Best DFS apps for 2025: Top daily fantasy sports sites reviewed

We're taking a look at the DFS apps, where users can make predictions on player performance for payouts, play short-term fantasy sports contests, and even participate in season-long NFL Best Ball contests for big fantasy football prize money. Plus, the best DFS promos for all users.

Best daily fantasy sports apps

Top DFS sites and apps for 2025

If you're looking for the best daily fantasy apps or trying to compare the top DFS sites, here's how the leading platforms stack up.

Brand	Bonus Offer	Game Types	Biggest selling point	Apple App Store Rating (as August 13, 2025)
Underdog	Varies by state; see below	DFS Drafts, Best Ball, Pick Em	Biggest library of best ball contests across all sports	4.8/5 stars (202k ratings)
Sleeper	100% deposit match up to $100	Pick Em	Only 1x playthrough on deposit match site credit	4.7/5 stars (205k ratings)
DraftKings	20% deposit match up to $500 + a $3 entry ticket	Classic Salary Cap DFS, Showdown, Showdown Captain Mode, Single Stat, Tiers, Best Ball	Contests with 1-3 max entries available, which are better for beginners	4.9/5 stars (531k ratings)
ParlayPlay	100% deposit match up to $100 + a $5 entry ticket	Pick Em, Free2Play	Only 1x playthrough on deposit match site credit	4.5/5 stars (5.7k ratings)
Boom Fantasy	No Sweat first entry up to $100	Pick&Spin, Classic Pick Em	Only DFS app with Pick&Spin; Unique promos every day	4.6/5 stars (10k ratings)
DraftKings Pick6	Play $5, get $50 in Pick6 credits	Player stats higher/lower contests	Peer-to-peer DFS contests with tiered cash prizes	4.7/5 stars (10.5k)

Which DFS format is right for you?

All of the best DFS apps have a different library of games you can play, with some only having one game type and others having several. Here are the different DFS formats, which apps have those games, and what those formats mean:

Best Pick 'Em DFS Sites

Underdog
Sleeper
ParlayPlay
Boom Fantasy
DraftKings Pick6

Pick at least two players from two different teams to go higher or lower on a specific stat in their next game. DFS Pick 'Em sites may put entries into a larger pool, but a payout is guaranteed with enough correct picks on your entry.

Top Best Ball Fantasy Apps

Underdog
DraftKings DFS

Think of this as fantasy football, baseball, etc., but without trades, waiver wire moves, or setting your lineup. This is the best DFS format if you like traditional fantasy sports but do not want to manage your roster every day or week. Draft your team for the season, and only your best lineup is scored each week to determine the winners.

The biggest prize pool for a 2025 NFL Best Ball contest at Underdog is $15 million for Best Ball Mania IV. It has a $25 entry fee, with a top prize of $2 million. DraftKings is hosting a Millionaire Best Ball contest with a $15 million prize pool as well. It has a $20 entry fee and $2 million top prize.

Daily Fantasy Sites with Salary Cap Contests

DraftKings DFS

Classic daily fantasy sports: build a lineup that cannot go over the specified salary cap. The highest-scoring rosters in each pool win. DraftKings is the best salary cap DFS site if you are looking for the biggest prizes.

Best DFS Apps for Snake Drafts

Underdog
DraftKings DFS

Your classic fantasy league drafts, but for either one-day competitions or season-long best ball contests.

Daily Fantasy Sports sites with Head-to-Head contests

Underdog
DraftKings DFS
Pick6

Two-person contests: one person wins and one person loses.

DFS Apps vs. DFS Sites: Which should you use?

Both apps and desktop sites are available for most daily fantasy sports platforms; however, each will present a different user experience. The decision between DFS apps vs. websites really comes down to what you care about most. The mobile DFS experience will make it more difficult to multitask or flip between screens if you are looking to incorporate your research or rankings into entries, especially if you are in a live draft.

DFS Apps: highest mobility, speed, notifications, social features

At this point, the mobile DFS experience is the top priority for every brand. All offer an experience that is easy to navigate on smartphones. What most needs to be emphasized here is that some brands only have a good user experience on mobile, with the same features being clunky and hard to see on the desktop version of the brand.

This is certainly the case for Underdog, where everything can be smushed together on a desktop and is cumbersome to navigate. It's also the case on Sleeper, where you cannot even find the Pick 'Em game on the desktop site's home page after logging into your account. Boom Fantasy is also only available via its app.

DFS Sites: Screen space and multitasking

The best DFS site for the desktop viewing experience is DraftKings. It is easy to navigate, with a different viewing experience that spreads all the features out properly. It also allows for multitasking quite easily, if you want to reference other tabs for your DFS rankings or daily fantasy sports research.

Quick Takeaways

We do not recommend using Underdog on desktop. DraftKings and Pick6 are fine to use on desktop. Sleeper Pick Em and Boom Fantasy are only on the app. ParlayPlay has a quality user experience on both desktop and its mobile app.

3 Best DFS promos for existing users this week

These daily fantasy sports apps occasionally offer promos to existing users as well. Here are a few we found this week:

DraftKings $50 Pick6 Bonus: The DraftKings Pick6 app is quickly rising in popularity. Existing DraftKings DFS users can navigate to our best DFS apps page or click CLAIM BONUS below, where DK is now offering $50 in credits on its new Pick6 app to new players for just playing $5.
Sleeper 35% Profit Boost: Boost your profit by 35% if your contest wins.
DraftKings NFL Best Ball "Draft One Get One": Enter the NFL Best Ball $15 million Millionaire contest and earn a ticket to enter again.

Brand reviews

DraftKings was a pioneer and among the first to boast having the best daily fantasy app, and while it is still one of the most recognized platforms, it are not alone in the landscape. It's important to note that daily fantasy sports apps are not as uniform as sportsbooks and have unique offerings, usually revolving around bonuses, boosts and payout structure. Here's a breakdown of some of the best DFS sites and what they offer.

Underdog Fantasy

Welcome Promo	Varies by state; see below
DFS Promo Code	CBSSPORTS2
Sports Offered	NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, PGA, more
Legal States	41 plus Washington D.C.
Year Founded	2020

Underdog has emerged as one of the best daily fantasy sites, especially for best ball contests, with its very popular snake draft format for picking teams.

Underdog is offering new users who sign up with Underdog promo code CBSSPORTS2 a welcome bonus. The specific bonus available depends on which state you are located in:

Deposit match up to $1,000 (South Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota)
Play $5, get $50 (Minnesota, Alabama)
Deposit match + Play $5, get $50 (combo offer in Georgia, Utah)

For users in other states, your welcome offer will be revealed after clicking the CLAIM BONUS button (one of the three offers mentioned above) and navigating to Underdog.

Sleeper

Welcome Promo	100% Deposit Match up to $100
DFS Promo Code	CBSSPORTS
Sports Offered	NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, Soccer, more
Legal States	31 plus Washington D.C. (iOS) 30 (Android)
Year Founded	2015

Sleeper has emerged as a favorite among fantasy sports leagues as the place for commissioners to host their leagues, but it is also now one of the best daily fantasy sports sites, too, with the addition of Pick 'Em contests.

The current Sleeper promo code is structured as a deposit match promotion, where when a new user deposits (up to $100) into their account, Sleeper will match the deposit in site credits. Just use code CBSSPORTS to unlock this offer at Sleeper.

Sleeper offers hosting services for season-long fantasy leagues. It does offer Best Ball, but not in a large tournament format like other outfits. Sleeper offers Sleeper Picks, PicksVS and Daily Draft as its most popular formats. Picks and PicksVS is similar to Pick Em and Pick Em Arena. Daily Draft is only offered for NFL and is a week-long contest where users pick a lineup, exactly like fantasy football.

DraftKings DFS

Welcome Promo	20% deposit match up to $500 + one $3 ticket valid for single-use DFS contest
DFS Promo Code	None required
Sports Offered	NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, Soccer, more
Legal States	44 plus Washington D.C.
Year Founded	2012

DraftKings remains a DFS titan offering the widest variety of formats — from Showdown to Best Ball and traditional salary-cap contests.

The DraftKings DFS welcome bonus is a 20% deposit match. To get the maximum $500 bonus, a new user must deposit $2500. DK will also add a ticket to your account to use on any $3 DFS contest. Any bonus funds have a 1x playthrough requirement before they can be withdrawn.

DraftKings is also one of the oldest DFS platforms and offers a wide range of contests from single-game Showdowns to lineup builders to season-long tournaments.

DraftKings Pick6

Welcome Promo	Play $5, Get $50 in Pick6 Credits
DFS Promo Code	None required
Sports Offered	NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, UFC, NASCAR, CFB, and more
Legal States	33 plus Washington, D.C.
Year Founded	2023

DraftKings introduced Pick6 as a simple, peer-to-peer fantasy game where you choose 2–6 players and predict whether they'll record "more" or "less" than their projected stats.

While there's no specific Pick6 promo code to enter, new users can still claim a welcome bonus just by signing up and playing. When using the Pick6 promo code, you'll get $50 in bonus credits after placing a $5 entry. Bonus credits are non-withdrawable and typically expire within 14 days.

ParlayPlay

Welcome Promo	$100 deposit match + receive a $5 entry
DFS Promo Code	CBSSPORTS
Sports Offered	NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, Soccer, more
Legal States	16 states plus Washington D.C. (iOS) 17 states (Android)
Year Founded	2020

ParlayPlay is one of the newer brands in the DFS industry, offering Pick Em contests to users.

ParlayPlay is offering a deposit match up to $100, which effectively doubles a user's account balance for the first $100. Additionally, users who join ParlayPlay today can receive a free $5 entry into a content.

This platform might not be as prevalent nationally as some others but still offers a variety of DFS contests, ranging from peer-to-peer play to season-long projection contests. The season-long projections can be equated to player futures bets at sportsbooks.

Boom Fantasy

Welcome Promo	No Sweat First Entry up to $100
DFS Promo Code	CBSSPORTS
Sports Offered	NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, Soccer, more
Legal States	21 plus Washington D.C.
Year Founded	2015

Boom Fantasy is also one of the newer brands in DFS, offering Pick Em contests with a twist. You can play Classic Pick Em, where you know your multiplier and potential payout based on number of picks in your entry, or you can Pick&Spin, with a wheel randomly assigning you your multiplier and potential payout.

The Boom Fantasy promo code of CBSSPORTS is a No Sweat First Entry, meaning you get site credit back up to $100 if that first entry loses. Boom Fantasy has three game modes of the daily/short-term variety. Pick Em is similar to the standard DFS entry, while Pick & Spin lets users make a 2-pick entry and spin a wheel for a multiplier. Squad Ride lets users pick three players to combine to pass certain scoring milestones, with users getting paid out at each milestone.

Summary of the best DFS apps and promos

Brand	Welcome Offer	DFS Promo Code
DraftKings	20% deposit match up to $500 + one $3 ticket valid for single-use DFS contest	None required
Underdog	Underdog is giving out bonuses for new users, click CLAIM BONUS to reveal yours	CBSSPORTS2
Sleeper	100% Deposit Match up to $100	CBSSPORTS
ParlayPlay	Deposit match; up to $100 in site credit	CBSSPORTS
Boom Fantasy	No Sweat First Entry; up to $100 in site credit back if first entry loses	CBSSPORTS

What is Daily Fantasy Sports?

Daily fantasy sports focuses on player statistics rather than game results. It allows users to submit combinations of predictions for player statistics into a variety of contests, often for larger payouts than the sportsbook equivalent of combining player props. There are also more deviations from the standard betting market, with promotions and special contests surrounding player statistics.

Unlike sports betting, DFS was meant to condense the season-long fantasy football, basketball and baseball leagues into short-term offerings to appeal to a wider audience. Rather than playing in one league over the full season, users could potentially compete in new contests every night, depending on the sport. This original premise has since expanded into different formats such as stat predictions, full lineup contests, season-long tournaments and even free-to-play pools.

In some daily fantasy contests, users are essentially competing against themselves. In others, they are competing against other users over single games or full seasons. Competitions like Best Ball are most similar to traditional fantasy football. Most DFS operators have set payout structures involving multipliers based on how many picks a user makes. These multipliers often exceed the equivalent odds a sportsbook would provide for combining picks. For example, taking an Over on one player's points prop at -110 and pairing it with an Over on another player's rebounds prop at -110 would result in a two-leg parlay at +264 at sportsbooks. On DFS platforms like PrizePicks, the multiplier for 2-pick entries is 3x, which is equivalent to +300 at a sportsbook. That's a decent edge for DFS payouts over the long run.

The most popular sports for season-long DFS contests are football, basketball, baseball and hockey. These four sports also dominate short-term contests, although this is where users may see more opportunities with soccer, tennis, UFC and other sports.

Daily fantasy sports tips, strategies

Because each DFS platform operates somewhat differently, there's no universal strategy when it comes to DFS contests. Most DFS operators will show player statistics and how often the player is being picked when users make selections, so this can be used in one of two ways in larger contests. Either a user can select a popular player as part of an entry and make one or two less popular selections to hope for differentiation, or a user can go completely against the trend and hope the popular player falters.

In contests where users build lineups with a salary cap or other constraints, it's best to find value. One example of this would be in contests involving NBA lineups. Positions like point guard, small forward and power forward are generally more even from the top players to those in the middle of the pack when it comes to fantasy production. Centers and shooting guards have greater differentiation, so users might want to spend more of their allotted salary cap on those positions and save at the other spots while not sacrificing much from overall fantasy scoring.

50/50 Contests

50/50 contests are unique, where the top half of all users in the contest are paid out. In these contests, it might be wiser to lean on popular players and make one or two contrarian picks rather than go completely against the public. While you are at risk if that popular player puts up a lackluster performance, you won't be the only one who gets hurt. And since half of the contest is being paid out, you'd only need to get right on one or two other players to get some sort of return.

Pick Em Contests

Pick Em contests are similar to predicting player props, so users can compare where sportsbooks set their lines for specific players before attempting to find value. NFL and NBA players tend to maintain their trends over a set number of games, which makes statistical projections a bit easier to follow. MLB and NHL trends are more random, but you can usually get a good return continuously backing the top players to go higher than their projection in the base statistical categories such as hits, bases and points.

Tournaments

Tournament contests are similar to Pick Em but users compete against a larger group rather than making entries for themselves. Some platforms do pay users out for their individual entry if it wins, even if the user does not place highly in the overall group for the tournament.

Draft Contests

In NFL Draft-style contests and season-long Best Ball, the strategies are similar to traditional fantasy football. Users want to create lineups with a base level of stellar production while sprinkling in some high-upside selections. In Best Ball, your highest scorers are automatically put in your lineup so you don't have to technically set a lineup, unlike the traditional fantasy football matchups and weekly DFS offerings. This allows users to make slightly riskier plays in Best Ball without having as much downside, since the top scorers automatically make their lineups.

FAQ

What is DFS?

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is a type of online game where players draft virtual teams of real-life athletes and compete for prizes based on those athletes' statistical performances in games played on a single day or over a short period.

Is daily fantasy sports legal?

Playing daily fantasy sports is legal, as long as the user is of legal age in a state where the platform is legally operating. Most states where DFS is legal requires the user to be at least 18 years old. But some states have different age limits, such as Nebraska, Alabama and Colorado requiring users to be 19 years old and Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia having age requirements of 21 years old. Some platforms are more prevalent than others, while some are offshoots of popular sportsbooks.

What is a 50/50 contest?

A 50/50 contest is where the top 50% of the users are paid out at the end of the contest. The breakdowns differ by contest but each platform will have the breakdowns available for a user prior to him or her entering the contest.

What is a GPP contest?

A GPP contest is a "Guaranteed Prize Pool" event, where the total prize amount is set regardless of how many entrants are in the contest. This prize amount will be paid out no matter how many users enter, though the payout breakdown might change depending on entry size. Platforms will detail the payout breakdown on GPP contests prior to a user entering.

What's the difference between daily fantasy sports and regular fantasy sports?

Daily fantasy sports are typically more organized and run through a large network, offering larger payouts for short-term contests. Regular fantasy sports are often run as season-long competitions in private groups, not subject to DFS and state regulations. Some DFS platforms do offer hosting services for regular fantasy sports. DFS contests have more variety and rewards opportunities built in, while regular fantasy sports require the users to come up with short-term incentives over the full season.

Where can I play daily fantasy sports?

You can play daily fantasy sports on a platform that is legally operating in your state, as long as you are of legal age. DraftKings is among the most popular DFS platforms, but outfits like Underdog and Sleeper have gained traction over the last few years. As long as you are of legal age in a state where a DFS platform operates, you can play daily fantasy sports on that platform.

What are the best DFS sites for Pick Em contests?

DraftKings Pick 6 has emerged as a leader in Pick Em contests. Other DFS apps like Underdog, Sleeper, ParlayPlay and Boom Fantasy also offer Pick Em contests and welcome bonuses for new users. Click the CLAIM BONUS buttons on this page if interested and use the promo code, where applicable, to unlock the bonus.

Which DFS apps offer the biggest bonuses?

Underdog Fantasy is offering a deposit match up to $1,000 in some states with the promo code CBSSPORTS2. DraftKings DFS is offering a 20% deposit match up to $500. New users who are interested in this offer can click the CLAIM BONUS button on this page. No special DraftKings DFS promo code is required.

What are the top DFS apps for NFL and NBA?

Underdog and DraftKings are two great DFS apps for NFL and NBA. They are the most popular with the highest ratings out of five stars among DFS apps in the App Store, along with the most ratings from users.

What is the difference between DFS and sports betting?

Most DFS contests have an element of pool play, where an entry is entered into a pool of other entries from users on the platform; whereas, sports betting is user vs. the house. In sports betting, if your pick/bet wins, the sportsbook/house pays you out. In DFS, it's more about what users have the most correct picks or the most fantasy points on an entry. Most laws define DFS as a game of skill, based on participants' knowledge of athletes and athletic events. This classification distinguishes it from traditional sports betting.

Are DFS apps legal in New York?

New York legalized and regulated DFS in 2016, with the New York State Gaming Commission overseeing the industry. New York law defines Interactive Fantasy Sports (IFS) as a game of skill, based on participants' knowledge of athletes and athletic events. This classification distinguishes it from traditional sports betting. While traditional DFS contests are legal, there have been recent restrictions on Pick Em games.