Bracket Maker for the iPad vs Brackets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bracket Maker for the iPad
Easily create and manage tournament brackets for various competitions, from sports to parties. This app handles the complex pairings and advancements, allowing you to focus on the event. Update brackets in real-time, even offline, and share results via email or print.
- Advance winners with a touch
- Pair players by seeding, random, or manual assignment
- Support for single, double, triple elimination, round robin, consolation, and compass tournaments
- Enter scores and game dates/locations
- Email or print bracket displays and results
- Add players from contacts
- Edit mistakes and save bracket images
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This is a great portable program to help you create brackets for tournaments, friendly competition, small leagues, ping pong, bowling, volleyball, parties, beer pong, curling round robins, scout derby races, tennis tournaments and more. It's easy to use and it does the hard part of figuring out who goes where! Features: 1) Easy to advance the winners. Just touch the player to advance. 2) Pair the players using seedings or by random assignments or by manual assignment 3) Create tournaments for 4 to 32 players depending on tournament type: __* For single elimination brackets, the limit is 32 players. __* For double elimination brackets, the limit is 32 players. __* For Triple elimination brackets, the limit is 8 players. __* For Round Robin tournaments, the limit is 16 players (multiple pools available). __* For Consolation tournaments, you must use 8 or 16 players. __* For Compass tournaments, you must use 8 players. 4) You can enter scores. 5) Load previously saved tournaments 6) Email or print your bracket display. Including send results in a CSV format for elimination brackets. 7) Add players from your contact list. 8) Edit/erase mistakes (even after the tournament starts). 9) On single and double elim. tournaments, you enter game date and location. 10) You can setup doubles or partner play tournaments 11) Save bracket images to your photo album 12) Play unlimited number of round robin games. Also supports Ties! Having this program on your iPad makes it perfect for on-site and real time updating of the brackets. No wi-fi or internet needed. Print or email the results to participants when the competition is over. You can also setup a consolation tournament where each team/player plays exactly 3 games when 8 players or 4 games when 16 players. The Round Robin style is limited to 16 players but is a great way to keep track of wins and losses and ties. The iPad does it for you! You can even have up to four pools in one tournament. The iPad automatically matches each team to ensure everyone plays around. The program automatically adjusts the brackets for the number of players. Instead of showing "byes", it will automatically advance a player appropriately when the tournament is first setup. So, you can have 4 to 32 players. The program automatically adjust the brackets so you don't have to. Plus, you can load player names from your contact list to save typing. You can start a new tournament with as little as 4 players. Then select Copy to start your tournament. In the players list, you can re-arrange the order or delete an entry using the edit button. You can also edit a bracket after it is created. The program supports multiple ways to setup bracket assignments. a) Copy using seedings: it will put the names on the bracket based on seeding. (For example, Player ranked #1 plays player ranked #16) b) Copy using random draws, it will randomize the pairings using your list of players/teams. c) Copy using manual selection, it will put the selected player/team on the bracket in your selection order. d) Copy using top 4 seedings will place top 4 seeds on separate bracket sections (so they meet in the later rounds) while randomizing the other player placements. This is often used for Tennis tournaments. d) copy using partners will allow you set up doubles matches. Either random pairing or controlled pairing. e) copy names in list order. Great feature if you want to completely control the assignments. Features are constantly added. I want this to be the best tournament bracket program in the app store. Email support or visit facebook if you want to see a particular feature added or you have an issue. I can't respond to review comments. Now with color. Choose team/player colors. IT EVEN HAS A HELP DOCUMENT for beginners. See this program in action before buying it. Find it on youtube or watch the app preview. There are also more tutorial videos on the support website.
Brackets
Easily create and manage any type of tournament or league for any sport or game. This app offers multiple formats, offline functionality, and a distraction-free experience for organizers and participants alike.
- Multiple tournament formats (single/double elimination, round robin)
- Offline functionality, no internet required
- Quick tournament setup in under a minute
- Automatic bracket advancement with score entry
- Export brackets as PDF or image
- Unlimited teams and tournaments
- Ad-free experience
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Build and run any tournament — completely free, forever. No subscription. No login. No internet needed. Just open the app and start competing. EVERY FORMAT YOU NEED - Bracket — single & double elimination for any sport - Group Stage — round robin with automatic standings - Calendar — schedule-based tournaments with match history Works for football, basketball, tennis, ping pong, esports, darts, pickleball, volleyball, cornhole — if it has a winner, Brackets runs it. BUILT FOR REAL USE - Set up a full tournament in under a minute - Enter scores with a single tap — bracket advances automatically - Export and share your bracket as a PDF or image - Supports unlimited teams and unlimited tournaments - No ads interrupting your tournament — clean and distraction-free 100% OFFLINE Your data stays on your device. No cloud, no account, no tracking. Perfect for gyms, schools, backyards, offices, and anywhere without Wi-Fi. PERFECT FOR - Coaches organizing league play - Friends running backyard tournaments - Schools and PE teachers - Esports organizers - Office competitions and game nights Brackets is free. Always has been. Always will be. Download and start your first tournament today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bracket Maker for the iPad at 65% against Brackets's 0%. Bracket Maker for the iPad also leads on ratings volume (51 vs 5). Brackets's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and rating (4.6 vs 4.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Brackets is free to download; Bracket Maker for the iPad costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Brackets holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bracket Maker for the iPad has 51 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Bracket Maker for the iPad's written reviews are positive against 0% of Brackets's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Bracket Maker for the iPad ships an update every 2 months, Brackets every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bracket Maker for the iPad | Brackets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (51 ratings) | 4.6 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.6% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 51 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacques Romano | Mickey Spadafora |
Customer experience
Bracket Maker for the iPad
Brackets
In-app purchases
Bracket Maker for the iPad
No in-app purchases
Brackets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bracket Maker for the iPad free?
Is Brackets free?
Which has better reviews, Bracket Maker for the iPad or Brackets?
Do Bracket Maker for the iPad or Brackets have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bracket Maker for the iPad or Brackets?
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