No Deposit Free Spins vs. No Deposit Bonuses – Which is Best?
No deposit offers are offered in two forms; either as free bonus cash or as a batch of free spins. Neither require a payment in order to be credited… you simply register an account with the casino and start playing!
For beginners, it’s important to know the difference between both and of course, which one provides the best value. Here you will learn how both types of no deposit bonuses work before claiming one from our list of recommended and fully licensed online casinos.
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✖How We Rank Casino Bonuses using BonusRank
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Read more about our BonusRank system and how we make bonus comparisons.
✖How No Deposit Free Spins Work
After registering at an applicable casino via NoDepositRewards.com, the free spins will be automatically added to your account. No deposit is required.
They are typically credited on a single slot game as chosen by the casino, or in some cases, on a small collection of slots with a similar theme.
The spins will have a predetermined value, although in relation to no deposit offers, this is usually set at the lowest possible figure (commonly $0.10). The number of spins awarded can vary anywhere from 5 up to 50.
Anything you win after playing all the free spins through is then added to your bonus balance. In turn, these winnings will be locked in until the wagering requirements have been met, or in very rare cases, credited directly as real money.
How No Deposit Bonuses Work
After selecting your no deposit bonus from one of our listed casinos, this will credit your account with bonus money upon registration.
The amount awarded depends on the offer, but can stretch between the $10 - $50 mark (or currency equivalent). It’s rare you’ll find anything higher due to the ‘freebie’ nature of the offer, however, it’s not unknown for $100+ offers to exist.
With bonus cash, you have added freedom to play on casino games of your own choosing, although it is usually restricted to slots only. Other games such as bingo, keno, poker, blackjack and roulette are commonly excluded.
Compare and Contrast: No Deposit Free Spins vs Bonus Money
Both no deposit free spins and no deposit bonus money are excellent offers. But if you’re only looking to claim one or the other, there’s some important differences to cover in relation to the terms and conditions.
Wagering Requirements
Let’s start with fulfilling wagering requirements of both. Unfortunately, they will likely be quite high because the casino isn’t asking for a deposit.
The wagering requirement will vary from casino to casino, although expect something in the range of 35x to 50x. Anything higher is deemed excessive and makes it very hard to unlock the bonus.
Free Spins
The wagering requirement of free spins applies to your winnings after they’ve all been played.
The following example relates to 20 free spins with a 30x wagering requirement:
- You play all 20 free spins and win $12.50 in total.
- You must now wager $375 in total (12.50 x 30).
- You can play on any eligible casino game to do so – you aren’t restricted to the original slot where the free spins were credited.
Bonus Money
Bonus money will always be attached to a wagering requirement.
The following is an example of receiving $10 bonus cash with a 45x wagering requirement:
- You must wager a total of $450 (10x45).
- You can play any eligible casino game stated in the terms.
(If you’re still unsure of how wagering requirements work, our Full Guide explains more)
Eligible Games
As noted, the free spins are very likely to be credited on a slot (or slots) selected by the casino itself. In contrast, bonus money can be used on a much more varied choice of slots and maybe even table games, keno, bingo and poker.
When coming to complete the wagering requirements of either type of bonus, you must check the casino’s T&Cs for these eligible games, as well as game weighting levels.
Bet Limits
Any batch of no deposit free spins will be allocated the same spin value. However, as soon as you have completed them all, you now have more freedom to wager your winnings with an increased bet size.
However, just as with bonus money, there will be bet limits imposed by the casino as per their terms and conditions. These limits are likely to be set somewhere around $4 - $5, or a percentage of your current balance.
Win Caps
If you are looking to make your fortune from a no deposit casino bonus, it’s our responsibility to inform you that this isn’t possible. All no deposit bonuses will come with a win cap applied by the casino.
A win cap relates to the amount you can withdraw after unlocking the bonus. Depending on the brand and offer, it can range from $10 up to $100 (or sometimes even higher), with any excess forfeited by the casino’s payment team.
You may have seen that some casinos offer a double welcome package – that is both bonus cash AND free spins together – when you register a new account.
Although your eyes aren’t deceiving you… claiming them in conjunction with one other is only possible after making a deposit.
This is because, due to their generous nature, no deposit offers are only presented as a single reward.
However, if you would like to get the best of both worlds, take a look at our Online Casino Match Bonuses recommendations – where there’s some pretty juicy double offers on hand!
Our Answer
Of course, when deciding which bonus is best – either no deposit free spins or no deposit bonus money – it comes down to player preference. Both are brilliant ways to begin your time at a new online casino.
However, if we were to recommend one over the other, our preference would be that bonus money is better than free spins.
This is because bonus money is guaranteed by the casino at the advertised amount. With free spins, there’s actually a chance – albeit a small one – that you’ll win nothing after playing them all through.
Even if you hit a decent win, the wagering requirements would mean you’re now effectively in the same position as with having bonus money in the first place.
Claiming bonus money skips this stage and allows you to crack on immediately in converting it to real cash. Plus, you’ll still be able to play ‘free spins’ on a more varied collection of slots (with an increased spin value at that!).
A counter argument would be that much depends on the terms and conditions linked to the offer. For example, bonus money may require a 50x wagering requirement at one casino, whilst free spins may only need 30x at another.
Likewise, with a lower amount of winnings likely to come from the free spins, this will result in a more obtainable total wagering amount.
Our Top 10 No Deposit Bonuses
Conclusion
Although we would tend to opt for no deposit bonus money over free spins, this doesn’t mean to say the latter is not worth taking. On the contrary, it still gives you a completely free reward just for signing up to a new online casino.
Just as with bonus money, you can test out the casino with no financial risk involved, analysing site speed, navigational menus and mobile compatibility whilst playing your spins. If all is to your liking, this may convince you to make real money deposits in the future.
On our No Deposit Bonuses page, you can toggle between bonus cash and free spins rewards, as well as seeing the linked T&Cs for greater clarity of their actual worth.
