Omaze vs BOTB (2026): Which Is Better for Winning a House or Car?
If you're weighing up Omaze vs BOTB to win a house or a car, the short version is this: Omaze is built around big charity prize-home draws and a monthly £1m cash prize with a genuine free postal route, while BOTB is a "spot the ball" skill competition that's been running since 1999 and leans hard into dream cars. They're rated ★3.9 (Omaze) and ★4.1 (BOTB) on PrizeDrawsDaily, and the right pick depends on whether you want a charity house shot or a weekly car habit.
Quick disclaimer before we get going: PrizeDrawsDaily is an independent UK directory. We review these brands, we don't run their draws, and we'd rather you went in clear-eyed than hyped up.
Omaze vs BOTB at a glance
Two very different machines wearing similar "win a dream prize" clothing. Omaze arrived in the UK around 2020 and made its name with multi-million-pound houses tied to named charity partners. BOTB — Best of the Best — is the old hand, an online competition brand since 1999, and its whole legal foundation is a skill game rather than a raffle.
Here's the side-by-side.
| Omaze | BOTB | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | ★3.9 | ★4.1 |
| Established | est. 2020 (UK) | est. 1999 |
| Prize focus | Multi-million charity houses + monthly £1m cash | Dream cars (weekly) + homes, watches, holidays, cash |
| Entry mechanic | Prize draw (random) | "Spot the ball" skill question |
| Legal basis | Free postal route = equal odds | Skill element (no licence needed) |
| Typical cost | Bundles, often ~£10–£25; free entry by post | Subscription "Pass" or one-off plays |
| Free / skill route | Yes — free postal entry | Skill question replaces free route |
| Charity | Named charity partners each draw | Commercial; charitable giving not the core model |
| Track record | ~6 years, high profile, lots of winner PR | 25+ years, UK's longest-running online comp brand |
Prices and bundle sizes move constantly, so treat the cost column as a rough guide and check each site before you part with anything.
How the two actually work
This is where botb vs omaze stops being a logo comparison and starts mattering.
Omaze runs a classic prize draw. You buy entries — usually as bundles, where bigger bundles drop the price-per-entry — and a winner is pulled at random when the draw closes. Because money changes hands, UK law (the Gambling Act 2005) requires a genuine free way in with the same odds as paid entries. Omaze offers a free postal entry route, so a posted entry counts exactly like a paid one. That's the legal mechanism that keeps it a lawful prize draw rather than an unlicensed lottery. There's a good breakdown in are prize draws legal in the UK if you want the full picture.
BOTB takes a different road entirely. Its competitions are framed as games of skill — the famous "spot the ball" puzzle, where you judge where the ball should be on a photo. According to its own site, that skill element is what lets BOTB operate without a gambling licence, because a real skill question sidesteps the lottery rules. Whether your guess is genuinely "skill" or a glorified hunch is the eternal spot-the-ball argument, but legally the puzzle is the point.
So the honest framing of omaze or botb: one is luck with a free backdoor, the other is a judgement game with no free backdoor but a recurring subscription model. Neither is inherently better — they're solving the "is this legal" question in two accepted ways, explained more in prize draw vs raffle vs lottery.
Winning a house: which has the edge?
For houses, Omaze is the more natural fit. The whole brand is built on the prize-home format — a photogenic property, a charity attached, a closing date, a draw. If a win-a-house raffle is the dream, Omaze is squarely in that lane and has built a lot of winner publicity around it.
BOTB does run homes too, alongside its cars and watches, but property isn't its headline act. You'll see houses appear, just not with the same drumbeat or the charity hook.
One thing worth being blunt about: nobody publishes guaranteed odds on these house draws the way a society lottery has to, and entry numbers swing wildly with marketing. Don't read "multi-million-pound house" as "good odds." Read it as "big prize, unknown denominator." We get into that scepticism properly in are UK prize draws rigged? — short answer, a free route plus an independent draw is the safeguard, not a guarantee of generosity.
Winning a car: BOTB's home turf
Cars are where BOTB earns its reputation. It runs weekly dream-car competitions and has been doing exactly this for a quarter of a century, which is a long time to keep the lights on in a sector that chews up newcomers. The cadence is the appeal — a fresh car every week, often a Porsche, an AMG, something with a story. If your goal is a motor, BOTB is the obvious starting point, and it sits near the top of our best car competition sites roundup for that reason.
Omaze does occasional cars and the monthly £1m cash, but it isn't a car specialist. The cash prize is arguably the more interesting "car" route with Omaze — win the £1m, buy whatever you fancy, no spot-the-ball required.
Cost, subscriptions and the small print
The money model is genuinely different, and it's the thing most people overlook.
Omaze sells entries per draw. You can do a one-off bundle and walk away, or post a free entry and pay nothing. There's no obligation to come back next month.
BOTB pushes a subscription-style "Pass," so plays can roll on a recurring basis unless you manage it. That's not a criticism — plenty of people prefer the set-and-forget — but if you're the type who signs up and forgets, the BOTB model can quietly cost more over a year than a couple of Omaze bundles would. Check the renewal terms, know how to pause or cancel, and treat any competition spend as entertainment money you can afford to lose. Our how online prize draws work guide covers the subscription traps in more detail.
Both pay out tax-free — UK prize-draw and competition winnings aren't subject to income tax, whether it's a house, a car or the cash. If you want chapter and verse, see do you pay tax on prize-draw winnings.
Is BOTB better than Omaze? My honest take
Is botb better than omaze? It depends entirely on what you're chasing.
Pick BOTB if you want cars, you enjoy the skill puzzle, you trust a brand with a 25-year track record, and you're comfortable with a subscription you'll actually manage. The ★4.1 rating reflects that longevity and a fairly loyal base.
Pick Omaze if you want the charity house dream, you like that there's a free postal route so you can play for £0, and you prefer paying per draw with no rolling commitment. The ★3.9 sits a hair lower, partly because the format is newer and the odds opacity attracts more questions — fair ones, which we tackle in is Omaze legit?.
If neither quite fits, the wider field is worth a look. There are leaner, better-odds operators in our best UK raffle sites list, plus tailored Omaze alternatives and a stack of live house draws and car draws you can compare on closing date and entry count rather than on advertising spend.
How we'd actually play it
Honestly? For most people the smart move isn't picking a winner between the two — it's matching the mechanic to the prize. House dream, want a free shot, like the charity angle: Omaze. Car obsessive who fancies the spot-the-ball game and a weekly fixture: BOTB. And whichever you choose, set a hard monthly budget, use the free route where one exists, and never treat either as an investment. The house always — well, you know how that sentence ends. See how to win UK prize draws for the realistic-expectations version.
FAQ
Is BOTB better than Omaze for winning a car?
For cars specifically, yes — BOTB runs weekly dream-car competitions and has done since 1999, so it's the more focused option. Omaze does occasional cars but is built around houses and its monthly £1m cash prize. If a motor is the goal, start with BOTB, then compare it against the wider field in our best car competition sites guide.
What's the difference between Omaze vs Best of the Best legally?
Omaze is a paid prize draw made lawful by a genuine free postal entry route with equal odds. BOTB instead uses a "spot the ball" skill question, which — according to its own site — removes the need for a gambling licence because a real skill element isn't a lottery. Both are accepted UK routes, explained in are prize draws legal in the UK.
Can I enter Omaze for free?
Yes. Omaze offers a free postal entry route, and by law that posted entry must carry the same odds as a paid one. BOTB doesn't have an equivalent free route because its model rests on the skill question rather than a paid-draw structure. More on this in free postal entry UK prize draws.
Are Omaze and BOTB winnings taxed in the UK?
No. Prize-draw and competition winnings are tax-free in the UK, whether you win a house, a car or cash from either brand. You won't owe income tax on the prize itself, though future income it generates (like rent) could be taxable — see do you pay tax on prize-draw winnings.
Omaze or BOTB — which is safer to use?
Both are established and rated reasonably well here, Omaze ★3.9 and BOTB ★4.1, with BOTB's longer 25-year history nudging it ahead on track record. Neither is a scam, but watch BOTB's subscription renewals and Omaze's undisclosed odds. Our how to spot a legit UK raffle site checklist applies to both.
Are there better alternatives to Omaze and BOTB?
Possibly, depending on the prize and the odds you care about. We list leaner, transparent options in Omaze alternatives and rank the wider market in best UK raffle sites. Browse live house draws and cash prizes to compare entry counts before you commit.