Smarkets review 2026

What is Smarkets?

Smarkets is a betting exchange: instead of betting against a bookmaker, you back an outcome to happen or lay it not to happen, against other users, and Smarkets takes a commission on your net winnings. It’s run by Smarkets (Malta) Limited, which also trades as SBK, a sportsbook app, and calls itself “the original 2% commission exchange”. Its app is called Smarkets: Prediction Markets, and it ranks #1 in our ranking of the best betting exchanges in the UK.

Is Smarkets licensed in the UK?

Yes. Smarkets (Malta) Limited has held a Gambling Commission licence as a betting intermediary, the licence betting exchanges need, since November 1, 2014 (account 39173, licence 039173-R-319366-011). smarkets.com is on the Commission’s public register, along with betsbk.com and getsbk.com for SBK. It’s also licensed in Ireland, and in Malta for customers outside the UK. We found no fine, settlement or other regulatory action against it on the Commission’s register, which covers decisions since November 2023. Check any site with our UK licence check.

Markets

Smarkets lists sports, politics, current affairs and TV markets. Its politics page, branded Smarkets Predictions, showed markets on the 2026 US midterms, mayoral elections, Brazil’s presidential election and the next prime ministers of Sweden and Israel on October 22, 2026; we loaded it from outside the UK, so British markets may not have shown.

You can trade out of any contract, before or during an event, to lock in a profit or cut a loss at the current price. In play, bets and trade-outs wait 4 seconds on horse racing and darts and 8 seconds on everything else, so Smarkets can suspend the market if something happens. Stakes run from £0.05 to £99,999.99 per bet.

Developers can trade through its API, which covers market data, orders and accounts. Access is by application, with a one-off £150 setup fee that’s refunded if you stop within 30 days.

Liquidity

Smarkets is smaller than Betfair Exchange: its iOS app has 4,634 ratings against Betfair’s 30,330, so fewer people are waiting to take the other side of your bet, especially in quieter markets. Trade out only works when there’s enough volume in the market, and Smarkets names a lack of liquidity as a reason a trade-out can fail. We couldn’t get matched-volume figures to compare the exchanges directly.

Commission and fees

On its Standard tier, Smarkets takes 2% of your net winnings in each market, and nothing on a market where you make a net loss. Two other tiers apply to a few customers:

• Pro tier, 1%: anyone placing more than 1,500 bets or staking more than £1m in a calendar month must opt in to keep trading.
• Select tier, 3%: applied to customers with more than £25,000 of net profit over the previous 12 calendar months.

On both, commission is charged on every settled bet, on the profit if it wins or the loss if it loses. Smarkets says 0.2% of its customers reach those limits.

So a winning £100 back bet at odds of 3.0 (2/1) makes £200 before commission and £196 after it. Smarkets charges no deposit or withdrawal fees. Our commission calculator works out any back or lay bet and compares it with a bookmaker’s odds.

Deposits and withdrawals

Smarkets processes withdrawals within 6 hours, except bank transfers, and charges no fees either way. Withdrawals go back to the method you deposited with. As at every licensed site, credit cards aren’t accepted.

App and experience

Smarkets: Prediction Markets is rated 4.77 out of 5 from 4,634 ratings on the UK App Store, but only 2.8 from 1,369 ratings on Google Play (October 22, 2026). The app shows live charts and the order book, sends notifications on your bets and supports two-factor authentication.

Safety, responsible gambling and support

Smarkets lets you set daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits, as gross limits, net limits or both, plus loss and stake limits. Lowering a limit takes effect at once; raising a deposit limit takes a 72-hour cooling-off period. You can take a time-out of 1 day, 7 days, 31 days or 6 weeks, or self-exclude for 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or permanently, and Smarkets points you to GAMSTOP to block every licensed site at once.

Support is by live chat for logged-in customers from 09:00 to 23:00 GMT, according to its help centre (its App Store listing promises 24/7 chat), and by email at [email protected]. Free, confidential help: the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, 24/7, and our guide to gambling help in the UK.

Who is Smarkets best for?

• Bettors who want low, clear charges, with every tier and payment limit published.
• Political bettors, with elections around the world.
• Traders who want their money fast, with withdrawals processed within 6 hours.
• Not for bettors who need the deepest markets, or support in the middle of the night.

Our verdict

Smarkets combines the clearest published charges of any UK exchange with fast, free withdrawals and a clean regulatory record, which puts it at the top of our ranking even though Betfair has more users. Compare it in our UK ranking, read our Smarkets vs Betfair Exchange comparison, or see the best Smarkets alternatives.