Ladbrokes vs. Sportsbet - Which is the Top Australian Betting Site?

Looking for the best Australian betting site but not sure whether Ladbrokes or Sportsbet deserves your deposit?

Our experts have compared Sportsbet vs Ladbrokes based on 15 different criteria and found that Sportsbet is equal to, or better than, Ladbrokes in most categories - but not all of them.

You can select any of the red links in the table below to read more about each category and why Sportsbet or Ladbrokes got the rating that they did.

So, we recommend Sportsbet overall, but if you have a specific feature or bet that you care about more than anything else then Ladbrokes may still be the bookie for you.

Creating betting accounts with both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet is also a good idea - then you can judge them for yourself.

Ladbrokes and Sportsbet are Australia's two favourite betting sites. They have the most users and are often considered the top betting sites in the country - but which one is better?

Here's what we think:

Ladbrokes is known for its extensive racing offerings but is also popular with sports betting punters. The Ladbrokes name is synonymous with betting around the world and the bookie has been active since 1886.

Ladbrokes beats Sportsbet in a few categories like payment options and same game/race multis but falls slightly behind when it comes to the number of betting markets and the price of odds offered.

In categories like trust, functionality, apps, and for extra features like cash out and tips/stats the two bookies are pretty comparable.

Sportsbet is an Australian betting brand owned by Ireland-based iGaming company Flutter Entertainment. Since it launched in Australia in 1993, the company has dominated the sports and racing betting markets down under - particularly within online betting where they have a 50% market share and over 1.25 million players.

Sportsbet offers slightly higher odds, more individual betting markets, free live streaming, a comprehensive live betting section as well as a number of extra features like 'Bet with Mates' and Best Bet tips.

Continue reading for a full breakdown of each of the categories we used when comparing Ladbrokes vs Sportsbet.

If you are looking for a specific feature, or only really care about a couple of things, then Ladbrokes may still be better than Sportsbet.

Therefore, you can check out our detailed Sportsbet vs Ladbrokes analysis below to decide which bookie is best for you.

Also, know that even though we say that Sportsbet's odds and betting options are generally better than Ladbrokes' there will definitely be situations where Ladbrokes is the best bookie on the day.

Both of these betting sites are also constantly working to improve their products so we'll update this article as things change.

The reality is that both Sportsbet and Ladbrokes have competitive odds. So, one day you may find a better price on Sportsbet for a specific bet, and another day you may find that Ladbrokes is the best choice.

However, after studying the odds we've found that Sportsbet's odds are generally slightly better than Ladbrokes' for both popular and smaller betting markets.

This can be illustrated with a random bet. Sportsbet's overround (or bookmaker margin) is slightly lower than Ladbrokes' (although if you wanted to bet on the Celtics, then Ladbrokes would be your best choice).

Again, for a particular horse or certain bet type, you may find that Ladbrokes beats Sportsbet when it comes to racing odds.

However, generally speaking, Sportsbet's fixed racing odds are better than Ladbrokes - especially for outsiders and 'place' odds.

Ladbrokes also offers Top Fluc, Best Tote & Starting Price odds whereas Sportsbet has only Top Tote and Starting Price odds.

Here's an example of a random Group 1 race where Sportsbet has marginally better overall odds.

In terms of betting variety, both Ladbrokes, and Sportsbet offer markets for 30+ different sports leagues as well as novelty bets for elections, television shows, and awards ceremonies.

However, when it comes to live betting and popular betting markets like the AFL, NRL, EPL, NBA and NFL, Sportsbet tends to have more bets available than Ladbrokes.

You will find unique betting options on both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet, but Sportsbet generally has more of these options for more events than Ladbrokes.

Both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet have markets for all Australian and New Zealand races for all three codes.

Sportsbet, however, has more international racing options, more extra racing markets, and more futures betting choices than Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes does beat Sportsbet for Same Race Multis (more on that later) and they do sometimes offer Pick Your Own Odds options, although Sportsbet still takes the cake in this category.

Both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet have betting apps that are available from the App Store for iOS and the Google Play Store for Android.

We reckon Sportsbet's app is slightly better than Ladbrokes' though, it's a bit faster, a bit more intuitive, and has all the same features and betting options as the Sportsbet website.

Despite this, both apps are quality so don't let this rating put you off using Ladbrokes.

Depositing and withdrawing from your betting account can be a pain point for many Australian punters. Fortunately, both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet offer a range of popular payment methods.

Ladbrokes has three deposit options that Sportsbet doesn't - Flexepin, Pay ID, and Cash - whereas Sportsbet has one deposit option that Ladbrokes doesn't - Apple Pay - and one withdrawal method - Credit Card.

That means that we have to give this category to Ladbrokes - finally!

When it comes to betting live (which due to Australian law must be done over the phone), Sportsbet is the clear winner.

Sportsbet offers fast live betting options with their 'Quick Code', along with detailed stats to help you make informed bets and even live racing betting for certain meets if you miss the jump.

Ladbrokes, on the other hand, has limited live betting options with very few extra features to make the live betting experience better - but you still may find that some of their live betting options aren't on Sportsbet.

When it comes to customer support, both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet have 24/7 live chat, email, phone, and even post options.

If we had to pick a winner, which I guess is the whole point of this article, we would say Ladbrokes is slightly better but only because the interactions that we had were a bit more friendly than with Sportsbet.

Still, both betting sites offer quality customer service options.

Again, the functionality and ease of use for both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet are great. Their sites and apps load quickly, are intuitive and both have a menu and 'search' options which makes finding your bets easy.

We'd say that Sportsbet is marginally better in this category because, on mobile, the menu remains in the top corner of the site whereas on Ladbrokes' mobile website you only get the 'search' option.

However, both new and experienced punters will be happy either way.

Ladbrokes has been active in Australia since 2013 but the company was originally founded way back in 1886. Sportsbet has been operating in Australia since 1993.

These two bookies are Australia's biggest, both are fully licensed and regulated and both use 2048 bit encryption technology for payments and account information.

While you can definitely trust both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet, we'll give this one to Sportsbet because they've been around in Australia for longer and because they have over 1.25 million Aussie players.

Both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet have pretty comparable cash out options. Cash out is only available for bigger leagues and events - think NBA, NFL, AFL, NRL, and EPL as well as certain tennis matches, golf tours etc.

Annoyingly, Ladbrokes doesn't display which markets are eligible for cash out until after you've placed your bet, so for this category, we'll give Sportsbet the win.

Unfortunately, neither bookies offer automatic or partial cash out options.

Same race multis, or the ability to combine multiple single racing bets into one larger one for an increased payout, are becoming increasingly popular in Australia.

Both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet have this feature for Australian races but Ladbrokes offers Same Race Multis days before the jump, as well as unique blended multi options making your bets even more customizable.

Sportsbet's same race multi options are only available the day before, or the day of a race, and they have no 'blended' multi-feature.

While both Sportsbet and Ladbrokes offer Same Game Multis, Ladbrokes has more Same Game Multi options for more sports.

Ladbrokes has Same Game Multis for NBA, NFL, AFL, NRL, Cricket, Tennis, and Soccer whereas Sportsbet just has them for NBA, NFL, AFL, NRL, and Soccer.

In the category of live streaming, Sportsbet is the clear winner.

At this stage, Ladbrokes has no live streaming options whereas Sportsbet offers free NZ, Australian and UK live racing streams along with a variety of sports streams for the NBA, tennis, and several other sports.

Finally, when we consider the extra features available from both Ladbrokes and Sportsbet, we can see that both sites offer more than most bookies.

Some of Sportsbet's biggest extra features include their Best Bet tips for racing, their racing Blackbook, their stats, previews, and insights for bigger racing and sports markets, and their new social 'Bet with Mates' feature.

Ladbrokes also has previews, stats, and predictions for certain races and sports as well as an Easy Form selector.

So, overall both have some unique features to improve the betting experience, but it's hard to compete with Sportsbet's dominance here.