Best Low deposit betting sites (updated: December 2023)

BetVictor

The offer:

Get a matched bet worth up to £100.

How it works

You can say we’ve saved the best for last when looking at low deposit bookmakers because though the minimum deposit remains the same at £5, the potential value of the free bet is far, far greater than any other on this list. So, step forward…Bet Victor.

Deposit as little as £5 and whatever the value of your first-ever bet is, BetVictor will match it by giving you a free bet for that amount, up to a maximum of £100.

Opt into the promo via the Offers tab and place a bet at odds of at least 2.0 within 7 days of registering your new account.

You’ll then be credited with your free bet, which can be split into as many smaller bets as you wish and placed on any sports you wish, within 7 days of receiving it. Only winnings from the stake of the free bet(s) are paid out, not the stake itself.

Pros of welcome offer:

• Free bet(s) up to £100 as a welcome offer is by far the biggest we’ve seen among our low deposit bookmakers.
• Total freedom of choice as to the sports you can wager on and how many bets your free bet(s) are divided into.
• No wagering requirements on winnings from the free bets.

The betting sites with the best welcome offer based on a £10 deposit.

We’ve just told you all about six great welcome betting offers from low deposit bookmakers where a deposit of just £5 followed by a qualifying bet for that same amount gets you a tasty welcome offer.

What we’re going to do next is push the boat out just a tiny bit and tell you about an extra betting site giving you a great value welcome offer if you make a deposit and place a qualifying bet for a slightly larger amount: £10.

£10 is still a pretty modest amount to be depositing and you’re about to see that it’s certainly worth your while to just increase that initial deposit just a little.

888Sports

The offer:

Bet £10 and get £40 in free bets- £30 for sports, £10 for casino.

How it works

The 888 welcome offer also makes our list on account of the fact that it essentially offers a 400% bonus and also gives the casino lovers something to get excited about.

Register, deposit, enter promo code 30FB and place a bet for £10 or more at odds of at least 1.5.

You’ll then have 7 days to use your £30 in sports free bets and on top of that, you’ll also get £10 to use as free bets in the casino. The casino bonus has wagering requirements of 40x; the sports bonus doesn’t have any wagering requirements at all.

Pros of welcome offer:

• Bonuses to use in both sports and casino.
• You’re getting a 400% bonus in total, which is high.

Minimum Deposit vs Minimum Bets

Let’s start with the obvious: a definition of both.

A minimum deposit is the lowest amount of money a bookmaker will allow you to deposit.

This is generally £5 and if you’ve got this far, you’ll already be aware of a few betting sites that not only allow you to deposit as little as that but will also give you a welcome offer for depositing and playing as little as that. If there are betting sites out there that allow you to deposit less than that, good on them, and good on you for finding them!

A minimum bet is the lowest amount of money the bookmaker will accept on any given bet for it to be processed.

In this case, the amount of the minimum bet will vary considerably. Some allow bets for as little as 1p while others may insist on at least 50p, or maybe £1.

So, they’re completely different concepts and though the general rule of thumb is that sportsbooks with low minimum deposits are also the ones accepting low minimum bets, that’s not always the case.

Ideally, you want to play at a betting site that does just that: is low on both fronts.

That gives customers a greater choice and allows low-stakes players to deposit and gamble without risking too much money.

Advantages of low-deposit betting

We’ve just used those words ‘greater choice’ when it comes to low deposits. But what do we actually mean by that? In practical terms, what are the actual advantages to the customer?

#1 – Find your feet, learn the basics.

Experienced punters often talk about ‘paper betting’ which means placing imaginary bets on something as a way of discovering whether a particular system works or how good (or bad) you are at betting on something, say in-play tennis.

The problem is not all punters are disciplined enough to try that out because let’s face it: it’s not much fun!

But if you’re going to learn the hard way, better that it involves small amounts of money than large ones. Making a small deposit and finding out what you’re better at and worse at will be less costly (if you start out with a loss) than if you’d had to make a big deposit.

#2 – Find your favourite site.

Let’s say your priority in your first ever month of online betting is not to make money but rather to find the one site, or handful of sites, that you like the most and will use in the long run.

Following the theory above, most people would want to wager real money in the process, rather than placing imaginary bets.

Depositing a small amount, for example £5, will allow you to try out up to 20 different betting sites on a budget of £100, including picking up welcome offers on most or all of them.

If each one only accepted a minimum deposit of £20, you’d only be able to test out five different sites on that same budget.

#3 – Responsible Gambling

Low deposit sites are perfect for controlling your gambling better and avoiding spending, or more precisely losing, more than you should.

A customer who has the tendency to lose more than they win will actually ‘save’ money by depositing small amounts rather than large ones.

A customer who chooses to put in place deposit limits where they allow themselves two deposits a month can further control potential losses by choosing to limit each deposit to £5 per deposit, rather than £20.

But they’ll only be able to do that if the Sportsbook allows them to deposit that small amount in the first place.

Disadvantages  of low-deposit betting

It’s hard to think of any disadvantages associated with low deposit betting sites; there’s no downside to them.

However, the minimum deposit amount is just one of many, many important factors you should consider when choosing your next betting site.

That’s why we always advise you to read our reviews carefully to see how a bookie fares across all the other important metrics.

Best Payment Method for Low Deposits

Debit cards

Possibly the most widely accepted payment method at online betting sites and probably also the most widely used by customers.

After all: who isn’t already in possession of a debit card in their wallet for daily purchases like groceries, petrol or a meal out?

But that’s not where the advantages end.

Deposits made with debit cards are either instant or take just a couple of minutes and are also among the quickest when it comes to withdrawals.

They normally take 1-3 days to be processed while a bank transfer could take as much as 10 working days before the cash arrives in your account.

A further advantage is that they’re almost always accepted as a depositing method to claim a welcome offer or subsequent bonus.

In some cases, they’re the only accepted depositing method in order to get a bonus.

We won’t bother listing the betting sites that accept debit cards because they pretty much all do!

PayPal

PayPal make our list on account of the fact that using it means that you don’t have to provide bank details that you’d rather keep to yourself.

Another advantage is that in addition to being instant for deposits, it’s also generally the fastest when it comes to withdrawals. At some betting sites it can take a few minutes, at others a couple of hours or maybe a bit more, say 24 hours. But it’s still generally quicker than even the debit card withdrawal.

A couple of things to be aware of.

In some cases, the minimum deposit with PayPal might be £10 rather than £5. And in some cases, there may be a fee charged when using PayPal.

Also, in plenty of cases, deposits made with PayPal may prevent you from claiming a welcome offer.

But one way to get around that is to make your first-ever deposit with a debit card to claim the welcome offer and then use PayPal for any deposits after that.

BetVictor, Bet365, Kwiff, Boylesports, Coral, Betfair, Paddy Power and William Hill all accept PayPal as a payment method. See more bookies that accept PayPal

Neteller

Around since first being used in Canada in 1999, Neteller is another good option for low deposits.

Customers enjoy the fast deposits and withdrawals using it and the anonymity that comes with a Neteller account. After all, your debit cards are where the money is coming from when making a deposit with Neteller; but all the bookie will ever see is the Neteller account.

In addition to anonymity and speed, it ticks the boxes for safety and security thanks to the latest anti-fraud technology that includes fingerprint ID and 256-bit encryption.

Other advantages are that your Neteller wallet can be funded in 60 different ways and using 26 different currencies.

Downsides? Like PayPal depositing with it may stop you from being able to claim a bonus. Neteller also charge a flat 2.5% fee on any transaction, which is how the company makes its money.

Betting sites accepting it include Bet365, Coral, BetVictor, Smarkets, Ladbrokes and Betfred.

No deposit free bets – do they still exist?

When it comes to sports bets, the simple answer is: no. Across all the betting sites we endorse as the ones we trust by ticking all the necessary boxes, not one of them currently has free bets available without you having to make a deposit. They’re a thing of the past.

From the bookie’s perspective, that’s hardly surprising. It’s very much in their interest that you make that first deposit, so giving you a bonus without you making a deposit is counter-productive to them.

There are however some poker and casino sites that may be happy to give you no deposit bonuses.

Minimum Withdrawals and Transaction Fees

Minimum withdrawals

As online betting evolves over time, some aspects of it get considerably better.

One of those is the minimum amount you can withdraw. In the past the minimum amount could be as much as £20, or even £50. If you didn’t have enough in your account to meet that requirement, your only option was to gamble more and try and get it up to that amount.

But these days, some sites allow you to withdraw as little as £1.

Betfair allow you to withdraw just a quid using debit cards, PayPal and Skrill.

Ridiculously, its ‘sister company’ (they’re both owned by Flutter Entertainment Ltd) allows you to withdraw just 1p with a debit card. Though quite why you’d bother withdrawing that sum of money is anyone’s guess.

The average minimum withdrawal is £5. Using a debit card, all of Bet365, BetVictor, Coral and most of the other sites listed here will allow you to withdraw just a fiver.

You will have noticed we mentioned debit cards: with other payment options such as e-wallets and bank transfers, the minimum withdrawal may rise to £10 or £20 depending on the method and bookie.

But as a rule of thumb, look to play at a site with a £5 minimum rather than more. Not only is it better for you to have that option but it’s also a good indication the bookie can be trusted.

Transaction fees

Some bookies can charge you transaction fees. As a general rule, we’re against that entirely: bookies generally make enough money by laying bets to not have to top up their profits further by charging fees. Even if they get charged by the payment providers themselves, they should shoulder that burden.

And Bet365 agree with us, not charging any fees on either deposits or withdrawals at all, unless you use Fast Bank Transfer. Paddy Power has no fees at all.

The likes of Betfair do charge 2.5% when depositing with Paysafecard and 1.5% for Ecocard and non-UK debit cards. Similar charges apply when withdrawing.

Every betting site has a responsibility to have a section (possibly in the FAQs) telling you exactly what fees they’re charging on deposits and withdrawals.

E-wallets generally do charge fees, some just on withdrawals, some on deposits as well.

With PayPal that will depend on the bookie as to whether you pay them. If you do, it’s generally around the 2 to 3% mark. With Skrill it’s between 1% and 5%. But in some cases, the bookie covers those charges.

Neteller transactions are a bit different. You’ll always be charged a fee and it will always be a flat 2.5%.

Withdrawing to a debit card generally has no costs at all.

The general advice is to avoid withdrawal methods that incur charges. Especially if the amount you’re withdrawing is large, as that could potentially mean dozens or hundreds of pounds of hard-earned profits wasted.

Final Words

These days there are plenty of betting sites that allow you to make a deposit of just £5.

And they will also give you a welcome offer when you place a qualifying bet for that amount. We listed six of the best at the start of this article.

There are important advantages to low deposit betting sites, such as giving you a chance to try out new sites on a small budget and keeping your spending in check.

Your chosen payment method should be an important consideration because it determines whether you’re eligible for bonuses, the speed of deposits and particularly withdrawals and whether you’ll be charged any fees for that particular payment option.

All of that has been covered here, too.