Pay Per Head Pricing Guide 2026: Real Costs
By GameDay PPH · Updated: June 17, 2026
Pay per head pricing is a flat weekly fee per active player, usually $7 to $15 depending on features, often with a small weekly minimum. GameDay charges $9 (Basic) or $13 (Pro) per active player per week, with a $100 weekly minimum and no casino cut. A 40-player Basic book costs $360 a week.
What pay per head pricing really means
Pay per head pricing is simple on the surface: you pay a flat weekly fee for each active player who uses your sportsbook that week. Most of the market sits somewhere between $7 and $15 per active player per week, depending on the features included and the plan you actually need. If a player does not bet in a given week, you are not charged for them. Your bill tracks real activity.
The surface is where the simplicity ends. The headline rate is the number providers advertise, and it is rarely the number that decides your real cost. This guide walks through the parts that actually move your bill: the per-head rate, the weekly minimum, the casino cut, and what “active player” means. Then it shows worked examples by book size so you can estimate your own.
The per-head rate
This is the advertised price, the dollar figure per active player per week. A higher rate usually buys more: live betting, a prop builder, a dedicated account manager, better support. A lower rate often means a stripped plan, slower support, or a site that stutters on a busy day.
GameDay keeps two plans so the choice is clear:
- Basic: $9 per active player per week. Sportsbook, digital casino, horse racing, player management, reports, and English and Spanish support.
- Pro: $13 per active player per week. Everything in Basic plus live betting, the Prop Builder, and a dedicated account manager.
Both include the casino with zero platform cut, and there are no setup fees, contracts, or cancellation fees. Compare the rate against what is bundled, not in isolation. A $7 plan that charges extra for the casino or for live betting can cost more than a $9 plan that includes both.
The weekly minimum
Almost every provider sets a small weekly minimum so a tiny book is still worth supporting. GameDay’s is $100 a week. It matters only for small books: at $9 per player, you reach $100 at about eleven active players (eleven players is $99, twelve is $108). Below that, you pay the $100 minimum regardless of how few players were active.
So a book with five active players still pays $100 that week, not $45. This is not a trick; it is how providers keep small accounts sustainable. The practical takeaway: the per-head rate only becomes your true rate once you are past the minimum, which for most growing books happens quickly.
The casino cut: the line item that costs the most
Here is the part that separates an honest price from an expensive one. Some providers quote a low per-head rate, then take a percentage of your casino winnings on top, often around 10%. The casino is frequently where a real share of an agent’s profit comes from, so that percentage is not a rounding error. It is a recurring tax on your best revenue.
Work the math. Say your players lose $5,000 in the casino in a single week. A provider taking a 10% casino cut keeps $500 of that. Across a month (×4.33) that is about $2,165, every month, on the casino alone, on top of the per-head fee. On GameDay the casino cut is zero, so that money stays with you. When you compare providers, add the casino percentage to the per-head rate before you decide which one is actually cheaper.
What counts as an “active player”
An active player is one who placed at least one wager during the billing week. A player on your roster who sat out the week is not billed. This is why the model fits seasonal action: your bill drops in slow weeks and rises when everyone is betting. When you compare quotes, confirm each provider defines “active” the same way, since a provider that bills on logins or on your full roster will cost more than one that bills on actual wagers.
Worked cost examples by book size
Here is what you would actually pay on GameDay, by number of active players. Weekly is the per-head rate times active players (or the $100 minimum, whichever is higher). Monthly multiplies the weekly figure by 4.33.
| Active players | Basic ($9) weekly | Basic monthly | Pro ($13) weekly | Pro monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $100 (min) | about $433 | $130 | about $563 |
| 15 | $135 | about $585 | $195 | about $844 |
| 25 | $225 | about $974 | $325 | about $1,407 |
| 40 | $360 | about $1,559 | $520 | about $2,252 |
| 75 | $675 | about $2,923 | $975 | about $4,222 |
| 100 | $900 | about $3,897 | $1,300 | about $5,629 |
Read it across, not down: the same book costs more on Pro because Pro adds live betting, the Prop Builder, and an account manager. If your players bet live and want custom props, Pro usually pays for itself. If they bet straight sides and totals, Basic covers it.
How GameDay pricing compares
Most of the category lands in a similar per-head range. The difference shows up in what is bundled and what is skimmed. Two things consistently move the real cost in GameDay’s favor.
First, the casino is included with no cut, so your best revenue stays yours. Second, the price is flat: no setup fee, no contract, no cancellation fee, and the trial needs no card. A provider with a slightly lower sticker rate but a 10% casino cut and a setup fee usually ends up more expensive once you run a full month through it. The honest way to settle it is to put your own action through both for a week.
How to estimate your own cost in 30 seconds
- Count your active players in a normal week.
- Multiply by $9 (Basic) or $13 (Pro).
- If the result is under $100, use $100.
- Multiply the weekly figure by 4.33 for a monthly estimate.
- If you are comparing another provider, add their casino percentage to their per-head rate first.
For example, a 30-player Basic book: 30 times $9 is $270 a week, above the minimum, so about $1,169 a month. The pricing page has a calculator that does this for you and shows the casino savings side by side.
Is pay per head worth the cost?
For an independent agent, the alternative to a per-head fee is building and running your own sportsbook: developers, design, hosting, an odds feed, support staff, and the ongoing job of keeping it all online during game day. That runs into real money and months of time before you take a single bet. Pay per head turns that into a predictable weekly cost that scales with your action. For most agents, that trade is the entire reason the model exists.
The cost is also tied to revenue, not fixed overhead. A slow week costs less. A busy week, when you are making more, costs more in raw dollars but stays the same per player. That alignment is what makes the model survivable for small books and worthwhile for large ones.
Try it on your own numbers
The fastest way to know your real cost is to run it. With GameDay the first month is free with no card, migration is free, and most agents are live in about 48 hours. Start your free month, or open the pricing calculator to estimate your weekly and monthly cost and see the casino savings against a provider that takes a cut. New to the model? Start with what pay per head is. Weighing a switch? See how GameDay stacks up on the comparison pages.
Frequently asked questions
How much does pay per head cost?
Most providers charge a flat weekly fee per active player, usually $7 to $15 depending on features. GameDay is $9 on Basic and $13 on Pro, with a $100 weekly minimum on small books and no casino cut. A 40-player Basic book costs $360 a week, about $1,559 a month.
What is the cheapest pay per head?
The lowest sticker rate is rarely the cheapest in practice. A low per-head rate paired with a casino percentage or a stripped feature set often costs more than a flat plan that includes the casino. Add any casino cut to the per-head rate before comparing, and run a full week through it.
Is there a setup fee for pay per head?
With GameDay there are no setup fees, no contracts, and no cancellation fees, and the free trial needs no card. Some providers do charge setup or per-feature fees, so confirm the total, not just the headline rate.
What is a per-head weekly minimum?
A small floor on your weekly bill so very small books are still simple to support. GameDay’s is $100 a week, which affects books with roughly eleven active players or fewer on Basic. Past that, you pay purely per active player.
Do I pay for inactive players?
No. You are billed only for players who placed at least one wager during the week. A player who sat out is not charged, so your bill drops in slow weeks.
What is the casino cut and why does it matter?
It is a percentage of your casino winnings that some providers take on top of the per-head rate, often around 10%. Since the casino is often a big share of profit, that cut can cost thousands a month. GameDay’s casino cut is zero.
How do I calculate my monthly cost?
Multiply active players by your per-head rate for the weekly cost (or use the $100 minimum if lower), then multiply the weekly figure by 4.33 for a monthly estimate. The pricing page calculator does this automatically.
Basic or Pro: which should I pick?
Pick Pro if your players bet live or want custom props, since it adds live betting, the Prop Builder, and an account manager. Pick Basic if they bet straight sides and totals. Both include the casino with no cut.