PicklePairings vs Swish

PicklePairings and Swish solve different problems. PicklePairings is a free, no-account tool for the person running a round robin, Americano, Swiss or bracket from a laptop or phone, with the tournament stored on that device. Swish is a club and tournament platform where players have accounts, register and pay online, and upload DUPR-verified scores; creating round robins needs its $2.50-a-month Paid Recreational plan, and club plans run $75 to $200 a month on a 6-month minimum. If you are a volunteer running a club night, PicklePairings does the job for nothing. If you are charging entry fees or running a facility, Swish is built for that and PicklePairings is not.

At a glance

Where Swish is the better choice

• You take entry fees. Swish handles registration and payment through SwishTournaments.com, and its host plan is free when you do. PicklePairings has no registration at all: you type or paste names.
• Players want their own app. Swish players have accounts, join games, and see their schedules. PicklePairings players get a printed sheet, a shared text message, or a look at the organizer's screen.
• You run a club with leagues and court booking. The Pro Club and Enterprise plans add unlimited leagues and a court booking API. PicklePairings runs one event at a time.
• DUPR matters to your players. Swish uploads verified scores. PicklePairings does not connect to DUPR.

Where PicklePairings is the better choice

• Cost. Free with no tiers. Swish's cheapest way to create a round robin is $2.50 a month, and the plans a club would use start at $75 a month with a 6-month minimum.
• No accounts. Nobody signs up, including the organizer. That matters at a community centre where half the players do not want another app.
• Offline. Gym Wi-Fi is bad. PicklePairings keeps the tournament on the device and works with no signal.
• Swiss and double elimination. Both are built in, with no-rematch Swiss pairing and a bracket reset in the double-elimination final.
• Set-up time. Paste a list of names, choose a format, press start. There is no event page to build.

Which should you use?

Volunteer organizer, club night, social league, no money changing hands: PicklePairings. Paid tournaments, a facility, players who want accounts and DUPR: Swish. Some groups use both, running registration and payments on Swish and the day itself on whatever is quickest at the desk.

Frequently asked questions