Today there are 62 different football playbook makers. We spent 78 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to design winning strategies for your team.
What is the Best Football Playbook Maker?
- Football Play Card — best of the best
- Hudl — best for high schools
- Football Playbook Designer — best for youth coaching
- Tackle Football Playmaker — best mobile playbook maker
- PlayMaker Pro — best pro-level playbook maker
- Just Play Sports Solutions — best for beginners
- Microsoft PowerPoint — best for presentations
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: Starts at $9/month
Football Play Card is the go-to football playbook maker of the pros. We think it’s the best because of its time-saving features, massive preset databases, and the fact it’s used by everyone, from peewee to NFL teams.
The Best Part:
Approved by the pros. Football Play Card is the playbook maker of choice of the Saints, Steelers, and the Eagles, to name a few… as well as thousands of other teams.
The Worst Part:
Per coach pricing. Football Play Card’s pricing varies with the number of coaches who will be drawing plays on your team, with progressive discounts.
Get it if you want the playbook maker tool of choice of the pros.
I recommend you get started with a free trial to the Division Champion plan ($9/month), then get the National Champion plan for $69/month per user.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Football Play Card is best for all football coaches who have a sense of urgency to getting things done.
Top Features
Scout cards express. Instead of spending 1-2 hours every day putting a binder of play cards together, you can have Football Play Card quickly align and simulate the opponent’s plays.
Saves a ton of time. With the saved templates and quick creation capabilities, you’ll be drawing 10+ cards in the time it would take you to hand draw each and every card.
Take it with you. Since Football Play Card is a web-based app, you don’t have to install anything… and it will run on anything, including Android and iOS devices.
Tons of presets. With preset offensive formations, defensive fronts, and defensive coverages, you’ll save a lot of time creating play cards, then drawing routes, blocks, coverages, and much more.
Saves printing costs. With an iPad or any other tablet, you’ll be able to create thousands of cards without spending on printing.
Pricing
Football Play Card offers four pricing plans:
- Division Champion: Starts at $9/month per user, for small high-school teams.
- State Champion: Starts at $29/month per user, for high-school teams and small college teams.
- National Champion: Starts at $69/month per user, for bigger budgets.
- World Champion: Starts at $129/month per user, the plan of choice of pro teams.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 64% discount.
Try Football Play Card today with a free 7-day trial.2. Hudl
Our Verdict — Best For High Schools
Price: $199
Hudl is a top-shelf platform for football coaches with robust football playbook making features. We think it’s the best for high schools because of its intuitive play drawing tools, easy sharing capabilities, and detailed accountability tracking.
The Best Part:
Accountability tracking. Hudl provides insights on each player's habits, allowing you to hold every player accountable.
The Worst Part:
Annual pricing only. At $199/year, Hudl's cost might be a tough pill to swallow for smaller teams.
Get it if you want an all-encompassing playbook tool that streamlines play creation, sharing, and tracking for your football team.
I recommend you book a free demo with Hudl, then get Hudl Play Tools for $199/year.
(free demo)
Best For
Hudl is best for football coaches who want to streamline their play creation and sharing process while keeping tabs on their players' preparation.
Top Features
Make good use of scout videos. Leverage existing scout film data and clips to create play cards that highlight your upcoming opponents.
No mo’ duplicated plays. Never draw the same play or formation again, thanks to Hudl's play template library.
Keep your team in line. Send tailored messages alongside shared plays to give context and motivation to your players.
No Wi-Fi? No problem. Download practice scripts to review them offline for convenient, on-the-go access.
Keep your playbook organized. Effortlessly sort plays into offense or defense categories, keeping your playbook well-organized for easy access and execution.
Pricing
Hudl offers a single pricing plan:
Hudl Playbook Tool: $199/year for football coaches and teams who want an all-in-one playbook solution.
Try Hudl today with a free demo.
Our Verdict — Best For Youth Coaching
Price: Starts at $7/month
Football Playbook Designer is a low-cost, full-featured playbook design tool. We think it’s the best for youth coaching because of its intuitive user interface, comprehensive play library, and endless customization options.
The Best Part:
User-friendly interface. Football Playbook Designer makes it a breeze to create and customize plays thanks to its drag-and-drop interface, even if you're not tech-savvy.
The Worst Part:
No mobile app. Football Playbook Designer doesn't have a dedicated mobile app, so tweaking plays on-the-go might be a bit tricky.
Get it if you want a user-friendly and customizable playbook maker to create the plays your youth team needs.
I recommend you sign up for the 7-day free
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Football Playbook Designer is best for youth football coaches who want to level up their playbook game and give their team a competitive edge.
Top Features
Share plays with your team. Make distributing plays to your team a piece of cake with Football Playbook Designer's easy-to-use PDF printing feature.
Save your plays for future games. Duplicate and modify existing plays to create fresh, new strategies for your team.
Stay organized. Categorize plays by offense, defense, and special teams to keep your playbook tidy and easy to navigate.
Adapt to any team size. Tackle 6-man, 7-on-7, or 12-man football effortlessly with Football Playbook Designer's versatile capabilities.
Kick-start your playbook. Select from preset formations like I Formation, Pro Formation, and Ace Formation with Football Playbook Designer for a hassle-free start on designing your plays.
Pricing
Football Playbook Designer offers four pricing plans:
- 1 Coach: $7/month for solo youth football coaches who want an easy-to-use play design tool.
- 3 Coaches: $18/month for coaching staff of up to three people who want a collaborative playbook creation platform.
- 5 Coaches: $25/month for coaching staff of up to five coaches that want collaboration features and access to a vast library of plays.
- 10 Coaches: $40/month for coaching staff of up to 10, who want a powerful, versatile playbook design tool with room to grow.
Annual plans provide a 17% discount.
Try Football Playbook Designer today with a free 7-day trial.
Our Verdict — Best Mobile Playbook Maker
Price: Starts at $7/month
Tackle Football Playmaker offers an impressive combination of tools to create and manage football plays in a sleek interface. We think it’s the best mobile playbook maker because of its Android & iOS mobile support, clutter-free interface, and robust printing options.
The Best Part:
Robust printing options. Tackle Football Playmaker offers a variety of print features, including QB wristbands, playbooks, call sheets, and more, making it a breeze for coaches and players to have physical copies of their strategies on hand.
The Worst Part:
Lack of zoom feature. Tackle Football Playmaker's absence of a zoom function can make it challenging for users to see and follow the lines when animating plays, especially on smaller screens.
Get it if you want to streamline your playbook creation process with an intuitive, mobile-friendly app packed with powerful features.
I recommend you get started with the 7-day free trial, then get the Print plan for $9/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Tackle Football Playmaker is best for football coaches who want an easy-to-use app to design, organize, and share plays on the go.
Top Features
Lightning-fast play design. Tackle Football Playmaker lets you draw up new plays in seconds with its intuitive and responsive drawing tools.
It keeps your data safe. Tackle Football Playmaker keeps your playbooks safe and accessible across multiple devices with its cloud-based storage.
Great for quarterback cheat-sheets. Use Tackle Football Playmaker’s QB wristband printing feature to provide your players with organized, accessible wristbands featuring crucial plays.
Print directly from the app. Tackle Football Playmaker's Pro version offers AirPrint compatibility, allowing you to print playbooks and wristbands straight from the app.
Make it easy to understand. Tackle Football Playmaker lets you customize colors and labels to clearly differentiate each player's position and make it easy for players to read and apply your plays in the field.
Pricing
Tackle Football Playmaker offers three pricing plans:
- Paperless: $7/month for coaches who primarily work on digital devices, providing app access on iOS, Android & computer, plus cloud backup & sync on multiple devices.
- Print: $9/month for coaches who need printed materials alongside their digital playbooks, including all Paperless features plus the ability to print wristbands, playbooks, call sheets & more
- Team: $11/month for coaching staff that want seamless collaboration across all team members, comprising all Print features plus app access for your whole team.
Try Tackle Football Playmaker today with a free 7-day trial.
Our Top Three Picks
Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:
- Football Play Card — best of the best
- Hudl — best for high schools
- Football Playbook Designer — best for youth coaching
Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
Football Play Card | 7-day free trial | Starts at $9/mo |
Hudl | Free demo | $199 |
Football Playbook Designer | 7-day free trial | Starts at $7/mo |
Tackle Football Playmaker | Free plan | $199 |
PlayMaker Pro | 7-day free trial | Starts at $9/mo |
Just Play Sports Solutions | Free demo | Custom |
Microsoft PowerPoint | 30-day free trial | Starts at $6.99/mo |
Here are the top 50 football playbook makers we considered in this review:
- Football Play Card
- Hudl
- Football Playbook Designer
- Tackle Football Playmaker
- PlayMaker Pro
- Just Play Sports Solutions
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- FirstDown PlayBook
- CoachMe
- GoArmy Edge Football
- Pro Quick Draw
- Play Designer Football
- i-Option
- Coach's Office
- DrawPlaybook
- Football Playbook Online
- EZPLAYZ Animated Sports Playbook
- PlayAction Simulator
- Football Dood
- MaxPreps
- SkyCoach
- Coach Packet
- Coach Me Football
- Coachbase Football
- Virtual Repetition
- VR Sports
- Strivr
- Catapult Sports
- XO's Digital
- Dartfish
- Krossover
- GameStrat
- TeamXStream
- Instat Sport
- Echo1612
- Game Plan Hockey
- Top Eleven Football Manager
- Beyond the Whiteboard
- Strava
- Powerchalk
- Soccer Coach – Team Sports Manager
- VideoChamp Sports
- Coach's Eye
- Kinovea
- Sports Insights
- Athletic.net
- PushPress
- Zwift
- Jefit
- Garmin Connect
What is the app that creates a football playbook?
Hudl is an exceptional app that facilitates the creation of a football playbook. It's a comprehensive tool for football coaches, allowing them to design offensive formations and other football plays using straight, curved, and dotted lines. This software application is perfect for coaches who require a tool to create playbooks with ease. The intuitive play drawing tools and the easy sharing capabilities make it a reliable tool for designing football plays. One of the app's best features is the accountability tracking, providing insights into each player's study habits. This helps ensure each player, starter or backup, is responsible for their preparation. The app is available at $199/year and is best suited for football coaches who want an all-in-one playbook solution.
What playbook software do NFL teams use?
NFL teams often use professional-level playbook software applications like PlayMaker Pro. These tools allow teams to design detailed football plays and strategies that can be easily communicated and distributed among players and coaching staff. PlayMaker Pro, in particular, is known for its advanced features and adaptability to various football styles and strategies. While specific usage may vary by team and coach preference, high-level tools like these, combined with advanced video analysis platforms like Hudl, are often integral to modern NFL teams' strategic planning.
What is the best way to memorize the football playbook?
Memorizing a football playbook is all about repetition, understanding, and practice. It starts with reading and understanding the playbook. Break it down into sections to make it easier to digest. Focus on one part at a time, such as offensive formations or defense strategies. Visual learning is essential, so utilize playbook software applications like the Football Playbook Designer or Hudl. These apps let you visualize the plays with curved, straight, or dotted lines showing the path of each player. Visualization helps imprint the play into your memory. Use repetition to your advantage by reviewing the playbook consistently. Finally, practical application through drills and practice is key. Execute the plays on the field to solidify the plays in your mind.
How to print a football playbook?
Printing a football playbook depends on the software you're using. Applications like Hudl, Football Playbook Designer, and Tackle Football Playmaker allow users to print their designed plays or the entire playbook.
Generally, to print a playbook, you need to open the playbook in the software, navigate to the print option in the file or settings menu, select the appropriate print settings, and then print. It's worth noting that Tackle Football Playmaker offers a variety of print features, including QB wristbands, playbooks, and call sheets, which can be directly printed from the app to compatible printers.
How to print football plays for wristband?
To print football plays for a wristband, you need a software application that provides this specific feature, such as Tackle Football Playmaker. This software has a QB wristband printing feature that allows you to print out plays and strategies and fit them onto a wristband.
Once you have designed the plays, you can select the wristband print option from the print settings. These wristbands provide players, especially quarterbacks, with quick and easy access to the plays during the game.
What software do NFL coaches use?
NFL coaches utilize a range of software applications, depending on their specific needs. For playbook creation, they might use tools like PlayMaker Pro, which offers pro-level playbook creation capabilities.
They might also use Hudl, which is an analysis platform that offers robust football playbook-making features. The software helps streamline play creation, sharing, and tracking for football teams. Moreover, it provides insights on each player's study habits, enabling coaches to hold every player responsible for their preparation. The software is well-suited to a modern browser and requires an internet connection for optimal use.
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best football playbook software to try this year:
- Football Play Card — best of the best
- Hudl — best for high schools
- Football Playbook Designer — best for youth coaching
- Tackle Football Playmaker — best mobile playbook maker
- PlayMaker Pro — best pro-level playbook maker
- Just Play Sports Solutions — best for beginners
- Microsoft PowerPoint — best for presentations
