Competition Website Design & Build

No — not if your competition is structured correctly. Prize competitions are lawful without a Gambling Commission licence under Section 14 of the Gambling Act 2005, provided they include a genuine skill element that acts as a real barrier to entry. Separately, free draws (where no payment is required to enter) are lawful under Section 339. Nera builds both structures into every platform.

A competition website builder online is a SaaS platform — you pay a monthly fee, operate under shared infrastructure and have limited control over compliance features and brand presentation. Whether you are looking at a competition website builder online, an app-based builder or a UK-specific platform, all share the same fundamental constraint: you are renting, not owning. A bespoke competition website is custom-built to your brand, hosted on your own domain and linked to your own payment account. Bespoke builds give you full ownership, better conversion rates and no ongoing platform fees. Operators generating £10K+ per month typically migrate from builders to bespoke builds within 12 months.

Nera competition websites start from £2,995 for the Launch package — which includes compliance structure, managed payment gateway approval, performance hosting and ongoing support. Growth packages start from £6,995 and include custom brand design, Meta RMG support and advanced mechanics like instant win. See the full pricing page for package comparisons.

You need a specialist merchant account that has approved competition and prize draw transactions as a permitted business activity. Standard providers such as Stripe and PayPal classify this as restricted activity and will close your account if you process competition ticket sales without prior approval. Nera manages the full payment gateway application on your behalf and integrates Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal from day one.

A skills-based competition website uses a qualifying question to create a genuine barrier to entry under Section 14 of the Gambling Act 2005. If a competition requires genuine skill, knowledge or judgment to enter, it is classified as a prize competition — not a lottery — and does not require a Gambling Commission licence. The question must genuinely prevent a significant proportion of entrants from answering correctly. Nera designs and calibrates skills questions to meet this standard while maintaining competitive conversion rates.

A free entry route allows people to enter your competition without making a purchase. It is required if your competition involves a paid entry route and the winner is selected by chance, in order to avoid classification as an unlicensed lottery under the Gambling Act 2005. The Gambling Commission has scrutinised operators whose free routes are buried in small print or made deliberately inconvenient. Nera places the free entry mechanism at identical visual prominence to the paid route on the same page — not hidden, not behind additional navigation.

To set up a competition website in the UK you need four things in place before launch: a legally compliant platform under the Gambling Act 2005 with a genuine skill element and free entry route, a specialist payment gateway approved for competition transactions, marketing infrastructure including Meta Pixel and email capture, and compliant terms and conditions. Nera builds all four into every platform from day one. Read our full guide to creating a competition website for more detail.

A Meta Restricted Managed Gambling (RMG) licence is required to run paid advertising for competition and prize draw businesses on Facebook and Instagram. Without this approval, Meta will restrict or close your ad account if you try to run competition-related ads. Nera structures every platform to support the RMG application and includes the Facebook Business Manager documentation required for Meta's approval process.

The Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators was published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in November 2025. Signatories had until 20 May 2026 to implement it in full. It covers player protection (spend limits, age verification, credit card restrictions), transparency (verifiable draws, prominent free entry routes) and accountability (complaints processes, ASA compliance). Nera is a signatory and every platform we build meets Code requirements.

Typically four to eight weeks from brief to launch, depending on the complexity of the build. Payment gateway approval is factored into the project timeline from the start — Nera manages this process in parallel with the build so there are no delays at launch. Simpler launch-package builds can go live in four weeks if the payment approval is prioritised.

In the UK market, raffle website and competition website are used interchangeably. Both describe platforms where customers purchase tickets for a chance to win a prize. If you are comparing a raffle competition website builder online against a bespoke build, the legal structure is what matters — not the terminology. The distinction that counts is whether the platform uses a skill question (a prize competition under Section 14 of the Gambling Act 2005) or a free entry route (a free draw under Section 339) to avoid unlicensed lottery classification. Nera builds both structures.

Yes — when structured and marketed correctly. Established UK competition operators generate significant recurring revenue from ticket sales with no physical inventory to manage beyond the prize itself. Nera clients include operators generating six figures per month from their platforms. The business model works best when the competition website is built to convert on mobile, supported by a specialist payment gateway and promoted through properly licensed Meta advertising.