Tennis Tournament Software Compared

A tennis draw goes wrong in predictable places. A match runs long because the software only knows full third sets. Half the field loses once and goes home with nothing else to play. The draw sheet has to be redone by hand because the seeds landed in the wrong quarter. Check these nine points in any demo, in this order.

1. Scoring formats from ITF Appendix VI. The Rules of Tennis 2026 list the shortened formats a tournament may announce: no-ad games with a deciding point at deuce, short sets to four games, a match tie-break to 7 or 10 points in place of the deciding set, and a 10-point tie-break at 6-6 in the final set. Ask which of these the software scores, and which it only lets you type in afterwards.
2. A set without a tie-break. Rule 6 still lists the advantage set, six games with a two-game lead and no tie-break, as one of its two set methods.
3. Consolation draw. Players who lose their first match get a second competition. Either the software builds it or you do it on paper.
4. Seeding and byes. Where seeds sit, whether seeds 3 and 4 are drawn or fixed, and whether byes go to the top seeds.
5. Groups into a knockout. How many groups, how many go through, and how a tie in a group is broken. The ITF junior regulations rank a three-way tie by percentage of sets, then games.
6. Live score. Point by point from the court, set scores typed in after the match, or a results page that refreshes.
7. Payments. Entry fees taken online, or recorded by hand.
8. Ranking. A rating or season ranking that outlives the event.
9. Price per event and languages. What one 32-player singles draw costs, and whether players can read the event page in their language.

The tables below answer each point from the vendor's own page, read on 25 October 2026. Where a page says nothing, the cell says so.

The scoring column above hides most of the difference. This table takes the two set methods from Rule 6, match length from Rule 7 and the alternative formats from Appendix VI of the ITF Rules of Tennis 2026, and marks what JudgeMate and Rankedin's E-Referee say they score. Rankedin is the only other vendor that publishes a tennis scoring list.

Turniermeister states that its tennis template records completed set scores, with no points inside games, no golden point and no match tie-break, and that the tournament director sets the rules and tie-break procedure without the app checking them. Tournify answers the match tie-break question in its tennis FAQ with set scoring configured per category, for example best of 3, and says no more. Tournament Planner, Xporty and Cup2000 do not describe tennis scoring on their public pages.

The two gaps in JudgeMate's column bite in different places. The final-set tie-break to 10 at 6-6 is the last format in Appendix VI: the deciding set is played and the tie-break ends it. In JudgeMate the 10-point tie-break replaces the deciding set instead. The advantage set cannot be set up at all, because every set gets a tie-break when games are level at the set length.

Tournament Software, based in Alkmaar in the Netherlands, sells Tournament Planner next to league, ladder, box ladder, rating, ranking and membership products. The "Trusted by" section of its product page links to tournament sites of the Badminton World Federation, the LTA, the Dutch KNLTB and Tennis Australia. Visual LiveScore processes results and shows live scores on site and online, and the vendor says it is used worldwide by national and international tournaments. The Box Ladder, a ladder split into round-robin boxes with promotion and relegation, lists tennis among its sports.

The public page gives no price. It says only that the Planners have a fixed all-in price. Tennis scoring options are not described there, and the main site sits behind a cookie wall we did not accept, so treat this row as incomplete.

It fits an organiser whose federation already runs on it, because entries, ratings and rankings then sit in one place. For a single club weekend, an unpublished price is a lot to take on.

Xporty is Spanish software aimed at tennis clubs, circuits, academies and company competitions. Its tennis page lists singles, doubles, leagues, round robins, groups plus playoffs, level rankings, team leagues and knockouts. Knockout draws include a consolation draw and a match for third and fourth place, and players move on automatically when results go in. Players can enter their own results from the web or the app.

Three things set it apart for tennis. A level ranking estimates each player's real standard and updates with results from ranking tournaments. A circuit ranking adds up points from the last 52 weeks. Team leagues play several singles or doubles matches between two teams, the shape of a club team match, which JudgeMate cannot score as one fixture. Entry fees are collected through Stripe, a virtual POS or Flow and land in the organiser's account.

The tennis page does not describe scoring formats. The free plan runs one active competition with up to 20 players, one category and two phases. Paid plans are per competition: €30 up to 50 players, then €75, €125 and €168 for up to 400 players. Above that, each extra player costs €1 and each extra pair €2, or you ask for a custom quote. The site comes in nine languages, among them Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, French and Swedish.

Turniermeister, made in Austria with servers in Germany, has a tennis template for club championships and invitation tournaments with fixed singles or doubles entries. From eight players the assistant suggests groups followed by a knockout, and the default match is a single set.

Its tennis page spells out the limits. It records the scores of completed sets, with no points inside games, no golden point and no match tie-break. The tournament director sets the rules, serving order and tie-break procedure, and the app does not check them. Rotating partners for a social doubles night are not formed automatically.

The demo is free for good but keeps one tournament per type private. A public page with the draw and results needs a paid plan: €29 once for 30 days, €19 a month or €149 a year. The tennis template costs €3.99 on its own or comes with paid access. The site is in German and English, with Slovenian and Italian in the language menu.

None of the tournament tools above replaces your federation. Official ratings and rankings sit in systems the federations run: the PZT portal in Poland, mybigpoint at the German Tennis Federation, and UTR worldwide. UTR Sports also sells club software. Its club page offers unlimited events, player ratings and automated payments, and the share of fees that goes to UTR Sports is set in each club's contract, with no public price list.

If your event must count for a national ranking, your federation's sanctioning rules choose the software for you. Below that level, at a club championship, a junior round robin or a winter league, the tools on this page compete on even terms.

Your federation sanctions the event. Use what the federation uses. Tournament Planner runs the tournament sites of the LTA, KNLTB and Tennis Australia; elsewhere it is the national portal.

You run a season with a ranking and want entry fees paid online. Rankedin or Xporty. Xporty adds team leagues and a level ranking, Rankedin adds E-Referee scoring with a super tie-break in the third set.

You run a club championship or a junior draw on short formats, with no budget. JudgeMate scores no-ad, short sets and the 10-point match tie-break, with a consolation draw, for free. Check first that your event does not need the final-set tie-break at 6-6.

You want a polished event page for families and sponsors. Tournify's website, app and slideshow, from €40 per event above eight teams.

You run the same German-language club tournament every year. Turniermeister, if set scores typed in after the match are enough.

You would rather buy a licence once. Cup2000's unlimited licence, €245 before VAT.

The tennis organiser guide covers entries, courts and timing before you choose. If you also organise padel, the formats that decide there are americano and mexicano; see the padel tournament software comparison.