Judge on phone. Debater on tablet. Real-time sync. Prep pool tracks automatically across all speeches and auto-pauses on every speech.
DebateClock is a free, browser-based debate timer with real-time two-device sync. The judge controls the timer on their phone. The debater sees a full-screen countdown on their laptop or tablet. No signup, no install — just open the link and start timing.
Most debate timers treat prep time as a per-speech countdown that resets each speech. DebateClock correctly implements a shared prep time pool — a bank of time each side draws from freely across the entire round, carrying the remaining balance forward between speeches automatically.
Go to debateclock.org/app on your phone. A room code is generated instantly — no signup, no install.
Share the QR code or link. The debater opens the display on their laptop or tablet — full-screen countdown appears immediately.
Judge controls the timer from their phone. Both screens stay in sync in real time. Prep pool tracks automatically across all speeches.
Click any format to see the speech order and open the timer.
Lincoln-Douglas, Policy (CX), and Public Forum are the three main NSDA competitive debate formats used at US high school and college tournaments. Each uses a shared prep time pool — LD gives 4 minutes per debater, Policy gives 8 minutes per team, and PF gives 3 minutes per team. DebateClock tracks each pool cumulatively across the round.
1v1 · 7 speeches
2v2 · 12 speeches
2v2 · 11 speeches
2v2 · 6 speeches
World Schools (WSDC) and British Parliamentary are the dominant international debate formats. Both use Points of Information — brief interjections during speeches — with automatic POI window signals. DebateClock shows a visual POI indicator on the debater display at the correct time for each format.
3v3 · 8 speeches
4 teams · 8 speeches
3v3 · 8 speeches
2v2 · 8 speeches
Practice tools for coaches and debaters. Time individual speeches with a prep countdown, manage an extemp prep room with up to 10 simultaneous student countdowns, log actual vs allowed speech times, run structured work-break intervals, and keep your entire tournament schedule on countdown all day.
Individual · All formats
All formats · 120+ motions
Coach · Up to 10 students
Coach · All formats
Debater · Work/break intervals
Coach · All day
Most debate timer apps share the same gap that affects every LD, Policy, and PF round: shared prep time pools. They treat prep as a per-speech countdown, which isn't how these formats actually work — prep is a pool each side draws from across the whole round.
DebateClock tracks the shared pool correctly. The remaining time carries forward between speeches automatically.
DebateClock is a free browser-based debate timer with real-time two-device sync. The judge controls the timer on their phone while the debater sees a full-screen countdown on their own device. It supports 9 debate formats including Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, World Schools, and British Parliamentary.
DebateClock supports Lincoln-Douglas (LD), Policy (CX), Public Forum (PF), Parliamentary (APDA), World Schools (WSDC), British Parliamentary University (WUDC), British Parliamentary High School, Asian Parliamentary, and Canadian Parliamentary (CUSID). Each format has the correct speech order, prep pool, and POI windows preloaded.
The prep time pool is a shared bank of time that each side draws from freely across the entire round. Unlike most timer apps that reset prep time for each speech, DebateClock tracks the pool cumulatively — time used before one speech is subtracted from the total, and the remaining balance carries forward to the next prep call automatically.
Yes. DebateClock works on most phones, tablets, and laptops with a modern browser. No app download or installation is required. The judge controller is optimised for mobile use, and the debater display works on any screen size.
The judge opens the timer on their phone at debateclock.org/app. A QR code and room link appear automatically. The debater scans the QR code or opens the link on their laptop — a full-screen countdown appears immediately and stays in sync with the judge's controller in real time.
Yes. DebateClock is completely free with no signup required. All features including two-device sync, all 9 formats, practice tools, and the motion generator are available at no cost.