Free pickleball tournament app: brackets, courts and live scores
DinkPro Tournament Mode is a free pickleball tournament app that runs a single or double elimination bracket for 2 to 32 singles or doubles entries on up to 12 courts. It seeds byes, calls each match to a free court, keeps live scores and plays a grand final reset, with no account and no internet required on the host device.
What Tournament Mode runs
| Feature | DinkPro Tournament Mode |
|---|---|
| Bracket types | Double elimination (upper and lower bracket, conditional grand final reset) or single elimination with an optional bronze match |
| Entries | 2 to 32 teams or players, singles or doubles |
| Courts | Up to 12, each with its own name and colour |
| Byes and seeding | Seed order or a random draw; byes go to the top seeds when the entry count is not a power of two |
| Scoring | One game to 11, 15 or 21, best of three to 11, or custom. The reset is one game to 15, win by two |
| Court calls | The next ready match is called to the next free court once both sides are checked in |
| Live scoring | Optional rally-by-rally scoring with server and game point shown |
| Late entries and substitutes | A late team can take the open bye slot; a player can be substituted without changing the team |
| Multi-day events | Pause overnight and resume; save the event to a file and reopen it on another device |
| Big screen | A bracket and courts view for a TV or projector on the same computer, no internet needed |
| Player phones | With Go Live on, players follow the bracket, courts and results on their own phone |
| Price | Free. No account, no subscription, no per-entry fee |
How to run a pickleball tournament in five steps
1. Add entries
Add 2 to 32 teams or players. List them in seed order, or shuffle them for a random draw.
2. Choose the bracket and scoring
Pick double or single elimination, games to 11, 15 or 21 or best of three, and name your courts.
3. Check teams in and start
Check each entry in as it arrives. The bracket locks at the start, and byes go to the top seeds.
4. Let the courts fill themselves
Each match is called to the next free court as soon as both sides are ready. The host confirms the result and the bracket moves on.
5. Crown the champion
Winners advance, losers drop to the lower bracket or go out, and the grand final reset plays only if the lower bracket team wins the first final.
Bracket generator or tournament app?
A bracket generator gives you a chart. Someone still has to walk it to the courts, shout the next match, collect scores and fill in the lines by hand. A tournament app runs the event from the bracket: it knows which courts are free, which teams are checked in and which matches are ready, so the next match is called the moment a court opens and the bracket updates the moment the host confirms a score.
Single or double elimination?
Pick double elimination when every team should play at least twice and you have the court time: a 16-team double elimination bracket needs 30 or 31 matches, against 15 for single elimination. Pick single elimination for a short slot or a large field, and add the bronze match if third place matters.
Tournament questions
Is there a free app to run a pickleball tournament?
Yes. DinkPro Tournament Mode is free with no account, no subscription and no per-entry fee. It runs single or double elimination brackets for 2 to 32 entries on up to 12 courts from any browser.
How is a tournament app different from a bracket generator?
A bracket generator produces a chart you print or share. A tournament app also runs the event: it calls matches to free courts, records scores, moves winners and losers through the bracket, and shows everything live. DinkPro does both.
Should I run single or double elimination?
Double elimination gives every team at least two matches and a fairer champion, but takes roughly twice as many matches. Single elimination is the better fit when court time is short. Both are available in DinkPro.
How many courts and teams can a DinkPro tournament handle?
Up to 32 entries and 12 courts in one event, in singles or doubles.
Does it work without internet at the venue?
Yes. The bracket, court calls and scoring all run on the host device with no connection. Only the optional Go Live view for players' phones needs a network.
Can I run open play and a tournament on the same day?
Yes. DinkPro runs both. Open play has nine matchmaking modes for drop-in rotation, and Tournament Mode is a separate workspace for a bracket, so you can switch between them in the same app.
Running drop-in open play instead? See the seven open-play formats compared and how the open-play rotation works. Look up double elimination, byes and the grand final reset in the glossary, or check pricing (it is free).