Alderney eGambling licence: how the two-category model works and what the AGCC charges

Category 1 and Category 2 in plain terms

A Category 1 eGambling licence covers the customer relationship: registering and verifying players, contracting with them and holding their funds. A Category 2 licence covers the gambling transaction itself, meaning the operation of the platform where the game is played or the bet struck.

A business can hold one or both. A consumer brand that also runs its own platform takes both categories; a platform company serving several brands takes Category 2 only; and a brand that sits on a licensed Alderney platform may need Category 1 alone. This split is older than the B2C/B2B language now common elsewhere, and it still maps neatly onto how modern casino stacks are built.

Companies based outside Alderney can join through associate certificates: a Category 1 or Category 2 associate certificate lets a foreign-based business work within an Alderney licensee's operation without incorporating on the island. A core services associate certificate covers third parties that provide key services to licensees.

The legal framework and the 2025 amendments

The regime rests on the Alderney eGambling Ordinance 2009 and the Alderney eGambling Regulations 2009, made under the Gambling (Alderney) Law 1999. The AGCC applies them through technical standards, AML/CFT rules and published guidance.

The Alderney eGambling (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026. It adds a definition of "promote" (relevant to who needs a Category 1 licence), sets the customer due diligence trigger at a first deposit of €3,000 in Schedule 4, replaces the Schedule 1 application form and moves the whole application process to digital submission, with no paper originals or bound document sets.

AGCC fees, band by band

The AGCC fee schedule is public. Category 1 fees rise with net gaming yield (NGY) from the second year, capped at £400,000; Category 2 is a flat £35,000 a year after the first.

AGCC published fees (fee schedule in effect since 1 April 2015, checked September 2026)

An investigation deposit is paid with the application to cover the Commission's due diligence; the AGCC lists deposits from £1,000 to £10,000 depending on the application, and consultants quote a larger figure for complex groups. Unused deposit is refunded, overruns are billed.

Tax: why Alderney has no gaming duty line

Alderney charges no gaming duty, betting tax or VAT on eGambling licensees; the annual licence fee is the island's only gambling-specific charge. For tax, Alderney is part of the Guernsey system, where the standard company income tax rate is 0%.

Two limits apply. The 0% company rate depends on residence and on where profits are managed and generated, so a group that runs its business elsewhere will be taxed elsewhere. And, like every offshore licence, Alderney does not remove the gambling taxes of the countries where players live. British players, for instance, require their own GB licence, and HMRC now takes 40% of remote gaming profit on them (details in our UKGC guide).

Servers, hosting certificates and presence

The AGCC regulates where gambling equipment is located. Category 2 equipment is hosted in Alderney or at a location the Commission approves, which is what the hosting certificate is for; Category 1 holders need an Alderney company but not necessarily servers on the island.

Applicants need a locally registered company (associate certificates excepted), directors and key individuals who pass fit-and-proper checks, and a nominated person the Commission can deal with. The AGCC visits and inspects licensees, including their data centres, and tests gambling systems before go-live.

Timeline and process

1. Pre-application discussion with the AGCC on structure and categories.
2. Incorporate the Alderney company (or plan an associate certificate for a foreign entity).
3. Submit the digital application with the investigation deposit: ownership, key individuals, business plan, AML/CFT framework, player protection policies.
4. AGCC due diligence on people and money, plus technical review of the gaming system.
5. Grant, then pre-launch inspection and approval of the live system.

The AGCC does not publish a fixed processing time. Consultants typically quote three to six months, and the fully digital filing introduced on 1 January 2026 removes some of the paperwork delays that applicants used to face.

Running a game library under Alderney rules

Alderney approves the gaming system, not only the company. Games and RNGs offered by a licensee must be tested and certified by an approved testing house, such as GLI, BMM, eCOGRA or iTech Labs, and material changes are notified before release.

Because an Alderney licence is usually one layer in a multi-market set-up, the operational task is to show the right games to the right players. A casino game aggregator API helps by attaching metadata to every title (studio, category, currencies, market) and by taking a country parameter at launch so studio restrictions apply automatically. A seamless wallet leaves balances with the licence holder, which matches the Category 1 duty to hold player funds. Demo games open through a separate getGameDemo call, and live tables from studios such as Evolution or Ezugi connect over the same integration through the live casino API.

When a destination market requires supplier licensing (Great Britain, Malta or several EU states), ask each provider which of its titles are certified for that market; Alderney approval alone does not answer it. Nothing here replaces advice from a Channel Islands lawyer on your own set-up. To compare Alderney with other jurisdictions, open the licence directory.

Questions operators ask about Alderney

Sources and last update

We relied on the AGCC's own fee schedule and on the 2025 amending ordinance, and used adviser summaries only where the Commission publishes no figure (processing time, later associate certificate bands). Checked September 2026.

• Alderney eGambling Ordinance 2009 and Alderney eGambling Regulations 2009 (Gambling (Alderney) Law 1999)
• Alderney eGambling (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, in force 1 January 2026 (States of Alderney Billet d'État, late 2025)
• AGCC fee schedule, effective 1 April 2015 (checked September 2026)
• Guernsey Revenue Service: company standard rate of 0% (Bailiwick regime covering Alderney)
• HM Treasury, UK Budget of 26 November 2025 (Remote Gaming Duty 40% from 1 April 2026)

Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.