Competition website vs WordPress plugin

The two approaches

A WordPress plugin adds competition features to a WordPress site that you host and manage. You usually pay a licence fee, then buy hosting, a theme, a payment gateway and any extra add-ons you need.

A hosted competition platform gives you a competition website that the provider runs. You configure it and add your branding, but the provider maintains the software, the hosting and the integrations. Niche is one of these.

Neither is right for everyone. Plenty of people run good competitions on WordPress. This guide sets out the trade-offs of a competition website vs WordPress plugin so you can decide.

Cost: look at the whole bill

Plugins often look cheaper, and at the start they can be. But the plugin licence is only one line. Add up what you would pay for each approach over a year.

• Plugin route: licence, hosting that can cope with traffic spikes when a competition closes, a theme, security and backup tools, extra plugins for features the main one lacks, and developer time when something breaks.
• Hosted platform route: a monthly fee, and sometimes a share of ticket sales. Niche's plans are £49, £99 or £399 a month plus 5p per paid order, with 0% of ticket sales. All prices are, with setup fees on the higher two. Moving from a plugin? Niche migrates your competitions, customers and history for free. See pricing.

A share of sales feels expensive when you sell a lot. A fixed cost feels expensive when you sell little. Work out which suits your volume. How much a competition website costs gives a fuller breakdown.

Compliance and risk

UK competitions have to stay on the right side of the Gambling Act 2005 and the ASA's CAP Code. That means a genuine skill element or a free entry route, honest marketing, fair winner selection and sound handling of personal data. The operator is responsible for all of it, whichever tool you use.

The question is how much of the compliance work the tool does for you, and how much you have to build or check yourself. With a plugin, ask:

• Does it support a free postal entry route, and does it show it clearly?
• Can I prove the draw was random, and keep the evidence?
• Does it check age before a prize goes out?
• Can I block entries from outside the UK?
• Does it give customers spend limits and self-exclusion?
• Does it keep a consent log and handle erasure requests?

Some plugins cover some of these. Others leave you to add them. Niche includes all of them on every plan: a skill question with a free postal entry route, provably fair draws using commit-reveal and random.org, an age and KYC check before prizes are released, UK geo-blocking, responsible-play controls and GDPR tools. It also has a go-live check that blocks competitions priced below a stamp or with too short an entry window, and a prize-proof gate.

Whichever route you pick, read are online prize competitions legal in the UK and features checklist for competition websites.

This is general information, not legal advice. Take advice from a solicitor before you launch.

Payments, security and uptime

Competition sites take payments in bursts. A big launch or a closing-day rush can overwhelm cheap hosting at the moment you most need to take money.

• Payments. Some payment providers will not onboard certain competition businesses, and approval can take time. Niche connects to UK acquirers (Acquired, Cashflows and DNA Payments) and includes refund, chargeback and reconciliation tools. See payment providers for competition websites.
• Security. A WordPress site needs regular updates to core, theme and plugins. Skipped updates are a common way sites get compromised. Someone has to own that job.
• Uptime. On your own hosting, uptime is your responsibility. On a hosted platform, it is the provider's.

Control and flexibility

This is where WordPress is strongest. You can change almost anything, use any theme, add content marketing and blogging, and move hosts if you want to. If you already run a WordPress site with a large audience, adding competitions to it can make sense.

A hosted platform limits how far you can change the underlying software, though you still get your own domain and branding. Niche's Pro and Done-for-you plans add managed setup and custom theming if you want a distinctive look without building it yourself.

Also think about lock-in. Ask any provider how you can export your customer and entry data, and what happens to your site if you leave.

How to choose

A plugin is likely a good fit if you

• already run and maintain a WordPress site
• have a developer or the skills to do it yourself
• want full control over code and design
• are happy to check compliance features yourself and add what is missing

A hosted platform is likely a good fit if you

• want to launch quickly without building the stack
• prefer built-in compliance and payment tools
• would rather pay monthly than manage hosting and security
• want the option of having someone run competitions, draws and ads for you, as on the Done-for-you plan

If you are still deciding whether to run competitions at all, start with how to start a competition business in the UK, and then use the set-up guide to see everything you need.

Frequently asked questions