What Counts as a New Casino?
First up, what counts as a new online casino? Some review sites think any casino that was launched in the last decade is âstill pretty newâ but not here. We think a new casino must have launched in the last 24 months - and we prioritise those that launched in the last year.
So, when you sign up to one of our recommended new casinos, youâre getting a genuinely new site. That means youâll be able to try out new games, enjoy a new interface, benefit from modern payment methods and almost always be able to claim the welcome bonus.
Wait a minute, why âalmostâ? Some new casinos are not new companies, instead many are sister sites of established brands. This means the branding can change, the layouts and menus can change, but the core system stays the same.
At sister sites you might not always be able to claim the welcome bonus, so check which group your casino belongs to before trying to claim. The easiest way is to look at the licensing information and see if itâs shared with a larger group!
Are Sister Sites Still Worth Signing Up To?
Absolutely! Shared licences, payment systems, and game providers reduce early instability. It means you get the feel of a new casino but with the backbone of an established one.
Many sister sites will allow you to claim the welcome bonus from multiple sites within the group too. So you wonât necessarily have to miss out (just check those bonus T&Cs).
New online casinos
Most new casinos will offer a big juicy welcome bonus as a thanks for signing up.
More of us play on our mobiles than ever before and new online casinos are taking notice. These casinos are often built mobile-first so youâre guaranteed a seamless experience whether on the mobile browser site or the app.
Newer online casinos tend to update their catalogues more regularly, which means you get access to newer games. If youâre always keen to try out the latest big releases then new online casinos can be a great way to achieve that.
Perhaps the biggest downside to joining a new casino is that you donât have the same track record as with a more established site. Joining a sister site can be a good way to get around this hurdle.
Some new casinos can have a few sticking points with customer service. Itâs an expensive thing to get right, but being patient in the early days can really pay off later down the line,.
Sometimes new casinos open with a smaller catalogue and then fill it up as they go - sometimes they donât! The benefit if they do is that you get to try the new releases as they get added.
Why Players Love Using New Casinos Online
We love new casinos because itâs something new to review, something new to bring to our readers, and the possibility of a genuinely innovative site, but why do players love them so much?
- Bigger Bonuses: New casinos online face heavy competition and need to stand out quickly. Throwing out a huge welcome bonus is one of the most effective ways to do this.
- Faster: Technology has been growing at a rapid pace for years, which means every year later that a casino is launched is an additional year of technological advances that it can make use of. As such, new casinos tend to have faster load times, faster payment times, and less lag. A golden trio, I think youâll agree!
- Usability: Casino players have wised up and gimmicks just donât cut it anymore. Weâre seeing more and more new casinos prioritise usability over novelty, leading to better player retention over time.
New Online Casinos vs Established Sites
Think that a new casino might be the right choice for you but have a few reservations? Thatâs great news! It means youâre thinking carefully about what new online casinos have to offer - and whether itâs the right fit. Below is a table to help you make your mind up a little quicker about which to try out for your next casino adventure.
New Casino | Established Casino | |
|---|---|---|
Bonuses | Often much larger though can start to shrink after year one. | Smaller bonuses, but sometimes with more favourable terms. |
Games | Sometimes a smaller catalogue, but increasing all the time. Often greater access to the best new games. | Often a larger overall catalogue, but also updated less often. |
Customer Support | Sometimes hit and miss for the first few weeks, but can be made better if a sister site. | Generally very reliable. |
Payments | Usually up to date and faster than legacy sites. More likely to find new crypto casinos. | Sometimes relying on outdated tech, can be slower. |
Loyalty Schemes | Increasingly present, but sometimes not as far-reaching or rewarding. | The clear winner for established sites. Loyalty programmes tend to be very rewarding. |
The Rise of New Crypto Casinos
You might have noticed in the payments section above how much easier it is to find a new crypto casino than legacy brands accepting fast crypto payments. There are a handful of great well established crypto casinos, but some of our favourite new bitcoin casinos have only launched in the last year or so. Why is that?
Banking Integration at Crypto Casinos
When a new casino launches, one of the most time consuming parts of the launch is getting the cashier and payment process just right. With traditional banking methods thereâs a lot of infrastructure to put in place and integrations to do. With crypto, itâs a lot simpler.
This payment method is designed to work exclusively online and at speed. Both of these things are exactly what new casinos and players are looking for.
For established brands to introduce crypto, itâs actually quite a lot fiddlier. Old payment processes have to be reworked, which can end up being time consuming - and even a little clunky once finished.
Regional Barriers Removed
Crypto payments work outside of the usual regional barriers. It doesnât matter where you are in the world, you can make lightning fast payments. Better still, you can gamble in crypto and withdraw to your crypto wallet too - meaning not being hit with any nasty currency exchange rates or fees.
Why Bitcoin Plays Such a Big Role in New Casino Launches
Bitcoin is the âgo-toâ for a lot of newly launching casinos. Though youâll be able to find other options too (lots of the casinos on this page also accept Ethereum, TRON, Dogecoin etc) Bitcoin is almost always number one. Why?
- It is widely supported and generally easier to integrate than newer altcoins
- Itâs fully international and has a simple payment approval process
- Early crypto users are more likely to try new platforms
Thatâs it! Bitcoin works well with new casinos and the kinds of players who enjoy them. Itâs as simple as that, the two make sense together.
New Mobile Casinos Built Around Touchscreens
One of the biggest tells that a casino is genuinely new is how it behaves on your phone.
New mobile casinos are almost always built mobile-first, rather than adapted later. Instead of shrinking a desktop site down and crossing their fingers tightly, these platforms are designed from the ground up, specifically for touchscreens. It might not sound particularly exciting or relevant as a player, but it makes a much bigger difference than you might think!
Mobile-first layouts tend to prioritise:
- Portrait play, with menus placed where your thumb naturally rests.
- Fewer pop-ups
- Clearer (and larger) buttons
- Less clutter overall
Itâs a subtle difference, but once youâve used a well-designed mobile casino, you might not want to go back!
Older casinos work quite differently. They will often retrofit mobile compatibility years after launch. While many work perfectly well, the experience can occasionally feel a little âbolted-onâ. You might have to tackle horizontal scrolling, buried menus, or games that clearly werenât designed with thumbs in mind.
In short, if you mainly play on your phone or tablet, new mobile casinos often feel smoother, quicker, and more intuitive simply because thatâs where their design focus was from day one.
How to Sign Up to a New Online Casino
Signing up to a new casino is often even easier than signing up to a well established one. With options like signing up using your social profile or even just your mobile number, new online casinos are making it faster than ever to start playing. Hereâs how to do it.
Bonuses at New Casinos - Whatâs Actually Different?
Claiming bonuses is one of the most exciting parts of playing at new casinos. Not only does it give you an instant boost to your bankroll, it might let you try out a new game for free, or get involved in a tournament for a chance to win the really large prizes.
One of the reasons itâs particularly exciting at the best new casinos is because they tend to do bonuses a little differently. Here are some of the differences you might notice.
More No Deposit Bonuses
There are new no deposit casinos popping up all the time, letting you play casino games without parting with your own cash - all with the chance to win real money. It sounds like a money pit for the casino, but there are good reasons that new casinos choose to offer this kind of no deposit bonus.
- Feet through the virtual door: The biggest challenge for pretty much all new online casinos is encouraging players to try them out. If the offering is good then player retention isnât so much of an issue, itâs just the initial leap. Offering a âsomething for nothingâ bonus is a great way to encourage new players.
- Introduce new games: Often new online casinos have access to new releases before some of the older brands. To show this off and build a buzz, those casinos will often give out a handful of free spins with no deposit necessary.
- Apply wagering requirements: While no deposit promotions donât require an initial deposit, they almost always come with wagering requirements. In essence, these stop the bonus from becoming a money printing machine for players, as youâll need to wager some real money to withdraw your winnings.
Larger Welcome Packs
Some well-established brands still offer really generous welcome bonuses, but with a ready-established player base, the need to do this isnât as great. For new casinos to attract new customers, they need to stand out - and sometimes bigger is better!
Youâre more likely to find deposit match bonuses and free spins with larger betting amounts, perfect for high rollers.
Tip: You often wonât need a promo code to claim your welcome bonus at new casinos, which differs a little from the more established brands. Cutting out a step saves everybody a few seconds!
Push for Fairer Terms
Weâre seeing a really positive change with new casinos offering increasingly better terms. The move towards lower wagering requirements (or even no wagering requirements) as well as longer expiry dates and lower minimum deposits means more players can enjoy their bonuses - and actually withdraw their winnings.
The Rise of Cashback
Cashback used to be a fairly unusual promotion, but most casinos now have some form of cashback available. Through a VIP programme is the most common, but weâre seeing lots of our favourite new casinos offer it on all slots losses or all live casino losses as standard.
While the numbers arenât quite as big and flashy as some other bonuses, this is a promotion that really makes a steady difference to your bankroll.
Live Casino Promos
It used to be that slots players were more or less the only ones who got any deals worth having. Nowadays thatâs changed for the better! Slots players still get the lionâs share, but weâre seeing plenty more bonuses targeted towards live casino players.
Cashback tends to be the most common, but some new online casinos are also offering deposit match bonuses where your live casino wagers count 100% towards the wagering requirement.
Payment Methods at New Casinos
Generally speaking, payment methods donât change much between new casinos and older ones. However, there are some small differences that can actually end up making new casinos an easier, faster choice for payments.
Instant Withdrawals
It used to be that getting your withdrawal in anything even close to 24 hours was a miracle, but times have changed! Now, instant withdrawals are becoming much more commonplace.
This is partly down to better fiat payment systems. Whether debit card, e-wallet or instant bank transfer, itâs now much quicker for payment processors to, well, process payments. This means youâll be seeing your payout in minutes rather than days.
Crypto Payments
The other thing affecting the speed of payments is the rise of crypto casinos. Crypto is fast by its very nature, meaning payouts really can happen in just a couple of minutes.
As well as speed, crypto is super secure thanks to blockchain technology. Itâs also being used by some casinos to allow provably fair gaming - a really neat perk and a great way to build trust between casino and customer.
Verification
The KYC procedure at some sites can take ages, actual days, to complete. Thanks to AI, verification processes can be much quicker. You can snap a selfie with your ID card and AI can determine that itâs you. This saves manual verification, which was generally what lead to delays of several days. Safer and speedier.
How We Evaluate the Best New Casinos
Below is our checklist for testing out new online casinos. We make sure every site we recommend checks off every box on this list. If youâre looking for your own casino then feel free to use it.
- Licensing and transparency: All of the sites that we recommend have a licence, whether thatâs from Curacao, Anjouan, Malta, or another reputable remote licensing body. We check through the site terms and conditions to make sure that theyâre transparent and fair too.
- Game quality and variety: We donât just go for the sites with the biggest game catalogue, we also look at the quality of games and the variety. We like to see lots of big-name game studios, as well as exciting new releases.
- Payment options and speed: We love to see instant payouts and a range of payment providers. We give extra points to sites with crypto payment options and flexible minimums.
- Mobile performance: Being able to play on mobile is super important. We look for mobile browser sites with a clutter-free interface and easy navigation, or dedicated mobile apps.
- Bonuses: Being able to claim generous bonuses is a non-negotiable. We carefully check bonus terms to make sure theyâre fair and youâll be able to withdraw your winnings.
- Customer support: We always drop a message to customer support to make sure theyâre easy to contact and genuinely helpful.
- Fun features: Lots of new casinos have fun features that help them stand out. We check out things like tournaments, provably fair games, and social elements.