To start a competition website in the UK you need a legal prize-competition model, a payment provider, prizes you can prove you own, and a platform that handles tickets, draws and winners. This guide takes you through each step in order.
What you need before you build anything
A competition website is a shop that sells entries to win a prize. The website is the easy part. The decisions underneath it decide whether you can trade at all.
You need five things:
- A legal model. A prize competition that relies on skill, or a free draw with a free entry route. Not a lottery without a licence.
- A way to take payments. A UK payment provider that accepts your business type.
- Prizes. Real prizes you have bought or secured, with proof.
- A platform. Software for tickets, checkout, draws, winners and customer support.
- A trading entity and basic compliance. A company or sole trader setup, data protection, terms and conditions, and a plan for age and fraud checks.
Get the first one right before you spend money on the rest. If the model is wrong, nothing else matters.
This is general information, not legal advice. Take advice from a solicitor before you launch.
Step 1: Choose a legal model
In Great Britain, section 14 of the Gambling Act 2005 defines a lottery as an arrangement where people pay to take part and prizes are allocated by a process that relies wholly on chance. Running a lottery needs a licence or an exemption. Most online competition operators avoid this by structuring the competition as something that is not a lottery.
Section 14(5) is the key. A process that requires people to use skill, judgement or knowledge does not count as relying wholly on chance, but only if the requirement would reasonably prevent a significant proportion of people from taking part or winning a prize.
That gives you two common routes:
- Prize competition. Entrants answer a skill, knowledge or judgement question. The organiser must be able to show the question is hard enough to put people off entering or stop some entrants from winning. The Gambling Commission says multiple choice questions rarely meet this test.
- Free draw. Entry is by chance, but there is a genuine free entry route, such as first or second class post. Schedule 2 to the Act says it must be publicised and treated the same as paid entries, and the Commission says it must be displayed at the same level as the paid route.
Many UK operators combine the two: a skill question to enter, plus a free postal route as a safeguard. Niche builds this in: competitions run with a skill question and a free postal entry route. Read more in our guides to skill questions and the free entry route.
The Commission also says it does not approve free draws or prize competitions or help you to develop them. Getting it right is your responsibility. That is why a solicitor review matters. See are online prize competitions legal in the UK? for the detail.
Step 2: Set up your business
You can trade as a sole trader or through a limited company. A limited company separates your personal assets from the business, which many operators prefer when they are holding customer money and large prizes. Ask an accountant which suits you.
Do these early:
- Open a business bank account. Keep customer money away from your personal account.
- Pay the ICO data protection fee. The ICO says organisations that use personal information, including sole traders, must pay the fee unless exempt. You will hold names, addresses and dates of birth, so assume you need it and check on ico.org.uk.
- Register a domain and brand. Check the name is not already in use or trade-marked.
- Write your terms and conditions. They should cover the question, the free entry route, the closing date, how winners are chosen and how prizes are delivered.
- Arrange insurance. Ask a broker about public liability and, for high-value prizes, any cover you need.
You also need to handle personal data lawfully. See our GDPR guide for competition websites.
Step 3: Get a payment provider
This is where many new operators get stuck. Payment providers treat competitions as higher risk and some will not accept them. You need a provider that explicitly supports prize competitions, and you should expect underwriting questions about your model, your prizes and your refund policy.
Niche connects to UK acquirers that work with competition operators: Acquired, Cashflows and DNA Payments. The platform includes refund tools, chargeback handling and reconciliation, so your finance records match what the provider settles.
Have these ready for any application:
- your company details and directors' ID
- your terms and conditions and the free entry route
- evidence of how prizes are bought and held
- your refund and complaints process
- a description of your age and identity checks
Our guide to payment providers for competition websites goes into this in more detail.
Step 4: Source prizes and price your tickets
Buy the prize, or secure it in writing, before you advertise it. Customers and card providers expect the prize to exist. Niche has a prize-proof gate: you upload proof that the prize is bought before a competition can go live.
Pricing is a balance. Set the ticket price and the number of entries so that, if the competition sells out, you cover the prize cost, payment fees, advertising and your platform fee with margin to spare. Do not assume it will sell out. Work out your break-even sales and decide in advance what you will do if you fall short.
Keep these rules in mind:
- The free postal entry route costs the entrant a stamp. If a paid entry costs less than that, a regulator may doubt the free route is a real alternative. We treat a stamp as the floor, and Niche's go-live check blocks competitions priced below it.
- Give people enough time to enter. Niche's go-live check also blocks competitions with too short an entry window.
- Promote the real prize, described accurately. The ASA's CAP Code, section 8, covers prize promotions, including awarding prizes as described, normally within 30 days.
See choosing prizes and ticket prices for worked examples.
Step 5: Choose your platform
A competition platform has more to do than a normal shop. At minimum it needs:
- ticket sales with a skill question at checkout
- a free postal entry route handled in your admin
- a draw process that is random and can be shown to be fair
- winner handling, with age and identity checks before prizes go out
- refunds, chargebacks and reconciliation
- marketing tools for email, SMS and push
- responsible-play controls and data protection tools
Niche includes all of this. Draws use a commit-reveal method with random.org, so you can show the draw data was locked in before the result was known and nobody changed it afterwards. You run it from a live draw console. Our features checklist lists everything worth checking on any platform.
You use your own domain and branding, so the site looks like yours.
Build vs buy
You have three options.
- Build from scratch. Full control, but you carry the build cost, security, payment integration, draw logic and every compliance feature. Expect months of work and ongoing maintenance.
- Use a WordPress plugin. Cheaper to start. You still host, secure and update it yourself, and plugins often lack draw proof, age checks and reconciliation. See competition website vs WordPress plugin.
- Use a competition platform. You pay a monthly fee plus a small fee per order, and the platform handles the rest. A white-label platform keeps your brand in front. This is the quickest way to start a competition website for most people.
For most new operators, a platform is the quickest route to a compliant first competition. Build only if you have a clear reason and a development budget to match.
What it costs
On Niche, you pay:
- Starter: £49 a month plus 5p per paid order. No setup fee. Self-serve.
- Pro: £99 a month plus 5p per paid order. £395 setup, with managed setup and custom theming.
- Done-for-you: £399 a month plus 5p per paid order. £1,195 setup. Niche runs your competitions, draws and ads.
Niche takes 0% of your ticket sales. An order is one checkout, however many tickets are in it. Every plan gets every feature, and you pay more only for more help. Moving from a WordPress plugin or another platform? Migration is free: we move your competitions, customers and history across. Your other costs are prizes, payment processing, advertising, insurance and legal advice. Our full breakdown is in how much does a competition website cost? and on the pricing page.
Launch and grow
Before your first competition goes live, run through this list:
- Legal review of your model, questions and terms.
- Payment provider approved and a test payment made.
- Prize bought and proof uploaded.
- Skill question tested on people outside your team.
- Free entry route working and published with equal prominence.
- Responsible-play controls and spend limits on.
- Draw date and method published.
- Age check and UK geo-blocking switched on.
After launch, your growth comes from marketing and repeat customers. Read how to market a competition website. Run honest draws, pay out quickly and answer complaints. Reputation is the asset in this business.
All our guides
Use these guides for the detail behind each step.
Starting out
- How to start a competition business in the UK
- How much does a competition website cost?
- White-label competition platform
- Competition website features checklist
- Competition website vs WordPress plugin
Law and compliance
- Are online prize competitions legal in the UK?
- Free entry route explained
- Skill questions for prize competitions
- DCMS code for prize draw operators
- Charity competitions and raffles
- KYC and age checks for competitions
- GDPR for competition websites
Running it
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Gambling Commission licence to run a competition website?
Not for a properly structured prize competition or free draw. The Gambling Commission says you do not need a licence or permission to run one if it meets the Gambling Act 2005 requirements. If the skill test is too easy or there is no genuine free route, it may be treated as an unlicensed lottery. Take legal advice before launch.
How long does it take to set up a competition website?
The platform can be ready in days. The slower parts are legal review, payment provider approval and sourcing a prize. Allow several weeks if you are starting from nothing.
Can I run competitions from my own domain?
Yes. On Niche you use your own domain and branding on every plan, so customers see your business.
How much does it cost to start a competition website?
On Niche, from £49 a month plus 5p per paid order, with no setup fee and 0% of ticket sales. You also pay for the prize, payment processing, advertising and legal advice.
Is it better to build my own site or use a platform?
For most new operators a platform is faster and carries less compliance risk. Building makes sense only if you need something a platform cannot do and have the budget to maintain it.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change: check the Gambling Act 2005 and guidance from the Gambling Commission, or speak to a solicitor, before you launch.