Ace Referee vs Bracket Builder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ace Referee
This app assists referees in handball, racquetball, squash, and RoundNet by tracking scores, servers, and timeouts. It offers live score updates for spectators and integrates with tournament software for seamless data management.
- Score tracking
- Server management
- Timeout tracking
- Live score updates for spectators
- Integration with tournament software
- Barcode scanning for match data
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Ace Referee is a companion app for handball, racquetball, squash and now RoundNet/SpikeBall referees. It can be used in stand-alone mode or in conjunction with the Bracket Ace tournament software. Ace Referee eliminates the referee's need for pencil and paper. It keeps track of score, server and timeouts on your iPhone, iPad or the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch version allows you to score a game locally or take over a match from the iPhone. All referee features available in the iOS version including the live scoring feature. Ace Referee's live score feature allows spectators to view real-time score updates for any match where the referee is using the app. Via the view scores screen users can simultaneously monitor match scores on both the iPhone and iPad. When Ace Referee is used in conjunction with the Bracket Ace tournament app, all ongoing tournament match scores can be displayed simultaneously, users can jump to the event in the Bracket Ace app, and live video or other media can be displayed when made available by the tournament hosts. Ace Referee can be launched by other apps such as Bracket Ace so that the match data is populated automatically for the referee. Ace Referee can also scan a barcode on a Bracket Ace scorecard. All match data will be populated and the match result will be reported to Bracket Ace.
Bracket Builder
Create, track, and share custom tournament brackets for various sports and games. Supports multiple elimination formats and team sizes, with automatic seeding and BYE insertion. Progress can be monitored and winners easily updated within the app.
- Create single/double-elimination and round-robin brackets
- Supports up to 128 teams
- Generate random double round-robin tournaments
- Share tournament brackets as images
- Automatic team ordering and BYE insertion
- Track tournament progress and remove winners
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Make a tournament bracket in seconds and follow every game to the final. Bracket Builder is a bracket maker for iPhone and iPad. Create single-elimination, double-elimination, round-robin and group-stage tournaments, enter scores as you play, then share the bracket or show it live on a TV. No account needed. FORMATS - Single elimination, up to 128 teams - Double elimination with a losers bracket, up to 64 teams - Round robin, up to 50 teams, with random doubles for pickleball, tennis and padel - Group stage to knockout, up to 128 teams - Best of 3, 5 or 7 series, a third-place match and two-sided brackets DURING THE TOURNAMENT - Tap a team to pick the winner; press and hold to enter the score - Winners move on by themselves, and the path to the title lights up - Undo any pick at any time - Live standings: wins, draws, losses, goals for and against, and goal difference - Automatic seeding with byes placed for you, or a random draw SEASONS AND LEAGUES - Run a league with its own schedule, table, play-in and playoffs - Or group your brackets into a season and see every team's record in one table SHOW IT OFF - Show on TV: put the live bracket on an Apple TV or any AirPlay TV - Share the bracket as an image or PDF, or print a scoresheet - Pick your app icon, including a new gold trophy YOUR TEAMS - Save teams in rosters once and reuse them in every tournament - Add a photo and a color for every team or player - Rename, reorder or remove teams even after the bracket is made SYNC AND BACKUP - iCloud sync between iPhone and iPad, with no sign-up - Import and export brackets as files - Bring back a deleted bracket from the Trash Made for pool and darts leagues, pickleball and tennis clubs, cornhole, soccer and basketball, esports, PE classes, office pools, family game night, or a bracket of anything: songs, movies, snacks. SUBSCRIPTION PLANS - Yearly Plan - Lifetime Plan Terms: https://aberkane.io/terms Privacy: https://aberkane.io/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
Ace Referee and Bracket Builder both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Ace Referee's written reviews are positive against 49% of Bracket Builder's. Ace Referee also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and device support (4 vs 2). Bracket Builder's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (2.7K vs 2). On price, rating and ads 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
Both are free to download. Bracket Builder sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Ace Referee asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Ace Referee against 4.4 for Bracket Builder. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bracket Builder has 2.7K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Ace Referee's written reviews are positive against 49% of Bracket Builder's.
Ace Referee ships an update every 6 weeks, Bracket Builder every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ace Referee | Bracket Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | 4.4 (2.7K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 49.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SoftCP Inc. | Aberkane Software House FZ-LLC |
Customer experience
Ace Referee
Bracket Builder
Bugs and requests
Ace Referee
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Bracket Builder
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when creating large brackets
- Deleted brackets not recoverable
- Inability to edit created brackets
Requested features
4 requests- Add bulk/batch team entry
- Implement double-sided brackets
- Include scoreboard and scoring features
- Ability to rearrange/reorder teams
In-app purchases
Ace Referee
No in-app purchases
Bracket Builder
- Full access for 1 year$4.991 Year
- Full access for 1 year$9.991 Year
- Full access for Lifetime$14.99
- Full access for Lifetime$19.99
Questions
Is Ace Referee free?
Is Bracket Builder free?
Which has better reviews, Ace Referee or Bracket Builder?
Do Ace Referee or Bracket Builder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ace Referee or Bracket Builder?
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