Home › Blog › Chess Tournament Software Compared: 12 Tools
For a casual bar night, a phone app or pen and paper is enough. For a club Swiss, a free tool does the pairing: Vega is free on Linux and on Windows or Mac up to 20 players, Tornelo costs nothing when entry is free, and Checkmate IRL runs the night from players' phones. For a FIDE, US Chess, ECF or DWZ-rated event, use a program that writes your federation's rating file, such as Swiss-Manager, Vega, Swiss-Chess, SwissSys or WinTD, and for FIDE pick one on FIDE's endorsed list.
The facts about the tools come from their makers' and the federations' own pages, linked below, and the prices are the ones listed in October 2026.
Start with one question: will a federation rate the games? That decides most of the rest.
| Tool | Runs on | Price in October 2026 | Pairing systems | Rating reports | Players need an app? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss-Manager | Windows | €75 Light, €150 Full, one-time | Swiss, round robin, team round robin, team Swiss | FIDE; ECF according to an ECF rating officer | No | Rated opens and results on chess-results.com |
| Vega | Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi | Free on Linux; free on Windows and Mac up to 20 players, then €50 one-time | Swiss (Dutch, Dubov, Lim, Burstein, US Chess), round robin up to 24 players; teams with VegaTeam and Orion | FIDE, US Chess, ECF, DWZ and others | No | Rated events on a small budget, Mac and Linux users |
| SwissSys | Windows; Mac through Parallels or similar | $99, or $49 for the FIDE Edition, one-time | Swiss, round robin, double round robin, team Swiss | US Chess, FIDE, CFC (Canada) | No | US Chess-rated events |
| WinTD | Windows, Mac | $90 one-time | Swiss, round robin, team events | US Chess | No | US Chess-rated and scholastic events |
| Swiss-Chess | Windows | €125 download, €135 on CD, one-time | Swiss, round robin, knockout, Keizer, Amsterdam, Scheveningen, teams and leagues | DWZ, FIDE | No | German clubs and DWZ-rated events |
| ChessManager | Browser | Free up to 20 players, per its own page; paid price unconfirmed | Swiss, round robin | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Browser-based Swiss and round robin events |
| Tornelo | Browser | Free; 2.75% plus card fees, and AUD 0.25 per paid entry | Swiss, team Swiss, round robin up to 200 players | FIDE export, per its help pages | Yes for online play; unclear in person | Online and hybrid events, paid entries |
| Lichess | Browser, apps | Free | Swiss (Dutch), Arena | None | Yes, a Lichess account | Online club events |
| Chess.com | Browser, apps | Free for club coordinators | Swiss, Arena | None | Yes, a Chess.com account | Online club events |
| SwissSystem | iPhone, iPad | $7.99 | Swiss, 3 to 80 players | None | No, one phone runs it | Small casual nights |
| Chess Tournament Manager Pro | iPhone, iPad | Free; Pro $2.99 a month | Swiss (incl. Dutch), team Swiss, round robin, knockout, arena | None stated; imports and exports TRF16, FIDE's report file format | No, one phone runs it | Casual nights with more formats |
| Checkmate IRL | iPhone, Android | Free | Swiss, casual open play | None; its own offline rating | Yes, every player | Casual and club nights where everyone has a phone |
The chessmanager.com site blocked our checks, so its row comes from search listings of its own pages and FIDE's list. Tornelo's export and in-person sign-up details come from search listings of its help pages, which we couldn't open.
These are the programs built for arbiters and tournament directors. Five of them are desktop programs on the organizer's laptop, so players install nothing; ChessManager and Tornelo run in a browser.
Vega, Swiss-Manager, ChessManager and Tornelo all use the same engine for FIDE's Dutch Swiss system: JaVaFo, a free pairing engine written by an international arbiter. SwissSys uses another, bbpPairings, and Swiss-Chess has its own. The engine computes the pairings, and the program around it handles players, results, tiebreaks, printing and rating reports.
Swiss-Manager, by the Austrian developer Heinz Herzog, is a Windows program for Swiss, round robin and team events, and it's on FIDE's endorsed list. It's also the program behind chess-results.com, a free results site that credits Swiss-Manager for making it possible and whose archive holds more than 1.16 million tournaments.
The Light version (€75) covers Swiss events up to 60 players and 11 rounds. Full (€150) goes up to 2,000 players and 23 rounds. Both are lifetime licenses with free updates, and the license is personal: it covers events you or your club hold, run by you at the venue.
Vega, by the Italian arbiter Luigi Forlano, runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and a Raspberry Pi. The Linux version is free with no limit on players or rounds (Vega asks those who can afford it to consider a license), though it can't upload results to Vega's results site. On Windows and Mac it's free up to 20 players and €50 one-time beyond that, with a €25 educational license for school and amateur events without rating changes.
It's on FIDE's endorsed list and writes rating files for FIDE, US Chess, the ECF and DWZ, among others. The ECF even publishes its own guide to using it.
For a club that wants rated games and has no budget, Vega is the first one to try.
SwissSys has been in use since 1988 and is now run by ChessRoster. Version 11 costs $99 one-time, and a FIDE Edition without US Chess pairing costs $49. A free trial has every feature for up to 2 rounds.
It runs on Windows (Mac users need Parallels or a similar tool), pairs by US Chess, FIDE and Canadian rules, and writes US Chess, FIDE and CFC rating reports. It's on FIDE's endorsed list.
WinTD, from Estima in Illinois, runs on Windows and Mac and costs $90 one-time, with a free demo. It pairs Swiss and round robin events, scores team competitions, groups players by class or grade for scholastic events, and exports the files US Chess needs for a rating report.
It isn't on FIDE's endorsed list. For a US Chess-rated event that's fine; when FIDE rates the event too, use one of the others.
Swiss-Chess, by the German engineer Franz-Josef Weber, is a Windows program that, according to its site, FIDE has recognized since 1995. It's on FIDE's endorsed list. It pairs Swiss, round robin, knockout, Keizer, Amsterdam and Scheveningen events and runs team leagues, with tiebreaks including the Berliner Wertung.
It calculates unofficial DWZ and Elo changes, offers the DSB's player files for download, and hands results over for the official DWZ evaluation. It costs €125 as a download or €135 on CD, and a demo runs up to 4 rounds.
ChessManager is a browser-based tool from Poland that joined FIDE's endorsed list in 2020. Its site blocked our checks. A search listing of its own page says events up to 20 players are free, and we couldn't confirm the price of the paid tier.
Tornelo, from Australia, is a browser-based tournament manager with its own online game server, for in-person, hybrid and online events. It's free for organizers, arbiters and players. When players pay an entry fee through it, the organizer pays 2.75% plus card fees and the player AUD 0.25 per transaction, and the organizer can pass both on or absorb them.
Tornelo joined FIDE's endorsed list in 2022 and imports the FIDE list and more than 15 national rating lists. We found no sign that US Chess accepts its files.
Lichess runs Swiss tournaments for free with no limit. A team leader creates them, team members play, pairings follow FIDE's Dutch system through bbpPairings, and ties are broken by Sonneborn-Berger. It also runs Arenas, scored 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw, with double points during a winning streak.
On Chess.com, club members at coordinator level or above can create a Club Swiss or a Club Arena, and an Arena needs at least 5 players.
Both pair and rate only the games played on their own site. For an online club night between meetups they work well. For the games at your tables, you'll need one of the other tools.
Two iOS apps run a small event from the organizer's phone, and the players install nothing.
SwissSystem costs $7.99 and pairs a Swiss for 3 to 80 players, with head-to-head, Buchholz, median Buchholz, most wins and most games with Black as tiebreaks. It shows live standings and a crosstable you can share.
Chess Tournament Manager Pro is free, with a Pro plan at $2.99 a month. It runs Swiss (including the Dutch system), team Swiss, round robin, knockout and arena events, and it imports and exports TRF16 files.
Neither is on FIDE's endorsed list. SwissSystem writes no rating file; Chess Tournament Manager Pro exports TRF16, FIDE's report format, so ask your rating officer before using it for a rated event. We didn't find a current Android app of this kind that we could verify.
I build Checkmate IRL, so weigh this part with that in mind.
Checkmate IRL is free on iOS and Android and runs 2 kinds of event. A Swiss checks players in before round 1 and pairs every round automatically: no one meets the same opponent twice, byes rotate fairly, and board numbers and colors appear on every phone, with live standings. A casual night is open play: anyone challenges anyone, with an optional cap on games against the same person and awards for the quickest win, the longest game and the biggest upset.
Public nights show up for players nearby, who can sign up in the app. On the night, each player's phone is also the chess clock, and every result goes straight into the live table.
Two limits matter. Every player needs the free app, and results count toward the app's own offline rating only: it doesn't produce FIDE, US Chess, ECF or DWZ rating reports, so for a rated event use one of the programs above. The page for organizers has the details.
For open play, you need nothing but boards. Once you want pairings without a laptop, pick by your players' phones. If they'll install an app, Checkmate IRL puts the pairing, the clock and the standings on each phone for free. If you'd rather they install nothing, a one-phone iOS app keeps the whole event on yours.
Getting people to the night is the other half, and how to promote a chess club covers it.
Pick Vega if you have a laptop and may want rated games later, Tornelo if you also collect entry fees online, and Checkmate IRL if you want pairings on players' phones without a laptop. How to run a Swiss tournament covers rounds, byes and tiebreaks, whichever tool you use.
Pick by the federation that rates it:
| Rated by | Programs that write the file | Who submits |
|---|---|---|
| FIDE | A program on FIDE's endorsed list: Swiss-Manager, Vega, SwissSys, Swiss-Chess, Tornelo, ChessManager and others | The arbiter's report, through the national federation's rating officer |
| US Chess | SwissSys, WinTD or Vega | The certified tournament director |
| ECF | Vega, other Swiss software that supports ECF rating, or the ECF's Excel template | Usually a club or league rating officer |
| DSB (DWZ) | Swiss-Chess or Vega | The organizer, to the Wertungsreferent |
Each federation has its own route for results. Here's what each one asks for.
FIDE keeps a list of endorsed pairing programs: Vega, SwissSys, SwissMaster, Swiss-Manager, Swiss-Chess, UTU Swiss, ChessManager, STOP, TournamentService, Tornelo and Chess Online. FIDE's endorsement rules, as Tornelo quotes them, recommend an endorsed program for every rated event and require one for norm and qualification events.
FIDE's revised Swiss rules took effect on 1 February 2026, and FIDE's newest equipment list gives every program on it that date as its expiry. We couldn't confirm which programs have been endorsed for the new rules since, so check with your federation before a norm event.
Results go to FIDE as a Tournament Report File (TRF) through the national federation's rating officer, and a FIDE-rated event needs an arbiter. In the US, FIDE-rated events go through US Chess.
A rated event needs a certified tournament director and an affiliate, and every player needs US Chess membership. The rating report is 3 .dbf export files, which SwissSys, WinTD and Vega all produce, uploaded online. You can also enter the crosstable by hand online.
SwissSys's docs say every player needs a valid US Chess ID and that US Chess prefers reports within 2 weeks.
The ECF rates standard, rapid and blitz, with blitz from 3 to 10 minutes per player. Games without clocks aren't rated, and neither are lightning games or Chess960.
It accepts 3 kinds of submission: a text file from Swiss software that supports ECF rating, a file from its League Management System or other league software, and an Excel template for events you pair by hand. How to start a chess club covers affiliating a club with the ECF.
Germany's rating rules (Wertungsordnung) in force since 8 June 2026 say players must know before the start that an event will be rated, unless it's an official tournament, which is rated automatically. You send the complete results to the Wertungsreferent as a crosstable or a list of opponents, in a recognized file format where possible, and you keep players who withdrew in the list.
The DSB doesn't prescribe the organizer's software. Swiss-Chess and Vega both handle DWZ.
If your players have never sat a rated event, your first chess tournament tells them what to expect.
Sources: FIDE's list of endorsed programs, FIDE certified and endorsed equipment, FIDE endorsement, Tornelo on FIDE endorsement, SwissSys: US Chess rating reports, ECF rules for rating games, ECF rating submissions, DSB Wertungsordnung and DSB rules for organizers.
What is the best free chess tournament software? It depends on the event. Vega is free on Linux with no limits and free on Windows and Mac up to 20 players, and it can still write rating files. Tornelo is free when entry is free. Checkmate IRL is free for in-person nights where every player has the app, and Lichess is free for online events.
What software do I need for a FIDE-rated tournament? A pairing program on FIDE's endorsed list, such as Swiss-Manager, Vega, SwissSys, Swiss-Chess or Tornelo, plus an arbiter. The results go to FIDE as a TRF file through your national federation's rating officer. FIDE's list predates its 2026 Swiss rules, so check with your federation before a norm event.
What software do US Chess tournament directors use? SwissSys ($99) and WinTD ($90) are both built around US Chess events, and Vega also writes US Chess files. The rating report is 3 .dbf files uploaded online, and every player needs a valid US Chess ID.
How do I get a tournament ECF rated? Play with clocks, at a time control the ECF rates: standard, rapid, or blitz from 3 minutes per player. Then submit a file from Swiss software that supports ECF rating, such as Vega, or the ECF's Excel template, usually through a rating officer.
How do I get a tournament DWZ rated? Tell players before the start that it will be rated, then send the complete crosstable to your Wertungsreferent, ideally as a file from a program such as Swiss-Chess or Vega.
Does Swiss-Manager run on a Mac? Its site lists Windows only. Vega and WinTD run on a Mac, and SwissSys runs on a Mac through Parallels or a similar tool.
Can I run a chess tournament from my phone? Yes. SwissSystem and Chess Tournament Manager Pro run a Swiss from one iPhone, and Checkmate IRL puts each pairing on every player's phone. None of them is built for federation rating reports.
Can Lichess or Chess.com run an over-the-board tournament? They pair games played on their own sites. Lichess Swiss tournaments are for team members playing on Lichess, and Chess.com club tournaments are played on Chess.com.
Checkmate IRL is the companion app for over-the-board chess: a chess clock that saves your results, an offline rating, and a map of places to play near you.