HUDrift vs Start.gg

Looking for a Start.gg alternative with no platform fees? In February 2025, Start.gg introduced a 6% platform fee on all paid tournament registrations following its split from Microsoft. For community organisers charging entry fees, this means the platform now takes a cut of every pound or dollar raised. HUDrift's tournament creator is free with no platform fees, no percentage cut, and no entry fee deductions — ever. Start.gg remains the dominant platform for large-scale events with thousands of players, but for grassroots organisers who want to keep 100% of entry revenue, HUDrift is the direct free alternative. On pricing, the gap is stark: a £500 prize-pool cup on Start.gg with 100 paid entries surrenders roughly £30 in platform fees before payment processing, while the same event run through HUDrift costs nothing to host. The feature gap matters too — Start.gg ships brackets, seeding and player profiles but nothing for the broadcast side, so casters and streamers still need a separate paid overlay tool, a separate Discord signup bot and a separate encoder to put the event on stream. HUDrift bundles all of that into one free desktop app: bracket creator, Discord signup automation, check-in windows, score reporting from chat, caster lower thirds and a built-in broadcast studio that streams direct to Twitch — no OBS required. Today HUDrift's live game-state overlay covers Rocket League, with Valorant, League of Legends and Counter-Strike 2 on the roadmap. The trade-off is reach. Start.gg's player database and fighting-game ecosystem are unmatched, so larger majors still benefit from listing there. For everything below that scale, HUDrift removes both the cost and the tool-sprawl.