Make a tournament bracket in seconds — free, no sign-up. Type your teams or players, pick single or double elimination, and print it, save it as a PDF or share a live link. Click a name to move it to the next round as games are played.
How to use the bracket generator
- Add your teams or players, one per line. List them in seed order: the first name is the top seed, the second name is the No. 2 seed, and so on. If you don’t have rankings, press Shuffle to draw random seeds.
- Choose the format. Single elimination is the classic knockout: lose once and you’re out. Double elimination gives every team a second chance in a losers bracket.
- Run the tournament. Click the winner of each game and the name moves to the next round automatically. Made a mistake? Click it again to undo.
- Print, download or share. Use Print / Save PDF for a paper bracket for the gym wall, Save image for a group chat, or Share bracket so players can follow the results from their phones.
Need a blank printable bracket instead? Leave the names box empty, set the number of teams and print it. You get clean empty lines to fill in by hand.
Byes: what happens when you don’t have 4, 8, 16 or 32 teams
A knockout bracket only works out evenly with a power of two: 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 entries. With any other number, some teams skip the first round. That free pass is called a bye, and this generator hands byes to the top seeds, which is how most leagues and tournament directors do it.
The number of byes is simply the next power of two minus your team count. Six teams fill an 8-slot bracket, so the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds get byes and four teams play in round one. Twelve teams use a 16-slot bracket, which means four byes. The bracket above places them automatically and marks them as BYE.
How seeding works
Seeding keeps the strongest teams apart until the late rounds. In an 8-team bracket the first-round games are 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6 and 2 vs 7, so if the favorites keep winning, No. 1 meets No. 2 in the final. The generator uses this standard pattern for every bracket size, the same layout used in March Madness and most high school and rec league playoffs.
If you seed by a record, list teams from best to worst. For a casual cornhole, beer pong or office ping pong tournament, random seeds are usually the fairest choice — that’s what the Shuffle button is for.
Single vs. double elimination
| Teams | Single elimination games | Double elimination games |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 6 (7 with a reset) |
| 6 | 5 | 10 (11) |
| 8 | 7 | 14 (15) |
| 12 | 11 | 22 (23) |
| 16 | 15 | 30 (31) |
| 32 | 31 | 62 (63) |
A single elimination tournament always has one game fewer than the number of teams, because every game knocks out exactly one team. Double elimination needs about twice as many: every team except the champion has to lose twice. Plan court time with that in mind.
How the losers bracket works: when a team loses in the winners bracket it drops into the losers bracket and keeps playing. A second loss eliminates it. The winner of the losers bracket meets the winners bracket champion in the grand final. Because the winners bracket champion hasn’t lost yet, a loss in the grand final forces a deciding reset game. The generator only shows that reset if it’s actually needed.
Which format should you choose?
- Single elimination fits short events, lots of teams or limited court time: a one-day cornhole or pickleball tournament, a school field day, an office bracket.
- Double elimination fits events where one bad game shouldn’t end your day: youth baseball and softball tournaments, bowling, darts, pool leagues and esports.
- If every team should play every other team, use a round robin schedule instead of a bracket, or play round robin pools first and seed the bracket from the standings. For small pools there are ready-made schedules for 4, 5, 6 and 8 teams.
Tips for running a smooth tournament
- Number the games. Every match in the bracket has a small number next to it, so you can call “Game 5 on court 2” and losers know where they go next (“Loser of #5”).
- Share the link before the first game. Players can refresh it on their phones instead of crowding around the printed sheet.
- Print one extra blank bracket as a backup in case the Wi-Fi at the venue fails.
- Decide tie-break and forfeit rules before seeding, and post them next to the bracket.
Frequently asked questions
Is this bracket maker really free?
Yes. There’s no account, no watermark on the bracket itself and no limit on how many brackets you make. Everything runs in your browser, and your last bracket is saved on your device.
How many teams can I add?
From 2 up to 64 teams or players. Larger fields print best on landscape paper; the print button sets that up for you.
Can I make a bracket with pictures or logos?
Not yet. For now the bracket shows names only. Picture brackets are on our list of upcoming features.
How do I share the bracket with players?
Tap Share bracket to send it by WhatsApp, text, email or social media. The link contains the whole bracket, including the results you’ve entered, so anyone who opens it sees the same thing. Share a new link after you update results.
How many games are in a double elimination tournament?
Twice the number of teams minus two, plus one more if the grand final needs a reset. An 8-team double elimination bracket has 14 or 15 games.
Who gets the byes?
The top seeds. With 6 teams in an 8-team bracket, seeds 1 and 2 skip the first round.