THE FLOOR IS YOURS
Pocket Debate is an online oracy platform that makes debating accessible to people everywhere, with AI-powered judgement for objective, professional evaluation.
WHAT IS POCKET DEBATE?
Pocket Debate is an online debating platform designed to make structured debate accessible to individuals, students, institutions and debating communities.
THREE WAYS TO TAKE THE FLOOR
Every debate on Pocket Debate runs in one of three formats. Pick a topic, pick a side, and start whenever you're ready.
MEET ARBITER AI
Pocket Debate uses Arbiter AI to evaluate debates against structured debating criteria. It reads an anonymised transcript, judges who debated better rather than who is right, and produces a structured judgement and performance feedback after every debate.
“Arbiter AI doesn't ask who had the loudest voice. It asks who made the stronger case.”
JUDGED ON SIX CRITERIA
Argumentation
Quality and logic of the case.
Rebuttal & clash
Engagement with the other side.
Evidence & examples
Support for claims.
Structure & clarity
Signposting and organisation.
Rhetoric
Persuasiveness of language.
Role fulfilment
Doing the job of the speech.
SAMPLE DEBATE JUDGEMENT
“This House would replace standardised exams with portfolio assessment”
PROPOSITION
WINNERDebater 1
Academic institution
OPPOSITION
RUNNER-UPDebater 2
Academic institution
VERDICT · PROPOSITION BY 3.8
Proposition won because it sustained one clear framework across every speech and engaged directly with opposition's strongest challenge, while opposition's case remained a set of separate points rather than a unified argument.
MAKE YOUR MARK
Ranked debates contribute to your debating record and ELO rating. Build your record, track your performance, improve your ranking, and see how you compare with other debaters.
CLIMB THE RANKING
YOUR RANK
Students
Practice argumentation, public speaking, critical thinking and persuasive communication.
Universities & Schools
Use Pocket Debate to facilitate structured debates, classroom activities and competitions.
Debate Communities
Create competitive debates, organise events and develop a community of debaters.
Structured
Every debate follows a clear format.
Competitive
Build your record and climb the rankings.
Accessible
Debate from wherever you are.
Intelligent
Receive structured AI-assisted feedback.
Fast
Choose a format that fits your time.
Meaningful
Challenge ideas, not people.
FOR INSTITUTIONS
Schools, universities and organisations can use Pocket Debate to create and manage debating activities digitally.
Interested in partnering with Pocket Debate?
Contact us →Create
Create debates, tournaments and competitions.
Manage
Manage participants, formats and events.
Engage
Give students more opportunities to practise.
Measure
Track participation and competitive performance.
THE FLOOR IS YOURS
Pick a side. Build your argument. Step into the debate.
Book a demoABOUT POCKET DEBATE
Debate has always sharpened thinking and tested ideas, but it has rarely been easy to access. Pocket Debate exists to make structured, competitive debate available to anyone who wants to challenge their own thinking or someone else's. No society membership or competition entry required.
FAQ
Pocket Debate is an online oracy platform where anyone can practise structured debate, challenge other debaters and receive AI-assisted judgement and feedback.
Anyone who wants to debate: students, teachers, debating societies, institutions and independent debaters, regardless of prior experience.
Pocket Debate offers a free tier for individual debaters. Institutions can contact us about dedicated plans for schools, universities and organisations.
Physical, Blitz and Online Chamber. Each can be played ranked, where the result moves your ELO, or unranked for practice.
No. Pocket Debate is designed for complete beginners and experienced competitive debaters alike.
Yes. Institutions can create private debates, run classroom sessions on a shared device, manage students and track participation, all from one platform.
Everyone starts at 1200 ELO. Ranked debates move your rating: winning against strong opponents raises it more than winning against weaker ones, so your rank reflects the strength of your record.
Every debate is evaluated by Arbiter AI against six criteria: argumentation, rebuttal & clash, evidence & examples, structure & clarity, rhetoric, role fulfilment. Names and institutions are hidden from the judge, and each debate is judged twice with the sides swapped to cancel any position bias.
You can debate in 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German, Arabic, Hindi and Chinese. The app itself is available in English, Spanish, French and German.
Debate content and personal data are handled according to our Privacy Policy and are never shared with third parties without consent.