LiveCup.app made me look like a pro organizer
I've been running small football and FIFA tournaments for our local community for about a year, usually 8 to 16 teams, and LiveCup made the whole thing way easier.
Before this I was juggling spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups, and manual brackets. First tournament on LiveCup took me around 15 minutes to set up. Teams scan a QR code to register, so no typing names in by hand.
It handles whatever format you want, single elimination, groups + knockout, round robin. Bracket updates itself the moment a score goes in. You can also let team captains submit results from their phones and just approve them, which is a lifesaver at bigger events.
Upgrading to Pro was worth it mainly for the TV display mode. Hook up a laptop to a big screen and it cycles through standings, upcoming matches, and scores. Looks properly professional, people always ask "what app is that?". Pro also gets you your own logo, no ads, and PDF export for sponsors or the group chat.
Players have it easy too, they pull up the tournament page on their phone and see their next match, opponent, and group standing. Cuts down the "when am I playing?" questions a lot. Nice touch that the interface is available in multiple languages, half my players are Polish and appreciate it.
If I had to nitpick, the TV display could use more customization (which screens cycle, timing between them), and the default tiebreaker settings took me a couple of events to get right.
Free tier is enough to test it out. For a one-off birthday kickabout it might be overkill, but if you're running tournaments semi-regularly it's a no-brainer.