What Percentage of Online Gambling Happens on Mobile Devices
In Europe, mobile devices generated 58% of online gambling revenue in 2024, compared with 56% a year earlier, with growth forecast to reach roughly 67% by 2029, according to EGBA and H2 Gambling Capital data. In the US, the figure is much higher: about 95% of sports betting volume in 2025 was placed online, mostly from phones, since American products were built mobile-first right after legalization in 2018.
The global share of mobile devices in online gambling is estimated at around 72%, although this is a modeled rather than a measured figure, as no regulator in the world publishes unified global statistics by device.
App or Mobile Website: What Should an Operator Choose at Launch
There is no clear-cut answer here, because the choice depends largely not on marketing but on regulation. A real app can only be distributed where the operator's license is recognized by the App Store or Google Play, so in markets without such recognition, the mobile browser remains the only channel by definition.
In licensed jurisdictions where both stores allow gambling apps, the iGaming product strategy specialist notes that operators usually run both channels at the same time. A native app more often retains a loyal, already monetized audience, while the mobile website works on the initial acquisition of new traffic.
An important nuance. No regulator, operator or analytics vendor publishes the exact percentage split of revenue between the app and the mobile website – this is commercially sensitive information. So any specific figure on this topic that you see in marketing materials is worth checking against its source.
What Requirements the App Store and Google Play Set for Gambling Apps
Both platforms follow similar logic, although the details differ:
- The app must be free to download on both platforms; paid downloads are prohibited;
- Bets cannot be processed through the store's own built-in payment system, meaning the platform's commission does not apply to deposits;
- A valid license is required for each country or state where the app is distributed, with mandatory geo-restriction outside the permitted territories;
- An Adult Only age rating or equivalent is mandatory, along with a clear display of responsible gambling information;
- The user's age must be verified before they gain access to the game functionality itself.
The practical consequence for growth teams: launching in a new market is first and foremost a matter of licensing, and only then of marketing. That is why operators entering a new market most often launch a mobile website first and add a native app after passing the store's review.
How to Compare Gambling App Retention Rates with Other Categories
You should be careful with direct comparisons here. The average Day-30 retention rate for apps across all categories is about 5.4%, but this is a general benchmark rather than a figure specific to gambling: no major analytics vendor publishes a separate breakdown specifically for real-money gambling.
The closest available benchmark – social casino apps with free play – is monetized in a completely different way (through in-app purchases rather than deposits), so their retention curves do not transfer directly to real-money products.
Real-money apps have a fundamentally different funnel: installation, registration, identity verification (KYC), deposit, first bet – with a characteristic drop-off at the verification stage that does not exist in any other app category.
What to Look at When Choosing Metrics for Your Own Product
Instead of comparing with published benchmarks from other categories, the author recommends focusing on your own cohorts and on specific stages of the funnel:
- Click-to-registration conversion, not just the number of app installs;
- Registration-to-first-deposit conversion – a more accurate indicator of efficiency than the cost per install;
- Separate fraud protection settings for the app and for the mobile website, since fraud patterns (fake installs, SDK spoofing) differ from web patterns (click fraud, cookie stuffing);
- Geo-targeting at the level of the link, the store listing and the commission rules at the same time, not just at one of these levels.
The mobile share of online gambling continues to grow in all measured markets, but the accuracy of this data varies greatly: the revenue share by region is published and verified, while the split between app and mobile website, device type or payment method remains largely estimated.
As the expert concludes, for an operator this means one thing: decisions on mobile strategy should be built on regulatory constraints and your own funnel data, not on generalized figures from other industries or unverified marketing reports.
How We Verify Information
The key figures in this article are marked with their source or as an estimate. We separately show measured data, modeled indicators and commercial claims so that the reader can see the difference. Regulatory requirements are checked against the current App Store and Google Play policies, not against unverified market rumors.
Why You Can Trust Us
The analysis is based on reports by EGBA, H2 Gambling Capital and Track360, as well as on the public rules of app stores. Where no public data exists, we say so directly and do not substitute estimates disguised as precise figures.