What's better, FanDuel or DraftKings?

Federer vs Nadal. Palmer vs Nicklaus. Ali vs Fraizer. Messi vs Ronaldo. Bird vs Johnson.

Who hasn’t heard of at least a couple of these iconic sporting rivalries?

Every year and every new generation of athletes brings in fresh rivalries, and they keep sports alive. No matter who you back, or what team your favorite is, talented individuals can push each other and their sports to new levels.

Some rivalries are remembered more than individual accolades

And with FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook it basically works the same. For a long time before PASPA was overturned and online sports betting became legal, these two Daily Fantasy Sports giants have been butting heads to become the most recognized, and in turn have innovated and advertised themselves into household names.

Since 2018 their sportsbooks have followed the same trend - and the question remains.

FanDuel or DraftKings?

Let's cut to the chase - we think that at the moment FanDuel Sportsbook is better than DraftKings. It has a better welcome bonus, betting app, more payment options, and overall just has a better new user feel. 

Of course it's never as simple as one betting site being clearly better than the other - there are numerous reasons you may prefer DraftKings over FanDuel, so we've broken our decision down into categories below to help you make the right decision.

In the spirit of sporting rivalries, we couldn’t think of a better way to break down what we think is better - FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook - other than a classic round by round matchup.

Will this fight be a war of attrition, or can one of these betting sites land a knockout blow?

Let’s get ready to rumble.

Why wouldn’t this be the first thing to consider when looking for a new betting site? While the quality of the actual sportsbook is more important long term, having a great welcome offer to kick-start your sports betting experience just makes it oh so sweet.

So who comes out swinging - FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook?

DraftKings

The DraftKings Sportsbook welcome offer looks pretty good on the surface - a 20% deposit match up to $1000. No bad right, an easy extra $1000 to bet with.

Well that’s where you might be a bit caught out. Because this is a deposit match bonus, and only 20% is even matched, so you’ll need to drop $5k right away to enjoy this sign-up offer in full.

That’s a lot to ask any bettor, and it really doesn’t line up with most other betting offers out there that give second chance bets up to a similar amount. 

FanDuel

The Fanduel Sportsbook welcome offer is pretty straightforward - a $1000 no sweat first bet. All you need to do is place your first bet up to $1000, and if you win, great, you’ll get your winnings and bet stake back. But if you lose, the bonus kicks in and will return up to $1000 in bonus bets to you.

That’s pretty great, and potentially very lucrative if you place a full $1000 wager on something risky that pays off - you won’t lose the money if it doesn’t!

As far as existing customer offers, both betting sites regularly feature great offers in the form of bonus bets, boosts, parlay insurance, and referral bonuses. Credit to both companies here, they really do make the right effort to keep you interested and give you a reason to bet.

• Decision: FanDuel Sportsbook

Because of the potentially huge payout and straightforward nature of a no sweat bet, we have to give the points to FanDuel for their main bonus offer.

Unless you’re a die-hard fan who only enjoys betting on one or two sports, it can get boring if your betting site doesn’t provide variety in their sports offering and betting features.

Good thing you don’t have a whole lot to worry about with FanDuel and DraftKings as they both offer pretty much every betting option going for well over 20 unique sports.

• Moneyline, Spread, Live Betting, Futures, Parlay & Same Game Parlay, Props, Teasers

So what separates the two here?

It’s starting to get really nit-picky and niche to find a real difference in betting variety, but overall DraftKings Sportsbook does offer a few more sports markets than you can find on FanDuel. For example, if you’re an avid hockey fan DraftKings features six different global leagues - while FanDuel limits you to the US.

But recently the biggest change that swings our vote is the addition of DraftKings Micro Betting, which is a fairly unique betting option that adds markets for individual events during the game, like how many yards the next NFL play will go.

• Decision: DraftKings Sportsbook

It’s not much, but for betting variety DraftKings landed a few more hits this round.

Now that you know who offers more betting variety, it’s time to take a look at whether that variety is actually good to bet on, and to figure this out we need to have a look at the odds.

Every bettor loves to make money on their bets, and having favorable odds makes it a bit easier, so where do FanDuel and DraftKings line up?

Another close call, but FanDuel might just edge out DraftKings here. That being said, DraftKings has only recently split from Kambi to start providing their own odds, so as they continue to develop and refine their models it wouldn’t be surprising to see DraftKings become the better odds provider between the two.

• Decision: Split

A bit of a cop out here, but there is genuinely very little difference between the two sites when you compare across several markets. If we really had to pick one, FanDuel would probably get our vote as they seem to be a bit more favorable, but we’re talking a few cents here and there.

As important, if not more so, than a desktop betting experience, modern sportsbooks have really emphasized their mobile apps. It certainly shows with DraftKings and FanDuel, which are both great looking and reliable. Plus, you might even find a few extra perks like player props on the FanDuel mobile app when it comes to betting features!

And even though their respective app store reviews have them tied at 4.7 stars, we think there is actually a difference.

It’s just hard to find many faults with the FanDuel Sportsbook app, it looks great, runs smoothly, and is incredibly easy to navigate and use. Even beginners will find it intuitive and simple, which is a huge bonus.

On the other hand, the DraftKing Sportsbook is also great looking, but we think there might actually be a bit too much going on, which makes navigation a little harder.

• Decision: FanDuel Sportsbook

These are definitely two of the top mobile betting apps in the US, but the simplicity and clean look of FanDuel’s mobile app just puts it ahead of DraftKings at the bell.

Money makes the world go round as they say, and it’s not different with online sports betting. And when it comes to your money having several ways to access it and make sure everything is safe and legit is pretty key.

But rest assured that both FanDuel and DraftKings are legit and licensed betting sites, so safety is a top priority for them and all other betting sites we review here.

As you can see there are tons of options for both, including PayPal as an e-wallet.

FanDuel does have a few additional options that DraftKings does not, especially for withdrawals.

• Decision: FanDuel Sportsbook

Even without offering ACH transfers, FanDuel is just hard to beat when it comes to payment options, and considering their lack of withdrawal minimums are just the better betting site for managing your money.

Quite an important factor for betting sites in the US since online sports betting has not been fully approved by each state.

• Decision: DraftKings Sportsbook

DraftKings has been paving the way for legal sports betting in the US, and is the most widely available betting site at the moment, So if you’re on the move a lot, DraftKings will probably be your best bet to wager on the road.

Neither DraftKings or FanDuel fall into the category of cluttered, ugly, boring, or painful to look at which plagues quite a few newer betting sites. Given they’ve been around for so long as Daily Fantasy Sports pioneers, there has been enough time for them to refine and clean up their look, which has transitioned exceptionally well into a sportsbook.

Operating at almost opposite ends of the color spectrum, DraftKings runs with the ‘dark mode’ look of a black background and lighter text, whereas FanDuel has opted for a more traditional white and blue scheme.

Both are very pleasing to look at, for totally different reasons.

Just like the mobile apps, navigation is easy, with tabs like ‘popular’ or ‘live now’ in a prominent place on both sites to get you going quickly. As a bonus, the drop-down bet slips on both betting sites just make sense, so it’s easy to keep track of your wagers.

• Decision: Split

You’d think it would be easy to pick a winner based on design, but the polar opposite look works for both. FanDuel is exceptional at doing the simple things well, which is surprisingly hard for many sportsbooks, and DraftKings is once again doing it’s own thing with a dark theme, which also works, and is in line with a lot of social media site trends!

We hope you never need to worry about this function of either DraftKings Sportsbook or FanDuel Sportsbook, but if something goes wrong it’s nice to get any issues resolved swiftly.

Both betting sites offer a 24/7 live chat function so you can always get in touch with someone to help, as well as your usual email contact and request forms. Plus, their helpful FAQ sections are generally enough to clarify most bettors' problems.

The only real difference between the two betting sites is that FanDuel provides a contact phone number during normal business hours.

• Decision: FanDuel Sportsbook

Yep, having a telephone contact number is the only separation in this round, even though both customer service teams are great, and fairly quick to respond.

Overall there isn’t much between these two betting sites. They are both titans in the industry and deserve the acclaim and recognition they have because of the great product they offer. But that’s not really what you wanted to hear?

So which is better, FanDuel Sportsbook or DraftKings Sportsbook?

At the moment we have to give the final decision to FanDuel as they edged out DraftKings on a few more of our ‘rounds’, totalling 4 outright to DraftKings 2 (2 split). In no way was this a unanimous decisions, and that's just testament to how good both betting sites are.

And once you get into the actual sports betting you will certainly be happy with either of these betting sites, but FanDuel is making that initial entry a lot more enticing, and has certainly cemented its place as one of the premier betting sites in the US, if not the world.