Decision guide // Nevis vs Anjouan

Nevis vs Anjouan Gaming License

Both are cheap offshore licences. Only one of them actually gets you banked. Here is the honest trade.

Head to head // the axes that matter

	NevisThe modern, bankable budget licence	AnjouanThe cheapest, fastest licence
First-year cost	~€34,400 base (€28,000/yr licence + formation + reporting officer).	€27.5k to €48k (€17,828/yr all-inclusive licence).
Time to live	8 to 12 weeks end to end (NOGA targets 4 to 6 from a complete file).	2 to 4 weeks from a complete file.
Reputation & legal standing	FATF-whitelisted (via CFATF). Modern 2025 Ordinance, written with Curacao's mistakes in mind. Credible.	Contested. Comoros national law prohibits gambling, the regime is not centrally recognised, and the licence is scam-associated.
Banking & card acquiring	The selling point. FATF-compliant and marketed as broadly PSP-accepted, including card processors. Genuinely bankable.	Hard. The reputation overlay makes acquirers wary, so most operators run crypto-first.
Substance	A Nevis-resident Reporting Officer. No physical office, local directors, or local staff required.	One Key Person / Compliance Officer authorisation. Similarly light.
Tax	0% on gaming revenue, offshore corporate income, and VAT.	0% on gaming revenue, corporate income, and VAT.
Restricted markets	Excludes the US, UK, Australia, and Tier-1 EU (France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands) plus FATF-blacklisted.	Excludes the US, UK, Australia, Comoros, and most of Western Europe plus FATF-blacklisted.
Best for	Operators who want real banking and credibility on an offshore budget.	Speed-and-cost-first operators who can run crypto-first.

Anjouan wins on price and speed. Nevis wins on the two rows that decide whether a licence is worth holding: legal standing and banking. The jurisdictions are close enough on cost that the decision is really about credibility and payments, not price.

The deciding axis // banking

The single biggest difference is not in the fee table, it is FATF status. Nevis, through St Kitts & Nevis, sits on the FATF whitelist. Anjouan does not, and its legal basis is contested at national level. To an acquiring bank, that is the difference between a yes and a no. It is why Nevis is marketed on card acquiring and Anjouan operators end up crypto-first.

FATF

Nevis (St Kitts & Nevis) is whitelisted via CFATF. Anjouan is not. This single fact drives most of the banking gap.

Cards

Nevis is marketed as card-acquiring friendly. Anjouan operators mostly end up crypto-first.

~€10k

The rough first-year premium for Nevis over a lean Anjouan setup. Small, against the conversion it can save.

+1-2 mo

The extra time Nevis takes. The trade is weeks and a little money for a licence that actually banks.

So if your hesitation about Anjouan is the payments problem, Nevis is the targeted fix: a small premium and a few extra weeks for a licence that banks. The wider ranking is in which gaming licence actually gets you banked, and the Anjouan reality is in the Anjouan guide.

The verdict // which one for you

Nevis wins for you if

Clean card acquiring and real banking matter to your model.
You want a credible, FATF-compliant jurisdiction without Curacao's cost.
You can wait 8 to 12 weeks and carry ~€28,000 a year.
Your partners or players care that the licence is recognised.

Anjouan wins for you if

Rock-bottom cost and 2-to-4-week speed are the binding constraints.
You are crypto-native, or comfortable running crypto-first.
Your markets are tolerant of a bottom-tier offshore licence.
You accept the reputation and banking trade-off with eyes open.

If you are also weighing the more established option, see Curacao vs Anjouan and the Curacao guide. If your markets are Tier-1 regulated, none of these three fit, and that is a Malta or local-licence conversation.

Get the answer for your specific case

The two-minute qualification reads your markets, budget and payment mix, then tells you which of these actually fits, what it really costs, and what your banking setup looks like, before you commit. If the honest answer is neither, it tells you that too.

Matching is free, with an optional managed service from £2,490 (one track) to £4,990 (the full journey). The provider pays our referral, never you.

Start the free fit check

Common questions

Is Nevis or Anjouan cheaper?

Anjouan is cheaper on the licence fee (around €17,828 a year all-inclusive, against €28,000 for Nevis), and a lean Anjouan year-one can land near €21,000 to €23,000. Nevis year-one is roughly €34,400 base. The gap is real but modest, on the order of €10,000, and Nevis buys you credibility and banking for it.

Is Nevis or Anjouan faster?

Anjouan, clearly. A clean Anjouan file issues in two to four weeks. Nevis runs eight to twelve weeks end to end, though NOGA targets four to six from a complete submission. If raw speed is the only thing that matters, Anjouan wins.

Which is better for getting banked and processing cards?

Nevis, and it is not close. Nevis is FATF-whitelisted and is marketed specifically on banking and PSP acceptance, including card processors. Anjouan's contested legal basis and reputation make acquirers wary, so most Anjouan operators run crypto-first. If card acquiring matters to you, Nevis is the answer to Anjouan's biggest weakness.

Is the Nevis gaming licence legit?

Yes. It is issued by the Nevis Online Gaming Authority (NOGA) under the Nevis Online Gaming Ordinance 2025, in a FATF-whitelisted jurisdiction, with a modern framework built to avoid Curacao's problems (no sublicensing, individual accountability, annual audits). It is one of the more credible affordable offshore licences in 2026. Figures and exact regulator naming vary across sources as the framework is new, so confirm current fees directly.

Nevis or Anjouan, which should I choose?

Choose Nevis if real banking, card acquiring, and a credible licence matter, and you can wait a little longer and pay a small premium. Choose Anjouan if rock-bottom cost and two-to-four-week speed are the binding constraints and you can run crypto-first. In short: Nevis is the small upgrade that fixes Anjouan's banking problem.

Sources & verification

Verified 9 June 2026. Nevis figures from the Nevis Online Gaming Authority (NOGA) framework under the Nevis Online Gaming Ordinance 2025 and named-industry sources (igamingcompliance, GBO, SBSB, Gofaizen & Sherle); the Nevis framework is new and figures and exact regulator naming vary across sources, so confirm current fees directly. Anjouan figures from the Meridian Anjouan guide, with its contested legal basis from the 2024 FATF Mutual Evaluation of the Comoros. FATF status (Nevis whitelisted via CFATF, Anjouan not) is the key banking differentiator. This page is positioning and qualification content, not legal advice.