Anjouan vs Malta Gaming Licence (2026): Speed vs Credibility

Operators shortlisting a licence in 2026 almost always end up with these two on the whiteboard: Anjouan, one of the fastest and cheapest lawful routes into online gaming, and Malta (MGA), one of the most respected credentials in the industry. They sit at opposite ends of the market, and choosing between them is really a choice between two priorities — speed and cost, or credibility and banking. Pick the wrong one and you either overspend by six figures on standing you don’t need, or you stall a serious brand behind a permit its banks won’t respect.

Two questions settle it for most operators: which markets you will serve, and what banking your model needs. This guide puts the two regimes side by side on cost, timeline, substance, banking and market access, using the published regulator fees, so you can see which side your business falls on.

The core trade-off: speed vs credibility

Every difference between these two licences flows from one thing: Malta demands real substance and Anjouan demands none. That single fact sets the cost, the timeline, the banking and the markets you can reach.

An Anjouan gaming licence is granted by the Anjouan Betting & Gaming Board under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act. One permit covers casino, sportsbook, poker, eSports and crypto, there is no local office or resident director, and the applicant company is set up in Costa Rica — so nobody sets foot on the island. That is why it clears in four to eight weeks and costs a flat €17,828 a year.

A Malta licence is the opposite by design. Malta was the first EU member state to regulate remote gaming, and the MGA is still one of the most respected regulators among players, payment providers and tier-1 banks. You pay for that with a Malta company, minimum share capital, local key functions, a compliance/MLRO team and a four-to-six-month fit-and-proper and system-audit process. It is a full-substance, tier-1 regime that expects a working business in Malta.

Anjouan vs Malta at a glance

Here is the head-to-head on the factors operators actually weigh. Note that Malta’s gaming tax (15% for Type 1 and 10% for Types 2–4 from 1 October 2026, and 5% before that) applies only to revenue from Maltese players, so the rest of your base sits outside it. Anjouan levies nothing on gross gaming revenue at all.

What the Anjouan and Malta licences actually cover

The scope of authorisation differs as much as the price. Anjouan is deliberately broad and simple: one B2C permit covers casino, sportsbook, poker, eSports, lotteries and crypto gaming at once, so you don’t license each product separately — and since July 2025, B2B software suppliers and aggregators serving Anjouan operators hold their own B2B licence or Recognition Certificate. The public register now lists more than 1,500 valid licences, which is both a credibility signal and something players and PSPs can verify for themselves.

Malta segments its permits. B2C Gaming Service licences come in four types. Type 1 covers casino and RNG games, Type 2 fixed-odds betting, Type 3 peer-to-peer play (e.g. poker and betting exchanges) and Type 4 controlled skill games, while B2B suppliers hold a Critical Gaming Supply licence. Which types you need drives your share-capital requirement, so the scope decision and the cost decision are the same decision. It’s more granular than Anjouan’s one-permit-covers-everything model, which is part of why the application takes months rather than weeks.

Cost: €17,828 flat vs a six-figure year one

The headline fee understates the gap. Anjouan’s €17,828 is the licence line; the realistic year-one all-in (Costa Rica company, compliance build and payment setup included) lands between €40,000 and €70,000, and it renews cheaply because there is no substance to maintain. Our Anjouan licence cost breakdown itemises exactly where that money goes and separates the official fee from service fees.

Malta stacks up differently at every line. The MGA takes a €5,000 non-refundable application fee and a €25,000 fixed annual B2C fee, then adds a progressive compliance contribution tied to gaming revenue. On top of that you fund share capital of €40,000 to €240,000 depending on licence type, plus local substance, certification and an ongoing compliance function — which is why a Malta launch runs into the low-to-mid six figures for year one before you count gaming tax on Maltese-player revenue (15% / 10% from 1 October 2026, up from 5%). Our Malta gaming licence cost guide models the full economics by licence type.

The tax posture matters as much as the setup. On serious GGR, Malta’s tax on Maltese-player revenue (15% or 10% from 1 October 2026, up from 5%) is modest for an EU regime because the base is narrow. Anjouan’s flat 0% on all gaming revenue is lower still, and for a lean offshore brand the saving compounds fast.

Substance, banking and market access — the real dividing line

Fees are the visible difference. Banking and market access are the ones that decide whether your business actually works.

Malta’s whole value proposition is banking and standing. A tier-1 EU credential opens accounts, PSP relationships and partnerships that a pure offshore permit never will, and its ten-year term gives banks the stability they want to see. If your model needs mainstream European payment rails and regulated-market credibility, that is what the substance and cost buy you.

Anjouan operates in a different lane. It authorises you to run a gambling business rather than granting market access, and Anjouan-licensed operators geo-block regulated markets (the US, UK, and EU-regulated territories such as France, Germany and Spain) plus FATF-blacklisted countries, and run in grey markets with no local regime. Banking is offshore-tier: you work with an EMI or neobank account and, for gambling flows, typically a payment agent incorporated in Cyprus, because mainstream processors all prohibit gambling. The upside is crypto: Anjouan is widely used by crypto casinos and publishes no crypto-specific rulebook, so a crypto-first casino is far simpler here than under Malta’s conservative stance, although you build the Travel Rule and on-chain screening controls yourself.

Anjouan or Malta — which should you pick?

Match the licence to your markets first, then to your banking, then to your budget; taken in that order, the choice is usually clear.

Choose Anjouan if you need to be live fast and cheap, you serve grey markets rather than regulated ones, you run a crypto-first or startup model, or you simply cannot justify a six-figure year one yet. It is the natural first licence: one permit across every vertical, no substance, and a product accepting deposits in weeks. Before you file, read the Anjouan requirements guide so the paperwork is right the first time, since most delays come from incomplete documents rather than from the regulator.

Choose Malta if credibility and tier-1 banking matter more than speed or cost — you’re building a serious, bankable, long-term brand, you need an EU-regulated credential for players and partners, and you can meet the share-capital and substance bar. It is one of the most respected credentials in the industry, and for the right operator it pays for itself in banking and partnerships an offshore permit can’t reach.

For many operators the answer is both, in sequence: launch on Anjouan to prove the brand and generate revenue, then add Malta once tier-1 banking is worth the substance. If you’re already licensed elsewhere and eyeing the switch, our Curaçao-to-Anjouan migration guide and the flagship Anjouan alternative-to-Curaçao guide walk the move. And if you want the full field, the Malta gaming licence service sits alongside our Anjouan desk.

Not sure which column you’re in? We run applications for both, with government cost and our cost shown separately. Book a free consultation and we’ll map the right path against the markets you’ll actually serve.

Iryna H.

Gaming Licensing at Vantegris

Iryna H. is part of the Vantegris team, which prepares and files licence applications across 40+ jurisdictions. This article was reviewed by Vladyslav S. (Compliance & Legal).

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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before acting.