a winner, you’ll want to get your hands on the profit as soon as possible. Thankfully, the apps mentioned on this page give customers instant or super-fast and secure withdrawal methods. Check the table below for more information.

Best Betting App for Payouts	Av speed of withdrawal
bet365 App	1–3 days
Betfair App	1–3 days
Paddy Power App	1–3 days
Sky Bet App	1–3 days
William Hill App	1–3 days

How to choose a sports betting app that’s right for you

Here are a few non-negotiables when deciding the best betting apps:

Ease of use

Betting on the go is all about speed and you want an app that’s fast, secure and responsive. Look for homepage quick links to the next horse race due to start and get expert opinions on their in-play betting service. You want everything you love about betting at your fingertips.

Live-streaming options

If an app doesn’t have a faultless live stream, it isn’t worth considering. Look for a betting app with a fantastic live-streaming tab packed with upcoming sports, including UK and Irish horse racing and live football. The more sports, the better.

A wide range of markets

More ways to bet on sports means more ways to win. Don’t stick with the basic 1-X-2 betting. Branch out and try new and inventive markets that improve your chances of landing a profit while limiting the risks of losing your stake.

Why place your bets via the bookmaker’s betting apps?

A recent study into the habits of online bettors showed more bets are struck using mobile apps than desktop computers and land-based bookmakers combined. That’s every day and it shows how we prefer to wager on sports. With that in mind, any online bookmaker not prioritising their betting app experience will quickly fall behind their competitors.

How to sign up with a bookmaker through their betting app

1. Use the easy-to-follow guide below to create an account using your mobile.
2. Download the app to your device and click ‘Join’.
3. Complete the registration form, providing your details.
4. Create a username and password.
5. Make your first deposit and wager.
6. A welcome bonus free bet will appear in your balance.