ONE PATH. EVERY WIN COUNTS.
Free Single Elimination Bracket Maker
Turn your field of contenders into a clear route to the title. Arrange the seeds, record each winner, and let the bracket carry the competition from opening round to champion.
Create Single Elimination BracketFree to use · No account · 2–128 players or teams
SIX CONTENDERS. ONE CONNECTED PATH.
Two byes. Five games. One champion.
Original sample aliases · illustrative completed results, not a saved tournament
Quarterfinals
Q1 · Seed 1 bye
Q2 · Seeds 4 + 5
Q3 · Seed 2 bye
Q4 · Seeds 3 + 6
Semifinals
SF1 · Q1 + Q2 winners
SF2 · Q3 + Q4 winners
Final
Final · SF1 + SF2 winners
Aster · champion
Seeds 1 and 2 advance through Q1 and Q3 without playing. The five scored matches decide the title; a bye has no score.
THE KNOCKOUT, MADE CLEAR
Win the match. Move to the next round.
Single elimination is a knockout format: the winner advances and the loser leaves the bracket. Winners from paired matches meet in the following round until the final decides the champion. BracketForge fills the next match automatically when its entrants are known; you record the result, not the advancement by hand.
A practical choice when you need a decisive finish with fewer games: community cups, gaming tournaments and friendly knockout events. Every played match eliminates one entrant.
Seed the contenders
Set the order or shuffle it. The bracket places entrants and handles empty slots.
Record the winner
Select the advancing entrant and, if useful, add a score that matches the result.
Follow the path
Winners meet in later rounds. The final winner becomes champion.
NO FAKE ENTRANTS NEEDED
A bye fills a slot, not a scoreline.
You do not need a power-of-two field. BracketForge builds the next power-of-two bracket and assigns unused first-round slots as byes to the highest seeds. A participant with a bye advances automatically without an opponent, recorded score or loss. Six entrants use eight slots with two byes; the tournament still needs only five played matches.
Arrange seeds before the opening round
Paste 2–128 unique player or team names, then use list order as seed order. Move names up or down for manual seeding, or shuffle the list for a random draw. Mirrored bracket seeding keeps the top two seeds in opposite halves. Review the order before creating: top seeds receive any first-round byes. Seeding follows your list, not an imported rating or ranking service.
Find an original tournament starting point →Count the games before you book the day
A completed single elimination tournament with n entrants has n − 1 played matches. Eight entrants need seven games; 16 need 15; 128 need 127. Byes do not add games. The number of rounds follows the bracket size, so a six-entrant field has three rounds even though only two matches are played in its opening round. Use those totals to plan your event; BracketForge does not book times or venues.
Correct a result without leaving the wrong finalist
You can edit completed results and optional scores. Changing an earlier result or its scores clears dependent results after confirmation, so later matches can be played again with the correct entrants. Unrelated matches stay intact. The champion is shown once the final is resolved, not when a favorite merely reaches it.
From first draw to final copy
Use round navigation to keep matches readable on a phone, or explore the bracket overview. PNG, PDF and print include the complete bracket with results and champion, paginated for large fields.
Saves stay in this browser. Keep a JSON backup before switching devices or clearing site data. Share a snapshot when you choose: anyone with the link can see the included tournament, but it is not a live update or collaboration.
Learn about result entry, saves and exports →BEFORE THE DRAW
Single elimination questions, answered
Is this single elimination bracket maker free?
Yes. Create and manage single elimination tournaments for 2–128 players or teams without paying or opening an account. Winner entry, optional scores, browser-local saves, snapshot sharing and exports are included.
Can I make a bracket for 5, 6 or 12 participants?
Yes. The bracket expands to the next power of two and gives byes to the highest seeds. Five entrants use eight slots and three byes; six use eight slots and two byes; 12 use 16 slots and four byes. A bye advances an entrant without a played result. You do not need to add fake participants.
Can I choose the seeds or make a random draw?
Both. The participant list is the seed order; use the move controls to arrange it manually or Shuffle seeds to randomize it. BracketForge places the seeds in its mirrored bracket layout. Check the list before creating, especially when some entrants will receive byes.
What if a match ends in a tie?
Single elimination needs a winner. Decide the tie using your event rules, then select the advancing participant. Scores are optional, but any scores you enter must agree with the selected winner; equal scores are not accepted for a knockout result. BracketForge does not decide overtime or sport-specific tiebreak procedures.
Can I print the full bracket or return to it later?
Yes. PNG, PDF and print include the full tournament, not only the round on screen, with pagination for large brackets. Tournaments save in this browser; export JSON for a backup or transfer before clearing site data. A shared link is a fixed read-only snapshot, not a live bracket. Anyone with it can view the included data, but your other saved events are not shared.
Need more than one chance?
Choose double elimination for a losers-bracket route back to the final, or round robin when everyone should face every opponent. Pick the format before creating your event.
GIVE EVERY WIN A DIRECTION
Your field. A clear finish.
Set the seeds and start the competition. We’ll keep the route to the title connected.
Create Single Elimination BracketResume an existing tournament →