Comparison

ESPN Tournament Challenge vs Squad

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

Squad

Features
Read full description

Squad Up is a community for amateur sports players and managers. Create a squad or find one in your region, build a roster, arrange ranked matches, track scores and records, and compete in seasonal tournaments. Use in-app chat and calendar tools to coordinate. Follow regional and global leaderboards, manage notifications, and switch between Player and Manager profiles. Players can browse and request to join squads; managers can review requests, start matches, submit results, and use community safety tools to report, block, and review match-evidence reports. The Player experience is free and ad-supported. Managers receive a trial; optional auto-renewing subscriptions unlock manager and tournament features. Purchases are handled through Apple's in-app purchase system. Squad Up does not use GPS or collect health data. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://wry-ferret-625.convex.site/legal/privacy

Screenshots

ESPN Tournament Challenge4 screens
Squad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Squad at none against ESPN Tournament Challenge's shown. Squad also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). ESPN Tournament Challenge's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). On price, in-app purchases 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $10.99 per month and Squad sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ESPN Tournament Challenge ships an update every 9 days, Squad monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ESPN Tournament Challenge versus Squad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterESPN Tournament ChallengeSquad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (44K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews34.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings44K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB55 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperDisneyDouglas Martinez

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

Squad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

ESPN Tournament Challenge

Subscriptions10
  • ESPN+ 90 Day Trial (Monthly)3 Months trial$10.991 Month
  • ESPN+ Monthly2 variants$13.991 Month
  • ESPN+ 7 Day Trial (Monthly)7 Days trial$13.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • ESPN+ (Monthly)$13.991 Month
  • 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
4 purchases

Squad

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Plan$4.991 Month
  • 6 month plan$14.996 Months
  • Base Yearly Plan$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Product for game$14.99

Questions

Is ESPN Tournament Challenge free?
ESPN Tournament Challenge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Squad free?
Squad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ESPN Tournament Challenge or Squad have ads?
ESPN Tournament Challenge shows ads; Squad does not.
Which is updated more often, ESPN Tournament Challenge or Squad?
ESPN Tournament Challenge ships an update every 9 days, and Squad monthly. Most recently, ESPN Tournament Challenge was updated on October 26, 2026 and Squad on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons