Comparison

Swimmingly vs ACE Cheer Birmingham

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

Head to head
About

Swimmingly

Streamline swim meet operations with this app, eliminating paper and reducing volunteer needs. It allows iOS devices to manage roles like starter, timer, stroke & turn judge, and scorekeeper. Approved for sanctioned USA Swimming competitions.

Highlights
  • Sanctioned USA Swimming competitions
  • No paper required
  • Digital roles: Starter, Timer, Stroke & Turn Judge, Scorekeeper
  • iPad required for Scorekeeper
  • iOS 16-18 compatible
Features
Read full description

Run swim meets faster. Without paper. Swimmingly replaces your entire meet system with in-app timing, officiating, and scoring. No stopwatches. No clipboards. No nonsense hardware. No manual entry. Assign roles across devices: - Starter - Timer - Stroke & Turn Judge - Scorekeeper Each volunteer can simply download the app on their device, setup in minutes, and run the meet. What you get: - Automatic start + timing sync - Real-time judging and DQs - Instant scoring and results - Live publishing to SwimminglyFan App - No data entry after the meet Why teams switch: - Cut meet time - Reduce volunteers needed - Eliminate paper - Improve accuracy Built for real competition & approved for sanctioned USA Swimming competitions. Used by leagues, clubs, and year-round teams. Device support: - iOS 17, 18 & 26

About

ACE Cheer Birmingham

Manage your cheer and tumbling account, register for classes, and receive important updates. Access all program information conveniently from your smartphone.

Highlights
  • Account management
  • Class registration
  • Individual lesson booking
  • Camp and clinic sign-ups
  • Important notifications
  • Event announcements
Features
Read full description

WELCOME TO THE ACE Cheer Company - Birmingham - Cheer and Tumbling The ACE Cheer Company Birmingham app allows you to manage your account with ease, register for classes, individual lessons, camps and clinics. You will also receive important notifications about class changes, closings, registration openings, special announcements, and upcoming events. The ACE Cheer Company Birmingham app is an on-the-go way to access everything ACE has to offer right from your smartphone.

Screenshots

Swimmingly4 screens
ACE Cheer Birmingham4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ACE Cheer Birmingham at 5.0 against Swimmingly's 4.2. Swimmingly's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (86 vs 9). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ACE Cheer Birmingham holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Swimmingly has 86 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Swimmingly ships an update every 6 weeks, ACE Cheer Birmingham every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Swimmingly versus ACE Cheer Birmingham: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwimminglyACE Cheer Birmingham
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (86 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings86 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB70 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSwimmingly, LLCACE Cheer Company Birmingham

Customer experience

Swimmingly

All ratings82 ratings
Positive79.3%
Neutral1.2%
Negative19.5%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral3.6%
Negative21.4%

ACE Cheer Birmingham

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Swimmingly

Reported bugs

33 issues
  • Heat sheets have swimmers never seated right
  • Swimmer's times are always wrong and usually random numbers
  • The timer starts before the buzzer so the times are always 1-2 seconds off
  • The moment someone stops a timer the time disappears from the phone
  • Nothing runs smoothly with this app or its web version
Show 28 more
  • Every meet we use it at has delays due to the app not working
  • Coaches don’t know who is DQed so we have to take breaks to tell them
  • Timers continue to struggle and the meet starts and stops for them to reconnect
  • There is no flow and kids end up sitting in the sun burning
  • I have never seen so many swims have to be redone because the times never started, stopped or they can’t save it
  • The starter then reboots and we sit around for 15-30 minutes while they test and talk
  • The issues with timing and the app led to an extra few hours for the first meet and today after 5 hours we had just made 50% through it
  • Always seems to have issues in the middle of a meet
  • Takes a lot of battery life - so you live in fear of losing juice in the middle of the meet
  • Easy to make mistakes and enter the wrong swimmer
  • So many issues with the app so far
  • Meets are basically over by the time race results start coming in
  • Doesn’t matter if you’re on WiFi of cellular
  • Way too many resets
  • Way too many delays
  • You don’t want to deal with connectivity & syncing issues in the middle of a meet
  • The system has too many failure points to be a viable product
  • We stopped using the system after multiple fails (meaning starter getting knocked off of the system; watches/iPhones not starting; timers phones dropping off of the system)
  • Meet Central does not integrate with Meet Manager
  • It is completely unreasonable to expect timers to not switch out of the app at some point in the meet
  • Why does everybody use the same Huddle number?
  • What happens if multiple people try to join as “starters?”
  • Why does it take so long for you to get 16 timers logged into the system?
  • The system is marketed to eliminate volunteers however it takes the same number, requires tech savvy volunteers to run a meet smoothly, and volunteers to print and process ribbons
  • It seems difficult to use with a league that has different configuration of pools with regard to the number of lanes and the length of the pools (meter vs yard pool)
  • Sprint carrier iPhones are inferior and will not work with the system
  • The starter's cord did not work for us
  • I have a newer and updated IPad and it it's not compatible

Requested features

10 requests
  • Coaches tab for splits
  • Spectator tab for parents to follow times/scores
  • Easily backup data during meet
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to enter times manually
Show 5 more
  • Improve app ecosystem integration
  • Improve starter/meet ref visibility of connected timers/judges
  • Reduce time for timers to log in
  • Beta version for testing
  • Shorten meet lengths

ACE Cheer Birmingham

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Swimmingly

No in-app purchases

None

ACE Cheer Birmingham

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Swimmingly free?
Swimmingly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ACE Cheer Birmingham free?
ACE Cheer Birmingham is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Swimmingly or ACE Cheer Birmingham?
ACE Cheer Birmingham is rated higher. Swimmingly averages 4.2 out of 5 from 86 ratings, while ACE Cheer Birmingham averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Swimmingly or ACE Cheer Birmingham have ads?
Neither Swimmingly nor ACE Cheer Birmingham shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swimmingly or ACE Cheer Birmingham?
Swimmingly ships an update every 6 weeks, and ACE Cheer Birmingham every 9 months. Most recently, Swimmingly was updated on November 1, 2026 and ACE Cheer Birmingham on November 3, 2026.

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