Let us start with the disclosure that matters: this article is written by the team behind AuctionXI, one of the two products being compared. We are biased, and pretending otherwise would insult your intelligence. What we can do is be accurate. Every factual claim about CricAuction below comes from cricauction.live, its own public website, checked in July 2026. Where its site does not state something, we say nothing rather than guessing. Prices change, so confirm on each product's own pricing page before you pay.
If you want the wider market view first, our comparison of the best cricket auction software covers seven products side by side. This article goes deeper on just these two, because they solve the same problem from two genuinely different directions.
The short version
CricAuction is app-first: native Android and iOS apps plus web access, a free plan for 3 teams and the cheapest paid entry of the two. If you want to run the whole auction from a phone and keep costs minimal, it is a strong fit.
AuctionXI is broadcast-first: everything is built around what shows on the big screen and on every phone in the audience. Twenty broadcast scenes, sponsor screen time, an uncapped viewer link and purse maths that cannot go wrong. It costs more at small team counts, and that is the honest trade.
What CricAuction offers
CricAuction describes itself as a live player auction app and lists support for cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, volleyball, rugby and hockey. Its clearest distinction is native mobile apps on both stores alongside web access, so an organiser can genuinely run the event from a phone.
Its site lists real-time bidding with dynamic updates, tournament and team management, player profiles, customizable bidding rules covering base price, bid increments and player limits, tournament joining via a unique code and a YouTube Live overlay for streaming auction updates.
As of July 2026 the pricing on cricauction.live is per auction: a free plan for 3 teams, then ₹1,999 for 4 teams, ₹2,499 for 6, ₹2,999 for 8, ₹3,999 for 12 and ₹4,999 for 16 teams. That free 3-team plan is one of the most generous free tiers in this market.
Its site does not describe an undo function, data exports or how purse arithmetic is enforced, so we make no claims about those either way.
What AuctionXI offers
AuctionXI is web-based and built around one idea: auction night should look and feel like a broadcast, not a spreadsheet on a projector.
The core is real-time bidding with the purse tracked to the paisa, so a team can never go negative and a captain is never told a wrong balance. Around that sits the presentation layer: twenty broadcast scenes for the big screen, a projector link, a transparent overlay for YouTube streams and a viewer link that any number of people can open on their phones with nothing to install. Sponsor scenes and a sponsor strip give your backers real screen time, which matters when sponsors are paying for the tournament — our guide on getting sponsors for a local tournament explains why that screen time is worth money.
On the admin side: Excel bulk import with player photos, custom player fields per sport, a fifteen-second undo for auctioneer mistakes, unsold re-auction rounds and full exports after the event — the complete Excel workbook plus scene images.
As of July 2026 the pricing page lists pay-once-per-tournament plans: ₹3,999 for up to 6 teams, ₹6,499 for up to 12 and ₹9,499 for up to 20, with larger events handled on request. There is no free tier, but there is a live demo you can open without signing up.
Where CricAuction honestly wins
- You want an app. CricAuction has native Android and iOS apps; AuctionXI is web-only. If running the auction from a phone app matters to you, that is a real difference.
- Three teams, zero rupees. CricAuction's free plan covers 3 teams. AuctionXI has no free tier.
- Price at small sizes. At 4 teams it is ₹1,999 against AuctionXI's ₹3,999 Starter. At 6 teams, ₹2,499 against ₹3,999. If the budget is the deciding factor and the audience experience is not, CricAuction costs less until your league gets large.
- More sports listed. Its site names seven sports. AuctionXI is sport-flexible through custom player fields, but if you want a tool that markets itself around your specific sport's ecosystem, check both.
Where AuctionXI honestly wins
- The big screen is the product. Twenty broadcast scenes, sponsor spotlights and a projector link designed for a hall, against a product whose site centres the organiser's phone. If two hundred people are watching, this is the difference they see.
- The audience on their phones. AuctionXI's viewer link has no cap on how many people follow live, with nothing to install. CricAuction's site describes web links and tournament codes but does not state an audience limit, so we simply note that ours is explicitly uncapped.
- Purse maths you cannot argue with. Balances tracked to the paisa and a hard guarantee that no team goes negative. CricAuction's site does not describe its purse enforcement, so we cannot compare — we can only say ours is the part we would bet the evening on.
- Recovering from mistakes. A fifteen-second undo and unsold re-auction rounds are stated features. Auctioneers are human; our list of common auction mistakes shows how often that matters.
- After the auction. Full Excel workbook and scene image exports are included. Useful the morning after, when captains want proof.
So which one is right for you?
Ask one question: is auction night a meeting or a show?
If it is a meeting — captains around a table, a phone passed around, budget tight — CricAuction's free tier and cheaper small plans make it the pragmatic pick, and its apps are genuinely convenient.
If it is a show — a hall, a projector, a stream, sponsors on screen, players' families following from other cities — that is the exact job AuctionXI was built for, and the extra rupees buy the part everyone actually remembers.
Whichever way you lean, do the same three things: confirm the current price on each product's own site, load ten dummy players and run a fake five-minute auction. CricAuction's free plan and AuctionXI's live demo both let you do this in an afternoon. The tool that feels effortless in that rehearsal is the answer. And if you are still designing the auction itself, start with our complete guide to running a cricket player auction.
