What you get for €17,828
A single B2C licence that, according to the regulator's own licence-types page, covers online casino, sports betting, poker, bingo, prediction markets, blockchain-based platforms and crypto-enabled operations. B2B suppliers hold a separate licence or, since 1 July 2025, a Recognition Certificate at €9,500 a year. Extra domains cost €500 each. The fee schedule states that all fees are non-refundable and "subject to periodic review".
The regulator publishes the fee but not a breakdown. Licensing firms describe the same money as roughly €13,300 licence plus €1,700 due diligence for up to four beneficial owners plus €2,000 a year per authorised key person. With an Anjouan international business company and a service provider's fee, a realistic first-year budget is €22,000 to €25,000. Zero gaming tax and zero corporate tax on international operations are what every firm reports; the regulator itself publishes no tax page, so we treat those figures as market practice rather than statute.
The two facts that decide whether it works for you
Banking. Stripe, PayPal, Adyen, Checkout.com and Worldpay decline Anjouan licensees. The processors that do accept them are offshore high-risk PSPs charging in the region of 8% to 12%, against 2% to 3% for a tier-one licence. Most Anjouan operators run primarily on crypto rails for that reason. If your target market pays by card and bank transfer and your margin cannot absorb a 10% processing line, the licence fee is the wrong number to optimise.
Standing. In June 2022 the Central Bank of the Comoros issued a communiqué listing the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority among "fictitious structures". The Ministry of Finance republished it in December 2025, and an ABC News investigation on 31 December 2025 quoted a former Comorian attorney-general calling the licensing company an illegal entity. The regulator continued to operate through all of this and reported more than 1,650 licences issued and close to 1,500 active on 14 July 2026. Game studios and PSPs keep accepting the licence. But a bank compliance officer who searches the name will find the communiqué, and you should have your answer ready before they ask.
Since Curaçao changed the rules
Curaçao's LOK came into force on 24 December 2024, the old sub-licences expired by 31 January 2025, and the Curaçao Gaming Authority said on 1 July 2025 that Curaçao-registered entities may not operate under a foreign licence, Anjouan included. Curaçao now costs about €47,450 a year in licence and supervision fees plus €4,592 to apply. Anjouan costs €17,828. That gap, more than anything else, is what has been driving applications. Vendors claim that most operators who left Curaçao went to Anjouan; that is marketing, and nobody has published the numbers. What is verifiable is the regulator's own count.
Application file
- Certified incorporation documents, articles and shareholder register, with the ownership chain traced to every ultimate beneficial owner.
- Passport and proof of address for directors, UBOs and key persons; sanctions, PEP and adverse-media screening on each.
- Financial standing: bank references, source of funds, audited statements where they exist.
- Key Person Authorisation for the compliance role; AML, KYC and responsible-gaming policies.
- The domains you intend to use, since only approved domains may carry the licence.
- After issue: quarterly compliance reports (the Q1 2026 report was due 30 April 2026) and notification of any material change.
No local office, resident director or local staff is required. Whether servers must sit in Anjouan is the one point where sources disagree: one provider says player databases must be hosted on the island, the rest list no server rule, and the regulator publishes none. Get it in writing in your licence conditions.
Timeline
The regulator gives no figure and says it depends on the completeness of the file. Firms quote two to eight weeks; the fast end assumes your KYC pack is ready and the UBOs are uncomplicated. Enforcement is real if intermittent: a licence was suspended pending investigation on 10 February 2026, a revised Certificate Verification Framework took effect on 1 April 2026, and the regulator publishes termination notices by name.
How we use it
For crypto-first brands and grey-market launches where speed matters more than card acquiring, Anjouan is usually our recommendation, paired with a crypto casino or white label sportsbook build. We handle the IBC, the file and the B2B Recognition Certificates for the game suppliers you pick, and we tell you upfront which PSPs have onboarded Anjouan brands this year rather than which ones are "in evaluation".
Questions operators ask
Is Anjouan better than Curaçao now?
Cheaper and faster, yes. Better recognised, no. Curaçao under the LOK is a real regulator with a real register and costs almost three times as much. If you need EU-facing PSPs to take you seriously, Curaçao or a Malta B2B route is the safer money.
Do my game providers need anything from Anjouan?
Yes. Since 1 July 2025 every supplier to an Anjouan licensee needs its own B2B licence or a Recognition Certificate (€9,500 a year). Most large aggregators already hold one; ask before you sign.
Can I take players from Canada, LatAm or Asia?
Anywhere that does not require a local licence and is not on the restricted list. Ontario, for instance, requires its own licence; Brazil now does too. Check market by market rather than assuming "offshore" means "everywhere".
Sources
- anjouangaming.com: fees, licence types, required documents, due-diligence framework, news and regulatory notices (accessed 13 September 2026)
- igamingcompliance.blog, Curaçao vs Anjouan comparison, 9 March 2026
- gamblinglawindex.com, Anjouan restricted countries and payment realities, 2 June 2026
- InterGame, B2B licence recognition programme, 22 June 2025; Asia Gaming Brief, 2 July 2025 (Curaçao entities and foreign licences)
- ABC News, 31 December 2025; Finance Magnates, 19 March 2026 (Comoros central bank communiqué)
- Legarithm, Gofaizen & Sherle (24 March 2026), Legal Pilot: fee breakdowns and requirements