“Casino” hides three different purchases. An aggregator sells content. Casino software sells the platform that runs players, wallets, bonuses and reports. A white-label casino sells a launch: your brand on someone else’s platform, configured and ready. Most failed vendor selections bought the wrong one of the three.
This guide separates them, gives a decision tree, and lists the questions that catalogue-led vendors rarely answer. Sirplay sells two of the three: a White Label Casino and the online casino software behind it. In every model the licence, KYC/AML and player funds stay with the operator.
Three purchases, one word
An aggregator, casino software and a white-label casino are three layers of the same stack. The aggregator supplies games, the casino software runs the operation, and the white label wraps both in a brand and a launch. Each has a different owner of the player relationship.
| Aggregator | Casino software (platform) | White-label casino | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Games from many studios through one integration | Player account, wallet, cashier, bonus engine, reports, roles | Brand, front end, configured platform, launch support |
| What you still need | A platform, a licence, a cashier, a front end | A licence, content, a front end and a team to run it | A licence, marketing, payment providers, a team to operate |
| Who holds the player account | You, in your own platform | You | Usually on the vendor’s platform: check the contract |
| Typical buyer | Operator already live, adding content | Operator replacing or building its own stack | New brand, or a bookmaker adding a casino fast |
| What decides the price | Revenue share on content | Licence fee and integration | Setup, revenue share, scope of service |
The three are often sold together, which is exactly why buyers confuse them. Ask the vendor to price each layer separately, even if you buy all three. A bundle you cannot unbundle is a bundle you cannot leave.
When an aggregator integration is enough
An aggregator is enough when you already have a licence, a player account system, a cashier and a front end, and what you lack is games. You are buying content, not control: the operation stays yours.
The questions that matter here are narrow. Which studios are licensed for your jurisdiction, not just in the catalogue? Who handles game certification per market? Can you configure RTP where the studio allows it? How is revenue share calculated: on GGR, on NGR, before or after bonuses? Is live casino priced separately, with dedicated tables at extra cost?
Catalogue size is the number vendors lead with. Sirplay offers 30,000+ games from 150+ providers, and that number is still not the decision. What decides is how many of those games you can legally switch on in your market, and how many your players will ever open. Sixty well-chosen titles and a working live lobby beat a list you cannot activate.
When you need casino software
You need casino software when you want to run the operation yourself: players, wallets, bonuses, risk flags, reports and staff roles, on a platform you control. It is the choice of operators who already have a team and want to stop depending on someone else’s roadmap.
Judge it on the back office, not the lobby. Can you see a player’s full history in one screen? Does the bonus engine let you set wagering, caps and abuse rules without a ticket to the vendor? Are GGR and NGR defined the way your finance team and your regulator define them? Can you export raw data? Do roles and audit logs show who changed what?
For a bookmaker adding a casino, the key question is the wallet. One player account and one wallet across sportsbook and casino let you see the whole customer. Two wallets give you two partial customers and twice the reconciliation.
When a white-label casino makes sense
A white-label casino makes sense when speed and focus matter more than owning the technology: a new brand, a founder without an engineering team, or a sportsbook that wants a casino vertical this quarter. You rent the platform and spend your capital on the market.
The trade is speed for dependence. With Sirplay, a configured White Label Casino typically goes live in about 10 working days once brand assets and market scope are clear, with 30,000+ games and the back office included. The licence is not in that clock; Sirplay offers licensing support, but the licence is issued to the operator and stays with the operator. If you are starting from zero, read how to start an online casino as an operator first.
Machiavelli observed that those who rise through fortune or someone else’s arms rise fast and struggle to stay. A white label is someone else’s arms. It is a sound choice when the contract tells you, in writing, what you keep if the relationship ends.
A decision tree for operators
Four questions sort almost every case. Answer them in order; the first “no” usually decides the purchase.
- Do you hold a licence, or have a funded path to one? No → you are not buying software yet. Fix the licence path first; any vendor that sells you a casino before that is selling you their offer, not yours.
- Do you already run a player account system and cashier? Yes → you need content: an aggregator, or casino games plugged in via API or iframe. No → go to question 3.
- Do you have a team that can run a platform and a front end every day? Yes → casino software, with your own front end. No → a white-label casino.
- Is crypto in your licence and in your players’ wallets? Yes → scope the cashier and wallet model before the lobby. Our guide to the crypto casino platform explains the options.
Questions catalogue vendors rarely answer
Vendors answer questions about games all day. Ask the ones about control, the ones that decide what you own when something goes wrong:
- Player account ownership. Who owns the player database, in which format can you export it, and how fast?
- Exit. What is the notice period? Who keeps the domain, the player balances and the history when you migrate?
- Player funds. Whose name is on the accounts that hold player money? If it is the vendor’s, you are inside their offer.
- Bonus control. Can your team change wagering and abuse rules alone, and is every change logged?
- Live casino. Studio hours, table limits, language, dedicated tables: what is included and what is extra?
- Certification. Who certifies each game for your market, and who pays when a certificate expires?
- Reporting. How are GGR and NGR defined, and can you reconcile them against your own bank data?
- Time. What exactly is inside the go-live clock, and what runs on the regulator’s calendar?
A vendor who answers these clearly is selling software. One who changes the subject back to the game count is selling a catalogue.
What Sirplay supplies, and what stays with you
Sirplay has built iGaming software since 2005. For casino, it supplies the White Label Casino, the online casino software behind it (player account, wallet, bonus engine, reports, roles) and game aggregation from 150+ providers. It does not supply the licence, act as the operator of record, or hold player funds. Those stay with the party that answers to the regulator, which is also the party that keeps the business.
Questions operators ask
Online casino software is the platform that runs players, wallets, bonuses and reports. A white-label casino is that platform configured under your brand and launched for you. The first you operate; the second you rent.
A casino aggregator connects one platform to games from many studios through a single integration. It supplies content, not the player account, cashier or licence.
No. A white label includes brand, configuration and launch support. The licence is issued to the operator. Sirplay offers licensing support, but the licence stays with the operator.
With Sirplay, about 10 working days once brand assets and market scope are clear. Licensing and local game certification run on their own timelines.
Yes, when both run on one player account. One wallet shows the whole customer; separate wallets double reconciliation and split risk views.
It depends on the contract. Ask who owns the player database, whose name is on the player-fund accounts and what you can export when you leave. Get the answers in writing before signing.
Next step. Tell us which of the three purchases you think you need, and your market. In the demo we will show you the export screen before the lobby. Request a demo
