Tornelo, ChessManager, Chess Caddy, Swiss-Manager and Vega all make chess pairings, but they are built for very different people. Some are made for arbiters running FIDE-rated opens. Others are made for a teacher with 20 kids and one lunch break. This page puts them side by side, head to head, so you can pick the right one for your event in a few minutes, not after a weekend of trial installs.
Rated events: Swiss-Manager (Windows) or Vega (desktop) for FIDE-rated play; Tornelo or ChessManager if you want it in a browser with online entry fees.
Online and hybrid play: Tornelo, which hosts the games itself and gives arbiters fair-play reports.
Unrated school, club, cafe or office events: ChessHost if you want players to join by QR code and pairings on a TV, or Chess Caddy if you need it to work with no internet at all.
How We Compared Them
Every fact about the five other tools below comes from that product's own website, checked in October 2026. Prices and features change, so treat this as a starting point and confirm the price on the official site before you buy. We make ChessHost, so we have kept it to its own section and told you plainly where it is the wrong choice.
We compared the things a first-time organiser actually trips over: what it runs on, what it costs, which formats it pairs, whether it handles rated events, and how players get into the event.
Side-by-Side Comparison Table
| Tool | Runs on | Price | Formats | FIDE-rated events | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornelo | Browser | Free for free-entry events; AUD $0.25 + 2.75% per paid entry | Swiss, round robin, double round robin, manual, team battle | Yes | Online, hybrid and paid-entry events |
| ChessManager | Browser | Free tier; premium $97 a year | Swiss, double Swiss, round robin, manual | Yes | Clubs that want live standings and online sign-up |
| Chess Caddy | Browser, iPhone and iPad app | Free; optional club page $2.99 a month | Swiss, round robin, knockout, Bughouse | No | Unrated club nights with no Wi-Fi |
| Swiss-Manager | Windows | 150 euros full, 75 euros light | Swiss, round robin, team Swiss, team round robin | Yes | Federations and FIDE arbiters |
| Vega | Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi | Free on Linux; paid licence on Windows above a player limit | Swiss, round robin | Yes | Arbiters who are not on Windows |
| ChessHost | Browser (phone, tablet, laptop) | Free: 1 event a month up to 12 players; Pro $7 a month | Swiss, round robin, knockout, team battle | No | Schools, clubs, cafes and office events run by non-experts |
Tornelo vs ChessManager: The Two Big Browser Platforms
These two are the closest rivals on this list. Both run in a browser, both handle FIDE ratings, and both can take entry fees online. The difference is what they are centred on.
What Tornelo Is Built For
Tornelo is a full chess platform, not just a pairing program. Players can play their games inside Tornelo, which is why it is the go-to for online and hybrid events, where players sit in a supervised room but play on screens. Arbiters get a fair-play report with round-by-round game analysis. Swiss pairings use the FIDE-endorsed JaVaFo engine, and it also does round robin, double round robin, manual pairings and team battles.
Price: Tornelo says that if your event is free, Tornelo is free. You only pay when you take entry fees through it: AUD $0.25 plus 2.75% per transaction, through PayPal or Stripe.
What ChessManager Is Built For
ChessManager is a cloud pairing program for over-the-board events. It does Swiss, double Swiss and round robin, exports TRF, PGN and CSV files, updates FIDE ratings every month, and lets players sign up online with the organiser approving them. Its interface comes in 13 languages, and its site reports more than 124,000 tournaments run.
Price: a free tier, and a premium plan its homepage lists at $97 a year, which adds SMS pairing notifications and entry-fee collection.
Tornelo or ChessManager?
Pick Tornelo if any games will be played online, or you want one platform for online and in-person events. (Running only in-person events? See our Tornelo alternative guide.) Pick ChessManager if every game is on a real board and you mainly want fast pairings, rating exports and live results for players.
ChessManager vs ChessManager Online: Two Different Products
This catches a lot of people out. ChessManager (chessmanager.com) and Chess Manager at chessmanager.online have nearly the same name but are separate products from different teams.
- ChessManager (chessmanager.com): the long-running platform described above, with a free tier and a $97 a year premium plan.
- Chess Manager (chessmanager.online): a newer free, cloud-based tool. Its site lists Swiss, round robin, knockout and quads, FIDE Dutch Swiss pairings, Buchholz and Sonneborn-Berger tiebreaks, FIDE rating lookup, and a live QR code so parents can follow pairings on their phones. You sign up for a free account to use it.
Neither is better in general. Just check which address you are on before you build your event, because accounts and events do not move between them.
Chess Caddy vs ChessManager: Offline App or Cloud Account?
Chess Caddy takes the opposite approach to the cloud platforms. There is no sign-up, everything saves in your browser on your own device, and it runs a whole event with no internet at all. It is free, with an iPhone and iPad app as well as the browser version. It does Swiss, round robin, knockout and Bughouse (teams of two), with Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger and head-to-head tiebreaks. Its only paid extra is an optional club page at $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year.
The trade-off is that the event lives on one device. Chess Caddy itself tells you to export a backup file. It has no FIDE rating reports, so it is for unrated play.
Chess Caddy or ChessManager?
Pick Chess Caddy for an unrated night in a venue with bad Wi-Fi, run from one laptop. (More in Chess Caddy vs ChessHost.) Pick ChessManager if you need ratings, rating exports, or several people following results online.
Swiss-Manager vs Vega: The Desktop Arbiter Tools
These two are the classic programs you install on a computer, used by arbiters at rated events.
- Swiss-Manager is Windows only and FIDE approved. The full version is 150 euros and the light version is 75 euros, which handles a Swiss of up to 60 players and 11 rounds. Both are lifetime licences with free updates. It publishes straight to chess-results.com and comes in 33 languages.
- Vega, by Italian International Arbiter Luigi Forlano, runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi and is FIDE approved. It is free on Linux. On Windows the free version caps the number of players and a paid licence removes the cap.
We have already written full guides to both, with download advice and every pricing quirk: Swiss-Manager price and alternatives and Vega Chess download and cost. Short version: if your event is FIDE-rated and you are on Windows, Swiss-Manager is the standard. If you are on a Mac or Linux, Vega is the natural pick.
Where ChessHost Fits: Built for People Who Are Not Arbiters
Most chess events are not rated opens. They are a school lunchtime tournament, a cafe chess night, an after-school club or an office competition, run by someone who has never opened arbiter software and does not want to learn. That is who ChessHost is for. If you want the full picture of the product, see our chess tournament software page.
- Nothing to learn first. Name the event, pick a time control, and you are ready. ChessHost works out the number of rounds from the number of players.
- Players join themselves. They scan a QR code and type their name, with no app and no player account. Only you need a free account.
- Pairings on the big screen. A full-screen TV display shows pairings and standings, with four looks to choose from (Casual, Esports, Kids and Modern). It is free on every plan.
- Tiebreaks explained in plain words. Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger and head-to-head are worked out for you, and the standings say in a sentence why one player placed above another.
- Certificates at the end. Print or download PDF certificates for every player, free.
- Lessons for the classroom. Ready-made chess lessons you can show on the same TV. Basics lessons are free, the rest come with Pro.
Price: free for one event a month of up to 12 players, no credit card. Pro is $7 a month (or $18 every three months) for unlimited events and players.
Where it is the wrong choice: ChessHost has no ratings and no FIDE or national federation reports, never takes entry fees, and players do not play their games inside it (they play on real boards, or on Lichess if you switch on online boards). If you need any of those, use one of the tools above.
Which One Should You Pick? Match It to Your Event
| Your event | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| FIDE-rated weekend open | Swiss-Manager or Vega | FIDE approved, rating reports, chess-results.com publishing |
| Online or hybrid league | Tornelo | Games played on the platform, with arbiter fair-play reports |
| Rated club event with online entry fees | Tornelo or ChessManager | Browser based, FIDE ratings, takes payments for you |
| School tournament or after-school club | ChessHost | Pupils join by QR code, pairings on the classroom screen, certificates |
| Cafe, pub or office chess night | ChessHost | Run it from your phone, standings on the TV, nothing to install |
| Club night with no internet | Chess Caddy | Works fully offline on one device |
Not sure how long your event will run, or how many rounds you need? The free Swiss rounds calculator answers that in seconds, no signup.
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Launch ChessHostFrequently Asked Questions
Is Tornelo free?
Tornelo says that if your event is free to enter, Tornelo is free to use, with no sign-up or maintenance fees. It only charges when you collect entry fees through it: a fixed AUD $0.25 per transaction plus 2.75% of the amount, paid through PayPal or Stripe.
How much does ChessManager cost?
ChessManager has a free tier that covers Swiss and round robin pairings in the browser. Its homepage lists a premium plan at $97 a year, which adds SMS pairing notifications and online entry-fee collection.
Is ChessManager Online the same as ChessManager?
No. ChessManager at chessmanager.com and Chess Manager at chessmanager.online are two separate products from different teams. Both run in a browser and both describe FIDE-style Swiss pairings, but they have different features, pricing and support, so check which site you are signing up on.
Does Chess Caddy work offline?
Yes. Chess Caddy says it runs a whole event with no internet and saves everything in your browser, with no sign-up. The trade-off is that the tournament lives on that one device, so export a backup file before you clear the browser or switch laptops.
Which chess tournament program is easiest for a school teacher?
For an unrated school event, the easiest are the browser tools that need no install: ChessHost and Chess Caddy. ChessHost lets pupils join by scanning a QR code and puts pairings on the classroom screen; Chess Caddy works with no account and no internet. Swiss-Manager and Vega are built for arbiters running rated events and take longer to learn.
Can I run a FIDE-rated tournament with ChessHost or Chess Caddy?
No. Neither one produces FIDE rating reports. For a FIDE-rated event, use FIDE-approved software such as Swiss-Manager or Vega, or a platform like Tornelo or ChessManager that handles FIDE ratings. ChessHost is built for unrated club, school, pub and office events.
What is the difference between Swiss-Manager and Vega?
Both are desktop programs for rated events. Swiss-Manager runs on Windows only and costs 150 euros for the full version or 75 euros for the light version, which handles a Swiss of up to 60 players and 11 rounds. Vega runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi and is free on Linux, while the Windows version needs a paid licence above a player limit.