Best Free Casino Apps for iPhone: How to Choose

We publish Cashout Arcade, so we are the wrong people to name a winner, and we do not. What we can do is give you the six checks that separate a careful free casino app from a careless one, and show how to run each in a minute from the App Store page. Apply them to every app you try, including ours.

The six checks

1. Age rating

Apple defines simulated gambling as "Betting or wagering without using real money or in-game currency that can be exchanged for real money" and places frequent simulated gambling in its 18+ tier. An app that offers casino-style games with a lower rating is a reason to ask questions. Cashout Arcade is rated 18+ and confirms your age on first launch.

2. Odds disclosure

Apple requires apps that sell randomised items to disclose the odds of each item before purchase. Coin packs are not randomised, so that rule may not apply to them, which is why you should look for odds on the games themselves. A good sign is an app that gives each game a return-to-player figure and states the biggest possible win. Ours does: see the Odds page, where most games return 97%.

3. Spending controls

Look for a limit you can set on yourself. In Cashout Arcade it is a monthly spend limit (the options run from $25 to $500) that blocks purchases above it, plus breaks of 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. You can also set limits at the phone level, which works for any app: see How to Set App Spending Limits on iPhone.

4. Ads and prompts

Open the app and play for ten minutes with a notepad. How often does a purchase screen appear? Are the prompts countdown-driven? Does the app offer ads in exchange for coins, and are they optional? Rewarded ads are optional by design, but a flood of offers is a design choice worth noticing.

5. Privacy

On the App Store page the App Privacy section lists what is collected. Prefer apps that collect less and let you delete your account. Cashout Arcade lets you delete your account in Settings; see the Privacy Policy page for what we collect.

6. What the coins are worth

This is the check that matters most. If the terms say coins cannot be withdrawn, redeemed or exchanged, you are in a social casino. If the app talks about redeeming, prizes or cash, you are in a different legal category: see Social Casino vs Sweepstakes Casino: What Is the Difference? and Can You Win Real Money on Social Casino Apps?.

Real-money apps are different

Real-money gambling apps are a separate product with their own rules: a licence, a location check, an age limit set by law and a real financial risk. They are outside the scope of this page. If you are weighing one, read Social Casino vs Real Money Casino: Key Differences first.

Where Cashout Arcade fits and where it does not

• Fits: adults who want casino-style and arcade games for entertainment, with published odds, a self-set spend limit, breaks and no cash value. Coins can be gained free every day.
• Does not fit: anyone looking for prizes or cash. Anyone recovering from gambling problems. Anyone under 18.

We have 61 games, from table games and slots to cash-out games and carnival-style arcade games; see Games.

Run the checks yourself

Pick two or three apps, run the six checks, and write the answers down. An app that fails check 6 is not a social casino. An app that passes the first five and fails the sixth by being vague is the one to skip.