Comparison

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer vs Magic Lineup

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer

This app helps coaches and parents ensure every player on a junior team gets equal playing time. It generates fair substitution plans and provides timely alerts during games, allowing for focused coaching and a positive sideline experience. A free trial is available to test its functionality.

Highlights
  • Fair substitution plan builder
  • In-game substitution alerts
  • Equal game time tracking
  • Focus on player development
  • 30-day free trial
Features
Read full description

SubNow is for coaches and parents of junior and youth teams who want every player to receive fair game time. SubNow helps you easily build a fair substitution plan and alerts you when to make substitutions during the game — so you can coach calmly, focus on development, and keep the sideline smiling. Enjoy a 30 day free trial to see whether SubNow will work for you. This is a brand new SubNow — guided by 10 years of user feedback, SubNow has been rebuilt from the ground up and significantly enhanced. SubNow remains focused on increasing the enjoyment of junior team sports for children and parents, by making it easy to fairly share game time. Why SubNow? Because fair game time builds confident players and happier teams. SubNow creates practical substitution plans based on your game length, breaks, subs, goalkeepers, and number of players—then replans during the game when the unexpected happens. SubNow solves the challenge of trying to make substitutions based on the actual game time each player has had on the field. SubNow currently supports: • Small Sided Football/Soccer • Futsal • Junior Hockey (Minkey/Mini Hockey) • Basketball • Touch Football Before the Game - Create and preview your substitution plan before kick-off. Position planning & optimization allows player position preferences to be accommodated while preserving fair game time. Print your substitution plan if working off paper is preferred. During the Game - Get clear, timely substitution alerts, see exactly who’s on and off next, and confirm each substitution as you go. If a player arrives late, is injured, or needs a rest, SubNow recalculates the plan automatically — keeping fairness intact. Ready for fair, stress free substitution management at your next match? Download SubNow and start your 30 day free trial today. See full feature list at http://www.subnowapp.com/features Terms of Use: http://www.subnow.com.au/terms Privacy Policy: http://www.subnow.com.au/privacy

About

Magic Lineup

This app helps youth sports coaches balance fair playing time with competitive lineups. It uses season data to suggest optimal formations and tracks player minutes automatically. Parents can RSVP and view player stats, keeping everyone informed.

Highlights
  • Lineup Wizard with season data
  • Fair minute tracking and rotation
  • Player performance heatmaps
  • Parent RSVP and communication
  • Automated game stats tracking
  • Staff collaboration
  • AI roster and schedule assistance
Features
Read full description

Every kid plays. The team still wins. Magic Lineup is the sideline app for youth soccer, basketball, flag football, hockey, and lacrosse coaches caught between two jobs: give every kid fair minutes, and still put out a lineup that competes. Other apps are stopwatches. This one does both. YOUR BEST LINEUP, FROM REAL DATA The Lineup Wizard builds your soccer starting lineup from the season you've actually had — time at position, practice effort, attendance. Slot by slot, it tells you who's earned it. Switch between 39 formations, 5v5 to 11v11, even mid-game. FAIR MINUTES, WITHOUT THE MENTAL MATH • One tap rotates the bench — the kids who've waited longest come on first • A heatmap on every player tile shows who's ahead and who's owed time • Set a target-minutes goal per team; the app tracks everyone against it • Mark a player injured and they auto-bench without wrecking the time math • Per-player history — minutes, court %, time by position, game by game — receipts for any parent who asks RUN THE SIDELINE WITH ONE THUMB • Drag a sub straight onto the field or court • Five-second undo for fat-fingered taps • Game clock and score on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island — the clock survives a locked phone • Dictate sideline notes without leaving the game PARENTS IN THE LOOP • Parents RSVP for every game and practice in one tap: Going, Can't go, or Maybe • See who's coming right on your schedule • A "Can't go" starts that player as unavailable when you set the lineup, and marks them out by default at practice attendance • You decide which parent is linked to which kid • Every player gets a page: minutes, practice attendance, and upcoming games and practices STATS THAT TRACK THEMSELVES Soccer: goals, shots, fouls, yellow and red cards. Basketball: 2s, 3s, free throws, fouls, steals, turnovers — with foul badges right on the player tiles. Flag football: touchdowns, conversions, interceptions, sacks, flag pulls, penalties. Hockey: goals, shots on goal, penalties. Lacrosse: goals, assists, shots on goal, ground balls, turnovers, penalties. Every event lands in a timestamped game journal. No halftime data entry, ever. COACH WITH YOUR STAFF Invite an assistant with a QR code in seconds. Subs and stats stay in sync between phones. No extra charge — your whole bench staff is included. BRING YOUR AI ASSISTANT Connect ChatGPT or Claude to your team and let it add your roster and schedule games for you. You approve every connection in the app. YOUR SEASON IN ONE PLACE Schedule games and practices, take attendance, and grade practice effort — which feeds straight back into lineup suggestions. Already on GameChanger? Paste one calendar link and your season imports. FULL GAMES, FREE No game-length caps. No per-coach fees. Free. Built by a youth coach who got tired of doing fairness math on a notecard. Made in California.

Screenshots

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer4 screens
Magic Lineup4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Magic Lineup at 5.0 against SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer's 4.3. Magic Lineup also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer's advantage is ratings volume (27 vs 4) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.29 per 7 days. Magic Lineup asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Magic Lineup holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer has 27 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer's written reviews are positive against 67% of Magic Lineup's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer ships an update every 2 weeks, Magic Lineup every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer versus Magic Lineup: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubNow | Ultimate Sub TimerMagic Lineup
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (27 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.3% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSubNowParent-AI LLC

Customer experience

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer

All ratings27 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive54.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative45.7%

Magic Lineup

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer

Subscriptions6
  • Basic Test3 Days trial$0.297 Days
  • Pro Test3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Basic Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro Monthly1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • Basic Annual1 Month trial$29.991 Year
  • Pro Annual1 Month trial$39.991 Year
None

Magic Lineup

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer free?
SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Magic Lineup free?
Magic Lineup is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer or Magic Lineup?
Magic Lineup is rated higher. SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer averages 4.3 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Magic Lineup averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer or Magic Lineup have ads?
Neither SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer nor Magic Lineup shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer or Magic Lineup?
SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Magic Lineup every 3 days. Most recently, SubNow | Ultimate Sub Timer was updated on November 11, 2026 and Magic Lineup on November 9, 2026.

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