The platform model you choose on day one decides how fast you launch. It also decides how much you pay as you grow and who controls your data when a regulator asks for it. Most operators compare vendors feature by feature. The bigger decision sits one level above that: which operating model you are buying into.
There are three broad options: white label, turnkey and self-hosted. Here is how they differ, and how to tell which one fits your business.
White label: fastest start, least control
With a white label, you run your brand on someone else’s licence, platform and often payment setup. The provider handles the technology and much of the compliance. You bring the brand and the marketing.
Good for: affiliates and marketers testing a market, or first-time operators with a small budget.
Trade-offs:
- Revenue share is usually the main cost. It often runs into double digits of GGR, so the more you grow, the more you pay.
- You don’t own the licence or, in practice, the player relationship. Moving to another platform later can mean starting again.
- You get limited product changes. Your roadmap waits behind every other brand on the platform.
Turnkey: your licence, their platform
With a turnkey solution, you hold your own licence and run your own operation on a vendor’s platform. You get a full package of PAM, casino content, sportsbook, payments and back office, usually hosted and run by the vendor.
Good for: operators with a licence and a team who want a proven stack quickly.
Trade-offs:
- Revenue share or tiered platform fees are common. Your costs can rise with your success.
- Shared infrastructure is typical. Performance, release timing and outages may be shared with other tenants.
- Data access runs through the vendor’s reporting. Getting raw data into your own warehouse can mean extra fees or limited exports.
- Leaving can be hard. Player data, bonus history and integrations are tied to the vendor’s systems.
Self-hosted (single-tenant): you own the stack
With a self-hosted platform, you install a dedicated instance of the platform on your own tech stack: your cloud account or data centre. The vendor supplies and evolves the core software. You control the environment, the data and the pace of change.
Good for: established operators, groups running several brands, and anyone expanding across several jurisdictions who needs control over data residency and compliance evidence.
Trade-offs:
- You need a technical team, or a managed maintenance partner, to run the environment.
- Setup takes more planning than a white label. Infrastructure, integrations and jurisdiction settings must be scoped first.
What you gain:
- Predictable economics. An installation fee plus optional updates, instead of a percentage of your revenue.
- Full data ownership. Real-time pipelines into your own warehouse and BI tools.
- Compliance agility. You configure jurisdiction rules, keep versioned audit trails and export evidence yourself.
- No lock-in. It is your instance in your environment.
Side-by-side comparison
| White label | Turnkey | Self-hosted (single-tenant) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | Provider’s | Yours | Yours |
| Hosting | Provider | Vendor | Your cloud (AWS, Azure, Hetzner) or on-prem |
| Typical pricing | Revenue share | Revenue share or tiered fees | Install fee plus optional updates |
| Time to market | Fastest | Fast | Moderate, with a planned rollout |
| Data ownership | Limited | Partial | Full |
| Customisation | Minimal | Moderate | High, on your roadmap |
| Best for | Testing a market | Licensed operators who want a package | Scaling operators and multi-brand groups |
Five questions to decide
- Where will you be in three years? If you plan to scale, work out what a revenue share costs at that size, not at launch.
- Who needs your raw data? If trading, CRM and finance teams depend on real-time data, check that you can actually get it out.
- How many jurisdictions? Each new market brings its own RG limits, reporting and KYC rules. Configurable, versioned rules save months.
- Do you have, or can you hire, a platform team? If not, a managed option can close the gap.
- What happens if you leave? Ask every vendor how you would take your players, balances and history with you.
Where StandOut fits
StandOut is an API-first iGaming platform. Our headline option is self-hosted: a dedicated, single-tenant instance on your own tech stack, whether that is AWS, Azure, Hetzner or on-prem. You run it, and we keep the core evolving. Prefer not to run it yourself? StandOut also offers white label, turnkey and fully managed launches on the same core.
- White label layer with CMS, theming and multi-skin support for several brands.
- Casino, sportsbook and payments modules, plus our own casino aggregator, RGS, bonus engine and crypto casino. Integrations include PaymentIQ, ST8, The Ear, FIRST.bet and Fast Track CRM.
- Compliance built in: KYC/AML, responsible gaming controls, audit trails and regulator-ready exports.
- Clear pricing: self-hosted is an installation fee with optional updates, maintenance and bespoke development, and no revenue share. For white label, turnkey and fully managed, contact us for pricing.
If you’re weighing platform models for your next launch or migration, book a demo and we’ll walk through the options for your markets.
FAQ
What is the difference between a white label and a turnkey casino platform?
A white label runs on the provider’s licence and platform. A turnkey solution runs on your own licence, using the vendor’s platform. Turnkey gives you more control but also more responsibility.
Is a self-hosted iGaming platform more expensive?
The upfront cost is usually higher, because there is an installation fee and your own infrastructure to pay for. Without a revenue share, though, total cost often falls well below revenue-share models as GGR grows.
Can I move from a white label to a self-hosted platform later?
Yes, but plan the migration of players, balances and history early, and make sure your current contract lets you export that data.
