Comparison

Substitution Manager vs SubCav

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

Head to head
About

Substitution Manager

Easily manage junior soccer substitutions and player tracking for coaches and parents. Ensure fair playing time with automatic tracking, drag-and-drop subs, and helpful alerts. Log cards and goals, and generate instant match reports.

Highlights
  • Automatic player time tracking
  • Drag-and-drop live substitutions
  • Player bench time alerts
  • Cards and goals logging
  • Instant match reports
  • Offline functionality
  • No account required
Features
Read full description

Sub Manager is a free sideline toolkit for junior football: fair playing time and effortless subs, a tactics board that plays back, broadcast-style match capture, and a complete referee kit, all in one app, no account needed. Built for coaches, parents and volunteers who'd rather watch the game than a spreadsheet. FAIR PLAYING TIME, SORTED - Every player's field and bench time tracked automatically - Drag-and-drop subs, with your formation updating live - Gentle alerts when someone's been on the bench too long - Log goals and cards with a tap - From 5-a-side to full 11-player squads, with early futsal support THE TACTICS BOARD - Move any player with your finger. Bring the ball to someone and it sticks, move too fast and it runs loose - Your lines fade on their own, so the board clears itself between points - Show the ground each side covers, the shot that is on, the passes that are open, the offside line, and the space nobody is close enough to cover - Give the other team a way of playing and see what it costs you: high press, low block, park the bus, stretch and counter, total football - Set the scoreline you want to talk about, and watch a side chasing a goal come out at you GAMECAM - Film matches in up to 4K/60 with a broadcast-style scoreboard burned into the video - Automatic goal highlights, or save the last 30 seconds with a tap - Face blur for safe sharing of junior footage - On-device match analysis: possession, territory and momentum, nothing uploaded REFEREE MODE, A COMPLETE OFFICIATING KIT, FREE - Clock, cards, subs, coin toss and penalty shootouts from your phone or Apple Watch - Speak, don't tap: dictate an incident from phone or watch, transcribed on the device into structured match data - Movement heat map and fitness tracking from your watch (opt-in) - A full match report you can amend afterwards, and career stats across every match you officiate COACH TOGETHER - Co-Coach: share your live match with the bench over Bluetooth, subs, cards and score in sync, no internet needed - Broadcast a live score that nearby supporters can follow AFTER THE WHISTLE - Instant match reports and a shareable full-time recap - Season stats that tell the truth: playing time, net goal impact, goals per field minute - Player cards to share with parents, as an image or a print-ready PDF PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No accounts, no subscriptions, no internet required - 100% free and fully local, your data stays on your phone - Optional one-time purchase: the Apple Watch companion app - Connects with Club Manager for roster sync and backup, if your club uses it - Fully localized in 40 languages Made by coaches and parents who care about fun, fairness and development.

About

SubCav

This app automates fair playing time for youth soccer teams by generating substitution schedules. It offers live game tracking, parent viewing links, and season schedule sharing.

Highlights
  • Automated substitution scheduling
  • Manual player positioning
  • Live game dashboard
  • Real-time player tracking
  • Parent live game viewing
  • Offline functionality
  • Season schedule sharing
Features
Read full description

SubCav (Substitution Cavalry) takes the hardest part of coaching youth soccer — fair playing time — and handles it for you. Build your roster, pick a formation, and SubCav generates a complete substitution schedule automatically: every player gets equitable minutes, nobody sits two blocks in a row, and goalie rotations are handled. Prefer full control? Place every player yourself with manual positioning. Then coach the whole game from one screen: a live dashboard with the field layout, upcoming substitutions, real playing-time tracking for every player, score and penalties, and a substitution chime so you never miss a change. It even works offline at the field and syncs when you're back online. Parents never miss a moment. Share a live game link they can open in any phone browser — no app, no login — to watch the score, the field, and who's playing right now. Text the link straight from the game (with parent consent), share your season schedule with arrival times and a subscribe-to-calendar option, and share season statistics. Between games, browse your team photo gallery, review season stats built

Screenshots

Substitution Manager4 screens
SubCav4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SubCav at none against Substitution Manager's 1. SubCav also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Substitution Manager's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Substitution Manager sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SubCav asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Substitution Manager against 5.0 for SubCav. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Substitution Manager ships an update every 3 weeks, SubCav weekly. Both last shipped on October 7, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Substitution Manager versus SubCav: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubstitution ManagerSubCav
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.515.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDamien DonnellyCoding Cavalry LLC

Customer experience

Substitution Manager

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SubCav

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Substitution Manager

One-time1
  • Watch Companion$5.99
None

SubCav

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Substitution Manager free?
Substitution Manager is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SubCav free?
SubCav is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Substitution Manager or SubCav?
Substitution Manager and SubCav are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Substitution Manager or SubCav have ads?
Neither Substitution Manager nor SubCav shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Substitution Manager or SubCav?
Substitution Manager ships an update every 3 weeks, and SubCav weekly. Most recently, Substitution Manager was updated on October 7, 2026 and SubCav on October 7, 2026.

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