Comparison

ESPN Tournament Challenge vs Brackelope

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

Head to head
About

ESPN Tournament Challenge

Create and manage brackets for college basketball tournaments. Compete with friends and experts for prizes, utilize prediction tools, and track your bracket's performance in real-time. Offers quick fill options and team insights to help you make informed picks.

Highlights
  • Create multiple brackets
  • Compete in groups
  • Predictor and Analyzer tools
  • Quick Bracket auto-fill
  • Finish My Bracket option
  • Real-time score tracking
  • Perfect Bracket Tracker
Read full description

The #1 bracket app is back and better than ever for the 2026 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Basketball tournaments! Compete against friends, ESPN personalities and celebrities to see who finishes with the best bracket. It’s completely free to play with over $370K in total prizes across all four bracket games! - In each bracket game (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s Second Chance and Women’s Second Chance) create up to 25 brackets and enter each bracket in up to 10 different groups to play against friends, celebrities, ESPN personalities, and fans across the nation. - Use ESPN Bracket Predictor and Bracket Analyzer to take your bracket experience to the next level with the tools and data you’ll need to gain an edge on your competition. - Use Quick Bracket to auto-fill a bracket in seconds with top seeds, random teams, Smart Picks powered ESPN Analytics, and more! - Short on time? No problem. Pick from a few simple options in the ‘Finish My Bracket’ menu and ESPN will automatically complete your bracket. Unsure about a game or two? You can also import a bracket that you’ve already filled out in the app, make some tweaks and submit it again to increase your chances of winning. - Make picks directly from Matchup Preview screens, with key stats, information, and historical insights for each team to help you make the most informed selections. - Use the Bracketcast tab once games tip off to follow scores and your bracket's performance in real time, all in one view. - Check out the ESPN Perfect Bracket Tracker to see how many perfect brackets remain in both the Men’s and Women’s tourneys as the upsets start rolling in. Before you download this app, please consider that it includes advertising, some of which may be targeted to your interests. You may choose to control targeted advertising within mobile applications by using your mobile device settings (for example, by re-setting your device’s advertising identifier and/or opting out of interest based ads). Please note: this app features Nielsen’s proprietary measurement software which will allow you to contribute to market research, like Nielsen’s TV Ratings. Please see www.nielsen.com/digitalprivacy for more information. You may also visit Settings in the app to opt out of Nielsen measurement. - Terms of use - https://disneytermsofuse.com/ - Privacy Policy - https://www.disneyprivacycenter.com/ - Your US State Privacy Rights - https://privacy.thewaltdisneycompany.com/en/current-privacy-policy/your-us-state-privacy-rights/ - Do Not Sell My Personal Information - https://privacy.thewaltdisneycompany.com/en/dnsmi - Children’s Online Privacy Policy - https://privacy.thewaltdisneycompany.com/en/for-parents/childrens-online-privacy-policy/

About

Brackelope

Easily build, run, and organize knockout, double, and single elimination tournaments for various competitions. Features real-time results posting, player management, and a payout calculator. Supports up to 128 players and integrates with IFPA results.

Highlights
  • Supports up to 128 players/teams
  • Draw match button
  • Real-time results posting (Brackelope Live)
  • Knockout, Double, and Single Elimination tournaments
  • Manage match arenas
  • Save scores and player stats
  • Simple payout calculator
Features
Read full description

• Supports up to 128 players or teams • Hold the Draw Match Button to draw all available matches • Swipe to delete saved players from Add Player list • Swipe to delete saved arenas from Add Arena list • Updated IFPA Results to WPPR 5.2 • Post real-time results online with Brackelope Live • Knockout Tournaments with 1-4 strikes • Seed Knockout tournaments randomly or by number of strikes • Double and Single Elimination Tournaments • Save Scores • Random Doubles mode • Manage match “arenas” like pool tables, pinball machines, dart boards, or basketball courts • Draw Match automatically decides next match • Tap a players name to view their position in the bracket • Saves match times and average plays on each arena • Includes simple payout calculator • Seed players • Email results or share on Twitter or Facebook • Emails include spreadsheet for International Flipper Pinball Association’s pinball rankings Brackelope is an indispensable tournament building tool that allows users to easily build, run, and organize knockout, double and single elimination style tournaments for almost any kind of competition (pool, bowling, pinball, classroom competitions, school sports, etc.). Brackelope is the only app that features live support, enabling users to post scores online in real-time. Brackelope Live support is a feature unique to Brackelope. It allows users to post scores, tournament results, and player stats online, eliminating the need for manual record-keeping and allowing players and fans access to up-to-the-minute information on the progress and results of their tournaments. Brackelope enables users to manage multiple arenas (pinball machines, pool tables, dart boards, etc.), balance matches between players and arenas, search for players in the bracket, and view player win/loss stats. It completely eliminates the confusion of paper scorekeeping and the trouble of attempting to manually draw matches at random. It also includes a simple payout calculator for tournament winnings. Upgrade to Brackelope Pro to unlock Double Elimination brackets, 4-strike Knockout tournaments and balanced and swiss KO seeding rules. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact isaac@brackelope.com

Screenshots

ESPN Tournament Challenge4 screens
Brackelope4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ESPN Tournament Challenge at 4.7 against Brackelope's 3.5. ESPN Tournament Challenge also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (44K vs 91). Brackelope's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (55% vs 34%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. ESPN Tournament Challenge sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $13.99 per month and Brackelope sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ESPN Tournament Challenge holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ESPN Tournament Challenge has 44K ratings behind it against 91, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of ESPN Tournament Challenge's written reviews are positive against 55% of Brackelope's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ESPN Tournament Challenge ships an update every 9 days, Brackelope every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ESPN Tournament Challenge versus Brackelope: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterESPN Tournament ChallengeBrackelope
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (44K ratings) — better3.5 (91 ratings)
Positive reviews34.1% of reviews55.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings44K — better91
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB13 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDisneyIsaac Ruiz

Customer experience

ESPN Tournament Challenge

All ratings43,949 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.1%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews252 reviews
Positive34.1%
Neutral11.9%
Negative54.0%

Brackelope

All ratings84 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral17.9%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive55.4%
Neutral17.4%
Negative27.2%

Bugs and requests

ESPN Tournament Challenge

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Brackets getting wiped
  • Compatibility issues with older devices
  • Frequent app crashes
  • Login and sign-up problems

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to save and resume brackets
  • More customization options
  • Improved group management tools
  • Better analytics and scoring features

Brackelope

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

ESPN Tournament Challenge

Subscriptions9
  • ESPN+ Monthly2 variants$13.991 Month
  • ESPN+ 7 Day Trial (Monthly)7 Days trial$13.991 Month
  • ESPN+ (Monthly)$13.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Tournament ESPN+ Monthly 2024$13.991 Month
  • ESPN+ (Yearly)$139.991 Year
  • ESPN 7 Day Trial (Yearly)7 Days trial$139.991 Year
  • ESPN+ 14 Day Trial (Yearly)14 Days trial$139.991 Year
  • ESPN+ 30 Day Trial (Yearly)$139.991 Year
  • ESPN+ 90 Day Trial (Yearly)3 Months trial$139.991 Year
1 purchases

Brackelope

One-time1
  • Brackelope Pro$9.99

Questions

Is ESPN Tournament Challenge free?
ESPN Tournament Challenge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Brackelope free?
Brackelope is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ESPN Tournament Challenge or Brackelope?
ESPN Tournament Challenge is rated higher. ESPN Tournament Challenge averages 4.7 out of 5 from 44K ratings, while Brackelope averages 3.5 from 91 ratings.
Do ESPN Tournament Challenge or Brackelope have ads?
ESPN Tournament Challenge shows ads; Brackelope does not.
Which is updated more often, ESPN Tournament Challenge or Brackelope?
ESPN Tournament Challenge ships an update every 9 days, and Brackelope every 3 months. Most recently, ESPN Tournament Challenge was updated on November 6, 2026 and Brackelope on November 1, 2026.

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