amBrain

Kambi alternative: rent the sportsbook or build your own

Published Sep 23, 2026Facts checked: Sep 22, 2026

Short answer

Stay on Kambi if your advantage is brand, marketing or distribution and you need one sportsbook across many regulated markets: Kambi says its Turnkey Sportsbook is licensed in 100+ regulated jurisdictions.[1] Consider leaving when the revenue share has become your largest technology cost and your product needs changes to the sportsbook core itself. Plan the move around the contract end date: in the DraftKings and Penn agreements Kambi published, the same revenue share applied to migrated revenue until the agreed date.[2][3]

On this page

What Kambi sells and how it charges

Kambi is a B2B sportsbook supplier. It was spun off from Unibet in 2014 and its shares trade on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm.[4] It sells a Turnkey Sportsbook and, separately, Odds Feed+: pre-match and live odds "delivered through a single API integration". Its site says it works with more than 70 operators.[1]

Kambi's own quarterly report describes the fee: "Kambi charges its operators a fee based on a number of variables including fixed fees, the number of live events offered and commission based on a revenue share of operators' Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) less deductible costs, such as certain capped marketing incentives and tax", which the report calls NGR. Some contracts include "tiers with lower commission rates on the higher levels of their sports betting revenue".[3] No rate card is published, and a third-party review lists Kambi as "Quote-only".[5]

The reports also record operators moving off. Kambi's 2025 revenue was €162.0m, down 8.2%. Excluding "€12.5m of transition fees received in the same period in 2024", full-year revenue fell 1.2%, and the Q4 2025 report says "the headwinds associated with the planned migrations of FDJ UNITED and LeoVegas will continue".[6]

Kambi vs an own sportsbook

Kambi Turnkey SportsbookOwn sportsbook
Code and data ownershipThe platform stays Kambi's; operators pay for it through fees and a revenue share.[3] A third-party review lists the operator as the data owner.[5]The code and the data are yours under your build contract. On amBrain projects: "The client keeps full ownership of the product and the code, except our reusable components."
Cost modelFixed fees, a fee tied to the number of live events offered and commission on NGR; lower commission tiers at higher revenue in some contracts.[3] Rates are not published.[5]Build cost first, then run cost: hosting, odds data, certification, trading and on-call staff. No share of GGR.
Time to launchNot published by Kambi.Set by scope and by certification in each market.
Lock-in: term, notice, migrationThird-party review, marked there as editorial inference: "Multi-year; commonly at least 3 years for strategic Turnkey deals"; the same review lists exclusivity and change-of-control as "Yes".[5] The DraftKings and Penn (retail) agreements kept the same revenue share on migrated revenue until the agreed dates.[2][3]Your contract with the builder. Changing the engineering team does not switch the product off.
CustomisationKambi's product and roadmap, with "an extensive suite of differentiation tools".[1]Pricing, risk rules, bet types, front end and bonus logic are yours to change. The defects are yours too.
Certification and complianceLicensed in 100+ regulated jurisdictions, per Kambi.[1] In Q4 2023, 94% of its sportsbook revenue came from locally regulated markets.[3]You certify. Event-wagering systems are tested against standards such as GLI-33 Event Wagering Systems v1.1,[7] and in Great Britain the Gambling Commission's remote gambling software licence is what allows a business to "manufacture, supply, install or adapt gambling software by means of remote communication".[8]
Latency and scaleNo latency or uptime figure on the Kambi pages checked.You size for your own peak, such as a derby or a final, and measure it yourself.
Exit costIn the two published cases, revenue share on migrated revenue until the agreed date.[2][3] Transition services are paid: Kambi's Q4 2023 revenue included fixed revenues of €3.3m from Penn for transition services.[3]No licence to exit. Moving to another engineering team costs handover time, not a fee.

Stay on Kambi if…

  1. 1.You need many regulated markets at once and your advantage is not the product. Kambi's footprint covers 100+ regulated jurisdictions.[1] An own platform is tested and approved market by market, against standards such as GLI-33 plus local rules.[7] For an operator whose edge is brand and acquisition, renting that footprint is the point of the contract.
  2. 2.You do not want to run a trading desk. Kambi's turnkey product includes "AI-driven trading, risk management",[1] and its report describes its third-generation trading as "odds compiling and trading by algorithmic models with the assistance of humans".[3] An own sportsbook needs its own traders and risk controls, or a rented odds feed with your own risk layer on top.
  3. 3.You want to own the front end and the accounts but keep the prices. Odds Feed+ is sold on its own through a single API.[1] After Kindred's 2023 decision to develop an in-house sportsbook and its 2024 acquisition by FDJ, cooperation continued through Odds Feed+ rather than the full platform.[4] Owning part of the stack is an end state in its own right.

Consider leaving Kambi if…

  1. 1.Symptom: the revenue-share line grows every quarter, and nothing on the roadmap is yours. The commission is calculated on NGR,[3] so it rises with your success, while the platform you pay for remains Kambi's property.
  2. 2.Symptom: your plan depends on pricing, risk rules or bet types that nobody else offers. More than 70 operators run on Kambi.[1] A product that differs at the core needs a core that is yours.
  3. 3.Symptom: the contract end date has reached the board agenda. In the DraftKings agreement, revenue generated "either via Kambi or following a migration away from Kambi" carried "the same level of revenue share payments" until 30 September 2021.[2] Penn's amended agreement, announced after Q4 2023, did the same for retail revenue "through December 2025".[3] Under clauses like these, migrating early does not reduce the revenue share, so the build is timed against the date.

A migration path in four steps

  1. 1.Read the contract before writing code. Find the end date, the notice period, whether revenue share applies to migrated revenue, how transition services are priced (Penn: €3.3m fixed)[3] and which data you receive, in what format and on what schedule. A third-party review says operators own the player relationship and player data;[9] get the export mechanics in writing anyway.
  2. 2.Build the core next to the running book. Wallet and player accounts, bet placement, settlement, risk, back office and regulatory reporting come first. The odds source can stay rented, through Odds Feed+ or another feed, until your own trading exists. Certification runs in parallel with development, not after it.
  3. 3.Run both and reconcile. Settle a copy of real bets in the new engine and reconcile daily against the Kambi book: stakes, results, payouts and balances. Penn's plan was to migrate its retail sportsbooks over an extended term, starting from 13 states and 30 properties on Kambi;[3] one market or one brand at a time is the unit of change.
  4. 4.Cut over by market, with a rollback plan. Keep the old path able to take traffic for an agreed window, and align the last cutover with the contract end date, when the revenue-share obligation on migrated revenue stops.

The same sequence for a white label, with licence and payment accounts in the first step, is covered in moving from a white label to your own platform.

What drives the cost of building your own

These are the cost drivers, not a price.

  • Odds and trading. Either you build pricing models and staff a trading team, or you rent a feed. Kambi's own fee includes "the number of live events offered",[3] a sign that live-event volume is a real cost line on either side of the contract.
  • Certification and licences. Lab testing against GLI-33 or local equivalents in each market,[7] a gambling software licence to supply in Great Britain,[8] and compliance with the Gambling Commission's remote gambling and software technical standards, last updated 29 January 2026.[10] Confirm the specifics for each market with a licensing lawyer before committing to a plan.
  • Peak load. Settlement after a big event is where sportsbooks queue up. More on settlement lag on Postgres and live-betting architecture.
  • Payments, KYC and responsible-gambling tools in every market, each an integration with its own testing and reporting duties.
  • Operations. On-call cover around the clock for the platform and, if you trade in-house, for the trading desk.
  • The migration itself. Parallel running, reconciliation and data export are project work with their own budget line.

Frequently asked questions

Through fixed fees, a fee tied to the number of live events offered and a commission on operators' GGR less deductible costs (NGR). Some contracts have lower commission rates at higher revenue.[3] Kambi does not publish its rates.

Not under terms like the two Kambi has published. In both DraftKings (2020) and Penn (amended after Q4 2023, retail revenue only), revenue generated after migration carried the same revenue share until the agreed date.[2][3] Your contract may differ, so read the migration clause first.

A third-party review states that operators own the player relationship and player data.[9] Ownership is not the same as a usable export. Agree the format, the completeness (balances, bonus state, bet history) and the delivery schedule before you give notice.

Yes. Odds Feed+ is sold separately through a single API,[1] and Kindred continued with Odds Feed+ after its in-house decision and its acquisition by FDJ.[4] That record shows one split in practice: your own platform, rented prices. Whether your contract allows a partial exit, and at what fee, is a question for the contract, not for the product page.

The calendar is set by what you scope: the number of markets, certification in each, in-house or rented odds, and the integrations you need.

Disclosure: this page is published by amBrain. From amBrain's iGaming services: "Casino platform development with online casino games, sports betting engine, and player management." Every Kambi fact on this page links to its source. Kambi and Odds Feed+ are trademarks of their owner and are used only to identify the products discussed.

Sources

  1. [1]Kambi, Home page. Vendor's own page · checked Sep 22, 2026
  2. [2]Kambi, Kambi Group plc and DraftKings Inc. reach agreement on DraftKings migration phase, Jul 23, 2020. Vendor's own page · checked Sep 22, 2026
  3. [3]Kambi Group plc, Q4 2023 report (fee model, Penn amendment, €3.3m transition services, 94% regulated revenue, trading generations). Company filing · checked Sep 22, 2026
  4. [4]Wikipedia, Kambi Group (2014 spin-off, listing, Kindred's 2023 in-house decision, Odds Feed+ after the FDJ acquisition). Third-party source · checked Sep 22, 2026
  5. [5]igamingplatformproviders.com, Kambi review, Sep 6, 2026. Third-party source · checked Sep 22, 2026
  6. [6]Kambi Group plc, Q4 2025 report, Feb 18, 2026. Company filing · checked Sep 22, 2026
  7. [7]Gaming Laboratories International, GLI standards list (GLI-33 Event Wagering Systems v1.1). Specification · checked Sep 22, 2026
  8. [8]UK Gambling Commission, Remote gambling software licence. Regulator · checked Sep 22, 2026
  9. [9]igamingplatformproviders.com, iGaming platform data ownership and exit rights. Third-party source · checked Sep 22, 2026
  10. [10]UK Gambling Commission, Remote gambling and software technical standards, Jan 29, 2026. Regulator · checked Sep 22, 2026

Related

Free project intro call, 30 minutes.

We reply within 24 hours.

Book a Call