If you want to run a pickleball league or ladder on Pickleheads without paying for it yourself, you can Plus-power your league.
Plus-powering means your players cover a Pickleheads Plus subscription ($1/month) to join your league, and you run unlimited leagues and ladders at no cost to you.
Here's how: At the end of the league creation form, select Players chip in under Platform Pricing. One setting at the end of the creation form. That's it, your league is now powered by Plus.
What "for free" actually means
When you Plus-power, you unlock unlimited leagues and ladders at no cost to you. Players get all the benefits of Pickleheads Plus, and you get full league and ladder access without a subscription.
You'll see two pricing paths at the bottom of the league creation form:
- Players chip in — Players subscribe to Pickleheads Plus ($1/month) to join. You run unlimited leagues and ladders for free.
- You cover the cost — Subscribe to Pickleheads Ultra for $74.99/month and players join at no charge.
These are the only two paths. Leagues and ladders aren't included in the free plan or Pro. There are no caps or limits to unlock – just two ways to access them.
Whether you want to run one league or ten, the setup is the same.
Where to find the setting
It's at the bottom of the "Create a League" form, in the Platform Pricing section.
How to set up your free league or ladder with Plus-power
Step 1: Create a League
From your desktop, go to your profile and click Leagues, then click Get Started.
Step 2: Choose Your Format
In the Format & Standings section, select Ladder or League.
- Ladders track player movement up and down steps after each round, using configurable win criteria (Ladder Step, Average Point Diff., Last Played, and Points For). You can set a Step Floor – the lowest step a player can drop to – and configure movement per round (e.g. top 1 up, bottom 1 down). Players can skip weeks without losing their ladder position.
- Leagues track standings over the season using Win Percentage, Average Point Diff., and Weeks Played. It also has a Participation Requirements setting: beginning week 4, players need to meet a minimum session threshold to appear in standings. This doesn't affect seeding.
Both formats let you choose any of the 11 round robin formats as your default session format.
Step 3: Complete the Rest of the Setup
Work through the form: name and location, session days and times, player count and courts, roster, co-hosts, and payment settings if you're collecting a session fee. You can adjust most of these per session later, so don't let any of it slow you down.
💡 Good to know: The League creation form includes a Registration Link field where you can add an external signup form (your own form, Google Form, or sign-up sheet). Use this if you're collecting registration outside of Pickleheads.
Step 4: Select "Players Chip In" Under Platform Pricing
Near the bottom of the form, find the Platform Pricing section and select Players chip in. This requires players to have an active Plus subscription to join, and activates free league access for you.
Step 5: Create the League
Hit Create League. Players who try to join without Plus will be prompted to subscribe before they can get on the roster. Once they do, they're in.
💡 Good to know: A session fee and the Plus requirement can run at the same time. If you charge players per week, you can also require Plus on top of that — it's a separate step in the signup flow.
What your players will see
When a player taps your league invite link or tries to join a session, they'll be prompted to sign up for Pickleheads Plus before they can get on the roster. Players who already have Plus skip this entirely and are added straight to the roster.
Pickleheads Plus is $1/month, billed as $12 once a year. Players are charged at signup and have access to all Plus features for a full year from that date.
Once they're subscribed, they're in. No extra steps on your end.
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