Smarkets publishes the clearest charges of any UK exchange, but it has far fewer users than Betfair and its live chat closes overnight. These licensed exchanges offer a bigger crowd to bet against or a different way to bet.
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Best Smarkets alternatives
Checked
The best Smarkets alternative for most people in the UK is Betfair Exchange. Betfair Exchange is the biggest exchange in the UK by app ratings, with markets from Premier League football and the Grand National to election results.
More users: Betfair Exchange's iOS app has 30,330 ratings, more than six times Smarkets' 4,634.
Yes/no markets: Matchbook Predictions prices every outcome as a percentage, on sports and politics.
Live racing streams: Matchbook's exchange app streams every horse race and greyhound race, according to its listing.
The best Smarkets alternatives in the UK
Rank #1BF
Betfair Exchange
Biggest exchange
8.6 /10
Betfair Exchange is the biggest exchange in the UK by app ratings, with markets from Premier League football and the Grand National to election results. Its Basic package charges 2% in Betfair's own example, but its most profitable customers can pay an Expert Fee, and its licensee was part of a £2 million settlement in December 2025.
Commission
2% on the Basic package (Betfair's example); Expert Fee for big winners
Markets
Football, racing, tennis, cricket, golf, rugby & more; MatchMe; API (£499 live key)
Politics markets
Yes, politics and election results
The most-rated exchange app in the UK: 4.72 from 30,330 ratings on iOS
Markets from Premier League football and racing's biggest festivals to election results
MatchMe helps get bets matched when the odds move slightly during a match or race
Matchbook adds Matchbook Predictions, yes/no markets priced as percentages on sports and politics, to an exchange with bet builders, multiples and racing streams. It has no regulatory action on the register, but we couldn't read its commission rates from outside the UK.
Commission
Not checked; "low commissions", says its app listing
Markets
Football, racing, darts, boxing & more; bet builder; racing streams; API free to start
Politics markets
Yes, in Matchbook Predictions (per its app listing)
Matchbook Predictions: yes/no markets on sports and politics, priced as percentages
No regulatory action on the Gambling Commission's register
Bet builders, multiples and live streams of every horse race and greyhound race
These aren’t in our top 3, but they can make sense in specific situations.
Spreadex
Not an exchange: Spreadex offers fixed-odds betting under a Gambling Commission licence (account 8835) and sports spread betting, where you can lose more than your stake, as a firm authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Commission fined it £2,022,000 on May 7, 2025 over anti-money laundering and customer-interaction failings between September 2022 and November 2023.
Why Polymarket and Kalshi aren't alternatives
Neither holds a Gambling Commission licence, and both keep UK users out: Polymarket lists the United Kingdom among the places where users can close positions but not open new ones, and Kalshi lists it among its restricted jurisdictions. Offering or advertising unlicensed gambling to people in Great Britain is a criminal offence.
Stick with Smarkets if you want the clearest published charges: 2% commission on net winnings, no payment fees, and withdrawals processed within 6 hours, straight to your bank by open banking.
Betfair Exchange for the most users and markets, or Matchbook for yes/no prediction markets on sports and politics.
Is there a cheaper exchange than Smarkets?
Not on published standard rates. Betfair's charges page gives its Basic package the same 2% in a worked example, and we couldn't read Matchbook's rates from outside the UK. Smarkets also charges no deposit or withdrawal fees.
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