The best sports betting apps: how to choose, by state
Choose your state to see what its law says about sports betting, then learn how to choose among the best sports betting apps, read odds and check offers.
A sports betting app is a licensed sportsbook that runs on your phone. You open an account, verify who you are, put money in, and place bets on games, with prices shown in American odds. Picking one looks easy because every app promises a big welcome offer, but the choice matters more than the banner suggests. The app you pick decides what you can bet on, how fast you get paid, how clear the bonus terms are, and, first of all, whether it is allowed to take a bet from you in the state where you are standing.
This page covers how to compare sports betting apps and what to check before you deposit. It suits someone choosing a first app or deciding whether to add a second. The state pages and the calculators do the detailed work.
How to choose the best sports betting app
Start with the one filter you cannot skip: your state. Online sports betting in the United States is regulated state by state, not by one national body. An app that is open in one state can be closed in the next one over, and the same brand may offer a different welcome offer, different markets and different payment options depending on where you sign up. Each state sets its own licensing rules, its own tax, and its own minimum age, which is 21 in most places and 18 in a few. Choose your state first, then compare only the sports betting apps that are licensed to operate there. That is how to choose the best sports betting apps: by the law first and by the offer second. Our guide to sports betting apps by state is built around that order, and it shows how to choose without a ranking we cannot support.
Once your state is settled, five things separate the best sports betting apps from a frustrating one.
01Is it licensed where you live?
Every legal app operates under a license from the state gaming regulator. The regulator publishes its list of approved operators, and that list is the only source that settles the question. An app that holds no license in your state is not a bargain. It is a place where your money has no protection and where a dispute has nowhere to go. Download apps only from the official app stores or from links on the operator's own website, and check the license before you send a payment.
02What does the welcome offer really cost?
A welcome offer is a headline number with conditions attached. Some offers return a stake as bonus credit if your first bet loses. Some give a set amount of bonus bets once you wager a set amount. Some match a deposit. These are three different products, and they cannot be compared by their size alone. The conditions that decide the value are the minimum odds on qualifying bets, how long the bonus stays valid, whether the bonus can be withdrawn or only wagered, and how many times it must be played through before any winnings become cash. A smaller offer with light conditions is often worth more than a larger one with heavy conditions. The bonus value calculator turns those terms into one figure, so two offers can sit side by side.
03What can you bet on?
Every major app covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and college football and basketball. The differences show up in the second tier: soccer leagues, tennis, golf, UFC, motorsport and niche markets. They also show up in bet types. Check whether the app offers same game parlays, player props, live betting during a game, and cash out, which lets you settle a bet before the event ends. If you mostly bet on one sport, look at how deep that sport's market list runs and not at the total count of markets the app advertises.
04How easy is it to put money in and take it out?
Deposit options usually include debit cards, bank transfer, online banking, and a few e-wallets. Withdrawals are where apps differ. Look at the withdrawal methods on offer, the stated processing time, and any limit per request. Most apps require identity verification before the first withdrawal, so complete it when you open the account rather than when you want your money. A fast, plain withdrawal process says more about an operator than a bonus does.
05Does it help you stay in control?
A responsible operator gives you the tools without making you hunt for them: deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion and a clear record of your activity. They should sit in the account settings, within a couple of taps. We count their presence and clarity as part of the review.
Sports betting apps by state
The number of states with legal online sports betting has grown quickly since the 2018 Supreme Court decision that opened the door to it, and the list keeps changing. New states launch, and operators enter or leave existing markets. That is why a fixed list of apps for the whole country goes out of date fast, and why this site ties every claim about availability to a source and a date.
Some markets are large and well developed, with many licensed operators competing for customers. Others have only a handful. A crowded market usually means more welcome offers and more promotions, while a small one often means fewer choices but the same core products. In either case, your state's regulator is the final word on which apps are legal. See the state hub for sports betting apps by state and how availability works.
Online betting allowed 22In person only 1Tribal compacts only 1Not legal 1Not verified yet 26
Read the law, state by state: Pennsylvania · New York · North Carolina · Missouri · Iowa · Indiana · Virginia · Maryland
You must be inside the state
The apps check your location with your phone's GPS and Wi-Fi data, and a bet will be refused if the app cannot confirm where you are.
Your account does not travel
If you move or you regularly bet across a state line, expect to hold a separate account in each state.
What a bonus is worth
Most readers meet the same problem: two apps, two offers, and no clear way to say which is better. It depends on three numbers: the size of the offer, the number of times it must be wagered, and the odds you must bet at.
Welcome bonus?What is it really worth after the play-through?Take a bonus credit of a fixed amount that must be wagered once before it counts as cash. The credit itself is not the amount you can keep. Because the stake is not returned when a credit bet wins, a bonus bet is worth less than its face value. The share you can expect to keep rises as the odds get longer, but so does the chance that the bet returns nothing. Bonus credit that must be played through several times is worth far less again, because every pass through the requirement carries the sportsbook's built-in margin. Read the multiplier before the amount. One play-through and ten are different products, even when the headline figure matches.
The bonus value calculator asks for the offer size, the play-through multiplier, the odds you plan to bet at, and how the bonus is paid, then shows the expected value. It gives you an estimate, not a guarantee, because betting outcomes are uncertain. Use it to compare terms on equal footing.
Reading the odds before you bet
+150Win $150 on $100-200Bet $200 to win $100US sportsbooks show prices as American odds. A negative number, such as -150, tells you how much you must stake to win 100. A positive number, such as +130, tells you how much you win on a 100 stake. Every price also carries an implied probability, the chance the price assigns to the outcome, and that probability is slightly inflated across all outcomes of an event. The inflation is the sportsbook's margin, often called the vig or the juice. Comparing the implied probability of a price with your own view of the outcome is the basic skill of betting, and it is the reason shopping for the best price across apps matters over time.
Our learn section covers American odds, the moneyline, the spread and totals in plain language, with worked examples. The odds calculator converts between American odds, decimal odds and implied probability, which makes it easy to check a price quickly.
Three numbers to understand before any bet
Most of what separates a careful bettor from a hopeful one comes down to three numbers, and you can work all three out from a single price.
- The price. A price of -110 means you stake $110 to win $100. The stake comes back with a win.
- The chance it implies. Divide 110 by 210 and you get 52.38%. That is how often you must win at that price to break even, and it is higher than the 50% a coin flip would give.
- The margin. If both sides of a market are priced at -110, the two implied chances add up to 104.76%. The 4.76% above 100 is the margin, the part the sportsbook keeps on average. Put several such bets into a parlay and the margin multiplies: four legs at -110 pay +1228 and need to win 7.53% of the time, while four fair coin flips win 6.25% of the time.
None of this tells you which bet to place. It tells you what a bet costs, which is the part you can know. The odds calculator does the arithmetic for any price, and the guide to American odds explains it with more examples.
What you can do here today
The site is built around tools you can try and guides you can read in a few minutes. Start with whichever matches the question in front of you.
- Check what the law says where you live: the state-by-state table and map gives a quote from an official page for each state we have verified.
- Turn a price into a chance: the odds calculator converts American odds, decimal odds and implied probability, and strips the margin from a two-way market.
- Price a parlay: the parlay calculator takes up to 12 legs and shows the combined price, the payout and the chance every leg must win.
- See what a bonus asks of you: the wagering requirement explorer shows how total stakes run past the target, and the bonus value calculator prices an offer.
- Learn the basics: the odds course has five short lessons, and the odds quiz tests the idea that a price is a claim about probability.
- Watch the margin grow: how the margin grows in a parlay walks through the arithmetic step by step.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is staked and no account is needed.
How we check what we publish
We try to make every fact on this site something you can check. The state table reads the law from official pages, such as the regulator, the lottery or the statute itself, and shows the quote, the source and the date we read it. A state where we could not read an official page is marked as not verified instead of being filled in from memory.
The calculators run on open arithmetic. Each one shows its assumptions next to the result, and the math behind them is tested against cases checked by hand, such as two legs at -110 paying +264. The guides are written from the rules of each bet and from that arithmetic, and a claim about a state comes from the state table, not from memory.
App-level facts, such as which operators are live in a state or what a welcome offer requires, will appear here only when we can quote the operator's terms or the regulator's list and date them. Until then they are absent on purpose. A missing line is better than a guess, and an entry that has gone too long without a check should stop being shown rather than grow stale.
Some operators pay us a commission when you open an account through a link on this site. That arrangement does not change how we describe an app or in what order we list it, and the full wording is on the advertising disclosure page.
Betting safely and keeping it fun
Sports betting should be an entertainment cost, like a ticket to a game, and not a way to earn money or to recover a loss. A few habits keep it that way. Decide how much you can afford to lose before you start, and set a deposit limit in the app to enforce it. Do not bet with money you need for rent, bills or savings. Do not chase a loss with a larger bet. Take a break if you notice you are betting to change your mood, or hiding how much you bet from the people close to you.
If betting stops being fun, help is free and confidential. In the United States you can call 1-800-GAMBLER at any time. The National Council on Problem Gambling at ncpgambling.org also lists support in each state. Every app lets you set limits, take a time-out, or exclude yourself for a chosen period, and using those tools is a sign of good judgment and not of failure. More on the responsible gambling page.
Frequently asked questions
Are sports betting apps legal in the United States?
Yes, in the states that have legalized online sports betting. The law is set state by state, so an app that is legal in one state may be unavailable in another. Check your state regulator's list of licensed operators before you sign up.
Which sports betting app is best?
There is no single best app for everyone. The right one depends on your state, the sports you bet on, the payment methods you prefer and how you value welcome offers against everyday pricing. Compare apps on the criteria above rather than on the size of a bonus.
How old do I have to be to use a sports betting app?
The minimum age is 21 in most states and 18 in a few. Each app verifies your age and identity during sign-up, and a bet cannot be placed on an account that has not passed verification.
Can I use a sports betting app outside my state?
No. You must be inside a state where the app is licensed when you place a bet. The app checks your location through your device, and it will refuse the bet if it cannot confirm you are in an approved area.
Is a welcome offer free money?
No. A welcome offer comes with terms that usually include a play-through, a minimum odds requirement and an expiry date. Its real value is lower than the headline figure, and the bonus value calculator shows how much lower under the terms you enter.
How fast do withdrawals arrive?
It depends on the app and on the method you choose. Most apps verify your identity before the first withdrawal, which adds time, so complete verification when you open the account. Each operator states its processing times in its own terms.
Do I pay tax on sports betting winnings?
Gambling winnings are generally taxable income in the United States, and some states tax them as well. The rules depend on your situation, so check with the IRS guidance or a tax professional for your own case.
Do you earn money from this site?
Some operators pay a commission when a reader opens an account through a link here. It does not alter our descriptions or our order, and each such link is marked as sponsored.