DinkSmart vs Game Maker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DinkSmart
Connect with pickleball players, join or create groups, and organize games and court bookings. Discover new players based on playing style and find courts near you to play more pickleball.
- Discover players with PicklePersona™
- Join or create #Groups
- Organize games with match invites
- Find pickleball courts with Venue Maps
- Track RSVPs and fill open spots
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Discover Players. Unlock Communities. Play More Pickleball. DinkSmart brings the entire pickleball world into one app—players, groups, games, and courts—so you spend less time organizing and more time playing. Discover Players Perfectly Suited for You Take the PicklePersona™ quiz to match with players based on playing style, vibe, and court chemistry—not just skill level. Create Match Invites + Send RSVPs Organize a match in seconds. Set the time, place, and players. Track RSVPs and fill open spots fast—no messy group texts. Join #Groups and Unlock Your Communities Find or create #Groups for leagues, open play, clubs, coaching or tight-knit friend crews. Send Blast announcements, engage in group conversations, plan matches, and stay organized in one place. Browse 12,000+ National Courts, Lightning Fast Discover nearby and nationwide pickleball courts with built-in Venue Maps. Start a game or plan a match instantly. DinkSmart helps you find new players + familiar faces—and get on the court.
Game Maker
Organize pickleball games, find nearby courts, and connect with players. Create custom game formats, manage groups, and communicate with other players.
- Find nearby games and courts
- Connect with players by DUPR, age, gender
- Create private groups and chat
- Organize games with custom formats
- Scramble, Round Robin, King of the Court modes
- DUPR rating sessions
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Game Maker is made for pickleball — the one app you open before, during, and after every session. Find courts and players near you, set up games in seconds, run brackets, track your DUPR rating, and stay connected with the people you play with. Whether you're organizing your regular doubles group or chasing your next rating bump, Game Maker keeps your whole pickleball life in one place. Meet Pickles AI Just ask. Say "set up a private game Saturday morning at 9am with my advanced players group" and Pickles AI — with voice dictation — turns it into a real, confirmable game inside the app. Organizing play has never been this fast. Your games, on your Calendar Every game you create syncs straight to your iPhone's Calendar, including recurring sessions — so your schedule lives where you already look. Find your game • Discover nearby courts and players on the map • Filter by distance to find games that fit • Host or join games and manage invites Play & compete • Build round-robin and tournament brackets • Record match scores • Head-to-head history and leaderboards Track your progress • Connect your DUPR rating • See 90-day performance trends and match insights • Follow your improvement over time Stay connected • Add friends and create groups • Message the players you play with • Game Maker player indicators so you know who's on the app Play anywhere — now in 24 languages Game Maker automatically matches your device language, or pick from 24 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Turkish, and more. Download Game Maker and play more pickleball. By using Game Maker, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Privacy Policy: https://pickleball.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://pickleball.com/terms-of-use
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DinkSmart at 3.9 against Game Maker's 3.5. On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DinkSmart holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of DinkSmart's written reviews are positive against 50% of Game Maker's.
DinkSmart ships an update fortnightly, Game Maker every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DinkSmart | Game Maker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (15 ratings) — better | 3.5 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 137 MB | 154 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DINKSMART, INC | Pickleball TopCo LLC |
Customer experience
DinkSmart
Game Maker
In-app purchases
DinkSmart
No in-app purchases
Game Maker
No in-app purchases









