Best International Betting Sites 2026: Safe Bookies to Gamble Abroad
Looking for the best international betting sites? The online betting market is quite a massive one, with thousands of sportsbooks, numerous bonuses, plenty of markets and quite a lot of factors to consider when you'd like to get started with your betting journey. So, whenever you want to enjoy a safe, trustworthy and exciting gaming experience, that's when we come into the picture. Because our team is dedicated to helping you make a more informed choice by learning all you need to know about the different bookies on the international market, all their features and the top sites to get started with.
Choose the best bookmakers for international sports betting with FanChants.co.uk
There are numerous international betting sites on the online gambling market. But which one is the best fit for you? Which has the best bonuses, highest odds, most exciting betting features and the widest coverage? Our experts are constantly trying to give you the answers to all those questions.
Our team tests the various international bookies and after many hours spent on the different sites, checking it all out, from the sign up process, through the bonuses and betting experience up to the customer support quality and the withdrawal speed, we create our reviews which show you all you need to know about the different sportsbooks.
That's not all, though. Because all this rigorous testing process also helps us show you which are the top betting sites for international players, which are the best and the safest bookies abroad, where to discover the highest value odds and some truly exciting betting bonuses.
Best bonuses to use for online betting on international markets
There are plenty of (and quite varied) betting bonuses that you'll be able to discover whenever betting with the major international platforms and let's narrow those down to three common types of promos those gambling sites offer.
Welcome matched bonuses
Some quite commonly found offers for new players with the international bookies are the match deposit bonuses. Those might be, say, 100% up to £300 or something of the sort. The idea is that you credit some money into your account and then, depending on that amount and the match percentage, the bookie provides you with bonus funds you can use to place bets with. Rollover terms apply and those can vary quite a lot, from just 5-7x to over 30x. And do keep in mind that the wagering requirements are combined with min odds, max bet rules and eligible sports, markets and bet types. Full t&cs and affordability checks apply, too.
Free bets for new customers
Most of the betting sites, though, provide you with free bet tokens when you place your initial qualifying wager. Those are quite handy bonuses because there is no rollover on the winnings required. You will need to comply with the rules on the qualifying bet and get your free tokens credited. Then, of course, those come with their own set of rules, including min odds, eligible markets and bet types. But once you place those on the selected events, you will get their winnings directly as real cash (minus the price of the bet token).
Ongoing bonuses for sports betting
Together with the many welcome offers, the top online bookies provide their players with lots of additional bonuses. Those commonly include more free bet offers you can activate under certain conditions, as well as cashback or rakeback promos. Reload bonuses aren't lacking either and nor are the various tournaments you'll be able to participate in. Some international bookies, on the other hand, offer you free to play prediction games through which you can enjoy additional no deposit bonuses.
Types of international sports betting sites: Frequently asked questions about bookies on the international betting market
Even though the regulatory bodies themselves are quite a lot, if we had to sum up the types of international sports betting sites, we can divide them into two main types.
Betting sites accepting only players from particular countries
There are some regulators which cover only one country allowed, like the UK Gambling Commission. That's the Great Britain's national-level regulator which doesn't allow its licensees to accept international customers unless they've got another license from a different regulator, too.
Betting sites with a multinational license
| Betting regulator | Main advantages | Main jurisdiction |
| Malta Gaming Authority | strict regularoty oversight | European countries |
| Gibraltar | strict oversight and recent modernization of the gambling legislation | European countries |
| Curacao Gaming Control Board | freedom for players along with robust security requirements and data protection policies | European countries |
| Anjouan Gaming Commission | ongoing compliance monitoring and huge emphasis on responsible gambling | European countries |
| Tobique Gaming Commission | safety and responsible gambling are emphasises | Europe and South America |
| Kahnawake Gaming Commission | strict security measures and quick actions taken on player complaints | Europe and South America |
Top sports covered by the international betting sites: Football, cricket, horse racing, eSports and many more
There are dozens of sports you'd be able to enjoy betting on with the top bookies online and now let's take a more detailed overview of them all.
Popular sports
It goes without saying that football is the most popular sport that the international betting sites tend to cover. Basically all the sportsbooks cover a wide variety of football markets and those include the chance to wager on all the biggest competitions like the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, the Champions League, Liga Europa, the FIFA World Cup and so on.
Football is also the sport where you've got the most markets available and you'll be able to place both standard kinds of match result bets, wager on player odds, make use of spread betting, margins and handicap odds, together with many more options, including outrights and even who's going to be the next manager sacked and who'll replace them as the head of the particular team.
Horse racing is also present with most of the well-established bookies and you'd see various markets on the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National and more UK races, combined with some happening in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the USA and so on.
In terms of tennis you'll see quite the wide coverage, too, across not only the most popular competitions (like the Australian Open, US Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros) but the other events under the WTF, ITF, the national-level divisions and so on.
The same goes for basketball and volleyball which you'll also be able to enjoy with hundreds of events and betting options.
Niche sports
Bettors looking for even more betting options will be able to discover some competitive odds with the niche sports such as:
- cricket
- baseball
- rugby
- Formula 1
- badminton
- futsal
- ice hockey
- floorball
- chess
- cycling
- mixed martial arts, etc.
While some betting sites offer maybe about a dozen of those options, the best international bookies have over 30 of them included for you to pick from.
eSports
The iGaming industry nowadays presents you with quite a lot of additional options which are in line with the modern advancements of the sports world. In simple words, today you'd be able to place bets on eSports, too. Those cover lots of opportunities, from Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2, through League of Legends and Valorant up to Mobile Legends, Starcraft, Rainbow Six and so on. Usually all the major tournaments are included for in-play betting, too, and you'll be able to discover quite a lot of odds boosts.
What kinds of betting do the international bookie sites cover?
Along with the various kinds of disciplines, you'll see plenty of different types of betting included, too.
Pre-match betting
That's the scenario where you're betting on a game before it's started. The odds are usually fixed and even on the occassions when they're changing, that happens relatively slow. You'll be able to make use of various special bet combos, bet boosts and additional interesting features, like the best odds guaranteed promotion for horse racing.
Live betting
In-play wagers are also quite popular, even though the selection of games for live betting varies depending on which sportsbook you've joined. Here you'll see the odds change quite quickly, live streaming and match trackers, along with stats, might be included and you'd be able to experience an even more thrilling betting journey thanks to the different extra fetures. Those include early cashout and early payout, extra places on selected races, acca boosts and many more.
Predictions
A relatively new addition to the online betting industry, the predictions markets are getting more and more popular thanks to being quite diverse. For instance, you can wager on politics, special events like awards and possible pandemics, other health-related or movie-related markets, the weather, sports, culture and many more.
Other outrights
Those are your standard outright bets where you're trying to guess, say, who's going to win a particular event at its end, who'll be the top goalscorer, who'll have the most clean nets and so on. Similar kinds of markets are provided on almost all of the sports you'll see online.
Setting up a betting account and placing your first wager: All you need to know about using international betting sites
If you've chosen an online bookmaker platform to sign up with, next steps are even easier than that because they happen within a few minutes only. Here's how to get through them:
- Open the website of the bookie you'd like to join.
- Find where the 'Sign Up' button is (the name might vary slighly).
- Click on it.
- Fill in the details required.
- Pick currency (GBP, EUR, etc.)
- Enter a promo code if you have such.
- Read through the terms and conditions and confirm you accept them.
- Confirm you're over 18.
- Click on 'Register' to finish of the process.
Then you'll get full access to your newly created account and you'll be able to enjoy the many betting options. To place your wager, though, you'll need real money into your gaming balance. This means you should open the cashier section, choose the respective deposit method you'd like to use and then enter the necessary info and the amount you'd like to credit. Confirm and once the money's into your account, you can open the sportsbook. There you'll see the various sports offered and you can pick the one you'd like to wager on.
All the possible events will appear and you can browse through them and select whichever you prefer. To make your selection, you simply have to click on the odds of the respective outcome and they'll be added to your bet slip. You can do that as many times as you want to. When you're ready, enter how much you'd be staking and confirm to place your bet.
Payment methods offered with the international betting sites: Deposit options, limits and payout speed
Here's where we'd like to take a look at the different types of payment methods provided for online betting but before we do so, one note to keep in mind: those won't all be available with any bookie. You'll see some combination of the options shown below and the exact methods, limits and processing times depend on the platform you've joined (the waiting time shown is industry's standard per the payment option).
| Payment option | Payment type | Available on deposits | Available on withdrawals | Standard payout processing time | Main advantage | Main disadvantage |
| Visa and Mastercard | debit cards; credit cards | yes | usually yes | 3-5 business days | ||
| Apple Pay, Google Pay | mobile-specific e-wallet | yes | not as common as the standard credit and debit card payments | 3-5 business days | ||
| Skrill and Neteller | e-wallets | yes | usually yes | within 24 hours | faster withdrawals | don't activate the bonus offers |
| Revolut, Paypal, MiFinity, MuchBetter | e-wallets | yes | sometimes | within 24 hours | not always accepted on withdrawals | |
| Sofort, Interac, Rapid Transfer, Trustly, Jeton bank | online banking | yes | depends (usually through wire transfer) | varies depending on how's the withdrawal processed | quick and secure deposits allowing you to get your money in your betting balance instantly | with most bookies withdrawals can only happen through standard bank transfer which means a waiting time of up to 7 business days |
| Astropay, paysafecard, Flexepin, CashLib | prepaid cards | yes | usually no | n/a | make it easier to stick to your budget | not offered on withdrawals |
| Bank transfer | standard wire transfer | not always (usually instant banking used) | yes | 3-7 business days | one of the safest options available, usually supports higher max limits | slow processing times |
| Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Tron, XRP, Solana, BNB, Monero, Dash, etc. | cryptocurrencies | yes | yes | instant | fast, safe methods with instant withdrawals and lax KYC requirements | not available within all jurisdictions |
Always check the exact payment methods, limits and processing times for the particular bookie before joining and keep in mind that, in accordance to the AML laws, KYC is required prior to getting your money paid out.
Betting through your smartphone or PC: How do international betting sites make desktop and mobile gambling possible
| Type of betting platform | Main advantages | Main disadvantages |
| Desktop site | easy to use, fast to load, high-grade encryption technologies integrated, more comfortable when you're betting at home | only accessible through a PC |
| Mobile site | responsive design, doesn't take up memory on your phone, allows access from any mobile device with an Internet connection | no mobile-exclusive bonuses, no push notifications |
| Mobile app | even more tailored to mobile devices design, commonly comes with exclusive bonuses provided, push notifications enabled | Android- or iOS-specific, takes up memory on your device, requires frequent updates |
Responsible gambling with the international betting sites
Whichever bookie you might be betting with, one thing always stays a constant: the need to be responsible with your budget. After all, even the best of the best betting sites cannot guarantee you'll win. Gambling is a game of chance and no matter how knowledgeable you might be about a given sports, the risk of losing is always there. To prevent it as much as possible and to protect your budget you'll, first, need such.
So, look through the money you've got, consider how much you can put aside for betting without that influencing negatively your personal finances and then stick to that amount. If you enter a losing streak, don't chase losses and believe in 'I'm bound to win now'. Take a break, clear your head and don't play when upset, worried, angry or under the influence.
Make use of the different responsible gambling features you'll be provided with, such as deposit, spendings and loss limits, activity notifications and time outs. If you feel like you need a longer break, you can always self-exclude and look for further support and information at gambleaware.org or by calling the National Gambling Helpline at 0808 802 0133 for free confidential help at all times. Please, bet responsibly and remember that a successful punter is the one who knows when to stop.
Final thoughts on the best bookies abroad
We've done our best to present you with some high quality recommendations and make your choice easier. The betting industry is constantly changing and we do so, too, so as to keep up. With us you'll be able to discover up-to-date info, all the latest bonus offers and lots of top betting sites to join. Don't hesitate to take a look at our other best lists and the comprehensive reviews we've prepared for you, so as to get as much info as possible before you embark on your online betting journey. And when you do so, remember to bet within limits and stay responsible with the money and time you spend on gambling.