Best badminton club night apps in 2026
Most badminton club nights have the same problem: more players than courts. Someone has to sit out, partners should change so people mix, and nobody wants to sit out twice while others play on. A peg board or a whiteboard works until it doesn't. Here are the apps that handle the rotation for you.
We make Tournament Generator, so read this with that in mind. Everything we say about other products comes from their own websites and App Store listings (linked at the end), checked on 19 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check before you choose.
At a glance
| App | Platforms | Free | Good at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament Generator | iPhone, iPad, Android | 8 players on 1 court | Fair sit-outs, rotating partners, ladders and knockouts, a live table |
| Racket Social | Android (Google Play) | Session organising free | Rotation that minimises back-to-back sit-outs, Elo-style ratings, live link |
| Kourt | iPhone (App Store) | Free | A simple fair rotation for up to 10 courts, offline |
| Pickleball Mixer: Court Sports | iPhone and iPad | Free with ads ($4.99 to remove) | Continuous play that refills courts; partner and keep-apart rules |
| Free web generator | Any browser | Free, no sign-up | A printed rotating-partner schedule |
1. Tournament Generator: best for club nights that also run events
Tournament Generator runs a social night as a doubles round robin with Unique pairing: partners and opponents rotate every round with repeats kept to a minimum. When players outnumber court spaces, whoever has sat out the fewest times sits out next (ties go to whoever has played most), so nobody sits out twice before everyone else has had a turn. Late arrivals and early leavers can be added or removed between rounds.
Pick Badminton and games default to 21, win by 2, capped at 30. Beyond social nights it runs a Ladder where winners move up a court, knockouts for the club championship, group stages and a season table across your weekly nights. Players follow courts, who's sitting out and the table on a live link in their browser. It works offline with no account and no ads.
Free covers 8 players on 1 court. Most club nights use several courts, which needs Pro (£2.99/month, £19.99/year or £39.99 lifetime (UK prices), 7-day free trial on monthly and yearly).
- No online sign-ups or payments: it's built for the organiser running the courts, not for registration.
- Results are entered on the organiser's phone; players can't enter their own scores.
Download on the App Store →Badminton tournaments in the app →
2. Racket Social: rotation with ratings
Racket Social (by Kanban Delivery Ltd.) is built for group racket sessions: badminton, tennis, pickleball, padel and squash. Its rotation algorithm aims to minimise consecutive sit-outs, mix partners and balance skill levels across courts, and it shows sit-out counts and pairing history. It has singles and doubles courts in one session, drag-and-drop adjustments, a read-only live link or QR code, and a per-session leaderboard with Elo-style ratings.
It works offline, has no ads, and says session organising stays free. On Google Play it showed 50+ downloads when we checked.
3. Kourt: the simplest rotation
Kourt is a free iPhone app: enter your players, choose the number of courts (up to 10) and it generates a fair match rotation and handles who's sitting out. It works completely offline, with no account and no data collected. It didn't have enough ratings to show an average when we checked.
4. Pickleball Mixer: Court Sports
Despite the name, Pickleball Mixer covers badminton, tennis, padel, table tennis and squash too, in singles or doubles. Rounds are built from previous play and it stops the same people sitting out twice. You can generate rounds on demand or a full schedule, use continuous play that refills each court as it frees up, link preferred partners and keep certain players apart.
It's free with ads, and a one-time $4.99 purchase removes them.
5. No app: a free printed rotation
For a one-off session, the free round robin generator on this site makes a rotating-partner doubles schedule in the browser: type the players, set the courts, and it sits people out in turn. Print it and pin it up.
How to choose
- Social nights plus ladders, knockouts and a season table, on iPhone or Android: Tournament Generator.
- Skill-balanced courts and ratings on Android: Racket Social.
- The simplest free rotation on iPhone: Kourt.
- Continuous play where each court refills as it finishes: Pickleball Mixer.
- One night, no app: the free web generator.
FAQ
How do you decide who sits out at badminton club night?
The fairest rule is that whoever has sat out the fewest times sits out next. Tournament Generator uses that, and breaks ties by who has played the most games, then at random.
How many players can play on 4 badminton courts?
16 at a time in doubles (4 per court). With 18 players, 2 sit out each round in turn.
What score do badminton club nights play to?
Standard badminton scoring is one game to 21, win by 2, capped at 30, and that's Tournament Generator's default for Badminton. Some clubs play shorter games to keep rotations moving on busy nights.
Can players see who's on next?
With Tournament Generator, players open a live link to see every court, who's sitting out and the table. Racket Social also has a read-only live link.
Sources
Other products' details were checked on 19 October 2026 on these pages:
Related
Badminton tournaments · How sit-outs work · Best tournament generator apps · Best pickleball round robin apps
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