The best apps to rank movies head-to-head.

At a glance

Ranked

You give a film a lane, from All-timer down, then answer a few head-to-heads until it lands in place. Each place becomes a score out of 5, and scores switch on at 10 films. Friends see your score beside theirs, with a taste match for each one. Imports your Letterboxd, Netflix or IMDb history.

Best for: People who want a list that orders itself, a score that comes from it, and friends to see it.

Flickchart

The original head-to-head film ranker, online since 2009. It shows two films at random, you pick the better one, and your chart builds up from those picks.

Best for: People who rank at a computer and want years of history and a long-running community.

Fliki

You choose which of two titles you liked more, and your all-time list builds from those choices. A community Fliki Score comes from everyone’s head-to-heads. Follow friends, keep a watchlist and make custom lists.

Best for: People who want a community score built from comparisons and room for custom lists.

Reel

You compare a new title with ones you’ve already ranked to build an ordered list. Friends, streaks and leaderboards sit on top, with short reviews and list sharing.

Best for: People who like streaks and leaderboards with their friends.

Montir

Head-to-head matchups with an Elo-style system, the kind chess rankings use. It calls itself “The Beli for Movies”.

Best for: Android users, and anyone who wants a Beli-style film list.

BEST

Quick “this or that” matchups across several kinds of media, with shared lists that merge friends’ rankings. Imports from Steam and Letterboxd.

Best for: People who want to rank games and music as well as films.

How to pick

• Your phone. On Android, Montir or Flickchart in the browser. On iPhone, all of them.
• Your history. If you already log films somewhere, an import saves hours. Ranked imports Letterboxd, Netflix or IMDb; BEST imports Letterboxd and Steam.
• Your people. Ranked, Fliki and Reel are built around following friends and seeing their lists.
• Shows. If you want to rank series too, choose one that ranks shows.

Questions

What is head-to-head ranking?

Instead of giving each film a star rating, you choose the better of two films you’ve seen. Enough of those choices put your films in order. It is easier to say which of two films you like more than to say whether one is a 3.5 or a 4.

Which of these apps can import my Letterboxd history?

Ranked and BEST both list Letterboxd import. Ranked also imports Netflix and IMDb exports.

Is there a head-to-head film ranker for Android?

Montir lists an Android app, and Flickchart works in any browser. Ranked is iPhone only for now.

Which apps rank TV shows too?

Ranked, Fliki and Reel rank shows as well as films. BEST also covers games and albums. Ranked keeps shows on a list of their own, so a head-to-head is always film against film or show against show.

Why isn’t Letterboxd on this list?

Letterboxd is a film diary built on star ratings and reviews, not head-to-heads. Many people keep it alongside a ranking app. See Ranked vs Letterboxd for how the two fit together.