What if I have an odd number of participants?

The tool adds byes until the count reaches the next power of two, so anyone paired with a bye advances automatically. Byes are spread across the bracket so the advantage does not collect on one side.

What is a bye in a tournament?

A bye is an empty opponent that passes a participant to the next round without playing. Byes exist because participant counts are rarely a power of two, and are ideally given to seeded entrants so the bracket stays competitively sensible.

Is the bracket saved if I close the page?

No — the whole bracket lives in the browser and is gone when the tab closes. For a tournament running across days, screenshot the bracket after each round.

Pickers & Interactive

Tournament Bracket Generator

Enter your participants to build a knockout bracket, then click the winner of each match to advance them.

Participants — one per line

// NO BRACKET YET

What this is

A tournament bracket generator arranges participants into a knockout bracket and follows it through to a champion. The part most often botched by hand is a participant count that is not a power of two: with six entrants, two must skip straight to the second round, and who gets that advantage has to be settled before play begins. This inserts byes automatically and spreads them so they do not stack on one side.

How it works

A knockout bracket needs a participant count that is a power of two — 4, 8, 16, 32. When the number falls between, the gap is filled with byes: empty opponents that pass someone through automatically. Byes are spread across the bracket rather than stacked consecutively, so the advantage does not land on one group of entrants.

Shuffle the order once at the start and leave it alone once matches begin. Reshuffling mid-tournament changes opponents that participants already knew about, and that is the most easily avoided source of dispute.

How to use it

Enter your participants One per line. Any number works; byes are added where needed.
Shuffle if you want to Do it before play starts, then leave the order fixed.
Click each match winner Winners advance automatically through the rounds until one champion remains.

Common questions

What if I have an odd number of participants?: The tool adds byes until the count reaches the next power of two, so anyone paired with a bye advances automatically. Byes are spread across the bracket so the advantage does not collect on one side.
What is a bye in a tournament?: A bye is an empty opponent that passes a participant to the next round without playing. Byes exist because participant counts are rarely a power of two, and are ideally given to seeded entrants so the bracket stays competitively sensible.
Is the bracket saved if I close the page?: No — the whole bracket lives in the browser and is gone when the tab closes. For a tournament running across days, screenshot the bracket after each round.

Notes

Your participant list never leaves the browser.