We all have different betting styles, strategies, and preferences, and our experts would not necessarily recommend the same social sportsbook to two bettors. There are aspects to think about, such as what kinds of bonuses you enjoy, what sports and markets you typically gravitate towards, how redemptions are structured, and the overall feeling a site builds through its features. Which brings us to our “sites like X” pages.
Without overexplaining how one social sportsbook works, or why the features at another are unique, we give you direct comparisons. You can explore the features, bonuses, redemption methods, and other aspects of each social sportsbook, with comparisons to direct rivals and competitor apps.
The best US social sportsbooks stand out for their fresh take on sports betting, creative bonuses, and hassle-free redemption methods. Each operator has its own betting products, be they DFS-style Pick’Em contests or more conventional betting markets. Bonuses can vary heavily depending on how the platform wants players to engage with those products. And redemptions are not a lengthy or complicated procedure at the best social sportsbooks – you can really earn real money prizes at these platforms without spending a dime.
This is the page you can come back to when you want to find a good alternative social sportsbook. You may be signed up at one site and want to change to another, find competitors with similar products, or just see how your site fares against the competition. On this page, we will point you in the right direction and show you the best alternative social sportsbooks.
Analyzing Alternative Social Sportsbooks
Social sportsbooks are a mixed bag; the types of betting products, contests, market scope, and rewards vary drastically. It is arguably easier at a real-money US sportsbook, where you are comparing odds, market depth, quantity/quality of bonuses, and technical aspects such as minimum deposits and payout speed. At a social sportsbook, you are comparing these aspects, but also have different betting-style products (markets vs contests), bonus incentives, and how redemptions work. All of which shape the way you play and unlock rewards at your social sportsbook.
Sweepstakes Dual Currency Model
The one unifying aspect of these sites is that they run on sweepstakes dual currency models, where no purchase is necessary to play and you will never stake a bet using USD. Instead, you get Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins, which can be used to fund your plays. Gold Coins being the fun currency, with no risk attached and a continuous supply through login bonuses or activity-based promotions. And Sweeps Coins being the promotional currency, if you claim enough and clear any playthrough requirements, you can redeem these for real money prizes.
Gold Coins:
- Fun currency
- Cannot be exchanged for real money
- Can be earned through daily bonuses, GC play and promotions
- You can purchase more GC if needed
Sweeps Coins:
- Promotional currency
- Can be exchanged for real money (with playthrough conditions)
- Earned through Sweeps promotions, mail-in bonuses, and social media giveaways
- Cannot be purchased directly (may be offered free with select GC bundles)
This model is practically universal to all social sportsbooks. There may be third “currencies” too, mostly XP or comp-point based. But they don’t support USD deposits or real money bets. Instead, you have GC purchases and GC or SC funded plays, or DFS-style lineups.
State Availability
Social sportsbooks do not offer real money bets, so they aren’t technically or legally defined as sportsbooks. Therefore, social sportsbooks generally operate in more states than real money sportsbooks. There are states in which sweepstakes-style casinos and sportsbooks have been banned, where social sportsbooks don’t run. Or, they may extend their services to some of these states, but only offering GC fun play, with no SC or no real opportunities to earn cash prizes.
Always check the state availability at different social sportsbooks; this is something we go into more depth in with our reviews. Don’t just look for the states where the games are available, but also which games are offered in these states. For example, at social sportsbooks with DFS-style leaderboard contests and direct head-to-head contests, you may just get one in your state, or the promotional currencies may be restricted in your state.
How Bonuses Work
Social sportsbooks have lots of different types of betting bonuses to offer, and the best US social sportsbooks can get pretty creative. We have reviewed social sportsbooks with real sportsbook-style bets like parlay boosts or boosted odds, and those that focus on classic sweepstakes-style bonuses. The latter are more activity- and engagement-based, rewarding players who log into their accounts frequently or opt into more challenges, tournaments, and contests.
General Types of Bonuses:
- Daily logins
- GC Store discounts/special offers
- Boosted odds
- Parlay boosts
- Leaderboard tournaments
- Bonus tickets to fantasy contests
- Refer a friend
- Social media giveaways
- Mail-in bonuses
- Loyalty bonuses
These are the most common types of bonuses we have seen. Some sites offer more variety of bonuses, whereas others may stick to fewer offerings. For example, a site that only offers Daily Logins and Loyalty, but enhances these with multiple daily rewards and layered, comp point-driven loyalty rewards.
Depth of Sports and Market Coverage
This is a very important aspect to review when comparing different US social sportsbooks. Not all have 20+ sports covered and an endless depth of props and player bets. There are sites that just cover the major US sports leagues and college sports. Others may have international coverage, but without extensive live betting or props coverage.
When comparing social sportsbooks, we make sure to highlight this. If you are after a site that has US player props and DFS-style lineups for major US sports leagues, we wouldn’t point you towards a site with international sports and niche event coverage. Think carefully about which sports you want to bet on, what types of markets you want to pick, and whether or not you are also interested in futures and live bets.
Key areas to check are: number of sports covered, types of props (player, team and game), and live betting and futures coverage.
Types of Betting Experiences
We have to distinguish a few major “betting-type products” before heading on, because social sportsbooks don’t all stick to the same formula. One social sportsbook may be designed to accommodate player props betting, with fast-paced P2P contests that revolve around you beating your peers. Another social sportsbook may be more like a classic real-money US sportsbook – with betting markets, parlays, SGPs, and even live betting.
Then, there are social sportsbooks that experiment with P2P bet trading, or even combine real sportsbook experiences with DFS-style Pick’Em games. Learning about these different types of products is crucial to understanding what kinds of bets/contests a platform offers.
- Traditional sports betting (markets and bet slip)
- DFS-style Pick’Em (player projections, lineups, and contests)
- Peer-to-peer betting (trading bets with your peers)
These are just standard types of betting experiences that you can find at top social sportsbooks. Some may focus on one type; others may offer a mixture of betting-style products, with P2P functions integrated with Pick’Em contests, or both standard betting and DFS-style contests.
Managing Redemptions
The core principle around social sportsbooks is that you can play without spending a dime, and earn real rewards if you win your bets and accrue enough Sweeps Coins. Redemptions mainly follow the same structure, where you have to collect Sweeps Coins, play through wagering conditions, and if you collect enough, you can redeem them at a given exchange rate of SC to USD.
The differences between platforms mainly relate to the minimum redemption limits, payment gateways offered, and how long it takes to process these redemptions. Our experts found that most social sportsbooks set the minimum limit to $100 for redemptions, though this can be lower or higher depending on the platform. Also, there may be lower limits for redemptions processed via gift cards, but this is not offered at all social sportsbooks.
Payment flexibility is another point to observe. Some sites have more methods offered, including web wallets, bank transfers, checks, and bank cards. Others may have fewer payment methods and potentially have additional charges or limits. Then, processing time. The best social sportsbooks can send money in a matter of days. In some of our tests, or in user feedback that we have read, they can even arrive the next day. Other platforms may have lengthier processes, lasting up to a week, if not a little longer. It all depends on their internal redemption processing time, payment method chosen, and whether or not the site needs to conduct additional verification checks on your account.
Signing Up to Multiple Social Sportsbooks
Social sportsbooks are free to sign up to, and you don’t need to make any purchases to play on these platforms. So it opens the conversation of why sign up to one when you can sign up to as many as you like? For instance, if you like NFL contests at one platform, but also the player props Pick’Em games at another, you could join both. There are no rules against joining more than one platform, and as you don’t need to spend any money to play, it is the perfect way of testing new sites and finding out what types of products or rewards you like.
Diversifying Your Strategies
For real money betting, most people join several sportsbooks for advanced betting strategies. For example:
- Matched betting: also called promo conversion, you hedge bets placed with bonus bets
- Arbitrage betting: capitalizing on odds discrepancies to form hedged bets with positive ROI
- Value betting: Shopping lines for the best odds to gain better value for money
You can also employ these kinds of tactics at social sportsbooks, hedging your bets across different platforms or shopping lines for the best opportunities. There are many betting tools and software that can help you pinpoint higher value options, and in real-time. We have reviewed lots of tools that don’t just cover US sportsbooks, but extend the coverage to social sportsbooks, peer to peer betting exchanges, and even prediction markets.
Capitalize on Recurring Bonuses
Social sportsbooks run on promotional offers. They run on “no purchase” models, so they need to continuously feed GC, and potentially SC, into your account through regular promotions. Signing up to multiple social sportsbooks means you can get that many daily logins, boosts, challenges, and other bonuses.
In our comparisons, we also review some of the main types of bonus initiatives used at each social sportsbook. You can learn about the way these social sportsbooks reward their users, whether they lean in more towards missions and challenges, prioritize daily logins and participation, or emphasize the importance of social media engagement with giveaways.
Spread Your Net
Every social sportsbook has its strengths and unique offerings of games or markets. It is a competitive space, and so operators are continuously updating their offerings and looking for new features to attract more players. Spreading your net across multiple social sportsbooks is all about recognizing the core games or markets that a platform offers. Then, you can pick the sites that suit your strategy best, or have the games that excite you the most.
At a more strategic level, you can definitely shop for value, plan redemptions in advance and create a system with the bankroll you accumulate across different social sportsbooks. The more you sign up to, the more intricate and detailed you can go with these tactics. And if you ever get fed up of one platform, or find yourself using it a lot less because there are better options, then you can simply close the account and move on.
Play Responsibly
Social sportsbooks don’t have traditional, real-money staking, but you should still approach these platforms carefully and responsibly. Their financial framework makes social sportsbooks less likely to cause financial damage, but that doesn’t rule it out. You can still go overboard with your spending and put too much time into your gaming, none of which are healthy practices.
The best social sportsbooks offer basic responsible play tools, such as purchase limits, reality checks, timeouts and self-exclusion. You are encouraged to use limits and reality checks to maintain control over the time and money you spend on a site. These responsible gaming tools only apply site-wide, so if you hit a limit, then you could still continue playing on another site. To maintain that control, we strongly advise you to set limits and set up reality checks across all your gaming accounts, and make a budget for your spending if you are planning to purchase GC at social sportsbooks.
