Comparison

Bracket Maker vs Contested

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

Head to head
About

Bracket Maker

Features
Read full description

Create, seed, schedule, run, and share polished tournament brackets—without an account or internet connection. Roundra turns a pasted roster into a complete tournament command center. Pick the format that fits, enter results as matches happen, keep every court or station moving, and share a bracket everyone can follow. BUILD A TOURNAMENT IN MINUTES • Paste names from any list or add teams, players, songs, movies, foods, or custom entries • Use guided setup when you are not sure which format fits • Seed as entered, shuffle, reorder manually, sort alphabetically, reverse seeds, or spread affiliations • Save favorite rosters and reuse them for future events • Create brackets for up to 128 entries on supported formats CHOOSE FROM 8 FORMATS • Single Elimination • Double Elimination • Round Robin • League + Playoff • Pools + Playoff • Swiss • King of the Hill • Ladder RUN THE EVENT FROM ONE DESK • Record winners, scores, best-of series, forfeits, and no-shows • Track live standings with configurable tiebreakers • Add bronze and consolation matches where supported • Schedule courts, tables, stations, or lanes in smart match waves • Set match length, buffers, breaks, statuses, assignments, and notes • See what is ready now, what is up next, and the projected finish time • Repair downstream results safely when an earlier winner changes MAKE THE TOURNAMENT EASY TO FOLLOW • Open a presentation view for a venue display • Show the next matchup, progress, standings, and champion • Export polished bracket or standings images • Create clean, dark, or scoreboard-style PDFs • Share run sheets, results CSV files, and tournament summaries PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your brackets and rosters are saved locally on your device. Roundra requires no account, includes no third-party ads, and does not track you. Back up and restore your tournament library whenever you choose. MADE FOR MORE THAN SPORTS Run club tournaments, rec leagues, school or PE events, esports brackets, office competitions, game nights, or just-for-fun showdowns between songs, movies, foods, and ideas. Roundra is built for iPhone and iPad and is available in 37 languages, including full right-to-left support for Arabic and Hebrew.

About

Contested

Features
Read full description

Run any tournament, any sport, any format — Contested handles knockout brackets, double elimination, round robins, leagues, group stages, and Swiss pairings, with built-in timers that show live on your Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, and Apple Watch. WHY CONTESTED Most tournament apps make you choose between a proper bracket tool and a working timer — or charge you per tournament for the privilege. Contested does both, with no per-tournament limits: start a match, and the countdown follows you to your Lock Screen, your Dynamic Island, and your wrist, without needing to keep the app open. TOURNAMENT FORMATS • Knockout — automatic seeding with byes correctly assigned to your top seeds, a clean bracket at every round, and an optional 3rd Place match. • Double Knockout — losers drop into a Losers Bracket instead of being eliminated outright; the Grand Final is set once both the Winners and Losers Bracket finalists are decided. • Round Robin & League — every team plays every other team across as many cycles as you choose, with a live standings table, tie-breakers, and bonus points you can award directly. • World Cup Style (Groups + Knockout) — a group stage feeds a projected knockout bracket that updates as group results come in, so you can see likely matchups before the group stage even finishes. • Swiss — each round pairs players by current standings while avoiding repeat matchups where possible, ideal when a full round robin isn't practical. RUN IT TOGETHER, WATCH IT LIVE • Share a running tournament with an Admin Code or a Spectator Code. • Spectators watch scores and standings update live — completely free, no account, no purchase, ever. • Bring in a co-organizer with an Admin Code and they can enter scores from their own phone too, covered by your subscription. • No one to send a code to? Scan the built-in QR code and get straight to the download. BUILT-IN TIMERS, EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK • Sequential mode gives each match its own start/pause timer; Simultaneous mode runs one shared timer for an entire round of matches at once. • Every running timer appears live on your iPhone's Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island — check the clock without unlocking your phone. • A dedicated Apple Watch app mirrors your tournaments and timers in real time, plus a watch face complication for a countdown at a glance. • Your phone (and watch) buzzes when time's up, even locked. RUN IT YOUR WAY • Team or individual competitions, with seeding, photos, and custom tags. • Forfeits and walkovers award a result and advance the winner automatically. • Import participants straight from a CSV file instead of typing every name. • Export finished brackets and standings as a PDF or CSV — perfect for printing or keeping records. • Schedule matches directly into Apple Calendar. • Archive completed tournaments and search across everything, including archived events. Whether you're running a Saturday morning club competition, a multi-week league season, or a full weekend knockout tournament, Contested keeps the bracket, the clock, and the standings all in sync — on your phone, your Lock Screen, and your Apple Watch. Try Contested free for 7 days. No account, no sign-up required. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Bracket Maker4 screens
Contested4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bracket Maker at none against Contested's 3. Bracket Maker also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). On price, ads 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. Contested sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Bracket Maker asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Bracket Maker versus Contested: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBracket MakerContested
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB5 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMobin AkhterPawel Pyrz-Brown

In-app purchases

None

Bracket Maker

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Contested

Subscriptions2
  • Contested Pro Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Contested Pro Yearly$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Contested Lifetime Unlock$99.99

Questions

Is Bracket Maker free?
Bracket Maker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Contested free?
Contested is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Bracket Maker or Contested have ads?
Neither Bracket Maker nor Contested shows ads.

Other comparisons