Comparison

Brackets vs CupMaker

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

Head to head
About

Brackets

Easily create and manage various tournament formats, including single elimination, double elimination, and round robin. This app handles player additions, seeding, byes, and matchups automatically, allowing for real-time updates and sharing of results.

Highlights
  • Create single elimination tournaments
  • Create double elimination tournaments
  • Create round robin tournaments
  • Automatic seeding and byes
  • Real-time score updates
  • Export brackets as image or PDF
  • Works offline
Features
Read full description

Create and run beautiful tournament brackets in seconds. Brackets is a fast, private tournament maker for single elimination, double elimination, and round robin competitions on iPhone and iPad. ADD PLAYERS. PICK A FORMAT. START PLAYING. Enter 3 to 64 players or teams, keep your seed order or shuffle the field, and let Brackets handle byes and matchups automatically. RUN THE TOURNAMENT FROM THE BRACKET Tap a player to choose the winner and watch them advance. Add an optional score, correct a result, or undo changes without rebuilding everything by hand. THREE TOURNAMENT FORMATS • Single elimination • Double elimination, including the grand final reset when needed • Round robin with live standings BUILT FOR REAL-WORLD CHANGES Edit names, fill an undecided slot, substitute a participant, duplicate a tournament, or reuse a player list for a new format. SHARE THE RESULT Export a clean bracket as an image or PDF, print it, or send it through the iOS share sheet. PRIVATE AND RELIABLE Brackets works offline with no account and no ads. Your tournament history stays on your devices and can sync through your private iCloud account. DESIGNED FOR IPHONE AND IPAD Use portrait or landscape, zoom and pan large brackets, and fit the full tournament to the screen. From a quick game night to school, office, club, pickleball, esports, or family competitions, Brackets keeps every matchup clear from the first round to the champion. BRACKETS PRO Your first tournament is free. Brackets Pro unlocks unlimited tournaments with a yearly subscription, which starts with a free trial for new subscribers, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://digitalbunker.dev/privacy-policy

About

CupMaker

Features
Read full description

CupMaker is a tournament bracket app that lets you generate a complete bracket just by entering participant names. Supports three formats: Single Elimination, Double Elimination, and Round Robin (league play). Perfect for school clubs, community sports leagues, esports tournaments, and more. ■ Key Features ・Generate a bracket instantly — just enter participant names ・Single Elimination, Double Elimination, and Round Robin all supported ・Byes are automatically distributed fairly across the bracket ・Manual seeding is also available ・Tap any match to enter results on the spot ・Round Robin rankings use wins, point difference, points for/against — plus your own custom tiebreaker criteria ・Swap opponents or edit participants at any time ・Save or share brackets and standings as an image ・Regenerate the whole bracket whenever you need to ■ Great For ・Running a tournament for your school club or team ・Organizing a company event or recreational tournament ・Hosting an esports or board game tournament ・Anyone tired of building brackets by hand in Excel ■ No Server, No Sign-Up No account needed — everything is stored on your device. Create and run your tournament anytime, even without an internet connection. ■ Supported Languages 日本語・English・简体中文・繁體中文 Stop wrestling with bracket-making and focus on running your event. Try CupMaker today.

Screenshots

Brackets4 screens
CupMaker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CupMaker at none against Brackets's 2. CupMaker also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Brackets's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Brackets sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. CupMaker asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brackets ships an update every 3 weeks, CupMaker every 6 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Brackets versus CupMaker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBracketsCupMaker
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAryaman ShardaKAIYOKAN, Y.K.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Brackets

Subscriptions1
  • Brackets Pro Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Brackets Pro Lifetime$19.99
None

CupMaker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brackets free?
Brackets is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CupMaker free?
CupMaker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Brackets or CupMaker have ads?
CupMaker shows ads; Brackets does not.
Which is updated more often, Brackets or CupMaker?
Brackets ships an update every 3 weeks, and CupMaker every 6 days. Most recently, Brackets was updated on November 6, 2026 and CupMaker on November 6, 2026.

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