Online Lottery Reviews

Updated

Legal online lottery sales are available in most states, but every state has different rules, authorized providers, and product offerings. Our online lottery reviews aim to help players understand the safe, legal, and legitimate options in every state.

We divide our lottery app reviews into two categories:

  • Lottery Couriers: Third-party services that legally buy and secure physical tickets on your behalf
  • Official State Lottery Apps: State-owned lottery websites and apps that offer legal ticket sales and instant win games online

Note: We only review official state lottery apps or legitimate couriers that operate in accordance with state and federal law. See our main US online lotteries guide for a bigger picture overview of how online sales work, what’s legal where, and the differences between game types.

Lottery Courier App Reviews

TheLotterTicket Discounts TheLotter Review
Jackpot.comOne Free TicketJackpot.com Promo Code: BUSALOTTO Jackpot.com Review
Jackpocket$3 Off First Tickets Jackpocket Review
Lotto.comNo Welcome BonusLotto.com Promo Code: Not Needed Lotto.com Review
Mido LottoFree Ticket Mido Lotto Review

Lottery couriers are third-party apps that act as your personal shopper. They send representatives to licensed brick-and-mortar retailers, purchase physical tickets on your behalf, upload verification photos to your account, and store the paper originals in a secure vault.

In most states where they operate, lottery courier apps offer two main product lines:

  • Draw Games: Official tickets to lottery drawings (state-level and multi-state games)
  • Scratchers: Official scratch cards (usually a select lineup of the state’s most popular scratchers)

When you buy draw game tickets, your courier app will automatically check the results and let you know if any of your tickets are winners. When you buy scratch cards online, you can log in after the order has finished processing to “scratch” them at your own pace.

If you win a small amount (under $600), the lottery courier will automatically credit your account with the payout. If you win a larger amount ($600+), the courier will notify you to arrange the secure delivery of your physical ticket so you can claim it directly from the state lottery.

Online lottery couriers are convenient in states that haven’t authorized online sales, but the tradeoff is that you rely on a third party for fulfillment, ticket custody, and payouts of prizes under $600.

Fortunately, several states actively regulate lottery couriers and require them obtain licenses. Even if your state does not oversee lottery courier apps directly, one of the simplest ways to reduce risk is to choose platforms that hold licenses in at least one other state.

Official State Lottery App Reviews

Official state lottery websites eliminate the middleman. When your state offers direct online sales, you’re purchasing through the lottery commission’s own platform. Your digital ticket is effectively a direct contract with the state.

Additionally, official state iLottery programs can award larger prizes online and do not charge convenience fees. What you pay online is the same as what you would pay for a ticket purchase in person at any retailer.

The exact menu differs by state, but you’ll typically see some mix of:

  • Draw game tickets: Powerball, Mega Millions, in-state drawings
  • Instant win games: The online equivalent of scratch cards
  • Keno: A less common offering but available in some states

The main limitation is geographic availability: only players in states with authorized online lottery sales can access these platforms.

How We Review Online Lottery Apps

When reviewing state-owned lottery platforms, we focus primarily on explaining how they work: which games they offer, how they pay prizes, which payment methods they accept, and everything else players should know before they buy lottery tickets online.

Our lottery courier reviews cover the same topics but place far greater emphasis on the legitimacy aspect, since the state lottery does not directly own them. As such, we cover details such as ownership information, track record, licensing status, transparency, and pricing.

Some of the key points our online lottery reviews cover include:

  • Legitimacy: When reviewing third-party lottery couriers, we verify that they have clear company identities, transparent terms, secure account practices, and documented claims processes. We also check whether local news outlets or the state lottery itself have confirmed that winning customers have successfully claimed large prizes.
  • Proof of Purchase: Whether you receive a scan of the real ticket, how the platform stores the physical ticket, and whether they offer before/after screenshots showing serial numbers.
  • Fees and Pricing: Service or delivery fees and payment constraints that can change the true cost of a “$2 ticket.”
  • Payouts and Claims Processes: How lottery apps pay smaller prizes, how withdrawals work, and what happens on a big win (where you often must claim directly with the lottery).
  • Consumer Protection: Whether the operator is officially licensed in other states, how it protects customers’ account security, and whether it provides responsible play tools (deposit limits, self-exclusion, etc.)

Online Lottery Reviews FAQ

If it’s not an official state lottery and it’s not a prominent courier brand with a documented ticket-scanning and storage process, that’s a red flag.

Generally, yes. You’re transacting with the lottery itself, not a third party fulfilling an order and storing tickets. However, mainstream lottery courier apps with licenses in at least one state are still legitimate.

Yes. Ticket couriers typically charge either a “delivery fee” at checkout or a “processing fee” at deposit. The key is whether the app clearly discloses service fees and payment terms before checkout (we treat fee transparency as a major review criterion). Reputable lottery couriers do not keep a percentage of winnings as fees.

It comes down to state law. Some states are comfortable with third-party “delivery services” (couriers) but haven’t passed the specific laws required to run their own digital storefronts.

Yes. For example, you do not need to be a resident of Pennsylvania to use the PA iLottery app. You only need to be physically located within the state’s borders at the moment of purchase.

In some cases, a courier might support a wider range of payment methods (like PayPal or Apple Pay) that a state-run site doesn’t yet accept. Additionally, couriers offer pools where you can split the cost of tickets with friends, a feature that state-owned lottery apps do not offer.