Value betting masterclass · Module 6: Tools and next steps · Lesson 24 of 25 · About 8 min
Value betting software scans bookmaker odds and flags prices that look bigger than they should be. It can save you hours of checking by hand, but it is a tool for finding prices, not a profit machine, and it comes with real costs and limits.
This guide explains the main kinds of tool, how scanners work, what they cost and what to watch for, then looks at the named tools UK bettors ask about most.
Read the transcript
There's no shortage of value betting software. Here's what it actually does, and whether it's worth paying for.
It comes in three broad types: odds comparison sites, positive expected value scanners, and record trackers.
A scanner takes a sharp market, removes its margin to get a fair price, and flags any bookmaker that beats it. Here the fair home price is about two point one, so a soft bookmaker at two point two five is roughly seven per cent above it.
On a ten pound bet, that's worth about seventy pence in expected value. But it's a long-run average, and the bet still misses more than half the time.
So do the sums before you sign up. A monthly subscription can easily cost more than a small edge brings in, and winning accounts often get restricted anyway. Tools can help, but no software removes the risk. Please bet responsibly.
We may earn a commission if you sign up through some links on this page. It never changes what we say.
Key points
- There are three main kinds: odds comparison, positive-EV scanners and bet trackers.
- Scanners estimate a fair price from a sharp market, then flag bookmakers that beat it.
- A subscription can cost more than a small edge earns, so do the sums first.
- No software removes risk, and successful accounts often get restricted.
Three kinds of value betting software
Odds comparison
An odds comparison site lists the prices for one market across many bookmakers. It is the simplest tool and often free, which makes it a good way to practise odds shopping (Lesson 6 out of 25 in the Masterclass) before you pay for anything.
Positive-EV scanners
A positive-EV scanner goes a step further. It works out a fair price for each outcome and lists the bets where a bookmaker is paying more. These are the tools most people mean by value betting software.
Bet trackers
A tracker logs your bets and works out your profit, yield and closing line value. Some scanners include one, but our free Bet Tracker or a simple spreadsheet does the same job, as our betting records (Lesson 14 out of 25 in the Masterclass) guide shows.
How scanners work
A scanner starts by pulling odds from a sharp market, one that takes big bets and reacts quickly to new information, so its prices tend to be accurate. In the UK, Betfair Exchange prices are the usual benchmark. Pinnacle is often used abroad, but it isn’t available to UK customers.
It then removes the margin from those sharp prices to get fair odds (Lesson 3 out of 25 in the Masterclass) and compares them with prices at softer bookmakers. When a bookmaker’s price is big enough, the bet is flagged as positive expected value (EV).
Worked example
A sharp market prices Chelsea v Fulham at 1.70 home, 4.10 draw and 5.20 away. The implied probabilities total 102.44%, so the margin is 2.44%.
With the margin removed, a home win has a fair chance of about 57.4%, which means fair odds of about 1.74.
Now a soft bookmaker offers 1.85 on Chelsea. EV per £1 = 0.574 × 1.85 − 1 = about +0.062, so a £10 bet has an expected value of about +£0.62.
That is a long-run average, not a likely outcome for this bet, which still doesn’t land about four times in ten.
Check the EV of any price yourself with the calculator below.
Expected value calculator
What it costs
Prices change often, so always check the current price on each provider’s own site. As a rough guide, we found free plans with tight limits at one end and plans well over £100 a month at the other. Many tools offer a short free trial, and most discount yearly payment.
Then set the fee against your likely returns. Pay £80 a month and achieve a 4% yield, and you need to stake about £2,000 a month just to cover the fee. That is a lot of turnover, so be honest about whether it fits your budget.
Tools UK bettors ask about
We checked each tool’s own website in October 2026. We haven’t tested them with real stakes and we don’t rank them, so use this as a starting point for your own checks.
RebelBetting
RebelBetting sells a value betting product and a separate sure betting (arbitrage) product, and says it scans more than 120 bookmakers. There is a 14-day free trial with no card required, limited to 50 bets a day, and the higher plan adds sharp bookmakers, brokers and exchanges. Prices are shown in US dollars, so check the current figure.
Trademate Sports
Trademate Sports is a Norwegian platform that describes itself as a “sports trading platform for serious bettors”. It uses sharp bookmaker prices to estimate true odds, flags softer prices that beat them and tracks your results against the closing line. We couldn’t load its pricing page directly, but two reviews we checked put the entry plan at about €120 a month, so confirm the current price before you sign up.
OddsJam
OddsJam has a positive-EV tool, an arbitrage tool and a live odds screen, with a 7-day free trial. Its site is built mainly around US sportsbooks, so check which UK bookmakers it covers before you pay.
Bet Hero
Bet Hero offers positive-EV and arbitrage scanning, plus free calculators for EV, Kelly, no-vig odds and CLV. It says it covers more than 400 sportsbooks and lists UK brands such as bet365 and William Hill. Live betting is only on its top plan. It advertises a 7-day trial, but check the current price and terms.
Surebet.com
Surebet.com is mainly an arbitrage scanner, but it lists value bets too. Its free plan only shows value bets with an edge of up to 10% and covers about half of events. Paid plans are sold by the week, month, quarter or year in euros, so check the current price.
OddsMonkey
OddsMonkey is best known for matched betting, but its Pro and Elite plans include EV tools for offers such as 2UP, extra places and Lucky 15 bonuses, and the Elite plan adds a tool called Edge Finder. These are mostly offer-based tools rather than a full value scanner, so check what the current plan includes.
What to watch out for
- Profit claims. Some sites show big average returns or member profits. These are marketing, not a forecast for you.
- “Guaranteed” wording. Arbitrage tools often promise sure profit. In practice prices move, bets get voided and stakes get cut, so every bet still carries risk.
- Restrictions. Bookmakers can legally limit accounts for commercial reasons. A Gambling Commission review of 2024 data found 4.31% of active accounts were restricted, and 46.78% of restricted customers were in lifetime profit compared with 25.42% of all customers. Read our account restrictions (Lesson 22 out of 25 in the Masterclass) guide before you start.
- Stale prices. A very big edge often means an old or wrong price, and bookmakers can void bets placed at obvious errors under their terms.
- Your own judgement. Software finds prices. It doesn’t set your budget or your stakes, so keep following a bankroll plan (Lesson 11 out of 25 in the Masterclass).
And never break a bookmaker’s terms to keep betting: no extra accounts, no VPNs and no workarounds after a restriction.
Do you need software at all?
Not to learn. You can judge prices by hand with free tools: our Value Predictor sets recent form against the best UK prices, and our calculators handle the maths. Its picks come from a form rule, not a guarantee.
Paid software mainly saves time, so it makes most sense once you understand fair odds, keep honest records and know your limits. Even then, it doesn’t remove risk or restrictions.
Related guides
- Value betting explained (Lesson 1 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
- Expected value betting (Lesson 4 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
- Sharp bookmakers (Lesson 7 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
- Closing line value (Lesson 9 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
- Value betting vs matched betting (Lesson 25 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
Lesson 24 of 25 · Tools and next steps
18+ only. Betting should stay fun. Set a budget before you start, only bet what you can comfortably afford, and take a break whenever you need one. For free, confidential support, visit BeGambleAware.org or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.