It listens. It judges.
Set your phone on the table and hit listen. It follows the flow and returns a format-native ballot with the result, the reason, speaker points, and specific feedback for every speaker.
- 1 Hit listen. Debate the round.
- 2 Hit stop when it's over.
- 3 Read the ballot.
Choose your judge Match the format · Choose for me · Claude
The format picks the normal decision rule. Compare every paradigm.
Best default for a long transcript and a structured, careful ballot. Compare the brains.
Preferences can change how the round is weighed. They cannot name the winner or dictate speaker points.
Round setup pick the format first. Everything below adapts to it.
Optional. Skip it and the ballot still comes.
Reason for decision
For your first round and your next final
New to debate? The ballot explains what each side argued, what decided the round, and what to work on next. Competitive debater? The judge follows the flow, checks drops and extensions, compares weighing, and applies the rules of your format. Every speaker gets clear, specific feedback to take into the next round.
Explains what decided it
See the key clashes, which arguments survived, and why one side or team won. New debaters get a readable reason for decision. Competitive debaters get the drops and weighing gaps that turned the ballot.
Gives every speaker feedback
Each speaker gets a score, a strength to keep, a specific technical fix, and a habit to carry into the next round. Use it after drills, scrimmages, practice rounds, or tournaments.
Judges your actual format
PF gets summary-to-final-focus analysis. LD gets framework. Policy gets collapse. BP and WUDC get a full 1st-to-4th ranking with separate feedback for all four teams.
How it works
One. Hit listen and set the phone down where it can hear the room. It transcribes the round as it goes. Two. Hit stop, confirm the format, and add team names if you want them on the ballot. Three. You get a winner or full team ranking, speaker points, a reason-for-decision, and concrete feedback. If you would rather not record, you can paste a transcript instead.
AI debate judge FAQ
Is there an AI that can judge a debate round?
Yes. Hit listen and it hears the round through your device's microphone, then returns a format-native ballot with the result, speaker points, a clear reason for decision, and specific feedback for every speaker. Four-team formats receive a complete 1st-to-4th ranking. You can also paste a transcript if you already have one.
Does this work for Public Forum?
Public Forum is the default format and the case this page was built for. PF runs on lay parent judges who don't flow, so an objective ballot that tracks the summary-to-final-focus chain and the first-versus-second-speaker rules is exactly the gap. LD, Policy, Congress, APDA, BP, Worlds, Asian Parliamentary, and a Quick Clash mode are all supported too.
How accurate is the AI ballot?
It runs the same adjudication engine as our live rounds: format-pinned judging rules, explicit weighing across magnitude, probability, timeframe, and reversibility, and a speaker-point scale calibrated to use the full range. Treat it as a sharp second opinion, not a replacement for a real tournament panel. It catches drops and weighing gaps that a lay judge misses.
Where should I put the phone?
Somewhere it can hear both sides. A table between the two speakers works; so does a laptop at the front of the room. It handles normal debate delivery, including fast speaking, but it cannot judge what it cannot hear, so keep it off the far side of a large room and away from an air vent. It shows you the words as it picks them up, so you can tell within a few seconds whether it is hearing the round.
Do I have to fill anything in?
No. The motion, the format, and who is on which side all get worked out from the round itself. Use the optional setup if you want the motion quoted word for word, need to paste an info slide or other neutral background, or want to pin the format rather than let it infer one.
Does it replace a tournament judge?
No. It gives you an objective ballot when you don't have a flowing judge in the room, and a second read after a round you think you got robbed in. The point is to fill the lay-judge gap, not to stand in for a real panel.
Is it free?
Yes, while Debatable is in beta every tier is $0. Anonymous visitors get a handful of rounds; signing in with Google adds more. The post-beta plans on /pricing are reference only.
The decision rule changes the ballot
These are the common ways a judge can decide. Tap one for the short version, or use Choose your judge above to apply it to your round.
Tabula rasa
No preconceptions. Whatever framework you set up and win, the judge adopts. The flow decides.
Open the full paradigm guide. See plain-language definitions, public Tabroom examples, and which judge fits each format.