Bridge simulation software in 2026

The Bridge Lab runs a simulation from a form, with no code. You set what each hand holds, by points, shape, suit lengths, controls, honors or exact cards, and the simulator deals 1,000 to 20,000 hands that match and solves every one double dummy. You can compare up to five declarer and strain pairs on the same deals, at any level, doubled or not, at any vulnerability, and see how often each makes and what it is worth at IMPs and matchpoints. A lead simulation ranks every opening lead the same way.

Results can be saved and shared with a link, and the deal generator exports up to 1,000 matching deals as PBN or LIN for BBO. A simulation costs 2 to 10 credits depending on its size, and a new account gets 7 credits. Pro includes 20 credits a month and Master 55, and credit packs start at $3.50 for 20. For a quick answer on one contract, Contract Success Rate plays your two hands against 1,000 random layouts for 1 credit. The form covers the usual conditions, but it cannot run custom code the way a script can, and every run uses credits.

Redeal is a Python version of Deal, by Antony Lee. You describe the hands with short Python functions, and it solves deals double dummy with the DDS solver. It comes with ready-made parts for IMP and matchpoint comparisons and for opening lead simulations, and a simple window for those who prefer not to use the command line.

It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, is free under the GPL, and was last updated in October 2025. You need to be comfortable with some Python, though it is easier to pick up than the Tcl that Deal uses.

Dealer is the classic command-line dealer, and the constrained dealing on BBO is based on it. Version 2, by Greg Morse, replaces the old GIB solver with the faster DDS and adds par scores, IMP and score functions, and reports you can open in a spreadsheet. It can also read Richard Pavlicek's library of more than ten million solved deals.

It is free under the GPL and runs on Linux, or on Windows through WSL. The code was last updated in August 2023, and you write your conditions in Dealer's own short scripting language.

Deal, by Thomas Andrews, describes hands and runs analyses as Tcl scripts, and the DDS solver is built in. The last release, 3.1.9, dates from 2010, and the documentation page on its author's site no longer loads, although the program is still packaged for Linux.

It is free under the GPL and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Getting the most out of it takes some Tcl programming.

endplay, by Dominic Price, is a Python library that deals hands from Dealer scripts, solves them double dummy, works out par, scores contracts and counts the results. It reads and writes PBN and LIN. It is free under the MIT license, was last released in March 2025, and suits players who already write some Python.

Lead Solver, by Matthew Kidd, takes a file of deals that fit an auction and solves every opening lead on all of them. For each card it shows the average tricks for the defense, which matters at matchpoints, and how often the contract goes down, which matters at IMPs. You make the deal file with another program, such as Deal. It is free under the GPL, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and has not changed since 2014.

On Bridge Base Online you can open a bidding or practice table and choose the deals with conditions, either from on-screen controls or by pasting Dealer code. The free Practice Bidding Scenarios project by David Bailey adds more than 300 ready-made scripts that load into these tables. This is dealing for practice, so you bid and play the hands yourself, and BBO gives no double dummy statistics over many deals.

BridgeComposer is a Windows program for bridge hands and hand records. It deals boards at random, or by points and shape one hand at a time, and you can extend its dealing with scripts or run it from the command line. Its double dummy solver, built on Bo Haglund's engine, shows par scores, par contracts and the best opening leads, and it can print hand records with that analysis.

It costs $24.95, with a 30-day free trial, and was last updated in July 2026. It also exports deals as PBN, LIN and other formats.

Jack is a Windows bridge program developed by Hans Kuijf, with a double dummy solver for any deal. Its deal profile lets you generate hands that meet conditions on the auction, shape, points or tricks, and it can work out how likely a profile is. The pages we checked show no reports of make rates over many deals. Baron Barclay sells the full download for $69.95.

Bridge Baron is a long-standing playing program for Windows and Mac, sold for $69.95. A retailer lists a deal generator and double dummy and par-contract solvers among its extras. What conditions the generator takes, and whether it reports results over many deals, is not stated on the pages we could read.

NeuralPlay is a bridge game for iOS and Android that lets you set the deals you get, for example a strong notrump in your hand, and solves any single deal double dummy. Its bidding practice compares the double dummy result of your contract with the computer's. It is free with ads, and removing them costs $12.99 on iOS. Its store listings describe no statistics over many deals.

• Big Deal by Hans van Staveren deals the boards at most international championships. Its deals are purely random, and a companion program, SquareDeal, lets organizers prove it, so it takes no conditions.
• DDS, the double dummy solver library by Bo Haglund and Soren Hein, is inside most of the tools above. It solves deals but does not deal them.

• To run a simulation without writing code, use the BridgeTricks Bridge Lab.
• If you write Python, Redeal and endplay are free and current.
• If you know Dealer scripts or want Pavlicek's solved deals, use Dealer Version 2.
• To study one opening lead problem in depth with free tools, combine Deal or Redeal with Lead Solver, or use the Lead Trainer to practice leads already worked out for you.
• To bid and play hands with conditions rather than count results, use BBO Deal source or NeuralPlay.