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Beta Prices are read about every four minutes and published with the time we saw them. Real prices, read about every four minutes. Why?Tell us what is wrong

The prices here are real and they are ours. We read the bookmakers on our board roughly every four minutes and publish what we actually saw, with the time we saw it. Nothing on this site is estimated, modelled or bought in. We hold no data agreement with any bookmaker, so a price can be a few minutes old and the bookmaker's own price is the one that counts. How live is this?

So why call it a demo? Because we are a data company, and data gets better with time. Every day we run, the price record gets longer, the licence register gets more complete and the ranking rests on more evidence. Some pages are still being written and a few bookmakers are not fully covered yet.

We would rather be useful now than perfect later. What is here already answers the question most punters never get answered: who is actually paying most, right now, and who is actually licensed to take your bet. Waiting another six months to publish that would help nobody.

Where we are unsure, we say so. Where we have not checked something, we do not claim it. If you find something wrong, tell us and we will fix it and say we did.

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Sportsbook head to head

Betway vs Sunbet

Both carry current official licence evidence. Betway is the stronger starting point on product and offer rather than on licensing. Sunbet remains useful for local entertainment-brand comparison intent, but current licence proof is still pending because the accessible WCGRB certificate was expired.

Measured, not claimed

Which one actually pays more

Across the prices we have recorded from both, Sunbet was best or tied on 30.6% of the outcomes it priced, against 15.4% for Betway. That is measured over 1 004 630 and 2 508 042 comparable prices respectively, not sampled and not supplied by either bookmaker.

Being best is not the whole picture, because a book that is rarely best can still be close. When it was not top, Sunbet paid on average 6.8% below the best price on the board and Betway 4.8%. Read the two numbers together rather than either alone: how often a book is best decides how often it saves you anything, and the shortfall decides what it costs you the rest of the time.

Both figures come from the same board, read on the same cycles, so they are directly comparable. They describe the outcomes we could compare, which is every market where enough bookmakers priced the same thing at the same time, and they say nothing about the bet you are about to place: check the live board for that.

The offers, side by side

Mpumalanga + Western Cape

Betway

Welcome pack of free bets, free spins and free flights

  • Score: 70/100
  • Payments: Card, Instant EFT / Ozow-style bank payment where listed, Voucher options where listed
Bet at Betway Read review

18+

Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board

Sunbet

No welcome offer we could verify.

  • Score: 68/100
  • Payments: Card, Instant EFT / online banking where listed, Voucher or wallet methods where listed
Read review

18+. No betting link: we hold no commercial relationship with this bookmaker.

Asked and answered

Betway and Sunbet, the common questions

The questions people actually type about this pair, answered from the licence registers and from prices we read ourselves. Nothing here ranks one licensed bookmaker above the other; the facts are the answer.

Are Betway and Sunbet the same company?

No. Betway is licensed to Eastern Dawn Sports (Pty) Ltd and Raging River Trading (Pty) Ltd, and Sunbet is licensed to Sunbet (Pty) Ltd. They are separate companies holding separate provincial bookmaker licences, which is why an account with one gives you nothing at the other.

What is the difference between Betway and Sunbet?

On the prices we have read from both, Sunbet held the best or joint-best price on 31% of the outcomes where the two were priced side by side, against 15% for Betway. Neither is best on everything: the gap moves by market and by day, so the difference that matters is the price on the specific bet you want.

Are both Betway and Sunbet licensed in South Africa?

Both do hold provincial bookmaker licences, which is the only form of legal sports betting licence in South Africa: there is no national or online-only permit. Betway has 2 licence records on file with us and Sunbet has 1, each with the number, the issuing board and the date we read it, set out on our licence register so you can check them against the board rather than against us.

Pick by need

Which one fits what you want?

If you want Pick Why
Broad bookmaker comparison Betway It has stronger direct comparison demand and a known affiliate channel.
Local entertainment brand angle Sunbet The brand connects to a South African entertainment group context.
Current licence evidence Either Both hold current licence evidence. Betway publishes its licence line in the site footer; Sunbet is listed as current on the National Gambling Board verified-operators register and holds a Mpumalanga licence as well.

Licence check

Both licences, in full

Betway

  • Entity: Eastern Dawn Sports (Pty) Ltd and Raging River Trading (Pty) Ltd
  • Regulator: Mpumalanga Economic Regulator · Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board
  • Licence: MER Bookmaker License No. 9-2-1-09658 · WCGRB Bookmaker License No. 10181496-012
  • Checked: 2026-08-10

Sunbet

  • Entity: Sunbet (Pty) Ltd
  • Regulator: Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board · Mpumalanga Economic Regulator
  • Licence: WCGRB Bookmaker Licence 10138713-018, current per the National Gambling Board verified-operators register (17 June 2026). The certificate previously on file was 10138713-017, which ran to 31 March 2025, so the licence has been renewed. The operator footer, captured 5 August 2026, does not display this Western Cape number at all: it names the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator with licence 9-2-1-09789, and a North West licence. Both the register and the footer are shown because they describe different licences held by the same operator, not a disagreement about one.
  • Checked: 2026-08-10

Before you deposit

Use this as a shortlist, not a decision. Confirm the current licence wording, the offer terms, identity checks and withdrawal rules on the bookmaker's own site before you fund an account. Gambling can be addictive. Only bet what you can afford to lose.

Sources checked