Can you buy California Lottery tickets online? No — not from the state, and not through courier apps either. California has no official online sales, and unlike New York, it doesn't authorize ticket-courier services: the Lottery has said couriers aren't permitted under its rules, and the major apps withdrew from the state in 2024. In California, a lottery ticket means a licensed retailer, in person. Here's the full picture, what the apps that remain actually do, and what to avoid.
No state iLottery — and none coming soon
The California Lottery's website and app are information tools: results, jackpot amounts, retailer maps, Scratchers prize-remaining data, and 2nd Chance drawing entries. There is no cart and no checkout. States like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia run full iLottery programs that sell draw tickets and instant games directly — California has never joined them, and its lottery framework (a 1984 voter initiative) means big structural changes move slowly. The current national map is in our iLottery state-by-state guide.
Why courier apps don't operate in California
Courier services — the model where an app buys a physical ticket from a licensed retailer on your behalf — are legal and regulated in New York, as we cover in the New York online-tickets guide. California went the other way: the Lottery's position is that its regulations don't authorize courier sales, and after regulators made that explicit, major couriers including Jackpocket pulled out of the state in 2024. The comparison of who operates where is in our courier app comparison.
What you may still see in app stores:
- The official California Lottery app — check tickets, enter 2nd Chance draws, find retailers. No purchases.
- Results and pool-management apps — information only; fine.
- "Buy California lottery tickets online" websites — if a site claims to sell you a California draw ticket, it's operating outside the state's system. Treat it as the red flag it is.
What to avoid: offshore agents and "stakes"
Offshore sites sell "entries" or "stakes" in US drawings — you're not buying a ticket, you're trusting an unregulated foreign company to buy one, hold it, and pay you if it hits. Every consumer protection in the lottery system assumes you hold the physical ticket (a bearer instrument); these services remove exactly that. The scam patterns that cluster around them are cataloged in lottery scams to watch for, and the legitimate rules for playing from abroad are in playing the US lottery from another country.
The retail reality (it's not bad)
California has roughly 23,000 licensed retailers — supermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores — selling every game: Powerball, Mega Millions, SuperLotto Plus (Wed & Sat, 7:45 PM PT), Fantasy 5 and the daily games (evening draws 6:30 PM PT daily), and Scratchers. You must be 18+, and sales cut off before each draw — the last-call rules apply here like everywhere. Payment is typically cash or debit; credit card rules vary by retailer.
Buy at the counter, then let the internet do what it's actually allowed to do in California: check your numbers. Every game's latest and historical draws are on our California results page, with full archives on the open data hub.
Play responsibly — 1-800-GAMBLER.