Most local tournaments run on four free tools stitched together: a form for sign-ups, a payment app for entry fees, a spreadsheet or whiteboard for the bracket, and a group chat for everything else. It works, until the event gets big enough that you become the glue between them.
Each tool is fine on its own. The work is in between: reconciling who paid, holding spots for teams that "will pay Friday," refunding the team that drops out, and answering the same question twenty times on the day.
| Job | Forms + Venmo + spreadsheet | RNKD |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-up | Form row, then a payment you match by hand | One link: register and pay in one go, app or browser |
| Holding a spot | On trust until they pay | Held only once it’s paid |
| Capacity | You watch the count | Registration closes itself when the event is full |
| Splitting the fee | The captain fronts it and chases teammates | Each player pays a share, nobody is charged until the team is in |
| Refunds | You send money back, case by case | Automatic, by one written policy |
| Waivers | Paper, or a separate form | Signed before the day, unlocks the check-in code |
| Bracket | Built and updated by hand | Built for you, moves on as scores go in |
| Courts | You call out who plays where | Matches go to the next open court |
| Live results | Photos of the whiteboard | Live in the app, and a live page in any browser |
| Messages | One busy group chat | Announcements to all teams, a thread per team |
| After the event | The spreadsheet is the record | Player ranks, recaps, and your track record |
Payment apps aren't always free for you. A goods-and-services payment on PayPal in the U.S. costs the receiver 2.99% + $0.49 (PayPal's published rate as of October 2026), and it comes out of what you receive. A personal transfer is free, but then nothing protects either side if something goes wrong.
On RNKD the service fee is added on top and paid by the players, so you receive the full entry fee you set. Players pay more than they would on a plain transfer, and in return they get a spot that is actually held, a refund that doesn't depend on anyone's mood, and a live bracket. Free events cost nobody anything. The numbers are on how you get paid.
The bigger cost of DIY is your time, and only you know how much of it goes into chasing payments and updating the bracket.
Honestly: a free pickup night among friends doesn't need software. If there's no entry fee, no cap and no bracket, a group chat is enough. RNKD earns its place when there is money to collect, a field to fill, waivers to get signed, or a bracket people care about.
Keep the group chat. Create the event in eight steps on your phone, or on a laptop in the organizer console, then post the event link where you used to post the form. Teams sign up from the link without downloading anything. If you want help with the first one, we'll set it up with you.
For a small free event among friends, often yes. Once there is an entry fee, a cap on teams, waivers and a bracket, you end up matching payments to form rows by hand and chasing the teams that did not pay. RNKD does that part for you.
For you, no: those fees come out of what you receive, while RNKD’s service fee is paid by the players on top, so you receive the full entry fee. Your players pay more on RNKD than on a plain transfer, and they get automatic refunds, a held spot and a live bracket for it.
Of course. Post your RNKD event link in it. Teams register from the link, and announcements go to every team in the app, so the chat is for talking, not bookkeeping.
No application and no waitlist. Free events are free, and on paid events you receive the full entry fee you set.