Best DFS Sites and Daily Fantasy Apps in 2024

There are several great DFS sites that are completely legal and licensed in the USA, all of which provide plenty of exciting gameplay opportunities. Whether you want to draft fantasy teams from the NFL or NBA, these top operators will provide a wealth of contests to suit all tastes and budgets.

Above, you’ll find details for the best DFS apps available to US players. As you’ll see, all options provide a generous welcome bonus to new players that can be wagered on many types of contests. By reading this review, you’ll learn exactly why these options are high-quality and trustworthy.

Only Choose Licensed Daily Fantasy Sports Sites

The only way to guarantee your safety while competing in DFS competitions online is to only gamble with licensed daily fantasy apps. In order to earn a license, these sites must prove to official gaming regulators that they meet strict standards when it comes to fairness, security, and responsible gambling practices.

Offshore and unlicensed operators cannot guarantee your safety, nor can you be certain that you’ll always receive your owed payouts if you play with these sites. Fortunately, the licensed sites that we have recommended here are extremely experienced and have strong reputations for offering popular contests on reliable platforms.

Our Criteria

To ensure that all of our recommendations meet our high standards, we grade all daily fantasy sites according to standard grading criteria. We have considered a range of factors when reviewing them, including their contest options, sports leagues, and welcome bonuses. These tend to be the most important elements for most players so they’re the first things we look at.

We have also looked at elements that have a strong impact on the user experience, such as the sites’ mobile platforms and payment options. Of course, safety and security are a major priority too, so we’ve also ensured that each DFS site holds licenses and have a proven commitment to player satisfaction.

DFS Welcome Bonuses

As a new player at daily fantasy sports sites, you’ll be entitled to receive a welcome bonus. These come in many forms and can include a match on your first deposit, free contest tokens, and site credits. It’s important to note, though, that each operator will have their own terms and conditions to consider before claiming the bonus.

In all cases, you will need to meet minimum first deposit requirements. For example, a deposit match bonus that awards 100% in funds up to $100 may require that you deposit $10 to be eligible for this offer. You may also have to spend these funds within a validity period.

Even the best DFS sites may include restrictions on how your bonuses can be used. For example, your credits may only be able to be spent on certain contest modes or even sports categories. Your wins from these credits may also be capped at a certain rate too.

It’s essential to read the terms and conditions of each bonus before you claim it to ensure that it will suit your needs and that you can reasonably convert them into real money. Nevertheless, we were pleased to find that all of our recommended sites have very fair terms and these offers are generous.

What are Daily Fantasy Sports?

Daily fantasy sports are a special type of online contest that requires participants to draft fantasy lineups of players from one league to compete against other contestants. There are many types of fantasy contests available that have varying formats and rules, and contests can last for as short as a day and as long as a regular season.

In more traditional contests, you will earn fantasy points based on the real-life performances of your chosen players, with the top-scoring contestants at the end of the contest period earning a share of a cash prize pool. Unlike sports betting, these games are between players and not the house and are the perfect gaming option for sports lovers.

The Best Sites for Fantasy Sports

Now that you’re familiar with the basics of DFS gameplay, we want to explain a little more about our recommended daily fantasy sports apps. There’s a strong chance that you’ve heard of some of these platforms even if you’re completely new to the activity due to their strong reputations for quality.

DraftKings

At the top of our list of the best DFS sites is DraftKings. Launched in 2012, DraftKings is now one of the most popular DFS platforms in the world. The site offers a wealth of interesting contest modes for 11 different sports, including NFL, NBA, Golf, and UFC.

New DFS players can claim a generous deposit match bonus, and you have the option to compete in daily contests or season-long contests. The scoring system is simple and straightforward, and as a popular operator, prize pools can exceed $100,000. The statistics are also accurate and are based on the site’s sports betting odds.

FanDuel

Established in 2009, FanDuel is one of the most popular and experienced fantasy betting sites in the USA. You can play both daily and season-long contests with this site, and there are plenty of sports options to choose from. You can draft players from the Big Four US leagues as well as several other sports.

One of the strongest features of FanDuel is its web platform. Whether you’re playing on your mobile or desktop, the interface is extremely attractive and easy to navigate. The site provides contests with varying buy-ins, so you’ll be able to find an ideal option to suit your budget.

Yahoo DFS

Since 2015, the Yahoo Daily Fantasy Sports site has been attracting users with its generous prize pools and diverse contest modes. You can either compete in established leagues or create your own contests with your friends and colleagues, with daily and seasonal competitions available for many sports.

The available sports include MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, golf, and soccer. While there aren’t as many sports supported as FanDuel and DraftKings, this site excels at what it does provide. You can download a mobile app for on-the-go drafting, and there are several payment options supported for easy transactions.

ParlayPlay

We have recommended ParlayPlay as one of the best daily fantasy apps due to the fact it is so unique. It provides two contest modes in the form of Hit It and More/Less, whereby contestants play against the house by making predictions about player props.

This creates a fun blend of DFS and sports betting that is extremely simple yet potentially rewarding. The site has been optimized for mobile play. If you’re looking for more traditional styles of gameplay, there are free contest modes for DFS that can offer a great chance to practice.

PrizePicks

PrizePicks is another site that provides an interesting and exciting take on traditional DFS gameplay. In standard contest modes, participants are to choose between two and six stats for players that are competing in an upcoming league game. For example, in the NBA, this could be a player’s points or assists.

You can then select whether they will score over or under the projected amounts and enter your stakes beside each selection. The more players you choose, the higher your potential payouts, with up to 25X your stake available to win. There are a variety of sports to choose from, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and college sports.

How to Sign Up

No matter which of the best DFS apps you choose to sign up with, you’ll find the registration process to be fast, convenient, and easy. Before you begin, you’ll need to ensure that you meet the minimum age requirement to join. These will differ in each state and will be between 18 and 21 years old.

When you click to join, you’ll need to provide your personal details and submit a copy of your ID to prove that you meet the age requirements. You’ll then be asked to make a first deposit. Be sure to transfer enough to meet the bonus terms and conditions. Once this process is complete, you’ll be free to join or create a DFS contest.

Available Contests at the Best DFS Sites

Depending on which site you sign up with, there will be a variety of contest modes that you can play. These will vary greatly in terms of how you draft players, score points, and receive payouts. In this section, we’ve explained several of these contest modes so you’re prepared when it comes time to draft.

Guaranteed Prize Pools (GPP)

Guaranteed Prize Pool contests are a common type of competition that is offered at major sites such as DraftKings, Yahoo DFS, or FanDuel. These will set a gradient payout structure with fixed payout amounts. For example, an NFL GPP could see $100,000 awarded to first place, $30,000 awarded to second, and $10,000 awarded to third. Roughly 20 percent of players will receive a payout.

Unlike other contest types, these prizes won’t be affected by how many players participate and, as the name suggests, are guaranteed payouts. These contests can be single-entry or multi-entry, which means that individual players can submit several lineups in one competition by paying multiple entry fees.

Cash Games

A cash game contest is one that pays out players that finish in the top half of scorers, with roughly double your entry fee paid out no matter what your final position is. The best way to look at this is that the top scorers will receive the entry fees of the bottom scorers.

This type of contest may be less research intensive than GPP games, nor does it require players to make riskier picks that others may not select. Contest modes that are considered to be cash games include Head-to-Heads, 50/50s, and double-up, and are a great way to build up your bankroll.

Season Long Contests

This traditional fantasy sports contest mode requires players to draft their teams from a league at the beginning of a season and manage their selections until the final game. In most cases, you may only be able to trade one player a week and make minor adjustments. Due to their length, these are very research-intensive competitions best left to experienced players.

Daily or Weekly Contests

The best daily fantasy sites got their start by offering daily or weekly contests. Rather than managing a lineup over a season, your teams will only last for a duration of a round. Once this round is finished, top scorers will be paid out and you’ll need to re-draft a team. Players’ costs will therefore change each week depending on their recent statistics.

Salary Cap Contests

The most common form of DFS contests is a salary cap contest. This will see contestants given the same amount of money each week to build their lineups from one sports league. Player costs will be based on their statistics, so contestants will need to choose from a mix of safe and underdogs to stay within budget.

Snake Drafts

In a snake draft, contestants will take turns one-by-one to draft their lineups rather than build a team simultaneously according to salary. The order that players draft will be reversed every round to maintain fairness. The number of rounds will depend on the contest, so if there are 10 players to draft, there will be 10 rounds.

Head-to-Head

A Head-to-Head contest is a special mode that sees one contestant compete against another. Whoever’s lineup receives more points will win both entry fees minus the site’s rake. This is a version of a cash game, whereby half of the players receive winnings. This is a great competition to play against friends, though the prize pools will be smaller.

Free Contests

Most of the best daily fantasy sports sites will give you the option to compete in free contests. As the name suggests, these contests are free to enter and will follow the same standard rules as regular contest modes. In most cases, you won’t receive a payout, but there are sometimes exceptions to this. This provides a great chance for newcomers to practice.

Tips and Strategies for DFS

One of the most important things to consider before you play DFS is that research is essential for successful and consistent performances. Although the platforms will supply their own statistics and player overviews to consider, we recommend reading blogs, reading pundit advice, and watching games to formulate a deeper knowledge of the player pool.

Be sure to keep your eye on updates for players and injuries in the lead-up to games, and make adjustments to your lineups right up until the contest closes if need be. You can also employ online lineup pickers to formulate your picks, though we suggest using these only to create a foundation to customize as needed.

Be sure to stay up to date with DFS advice from reputable sources too, such as the daily blogs provided by DraftKings. For more information and tips on how to be successful in playing fantasy sports, consider this helpful video.

Top DFS Sports

There are many sports leagues that are supported at our top DFS sites, with a varying number of contest modes available for each. You will always be able to draft teams for the Big Four US Sports Leagues, in addition to soccer, golf, tennis, and more. We’ve explained the most popular options below.

NFL

The most popular sports league to play at daily fantasy sports sites is NFL due to the league’s immense popularity in the USA. You’ll always be able to find single games and tournaments for games, with classic contest modes and Captain modes a particularly exciting opportunity.

You’ll earn fantasy football points based on the performances of your offense and defense, and in many cases, you’ll need to draft players to fill a set number of required positions. In most contests, there will be a salary cap to draft within. The benefit of NFL DFS is that there are always games and a wealth of information to consider to help your picks.

NBA

You’ll always be able to find contests for the National Basketball League. One of the best qualities of NBA DFS is that the scoring system is particularly simple and drafting requirements can be less restrictive than other leagues. The tournaments can be especially rewarding at major sites, with huge prizes up for grabs.

This is the second most popular contest mode after NFL, with salary cap contests being the most popular method to draft lineups. When drafting players from NBA teams, there are plenty of advantages to stacking your teams and there are correlations between assists and point scoring.

MLB

Another exciting league to enjoy DFS on is Major League Baseball. This is widely offered at sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel, with snake and salary cap contests on offer. You’ll be able to draft lineups of players from at least two games, with both cash games and GPPs to enjoy.

Like NFL contests, many modes require you to draft positions of both pitchers and hitters as well as infielders and outfielders, with some giving the option to draft FLEX positions and captains to generate more points. These contests aren’t as popular as NBA or NFL though still generate a lot of interest.

NHL

Daily fantasy sports contests for the National Hockey League are extremely diverse at DraftKings and FanDuel. You’ll be able to compete in both daily and seasonal contests. You can create your own contests with your friends, play head-to-head against another contestant, or compete in season-long Best Ball contests.

You will score points for things like hits, RBIs, runs scored, and home runs. Pitchers will also be scored for strikeouts and other gameplay achievements. Some contests have prize pools exceeding $400,000, so these contests can be hugely rewarding for well-placed users.

Other Sports

If you’re looking for alternatives to the Big Four Leagues, our top DFS sites have you covered. Depending on where you choose to play, you can have over a dozen different leagues and sports to draft from. Popular alternatives include PGA Golf, UFC, soccer, Formula 1, and NASCAR.

While these other sports may not have as many contest modes to choose from as the Big Four sports, you’ll always be able to enjoy Classic modes and Showdowns. There will be varying opportunities depending on where and when you play for earning big payouts, though major events can generate plenty of player interest and larger prizes.

Deposits and Withdrawals

When you play at licensed daily fantasy sports sites, you’ll be able to make deposits and withdrawals with several different payment methods. These include credit and debit cards, eWallets, mobile payments, bank transfers, and mobile payments. Commonly accepted methods include:

• PayPal
• Visa and Mastercard
• Apple Pay and Google Pay
• Bank Transfer
• Paysafecard

It’s important to note that there will be varying transaction features for each method. For example, while all deposits will be processed instantly, withdrawal times will vary. EWallets such as PayPal tend to have the fastest withdrawal times. The minimum deposit amount will usually be between $10 and $20.

Mobile Play

The best daily fantasy sports apps have created mobile platforms to allow for fast and easy drafting. You can download native apps for both iOS and Android devices for all of our top platforms, and you’ll even be able to create an account and make transactions from these.

The primary advantage of using the mobile platform is that you can draft your lineups while on the go, which is especially important when adjusting lineups before contests close. Successful drafting requires you to adapt quickly, and mobile apps will allow you to do this seamlessly.

Safety and Security

We have guaranteed that all of these sites are safe and secure by confirming that they have been approved by gaming regulators across the USA. This is especially important for any site that processes regular payments, which in the cases of our recommended sites are protected by SSL encryption.

DFS gameplay also benefits from transparency and guaranteed wins for a set number of players. This fairness is one of the activities’ great qualities and indicates a trustworthy site. These operators will also collaborate with responsible gambling organizations to ensure that vulnerable players are protected.

Legality of DFS in the USA

There are only five states that have declared DFS to be illegal.

These include Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington. However, there are some states that have unclear laws around the activity, which has resulted in operators not serving players in these states. These states include Arizona, Alabama, Iowa, and Louisiana.

The activity is restricted in these states as they consider it to be gambling. Some states have created carve-outs in their law to declare DFS to be a game of skill and therefore, not gambling. However, many have not addressed the matter at all, and gameplay continues to be tolerated in a legal gray area.

This does not mean that the activity is restricted though, and unless you are in a state where DFS is explicitly illegal, players will never be at risk of penalties for playing. As we have mentioned, each state will have varying minimum age requirements for DFS that must be considered.

Daily Fantasy Sports vs. Sports Betting – The Differences

There are many differences between daily fantasy sports and traditional sports betting that make these two entirely different activities. While both appeal to sports fans and require plenty of research and dedication, DFS requires players to pay an entry fee to draft lineups of players. They then score based on players’ real-life performances.

In sports betting, you are to back outcomes from a sports game, such as which team will win or how many points a player may score. You are also competing against other peers in DFS, while sports betting is against the house. Sports betting is also illegal in half of US states, while DFS is available in over 40 states.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are looking for quick answers to your queries about daily fantasy sports, keep reading. In this section, we’ve provided concise responses to the most commonly asked questions about DFS and the best sites that offer it. We’ve addressed these topics in further detail throughout this guide, so be sure to head to the relevant sections if you want more information.