Choosing a gaming licence is one of the highest-leverage decisions an iGaming operator makes. It dictates your year-one budget, how long you wait before you can take a bet, which markets you can serve, and — most underrated of all — whether banks and payment processors will actually work with you. Pick wrong and you can spend €40,000 on a licence your acquiring bank quietly refuses to support.
This guide compares the six jurisdictions we work with most, from fast offshore licences to high-reputation EU and MENA regimes. Figures are current as of mid-2026 and drawn from the regulators’ own published materials; gaming fees change, so treat the ranges as a planning baseline and confirm the specifics before you commit.
The short version
There is no single “best” gaming licence — only the best fit for your markets, budget, payment stack, and timeline. As a rough map:
- Launching fast on a tight budget? Anjouan or Tobique.
- Need real banking and card-processing access without Curaçao’s cost? Nevis.
- Want the established offshore default? Curaçao.
- Selling into EU-regulated markets and reputation is everything? Malta (MGA).
- Building a premium, MENA-facing brand? The UAE’s new GCGRA regime.
Comparison at a glance
| Jurisdiction | Year-1 cost (B2C, approx.) | Licence model | Timeline | Banking / PSP access | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anjouan | €27,000–€48,000 all-in | Single licence, all verticals | 2–4 weeks (clean file) | Limited — Comoros gambling friction | Fast, low-cost launches; crypto casinos |
| Tobique | Low / quote-based | Single licence | Fast (weeks) | Moderate | Crypto & sweepstakes operators |
| Nevis | ~€34,000 base (€28,000 licence) | Single licence, all verticals | 8–12 weeks total | High — FATF/CFATF whitelist | Operators needing banking without Curaçao’s cost |
| Curaçao | ~€52,000+ (€47,450 annual) | Single licence, all verticals | 3–6 months | Established | The default offshore licence |
| Malta (MGA) | €80,000+ incl. compliance | Per-vertical approvals | 6–9 months | Excellent — EU/EEA | EU-regulated market access; reputation |
| UAE (GCGRA) | Bespoke / not published | Operator licence | Emerging | High, but nascent | Premium MENA-facing brands |
Anjouan
The budget workhorse. The Anjouan Gaming Authority (AGA), administered by ALSI, issues one operator licence covering casino, sportsbook, poker, esports and prediction markets — no per-vertical carve-outs. The all-inclusive regulator fee is around €17,828 per year, with a realistic year-one budget of roughly €27,000–€48,000 once company formation and consultancy are included. A clean application can issue in two to four weeks, and the framework explicitly permits crypto-denominated play.
The catch is banking. Gambling is prohibited under Comoros national law, which the FATF flagged in its 2024 evaluation — so Anjouan licences carry real friction with banks and PSPs. It’s an excellent first licence to launch on, less so a forever home.
Tobique
A North American option issued under the Tobique First Nation (New Brunswick, Canada). It’s fast and low-cost, and has become popular with crypto-focused and sweepstakes operators who want a quick, recognisable licence without offshore-Caribbean optics. Public fee schedules are thinner than the other jurisdictions here, so we quote it case by case. Treat it as a pragmatic launch licence rather than a reputational anchor.
Nevis
The most interesting newcomer. The Nevis Online Gaming Ordinance 2025 created the Nevis Online Gaming Authority (NOGA), which issues separate B2C and B2B licences (white-label operations need both). The headline cost is around €28,000 for the application/first year, with a base year-one budget near €34,000 once you add company formation and the mandatory local reporting officer.
Its real edge is banking. Because the Federation of St Kitts & Nevis is a FATF/CFATF whitelist member, Nevis-licensed operators are rated at the same banking and PSP-access tier as Curaçao — at a meaningfully lower cost. For operators who outgrew Anjouan’s payment friction but can’t justify Curaçao’s price, Nevis fills exactly that gap. It’s still an emerging regime, so weigh it against your need for a long operating track record.
Curaçao
The long-standing default. Under the new National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), licences are now issued directly by the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) rather than through sub-licensing master holders. One licence still covers all verticals. The published LOK fee schedule puts the annual cost at €47,450 (a €24,490 government licence fee plus a €22,960 CGA supervisory fee), on top of a €4,592 application fee, with a typical post-reform timeline of three to six months.
Curaçao buys you recognisability and a single-licence model that’s simple to operate. Post-LOK it now carries more substance and reporting obligations than it once did — closer to a “serious” jurisdiction than the rubber-stamp it used to be.
Malta (MGA)
The gold standard for EU-facing operators. The Malta Gaming Authority issues a B2C gaming service licence with a €5,000 application fee and a €25,000 annual licence fee, but the real cost is everything around it: a 5% gaming tax on Maltese players, monthly compliance contributions (minimum €15,000–€25,000 depending on game type), and minimum share capital of up to €100,000. Verticals are approved individually, and timelines typically run six to nine months.
You pay for it because nothing else opens EU-regulated market access and tier-one banking the way an MGA licence does. For operators scaling into Europe with institutional partners, it’s often the only credible choice.
UAE (GCGRA)
The newcomer worth watching. The federal General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority was established in 2023 as the sole authority for commercial gaming in the UAE, issuing distinct licences including an Internet Gaming Operator licence across emirates such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. Fees aren’t publicly listed — the process begins with an invitation to apply — and the integrity, AML and responsible-gaming bar is deliberately high.
This is not a fast or cheap offshore licence. It’s an emerging, premium, high-reputation regime for operators who want a MENA foothold and a regulator backed by a sovereign state. For the right brand, getting in early is a strategic advantage.
How to actually choose
Work backwards from two constraints most founders underweight:
- Your payment stack. A cheap licence your acquirer won’t support is more expensive than a pricier one they will. If reliable fiat card processing matters, the FATF-whitelist jurisdictions (Nevis, Malta, UAE) and Curaçao sit above Anjouan and Tobique.
- Your target markets. Offshore licences exclude regulated markets (UK, much of the EU, US, Australia). If you need EU players, that’s Malta — full stop. If you’re crypto-native and geo-flexible, Anjouan, Tobique, and Nevis give you speed and cost efficiency.
Then layer in budget and timeline. The structure underneath the licence — your holding company, UBO chart, AML programme, and banking plan — matters as much as the licence itself, and it’s where most applications stall.
How Point Legal helps
We handle gaming licensing as one part of a complete corporate and compliance setup, not a standalone form-filling exercise. On a flat monthly fee, we help you choose the right jurisdiction for your markets and payment partners, structure the holding and operating entities, prepare and submit the application, and build the AML/KYC and responsible-gaming framework regulators expect — with answers within 24 hours, not hourly invoices.
If you’re weighing two or more of these licences, book a free iGaming licensing review — send us your structure and target markets, and you’ll get a real lawyer’s view within a day.
Sources
- Curaçao CGA — LOK Licence Fees v2.0 (Oct 2025) — Curaçao application and annual fees, LOK framework.
- Malta Gaming Authority — Remote Gaming Services & Licence Fees — MGA fees, gaming types, share capital.
- Nevis Online Gaming Authority (NOGA) — Nevis Ordinance 2025, licence categories and process.
- Anjouan Licence Guide — Anjouan all-inclusive fee, timeline, excluded markets.
- UAE GCGRA — Licensing — UAE federal regulator, internet gaming operator licence.