How much does an online casino platform cost
Introduction
The overall budget for the online casino platform is made up of a variety of components, ranging from licensing fees and primary development to ongoing hosting, security, integration and marketing costs. Below is a detailed analysis of each cost item, which makes it possible to assess the real cost of launch and further operation.
1. Licenses and regulatory compliance
1. Gambling licenses
Malta (MGA): from €25,000- €35,000 for filing and an annual fee of about €5,000- €10,000.
UKGC: application fee GBP 10,000, annual fee from GBP 20,000 or more (£2,000- £4,000 monthly).
Curaçao: USD 15,000-20,000 under the contract with the aggregator; renewal each year ~ 10% of GGR.
2. RNG and PCI DSS Audit
RNG Certification: One challenge audit ~ €5,000- €10,000.
PCI DSS: external scanning and auditing from QSA companies - €10,000 - €20,000 annual subscription.
3. KYC/AML и Responsible Gaming
Connection of verification providers (Onfido, Sumsub): €1- €5 per verification, with volumes ranging from €0.5 to €2 per PEP/Sanctions check.
2. Development and integration
1. Primary development
White-label or SaaS: from €50,000 to €200,000 for the basic set of functions (GMS, PMS, payments, KYC, anti-fraud, dashboards).
Custom build: from €200,000 to €1,000,000 + depending on the depth of customization, integration with providers and ML modules.
2. Integration of game providers
The cost of connecting one provider (slots, live casino, bets): €2,000 - €5,000, including normalization, testing and audit.
3. Payment systems
Connection of the main PSP: from €5,000 for integration (REST/SOAP, 3DS, Webhooks).
Local methods (e-wallet, mobile): additional €2,000 - €4,000 each.
3. Infrastructure and hosting
1. Cloud spending
IaaS (AWS, Azure, GCP): from €3,000 per month for a cluster with auto-scale, multi-AZ, managed-DB, CDN and WAF.
PaaS/Serverless: can be reduced to €1,500-€ 2,500, but taking into account the cost of functions and requests.
2. VPS or dedicated servers
Mid-level VPS: €200- €500/month
Dedicated server in the data center: €1,000- €2,500/month + colocation services.
3. DR and backups
Storage of backups in S3/GCS: €200- €400/month; replication and DR procedures - another €500 - €1,000/month.
4. Security and monitoring
1. SIEM и IDS/IPS
Licenses for Splunk/Elastic SIEM or cloud analogues: €2,000 - €5,000 monthly.
WAF + DDoS protection (AWS Shield Advanced): from €2,000/month.
2. Pen-test and audits
Quarterly pentesting sessions: €5,000- €15,000 per audit.
Internal Security Engineers services: €5,000- €10,000/month
5. Support and maintenance
1. DevOps/NOC
Team 24/7: from €15,000/month for 2-3 on-call engineers.
2. CI/CD and Updates
Pipeline support, test automation, canary/blue-green: €3,000 - €5,000/month
3. Training and Documentation
Create and update KB: €1,000- €2,000/month
6. Marketing and Retention
1. CRM and promo engine
Built-in platform: €2,000 - €5,000/month
External solutions (Salesforce, HubSpot): €3,000 - €7,000/month
2. SMS/Email/Social
Sending cost: €0.01- €0.05 per email; €0.03- €0.10 per SMS.
Campaigns: from €2,000 per large share.
7. Analytics and BI
Data Warehouse
Snowflake/BigQuery: from €1,000- €3,000/month for storage and inquiries.
BI tools
Tableau/Looker: €1,500- €3,000/month
ETL platforms
Airflow/dbt hosting: €500- €1,500/month
8. Hidden and variable costs
Legal & Compliance: legal advice and support for regulatory changes - €3,000 - €7,000/month.
Unexpected integrations: each new provider or payment method can cost €2,000 - €5,000.
Growth hacking: A/B testing, ML retention models - from €5,000 per project.
9. Final budget estimate
Initial investment (P0): ~ €150,000- €300,000 + operating expenses (OpEx): ~ €30,000- €60,000/month
Conclusion
Launching and operating an online casino platform requires significant investment in licensing, development, security, hosting and marketing. At the same time, variable costs can increase with the number of providers, markets and activity. Careful budget planning and selection of a balanced architecture will help minimize risks and ensure effective project growth.
The overall budget for the online casino platform is made up of a variety of components, ranging from licensing fees and primary development to ongoing hosting, security, integration and marketing costs. Below is a detailed analysis of each cost item, which makes it possible to assess the real cost of launch and further operation.
1. Licenses and regulatory compliance
1. Gambling licenses
Malta (MGA): from €25,000- €35,000 for filing and an annual fee of about €5,000- €10,000.
UKGC: application fee GBP 10,000, annual fee from GBP 20,000 or more (£2,000- £4,000 monthly).
Curaçao: USD 15,000-20,000 under the contract with the aggregator; renewal each year ~ 10% of GGR.
2. RNG and PCI DSS Audit
RNG Certification: One challenge audit ~ €5,000- €10,000.
PCI DSS: external scanning and auditing from QSA companies - €10,000 - €20,000 annual subscription.
3. KYC/AML и Responsible Gaming
Connection of verification providers (Onfido, Sumsub): €1- €5 per verification, with volumes ranging from €0.5 to €2 per PEP/Sanctions check.
2. Development and integration
1. Primary development
White-label or SaaS: from €50,000 to €200,000 for the basic set of functions (GMS, PMS, payments, KYC, anti-fraud, dashboards).
Custom build: from €200,000 to €1,000,000 + depending on the depth of customization, integration with providers and ML modules.
2. Integration of game providers
The cost of connecting one provider (slots, live casino, bets): €2,000 - €5,000, including normalization, testing and audit.
3. Payment systems
Connection of the main PSP: from €5,000 for integration (REST/SOAP, 3DS, Webhooks).
Local methods (e-wallet, mobile): additional €2,000 - €4,000 each.
3. Infrastructure and hosting
1. Cloud spending
IaaS (AWS, Azure, GCP): from €3,000 per month for a cluster with auto-scale, multi-AZ, managed-DB, CDN and WAF.
PaaS/Serverless: can be reduced to €1,500-€ 2,500, but taking into account the cost of functions and requests.
2. VPS or dedicated servers
Mid-level VPS: €200- €500/month
Dedicated server in the data center: €1,000- €2,500/month + colocation services.
3. DR and backups
Storage of backups in S3/GCS: €200- €400/month; replication and DR procedures - another €500 - €1,000/month.
4. Security and monitoring
1. SIEM и IDS/IPS
Licenses for Splunk/Elastic SIEM or cloud analogues: €2,000 - €5,000 monthly.
WAF + DDoS protection (AWS Shield Advanced): from €2,000/month.
2. Pen-test and audits
Quarterly pentesting sessions: €5,000- €15,000 per audit.
Internal Security Engineers services: €5,000- €10,000/month
5. Support and maintenance
1. DevOps/NOC
Team 24/7: from €15,000/month for 2-3 on-call engineers.
2. CI/CD and Updates
Pipeline support, test automation, canary/blue-green: €3,000 - €5,000/month
3. Training and Documentation
Create and update KB: €1,000- €2,000/month
6. Marketing and Retention
1. CRM and promo engine
Built-in platform: €2,000 - €5,000/month
External solutions (Salesforce, HubSpot): €3,000 - €7,000/month
2. SMS/Email/Social
Sending cost: €0.01- €0.05 per email; €0.03- €0.10 per SMS.
Campaigns: from €2,000 per large share.
7. Analytics and BI
Data Warehouse
Snowflake/BigQuery: from €1,000- €3,000/month for storage and inquiries.
BI tools
Tableau/Looker: €1,500- €3,000/month
ETL platforms
Airflow/dbt hosting: €500- €1,500/month
8. Hidden and variable costs
Legal & Compliance: legal advice and support for regulatory changes - €3,000 - €7,000/month.
Unexpected integrations: each new provider or payment method can cost €2,000 - €5,000.
Growth hacking: A/B testing, ML retention models - from €5,000 per project.
9. Final budget estimate
| Expense Item | Approximate Range |
|---|---|
| Licenses | €15,000- €50,000/year |
| Development and integration | €100,000- €1,000,000 + |
| Hosting and infrastructure | €3,000- €10,000/month |
| Safety and monitoring | €4,000- €10,000/month |
| Support and DevOps | €15,000- €25,000/month |
| Marketing & CRM | €5,000- €15,000/month |
| Analytics & BI | €3,000- €7,000/month |
| Legal and compliance | €3,000- €7,000/month |
Initial investment (P0): ~ €150,000- €300,000 + operating expenses (OpEx): ~ €30,000- €60,000/month
Conclusion
Launching and operating an online casino platform requires significant investment in licensing, development, security, hosting and marketing. At the same time, variable costs can increase with the number of providers, markets and activity. Careful budget planning and selection of a balanced architecture will help minimize risks and ensure effective project growth.
