Betfair vs. Bet365 - Which Betting Website is Best?

There aren't many online betting websites in Australia that have more name recognition than Betfair and Bet365. As big international betting brands, and as two of Australia's oldest operators, many punters who are looking for the best betting websites turn to either Betfair and Bet365 - but which is better?

Bet365 is the world's biggest betting website with over 50 million global customers and counting. Bet365 is often regarded for having the most betting and live streaming options.

Betfair is a unique betting operator that runs Australia's only betting exchange. This means that the odds for popular events at Betfair are often high.

But how do these bookie sites compare and which is the best betting website in Australia?

Here's a hint: Their primary colour is one of Australia's main colours...

Odds are among the most important things for Australian bettors and thus the question does Betfair or Bet365 have better odds is an important one.

As two of Australia's biggest betting sites, the odds you find on Betfair and Bet365 will likely be among the best in the country but let's go into a little bit more detail.

The betting website with the best odds depends heavily on the events and types of bets that you want to make.

Bet365 has the highest odds for all events in the days leading up to them, they also tend to have better odds for smaller events and less popular betting markets within those matches.

Betfair's odds are more hit or miss. The day of a big race or sports match, Betfair will have likely have the highest odds for common betting markets like win/loss bets. This is because Betfair is a betting exchange which means that other Aussie punters have to accept your odds before you can place bets. Therefore, for the races, sports and bet types that others don't care too much about, Betfair will often have terrible odds.

So, if you want to bet on something like the Melbourne Cup, AFL Grand Final or Bledisloe Cup, then we reccommend Betfair, otherwise, stick to Bet365 which has the highest overall odds.

We're going to give this round to Betfair because we have to reward great odds when we see them - even if they're a bit more inconsistent.

Note that on the Betfair Exchange the blue bets are 'back' bets. When you 'back' a bet you think that that outcome will happen, just like when you place a bet on a regular betting site (see the images below).

The term 'Betting Market' refers to the specific bets that you can place on a given sporting event. The more markets the more ways you can bet.

But which betting website has the most betting options?

Bet365 has a bigger variety of sports to bet on than Betfair - these include sports like Bandy, Surfing, Water Polo, Sailing, Squash, Floorball and others. Bet365 also has more live betting markets and more niched betting options for big football, rugby, cricket and tennis events.

It's not all bad for Betfair though.

The nature of the Betfair Exchange makes it so that for every bet on the outcome of an event to happen, there is also the opportunity to bet that that outcome will not happen. These two types of bets are called 'back' bets and 'lay' bets.

'Back' bets are bets that an outcome will happen - this is how you normally bet when you use a betting website eg. backing a team to win.

'Lay' bets are bets that an outcome will not happen - you act as the bookmaker eg. laying a team to NOT win. Here you are liable to pay your bet stake plus any winnings that the person who 'backs' your bet is eligible to receive.

This means that Betfair has double the number of betting markets for each bet. However, because other punters need to match your bets on Betfair sometimes these options are unavailable or the odds offered are terrible.

Therefore, unless you want access to 'lay' betting markets, Bet365 is the best betting website.

Betting apps are right up there with the most important things punters consider when choosing new betting websites so, naturally, we're going to evaluate Betfair's and Bet365's apps.

All betting apps in Australia are available for iPhone - on the App Store - and Android - from the website of the bookmaker that you use.

Bet365's app is one of the best in the country. Not only is the design simple and effective but it is packed with features like live streaming, a multi-maker, cash out options, a top live betting interface and plenty of stats and tips.

Betfair has recently updated its betting app and the design looks great. However, with fewer things to do on the Betfair app, apart from reading their blog and analysing some Betfair statistics, we reckon the Bet365 app is the best.

The betting website with the better app is Bet365

Making sure that you can deposit, and withdraw, with your preferred payment option is something that should be at the forefront of anyone's mind when looking for a good betting website.

Betfair and Bet365 share many common, and popular payment methods including Credit/Debit Card, Bank Transfer, POLi and Apple Pay.

However, Bet365 does offer some payment methods that Betfair does not

Bet365 accepts Cheque, Paysafecard, Flexepin, ClicktoPay and Cash In and Betfair does not.

Betfair accepts Osko, Skrill, BPAY and Neteller and Bet365 does not.

In fact, of Australia's 17 most common payment methods, Bet365 accepts 13 while Betfair only accepts 11.

That makes Bet365 the best betting website for payment methods in Australia - but you'll want to choose Betfair if Skrill, Neteller, Osko or BPAY is your preferred way to pay.

Only a few online betting websites in Australia offer live streaming but none offer as many events as Bet365.

Okay, yeah we spoiled the surprise, but because Bet365 has 150,000 live streaming options every year, and Betfair has none, the winner is not hard to find.

Bet365 live streams Australian racing, international racing, football, tennis, rugby and more!

Esports, volleyball, table tennis and even NBA are also popular live streaming events on Bet365.

To watch Bet365 live streaming you will need to have money in your account, or have placed abet within the last 24 hours.

There are a few different things to consider when evaluating a betting website for its live betting options. One is the odds, another is the betting markets and then you'll also want to consider the live betting interface.

Betfair has a very simple (too simple) looking live betting interface with no graphics to follow events live. Betfair's odds can be good if the live betting event is popular but as in round 2, their total number of live betting markets is pretty hit or miss.

Bet365 also has a clean looking live betting screen but there are still plenty of additional stats to read as well as a great in-play feature that lets you track matches play by play. Bet365's live betting odds and range of markets are consistently good across the board.

As per Australian betting reulations all live betting must be done over the phone. Live odds can still be displayed online.

So, maybe aside from a few particular matches, Bet365 beats Betfair again.

When you consider Bet365's hundreds of thousands of live streaming options it's pretty clear that Bet365 excels on the live betting front.

As you're probably already aware, Bet365 is winning this fight pretty convincingly but is there an opportunity for Betfair to get some consolation points from this round?

Unfortunately not.

Bet365 has a 24/7 live chat option, Betfair does not

Bet365 has one of the best customer support teams of any betting website. When we contacted them, they were helpful and fast to reply. They are available 24/7 by phone, email or live chat.

Betfair's support staff were also friendly and helpful but you only have two ways to contact them - by phone or via email. This is unfortunate because it means that Betfair loses another round.

You may think that a betting website's customer support options are not as important as some of the other aspects of Bet365 and Betfair that we've talked about in this article but they do give you an indication of how you will be valued as a customer and it's nice to know that help is available should you need it.

After a narrow win in round one, Betfair looked like a strong contender. However, after Bet365 took round 2 and 3 they never looked back going on to win 6 from 7 rounds. Therefore, the undisputed best betting website in Australia, at least according to us, is Bet365.

Round 1: Betting Odds - Betfair

Round 2: Betting Markets - Bet365

Round 3: Betting Apps - Bet365

Round 4: Payment Methods - Bet365

Round 5: Live Streaming - Bet365

Round 6: Live Betting - Bet365

Round 7: Customer Support - Bet365

Each of the categories that we judged these online betting websites by will have a different level of importance for you so your best betting website may well be Bet365, or even some other betting website listed on our homepage. However, for an all-round bookie that excelled in all rounds, Bet365 is definitely the best.

Speaking of personal preferences, other betting websites that you may also like include Unibet, PlayUp and Draftstars - we also reckon they're better than Betfair.