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White label vs own development: TCO and time-to-market
1) TL; DR - when to choose
White label (WL): need a fast start (8-12 weeks), limited budget, standard product without deep differences, focus on marketing/affiliates.
Own development: you need a differentiated product, control of the economy (commissions), data ownership and predictable TCO at high speeds.
Hybrid: start on WL (MVP) + parallel build core, then phased migration.
2) Definitions and revenue model
WL-platform: provider provides engine, backend, CMS, integration (game studios, PSP, KYC). You pay setup + monthly + RevShare with NGR/revenue and live in their release cycle.
In-house: you own the code and infrastructure, pay CapEx (development) + OpEx (team, cloud, licenses), RevShare - only to game studios/aggregators and PSPs.
NGR composition (simplified):- 'NGR = GGR - bonuses - provider phi - taxes/levi - PSP phi'
3) Time-to-Market (realistic)
White label (8-12 weeks):1. Contract/offer and brand theme (1-2 weeks)
2. Licensing/Jurisdictions and KYC Settings (2-4 weeks)
3. Connecting PSP/game aggregators (2-3 weeks)
4. Content/locals/promotions, UAT, launch affiliates (2-3 weeks)
In-house (9-15 months):1. Architecture/backend (wallet/accounts/game gateway) (3-5 months)
2. Payments/CCM/anti-fraud/compliance (2-3 months, in parallel)
3. Game integrations/tournaments/missions/CRM (3-4 months)
4. Observability/DevOps/CDN/WAF/DR (1-2 months)
5. Certification/audits/field tests (1-2 months)
4) TCO: what to count (3-year horizon)
WL (approximate composition):- Setup: fix.
- RevShare: 'r _ wl × NGR' (usually 10-25%).
- Monthly fee/modules (CMS/BI/CRM).
- Paid changes/priority integrations.
- CapEx: development team, UX, certification.
- OpEx: PHY (engineers/SRE/security/product), cloud/CDN/WAF, provider support.
- Licenses (log analysis/AWP/anti-bots), audit/ISO/PCI.
- Reserve for peak loads and DR.
- `TCO_WL(3y) = Setup + Σ(RevShare% × NGR_t) + Σ(Platform_Fee_t)`
- `TCO_InHouse(3y) = CapEx + Σ(OpEx_t)`
5) Numerical example (simplified, even months)
Background (EUR):- GGR/month: 2,000,000
- Provider Phi: 30% GGR (= 600,000)
- Bonuses: 5% GGR (= 100,000)
- Taxes/Levi: 3% GGR (= 60,000)
- → NGR/month = 2,000,000 − 600,000 − 100,000 − 60,000 = 1,240,000
WL: RevShare 20%, Setup 150,000 →
Payment WL/month = 0. 20 × 1,240,000 = 248,000
For 12 months = 2,976,000; for 36 months = 8.928,000; TCO_3y ≈ 9,078,000 (including setup)
In-house: CapEx 2,500,000; OpEx: team 1,200,000/year + cloud 420,000/year → 1,620,000/year, over 3 years OpEx = 4,860,000; TCO_3y = 2,500,000 + 4,860,000 = 7,360,000
Conclusion: on such volumes in-house is cheaper by ~ 1. 72 million in 3 years, but the 1st year of WL is noticeably cheaper in cache.
Monthly breakeven threshold WL vs In-house
With CapEx depreciation for 36 months and WL setup for 12 months:- In-house/month ≈ OpEx/month + CapEx/36 = 135,000 + 69.444 = 204.444
- WL/month ≈ 0. 20 × NGR + 12,500
- We decide '0. 20 × NGR + 12,500 = 204,444 '→ NGR ≈ 959,700 €/month
- If your NGR is consistently above ~ 0. 96 million/month, platform ownership is economically more profitable over a 3-year horizon.
6) Non-financial factors (significant)
Product flexibility: WL = finished modules and non-standard limits. In-house = any features, but it's your turn to develop.
Vendor lock-in: WL - dependence on roadmap and SLA; output/migration is complex without data and code exports.
Data ownership/BI: In-house gives complete raw events and freedom in analytics/ML.
Compliance/audits: WL often helps with certifications. In-house - your own ISO/PCI/regulators.
Risks and concentration: In-house carries technical risks (peaks, incidents). WL carries the risks of third-party downtime and restrictions.
7) Decision tree (quick selection)
1. NGR run in 9-12 months 2. Need unique mechanics/deep personalization/own tournament economics? → In-house/hybrid. 3. Start is critical <3 months? → WL. 4. The team is capable of pulling 24/7 SRE/DevSecOps/DR? → In-house. 5. Countries with heavy compliance? → more often WL or partner model. 8) Hybrid: start fast, own sweat Key: From day one, demand real-time data exports (events/Kafka/S3) to avoid locking yourself in. 9) WL Contract: What to Watch For (RFP/Checklist) The right to change the list of providers/PSP and the timing of their connection. 10) Risks and how to close them RevShare overheating during growth: hard stops (% reduction when reaching turnover) or buy-out options. Limited customization: stipulate budget/SLAs for change requests. Downtime WL: financial service loans and the "undelivered deposits" metric. Local licenses/regulator: select WL with presence in your countries. Data migration: agree in advance on models and unique keys (user_id, operation_id). 11) Success metrics (after selection) Unit-economics: NGR/depositor, LTV/CAC, affiliate eCPA, RevShare% to NGR/In-house OpEx. Tech-SLO: login/deposit/bet p95, uptime, TTFS games, PSP/provider errors. Marketing: lending→reg→FTD conversions, share of tournaments/missions in GGR. Migration milestones (for hybrid): share of traffic on core, idempotency of integrations, report discrepancy <0. 5%. 12) Mini model in table (fish) Substitute your numbers, check three scenarios: Base/Optimistic/Stress. 13) Launch roadmaps 14) WL → In-house migration plan (by modules) 1. Event replica (WL → your DWH), schema alignment. 2. Launch your own wallet (double entry, reconciliation). 3. Transfer payments/PSP, then tournaments/missions, then CRM/affiliates. 4. Front/routing switching, WL decommissioning. 15) Prod-ready checklist White label wins with speed and CAPEX ease, but rises in price with higher turnover due to RevShare and customization restrictions. Its own platform requires a long investment and operational maturity, but it gives TCO control, flexibility and data ownership. Consider the breakeven threshold for NGR, record SLAs/data exports, and, if a compromise is needed, go in a hybrid way: fast WL start today, phased platform ownership tomorrow.
Technique:
Input: NGR_mes, r_wl, Setup, CapEx, OpEx _ year, Depreciation _ month
WL_mes = r_wlNGR_mes + Setup/12
InHouse_mes = OpEx _ year/12 + SarEx/Depreciation _ month
Breakeven_NGR = (InHouse_мес - Setup/12) / r_wl
In-house (12 months):
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