Smarkets Review2% Commission Against Betfair's Depth on Football and Politics

On a £100 net win, Smarkets takes about £2 and Betfair's standard rate takes £5. That gap is the whole argument for Smarkets, and it is a real one. The counter-argument is that cheap commission on a market nobody trades is worthless. We compared the two on the things bettors actually care about: commission, football depth and politics, then read what users say about the app.

The commission gap in numbers

Several comparison sites give Smarkets a flat 2% of net winnings and Betfair a 5% base rate that falls with loyalty discounts. These are third-party figures and Smarkets' own help pages blocked our access, so check the current rate in the app. There is no commission on a losing market. The 2018 launch of a 1% tier for heavy traders was reported by SBC News, and we could not confirm that it still exists.

New customers can trade at 0% commission for 60 days after a first deposit of at least £10 or €10. The terms exclude first deposits made with Skrill, Neteller, PayPal and virtual or prepaid cards, according to the App Store text. Read that before you pick a payment method, because it is the usual way people lose the offer.

Now the maths that matters. Back a 2.00 shot with £100 and win £100, and commission costs £2 rather than £5. Over a season of 100 winning bets of that size, that is £300 more kept, which no bookmaker bonus matches. For a bettor who loses more than they win, commission is a smaller issue, because it is only charged on profit.

Football: cheaper, but thinner

Betfair is consistently described as the deeper market. One 2026 comparison puts Premier League win-market matching at roughly £560,000 on Smarkets against £3.2 million on Betfair, and Championship matching at about £40,000 against £300,000. That is a single site's number and we cannot verify it. Other reviews say Smarkets is solid on the Premier League and major tournaments but thin below that, and that it lacks many in-play markets such as correct score and next goalscorer.

So the practical move is the one matched-betting guides recommend: post at Smarkets first, and go to Betfair when you need size or an in-play market it does not offer. For a stake of £20 or £50 on a Premier League side, depth does not hurt you. For £2,000 on a League One draw it will.

Politics is where it wins

Politics is the area where reviews consistently favour Smarkets. They describe deep liquidity on UK and US election markets, and one comparison says it often matches or beats Betfair on niche political prices. We could not quantify that with published volume figures, so treat it as reputation, not measurement. Smarkets is also not available in the US, as an Action Network page notes when discussing the promo code (Action Network).

The app, and what breaks

The listing shows 4.8 out of 5 from about 4,600 ratings, with Face ID and fingerprint login, two-factor authentication, a live order book, charts and alerts when orders fill. The company holds a UK Gambling Commission licence.

One reviewer likes the 5p minimum stake and deposit limits, which make it a cheap place to experiment. The complaints are specific: markets going blank when switching tabs, lag, error messages and slow support. Smarkets replied to the iOS problems, and version 3.0.1 restored the exposure and 30-day profit figures. That is a fair summary of the app: strong features with rough edges.

The developer page confirms it also publishes a separate sportsbook app, SBK.

Verdict

Smarkets is a better-value exchange than Betfair for the stakes most people place, and a clear first choice for politics. It is a worse exchange when you need size on lower-league football or an in-play specialist market. Our advice is to open both, route small and political bets to Smarkets, and compare the price before every trade.

Exchange trading is not a way to make money. You can lose a stake in seconds, and layers face liabilities larger than their stake. Set deposit limits, never chase losses, and use the self-exclusion tools if betting is affecting your life. This is a product review, not personal advice.