DFS Simulator

DraftKings vs FanDuel DFS: Scoring, Rosters, and Which One Actually Fits Your Play

By DFS Simulator TeamPublished July 29, 202611 min read

DraftKings and FanDuel are the two dominant DFS sites, and they run fundamentally different games under the same "daily fantasy" umbrella. Scoring, roster shape, salary cap, and single-game format all differ enough that the same slate produces different optimal lineups on each site — and building for both requires understanding what each site is actually rewarding.

Most players pick a site early, learn its quirks through hundreds of slates, and stick with it. That's a defensible strategy for a beginner because scoring familiarity compounds fast. It's also how a top-decile FanDuel player finishes middle-of-the-pack the first time they enter a DraftKings contest at the same stakes — the sites are that different. This guide walks through the specific differences that matter to DFS strategy and how the DFS Simulator per-site config handles them.

Scoring: the ceiling delta

The scoring differences between DK and FD create the largest observable optimal-build divergence:

  • Football PPR. DK is full-PPR (1 point per reception); FD is half-PPR (0.5). A pass-catching back with 5 catches scores 5 points extra on DK vs FD before any yardage. Result: DK lineups lean pass-catching-back-heavy; FD lineups lean rushing-workload-back-heavy.
  • NBA stat bonuses. DK awards 1.5x bonuses for double-doubles (10+ in two categories) and 3x for triple-doubles. FD has no bonuses. Result: DK NBA GPPs concentrate on stat-stuffing forwards and centers; FD NBA GPPs concentrate on high-usage wings.
  • MLB stacking cap. DK allows 5 hitters from a single team; FD caps at 4. Result: DK winning builds run 5-stacks with a mini-stack from a second team; FD winning builds run 4-stacks with more diversification across other games.
  • NHL scoring bonuses. DK awards shorthanded and power-play multipliers; FD scores all goals equally. Result: DK NHL GPPs reward top-line goal chasers on high-total games; FD NHL GPPs reward pure production without special-teams gaming.
A single-slate example: a Sunday NFL slate produces optimal lineups on DK and FD that share only 3 of 9 players. Same projections, same salaries (roughly), but the scoring differences push the optimizer toward completely different roster constructions on each site.

Roster shape: subtle but decisive

Roster differences are less headline-worthy than scoring but still steer optimal builds:

  • NFL: Both sites use 9-player rosters (QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, FLEX, DST). Nearly identical. Salary cap: DK $50k, FD $60k. The cap difference matters — FD's higher cap gives you more $/point flexibility for stars, which is one reason FD NFL builds concentrate more on top-priced quarterback stacks.
  • NBA: DK has PG/SG/SF/PF/C/G/F/UTIL (2 flex slots); FD has PG/PG/SG/SG/SF/SF/PF/PF/C (no flex). DK's UTIL rewards positional flexibility; FD's strict slots reward players who lock a single position.
  • MLB: DK uses P/P/C/1B/2B/3B/SS/OF/OF/OF (10 slots); FD uses P/C-1B/2B/3B/SS/OF/OF/OF/UTIL (9 slots). Different flex logic; FD's C-1B combined slot changes optimal punt logic in the corners.

Single-game formats: the biggest divergence

DK Showdown and FD Single Game and Yahoo Cup are all single-game DFS, but their multiplier structures make them meaningfully different games:

  • DK Showdown: Captain (1.5x) + 5 UTIL. One multiplier decision.
  • FD Single Game: MVP (2x) + STAR (1.5x) + PRO (1.2x) + 2 UTIL. THREE separate multiplier decisions. Optimization surface is combinatorially larger.
  • Yahoo Cup: MVP (1.5x) + 4 FLEX. One multiplier decision on a shallower 5-player roster.

The FD multi-tier structure is why FD single-game contests reward simulation more than DK Showdown does — hand-optimizing across three multiplier slots is infeasible in a live-slate window, but a solver handles it in milliseconds.

Field skill: the honest comparison

Public field skill differs by contest type more than by site:

  • Cash games (both sites): field skill is high — sharp cash players concentrate here and cash-game skill compounds fast. DK slightly sharper on average.
  • Mid-stakes GPPs: FanDuel slightly softer than DraftKings, especially for NBA and NFL. The delta is small but consistent.
  • Millionaire-Maker-tier GPPs: DK fields include a huge casual population that never plays cash — soft on average, but a handful of professional multi-entry portfolios do the real heavy lifting for equity.

How DFS Simulator handles per-site optimization

The simulator ships per-site scoring configs so a projection loaded once produces honest DK-specific and FD-specific ceilings without manual re-entry. Practical workflow:

  1. Pick a slate on any supported sport.
  2. Choose the site (DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo). The scoring engine loads the site's rules automatically.
  3. Adjust projections (same projections work across sites — the site scoring rules translate them).
  4. Run 10,000+ iterations. The simulator produces site-specific ceiling, floor, and ownership-adjusted leverage per lineup.
  5. Export site-formatted CSV. Upload directly.

Sharp players run both sites for the same slate and pick whichever produces the higher-EV lineup for their contest type. That parallel-play workflow is what the per-site config enables — projection work done once, two sites' worth of optimal lineups produced.

Related

Frequently asked questions

Is DraftKings or FanDuel better for DFS?

Neither is universally better — they're different games with different scoring rules and different optimal builds. DraftKings has the largest contest catalogue, full-PPR football scoring, and NBA stat-bonus multipliers that reward variance. FanDuel has tighter salary distributions, half-PPR football, no NBA bonuses, and a Single-Game format with multi-tier multipliers that changes single-game construction meaningfully. Pick the site whose scoring philosophy matches how you like to build; sharp players run both.

Why do the same DFS projections produce different lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel?

Because the scoring rules differ. A 6-catch, 60-yard, no-touchdown receiver scores 12.0 on DK (full-PPR) and 9.0 on FD (half-PPR) — a 33% ceiling difference from the same real-life game. That difference cascades through the salary cap arithmetic: at DK, the receiver clears $/pt value; at FD, he doesn't. Multiply that across a full roster and the optimal DK build systematically differs from the optimal FD build.

Which DFS site pays out better on cash games?

Roughly equivalent — both DK and FD run 50/50s at ~1.8x payout with 5-10% rake. The difference is field skill: FD cash-game fields historically skew slightly softer than DK's, especially in mid-stakes contests. That's why some cash bankrolls concentrate more volume on FD than on DK despite DK's larger overall contest catalogue.

Which DFS site is better for GPPs?

DraftKings for the largest tournament fields (Millionaire Maker prize pools regularly exceed $5M) and the highest ceiling variance thanks to the stat-bonus multipliers. FanDuel for sharper mid-stakes GPPs with cleaner ownership dynamics. Both sites reward correlated construction; the difference is whether you want DK's larger prize pools (more variance) or FD's sharper competition (tighter EV distribution around your edge).

Should I play the same lineup on DraftKings and FanDuel?

Only if you want to leave equity on the table. The optimal DK build almost never matches the optimal FD build because the scoring differences shift which players clear salary value. Building each site's lineup natively — with the site's specific scoring, salary cap, and roster constraints in the simulator — captures the site-specific edge each provides. DFS Simulator's per-site config handles this without requiring you to re-project.

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Put the theory into practice

DFS Simulator runs correlated Monte Carlo sims across 21 sports — up to 50,000 iterations per slate, from $19.99/month.

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