White Label Casino Licensing Explained: Who Holds the Licence and Why It Matters

The short answer is, no, you don’t. 

When you launch an online casino under a white label solution, the license you operate under is not yours, it belongs to your white label provider. This means you don’t have to go through the lengthy and often expensive process of acquiring your own gambling licence.

Your brand operates as a sub-brand or “skin” of the provider. You use their technical infrastructure, compliance framework, and legal status so you can focus on getting to market quickly and legally in the jurisdictions where they are licensed.

This is one of the core reasons many new operators choose the white label model over turnkey or self-built online casino solutions. 

Here’s how licensing works behind the scenes when using a white label platform to launch an online casino:

1. The white label provider holds a gambling licence from a recognised jurisdiction such as the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission.
2. This licence allows them to offer multiple gambling services and legally run online casinos under their platform.
3. Your online casino brand is registered under their licence and operates within its legal framework and compliance rules.
4. The provider is the legal license holder and the official operator in the eyes of the regulatory body. That means they are ultimately responsible for regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, data protection, and financial security.

That said, you still have compliance responsibilities as the brand owner. For example, you need to ensure your marketing follows local rules and regulations and Know Your Customer (KYC) data is handled in a compliant manner. 

For entrepreneurs and start-ups, a white label solution is often the most accessible and cost-effective route into the iGaming market. It removes many of the barriers typically associated with launching an online casino, especially the complexities of licensing and compliance. 

The Pros of White Label Casinos

1. Faster Time to Market:
   With the platform, licensing, and game integrations already in place, you can launch your casino in just a few weeks. Compared to turnkey or self-built casino models, where you acquire your own licence and technology, white label solutions offer a lower barrier to entry. 
2. Lower Upfront Investment:
   White label solutions typically come with lower setup costs. You avoid paying for your own gambling licence, technical infrastructure, or legal teams, making this an attractive option for brands with limited capital.
3. Built-in Compliance and Licensing:
   Your operation runs under the provider’s gambling licence, which means they’re responsible for most of the regulatory compliance work, covering player verification (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) checks, and responsible gambling tools.
4. Operational Efficiency:
   You focus on growing your brand, marketing, and user acquisition, while the provider handles infrastructure, security, payment processing, and platform maintenance.
5. All-in-One Package:
   White label providers offer a fully managed, plug-and-play solution that includes:

• • Casino software and games from leading providers
  • Payment gateway integration
  • Customer support
  • Hosting and server management
  • Optional marketing and CRM tools

This makes it a true end-to-end service for launching and managing a casino with minimal in-house resources.

The Cons of White Label Casinos

While white label platforms offer convenience, they also come with several limitations that may impact your long-term growth or regulatory flexibility. 

1. Limited Market Access:
   You can only operate in countries where the provider’s licence is recognised. For example, a UKGC licence gives access to the UK market but comes with strict compliance requirements and limits your ability to serve unregulated markets.
   If your marketing or operations extend beyond the provider’s licence footprint, your account could be suspended or terminated. In some cases, local regulators may impose penalties or initiate legal action.
2. Reduced Control:
   White label platforms are not fully customisable. While you can design your brand’s look and feel, deeper changes to the user experience, game selection, or platform features are typically limited.
3. Shared Infrastructure Risks:
   Your site may share resources with other white label brands on the same network. If another operator under the same provider encounters legal trouble or violates regulations, there is a small risk that this could affect your own brand’s stability or reputation.
4. Harder to Scale or Pivot:
   As your business grows, you may outgrow the limitations of a white label structure. Moving to a full licence or developing your own platform may require a complete relaunch.

When you launch an online casino using a white label solution, you can only operate in the countries where your provider’s gambling licence is valid and recognised. This means you don’t get to pick and choose your markets freely if you take the white label route. Instead, you’re restricted to jurisdictions that legally allow online gambling under that specific licence.
This means you should look very closely at where your provider’s licence gives you access and where it doesn’t. Some licences cover multiple countries while others are valid in only a handful. 

For example, if your white label provider holds a licence from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), you will be able to target players in jurisdictions that accept the MGA’s regulatory framework. If they’re licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), you can access the UK market, but you’ll also be subject to the UK’s strict compliance rules.

Many regulated online casino markets, such as Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands, require operators to hold a local licence. This may exclude your white label brand unless the provider is specifically licensed there.

Before you sign with a white label provider, make sure to ask them for details of:

• The jurisdictions in which their licence applies. 
• Countries you can’t operate in using their licensing solution.
• How they handle regulatory changes or geo-blocking.

Understanding the answers is essential as this will have a large impact on your casino brand’s potential reach and growth opportunities. 

White label solutions can serve as stepping stones into the iGaming market, and it’s exactly how many successful online casino brands began their life.

However, once you’ve built up a loyal user base, validated your business model, and generated steady revenue, you may feel it’s time to progress beyond a white label solution. 

You can step things up by:

• Obtaining your own gambling licence.
• Building or licensing your own casino platform.
• Taking full control of your operations.

Some white label providers offer flexible migration paths to help you transition from their ecosystem to your own licensed operation. This allows you to scale up responsibly while maintaining continuity with your brand and players.

If you’re asking, “Do I need my own gambling licence to launch an online casino?”, the answer, if you go down the white label route, is no. This makes white label solutions incredibly attractive for startups and entrepreneurs looking to enter the industry without massive regulatory overheads.

Like any shortcut, it comes with trade-offs: limitations on where you can operate, lower margins, and less autonomy. For many operators, especially in the early stages, the benefits can far outweigh the downsides.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to your personal business goals, target market, budget and tolerance to risk. White label solutions offer a low-risk way to test and build a casino brand, and a smart entry point into one of the world’s most lucrative digital industries. 

Ready to Launch Your Casino Brand?

At Agreegain, we offer a fully managed white label solution backed by an internationally recognised gambling licence, robust technical infrastructure, and over 10,000 games from top-tier providers.