Open to everyone. The lead and cohost broadcast from the studio; viewers can watch but cannot join the camera or microphone.
Get paid to win an argument.
FREE TO ENTER. Live all week. Real opponents. Cash prizes, and a written verdict on every round.
- The ladder is live now All week Check in, press Ready, get paired with whoever else is ready
- Every judged round moves your event rating Start 1500 Chess-style rating (Elo, K=32) · fresh opponents first · play as much as you like
- Ladder freezes, prizes settle Sat Sep 5 · 11:59 PM ET Top three ratings take $100, $50 and $25
The pot
- 1st$100
- 2nd$50
- 3rd$25
The money is already set aside and guaranteed by the organizer. It is not a pot of entry fees, so it does not shrink if fewer people enter. Free to enter, with nothing to pay at any point. Everyone competes in one field. We encourage entrants to be 18+. Cash prizes can only be paid to eligible winners aged 18 or over, verified before payout.
Rounds are streamed on the watch page when the broadcast is on, free, no account needed.
Rounds are judged by AI against scoring criteria published before the round, not by human volunteers. The judge charter has the models and the criteria.
Free to enter. $100 to win.
Sign in, click once, done. Then check in and press Ready whenever you are free, any day through Saturday, September 5. Every judged round moves your event rating.
Checking for open brackets…
Entry is free and no purchase is necessary. Everyone competes in one field. We encourage entrants to be 18+. Cash prizes can only be paid to eligible winners aged 18 or over, verified before payout and void where prohibited. The official rules carry eligibility, the payout ladder, and streaming consent.
0 people have signed up
We encourage entrants to be 18+. Everyone competes in the same bracket.
A continuous rating ladder. Check in and press Ready whenever you are free; the ladder freezes at 11:59 PM ET on Saturday, September 5 and the top three ratings take the prizes.
In your browser. A laptop, a mic and headphones. Nothing to install, any country.
$100 first, $50 second, $25 third, paid by us rather than raised from entry fees, so the pot does not shrink if fewer people enter. Nothing to pay at any point, and nothing to ask for.
No jargon, no prepared case, no citations. Make a point, back it up, answer theirs.
Every round pairs you with another person in the field, not a bot, and an AI judge writes the decision. Every judged result moves your event rating on this ladder and your human Debate Rating. There is no bracket and no single final: the frozen ladder is the result.
The founder runs the day himself. He directs the rounds live and hosts the stream between them, dropping into rooms as they go. You will not see him in yours: no camera, no microphone, no name in the list, and no way to speak into your round. Every round is recorded; preliminary footage is private by default. The official rules have the whole of it.
Twenty big questions. No surprise topics.
The short question tells you what the argument is about. The full wording is exactly what appears in the room.
Four of these questions appear in each room. One debater offers one. The other takes it, sends it back once for a different one, or counters with their own. Whoever settles the question does not choose the side.
Loading the published list…
Enter once. Climb all week.
Entering takes about a minute. Then play whenever suits you, as often as you like, through Saturday, September 5.
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1 · Today
Enter
Sign in, click once, done. That is the whole thing, and it costs nothing. Registration stays open all week, so you can enter today and play tomorrow.
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2 · Any time
Check in and press Ready
Open the tournament page, check in, and press Ready. You are paired with another checked-in entrant the moment one is free, fresh opponents first.
The ladder freezes at 11:59 PM ET on Saturday, September 5. A pairing you do not turn up for is a forfeit, and rounds you skip simply do not move your rating. Where you stand when the ladder freezes is the result.
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3 · A minute later
Debate a real person
Four motions are drawn from the published pool of twenty. One debater offers one of them, the other answers it, and the room settles the motion and sides.
3 motions drawn 1 send-back each Strikes reveal together Only published motions circulate -
4 · After each round
Read the decision, then check the ladder
The judge names who won, which arguments survived, and what you should have answered. Rounds are short: play one and stop, or keep climbing all week. One already puts you on the board.
The live ladder is posted on this page all week. Everyone starts at 1500; the 11:59 PM ET freeze on September 5 does not move.
It keeps going every day.
Everyone you meet on the 29th is a real person you can debate again. Clash Hour runs three times a day, 9 PM New York, 9 PM Berlin and 9 PM Sydney, each in local time: the whole community queues at the same hour, so you match in seconds instead of waiting alone.
The questions people actually ask.
Anything not covered here lives in the official rules. Still stuck? Email hello@itsdebatable.com and you get an answer from the person running it.
I have never debated. Am I going to embarrass myself?
Most people who enter have never done this before. New Debatable rounds use a casual 1v1 with no format jargon, prepared case, or tournament rulebook. You make a point, explain why it holds, and answer what the other person said. The judge writes its reasoning in plain English and scores both people out of 100.
There is prize money. Where does it come from?
We fund them, so the ladder is fixed whether eight people enter or eight hundred. Entry is free and there is no fee to waive. Everyone competes in one field. We encourage entrants to be 18+. Cash prizes can only be paid to eligible winners aged 18 or over, verified before payout.
Who judges, and is that actually fair?
Rounds are judged by an AI judge working from a rubric that is published before the round, not written after it. It gives a written reason for every decision, and either debater can appeal, at which point a human reviews it. The criteria, the reliability figures, and the appeal process are all public at the judge integrity page. Nobody has to take our word for how a round was decided.
The final is the one exception. It is decided by the people watching: voting opens when the last speech ends and anyone signed in gets one vote, with the AI ballot published beside it. The official rules carry the full version.
What if I enter and then cannot make it?
Nothing is charged. If you do not appear, you are not paired. The roster locks when the tournament starts, but a person already registered may join the pairing pool later while preliminary rounds are still running.
Will I be on a stream?
Every tournament round is recorded, including questions and interruptions. Ladder footage and generated clips are private by default, and a replay publishes to Watch only when every recorded debater approves; any streamed showcase round follows the official rules. A concise, relevant question can help your score, while heckling can hurt it. The AI receives calculated pace and flags spreading above 250 WPM. Camera adds 2 standings points, Avatar subtracts 1, and Off or dark subtracts 3. Camera mode never changes the round winner. Registering, checking in, and entering the room each make these rules clear before you play. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must approve. If you cannot be recorded at all, do not enter.
Can I just watch?
Yes, and it costs nothing. Live rounds and past ones are on the watch page, no account required. Watching a couple of rounds is the cheapest way to decide whether you want to enter the next one.
A question or your own tournament?
One inbox, answered by the person running it. Send a question, invite a friend, or ask about hosting a casual 1v1 event.
Email the organiser