Tournament Planner Alternative for Badminton Clubs
Federation software for sanctioned events on one side, a browser tool for the club championship and the doubles night on the other
Tournament Planner is the planner from Tournament Software in Alkmaar, the company behind tournamentsoftware.com. Its product page lists BWF, LTA, KNLTB and Tennis Australia under "Trusted by", and the Polish Badminton Association (PZBad) requires its referees to publish results on Tournament Software and send in the TP file. If your event counts for a ranking list, that is the tool. For a club championship, a school event or a weekly doubles night, JudgeMate runs in the browser at no cost: singles or doubles draws, games to 21 or 15 per draw, a referee QR on every match and a court schedule that holds a minimum rest per entry. It does not seed from a ranking list, take entry fees or run a team tie made of games.
What Tournament Planner is
Tournament Software is a Dutch company based in Alkmaar. Its product page lists the whole platform in one line: "Tournament applications, Leagues, Ladders, Box Ladders, Rating, Rankings, Memberships". The planners are separate products: Tournament Planner, League Planner and Team Sport Planner, plus Tournament TV and Visual LiveScore. The company says its planners have been "helping clubs all over the world" for over 25 years.
In badminton it is the federation layer. The "Trusted by" strip on the product page links to bwf.tournamentsoftware.com, and the same page carries LTA, KNLTB and Tennis Australia. In Poland, the PZBad site links its menu item "Tournamentsoftware" to pzbad.tournamentsoftware.com, and the federation's sports regulations (in force from 1 September 2025) make it part of the referee's job: results go up on the Tournament Software site at least after every completed round, and the TP file goes to the federation office. The same regulations note that the knockout seeding can be done "automatycznie w programie TP", automatically in the TP program.
Club organisers usually meet it from the other side: as a player or parent following a ranking tournament, or as a referee filling in the federation's file. For the sport side of a club event, see the badminton tournament organiser guide.
Pricing
Tournament Software does not publish a figure for the planners. Their product page says "The Planners have a fixed all-in price" and asks you to get in touch. The product pages on tournamentsoftware.com sit behind a cookie consent wall, and we did not accept it, so we have not seen a price list there. Treat the price as "on request" until you have a quote in writing.
| Product | Model | Published price (read 25 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament Planner | Fixed all-in price | Not published on the pages we could read |
| League Planner, Team Sport Planner | Fixed all-in price | Not published on the pages we could read |
| Box Ladders | Order through tournamentsoftware.com | Not read (cookie wall) |
| JudgeMate | Free for organisers | €0, no paid tier and no cap on draw size |
For a federation the fixed price buys something JudgeMate cannot sell: the tournament ends up in the national calendar and ranking list. A club that runs two in-house events a year should check whether those two events need anything in that package. When you ask for a quote, ask whether it covers one licence or several laptops, and whether the result page on tournamentsoftware.com is included.
Feature comparison
Both can run a singles and doubles badminton event with a draw, a court schedule and live scores. They differ in what surrounds the event. Tournament Software brings rankings, licences and the federation file; JudgeMate brings the browser and the players' phones.
| Capability | Tournament Software | JudgeMate |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | A planner that produces a tournament file (the "TP file" PZBad asks referees to send), results published on tournamentsoftware.com | Browser, any device; nothing to install |
| Seeding | PZBad's regulations describe automatic seeding in the TP program | Manual: start number in singles, "Seed" field in doubles; seeded entries get protected slots, the rest are drawn |
| Draw formats | Tournament draws; Box Ladders split into round-robin boxes with promotion and relegation | Singles: knockout, round robin, groups plus knockout. Doubles: those three plus americano, mexicano, mixicano, team americano, king of the court |
| Game distance | Not described on the pages we read | Points per game 11, 15, 21 or 25 and games to win 1, 2 or 3, per draw or per match; interval, cap and change of ends follow the distance |
| Court schedule and rest | Not described on the pages we read | Courts as resources shared across the event, auto-schedule from a start time and slot length, minimum rest per entry from 0 to 120 minutes |
| Live score | Visual LiveScore: "Process results and display live scores on-site and online" | Live scoreboard per match with interval and change-of-ends prompts and a service indicator; the final score goes into the draw |
| Who enters the result | Not described for tournaments; in Box Ladders, "Players enter their own results, or the admin can do it!" | Organiser, umpire with the match QR; in groups, round robin and americano also the players, with the other side confirming (the organiser can switch this off) |
| Ranking and federation link | Rankings, Rating and Memberships modules; national portals for BWF, PZBad and others | None. A series ranking adds points by finishing place across events, on our own scale |
| Entry fees | Not described on the pages we read | Recorded only: paid, waived or unmarked |
| Price | Fixed all-in, on request | €0 |
If you only need the draw on paper, the free bracket generator prints one with no account.
When Tournament Planner fits
Pick Tournament Planner when the event belongs to a federation calendar.
- The tournament counts for a ranking list. In Poland the referee of a ranked event publishes results on Tournament Software and sends the TP file to PZBad. JudgeMate does not produce that file.
- Seeding has to follow the federation's rules. BWF regulation 11.8.1 caps the number of seeds by entries: 2 below 16, then at most 4 for 16 to 31, 8 for 32 to 63, 16 for 64 to 128 and 32 from 129. PZBad uses its own table (2 seeds for 3 to 7 entries, 4 for 8 to 23, 8 for 24 to 63, 16 from 64) and separates the two strongest players of one club into different halves. A program that places the seeds in the draw by itself saves the referee a long evening.
- Players expect to find the event on the national portal. Badminton players and parents already look for draws on pzbad.tournamentsoftware.com and the other federation portals.
- You run the full multi-event weekend. Men's and women's singles, doubles and mixed with one person in up to three events is the normal shape of a badminton tournament, and federation software is built around it.
- Your association already pays for it. If the regional body holds a licence and a trained referee runs it, the cost question is answered for you.
When JudgeMate fits
Pick JudgeMate when the event stays inside the club.
- Club championship. Singles by default, doubles with one switch, groups plus knockout with one to four groups. Set the distance once for the draw: 3 × 21 under today's Laws, or 3 × 15, which becomes the BWF standard on 4 January 2027. At 15 the interval and the change of ends in the deciding game come at 8, and the cap is 21.
- Doubles night. Americano, mexicano and mixicano rotate partners and score each player; mixicano builds mixed pairs from two groups. Rounds can be set to 16, 21, 24 or 32 points. Our club night guide covers the evening plan.
- School or junior event. Short games of 11 or 15 with best of one or best of three keep a gym booking on time.
- Nobody has to install anything. The organiser works in a browser. The umpire scans the match QR. In group, round-robin and americano matches the players can enter the score themselves and the opponent confirms it. Knockout matches are closed by the organiser, who enters the score or confirms it from the umpire's scoreboard.
- A schedule that respects rest. Courts are shared across the event, so two draws do not book the same court, and you set a minimum rest per entry. BWF GCR 11.4 gives a player 60 minutes between matches, which the referee can cut to 30; PZBad gives 30 minutes, cut to 15 for a player in three events. Pick the number your event follows.
- Group tables by BWF rules. A new badminton draw ranks its groups under GCR 16.2: matches won first; two players level are split by their head-to-head match, three or more by games difference and then points difference; anything still level goes to a draw of lots, which the organiser carries out. Older draws keep their previous order.
- A screen in the hall. The badminton live scoreboard shows the score, the server and the interval prompt. One match works without an account.
Start with a badminton event in the creator.
Where JudgeMate falls short
Compared with federation software, JudgeMate lacks the following.
- No ranking list and no federation file. Results stay in JudgeMate. Nothing goes to PZBad, BWF or any national portal, and our series ranking uses its own points scale.
- Seeding is typed by hand. You enter seed numbers. We do not read a ranking list, apply the BWF or PZBad seed count, or keep players of one club apart.
- Rest is protected per entry, not per person. A player in singles and in mixed doubles counts as two separate entries, so the scheduler does not keep their rest between those two events. Check the multi-event players yourself.
- No team tie made of games. A league match of seven games, as in the Polish Ekstraliga, cannot be built as one tie. Each game would be a separate match.
- No payments and no notifications. Entry fees are only recorded. No email, SMS or push reaches the players.
- Exports stop at the match result. The bracket and the CSV or PDF show 2:1, not the game scores.
Running both
If your club knows Tournament Planner from federation tournaments, the split is easy to draw.
- Ranked tournaments stay in Tournament Planner, run by the referee the association appoints, with the TP file and the portal.
- Club events run in JudgeMate: the internal championship, the junior day, the doubles night.
- Do not split one tournament between the two. Pick a tool per event.
- Nothing syncs. A start list used in both is typed twice, and a result from JudgeMate does not reach the ranking list.
- Keep the official result in one place. On a ranked day the result that counts is the one in the federation file. If the organiser wants a single match on the hall screen, the live scoreboard can show it, but the referee still enters the score in the planner.
For the format choices behind a club event, read badminton tournament formats explained.
Try JudgeMate on your next event
A badminton event takes about 10 minutes to configure. No athlete limits, no commission on registrations. See badminton features
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Tournament Software — our sports platform (products, Planners, Visual LiveScore) — Tournament Software
- Tournament Software — Box Ladders — Tournament Software
- BWF tournament portal — Badminton World Federation (BWF)
- BWF Statutes, Section 5.1: General Competition Regulations (9 November 2024) — Badminton World Federation (BWF)
- BWF Statutes, Section 4.1: Laws of Badminton (in force 26 April 2025) — Badminton World Federation (BWF)
- BWF Statutes, Section 4.1: Laws of Badminton (in force 4 January 2027) — Badminton World Federation (BWF)
- PZBad Regulamin Sportowy (from 1 September 2025) — Polski Związek Badmintona (PZBad)