OnForm alternatives for tennis: manual vs automatic analysis

Manual video apps are brilliant at one thing: letting you freeze a frame and look closely. The cost is time. You or your coach have to find the shot, draw the lines, measure the angle and remember what last month looked like. This guide to OnForm alternatives for tennis compares the manual tools with apps that do the measuring for you, and says honestly when each is the better choice.

We make ContactFrame, so weigh our pick accordingly. Everything we say about the other apps comes from their own websites and app store pages, checked in November 2026. Prices and features change, so check before you subscribe.

What OnForm does well

OnForm is a coach and athlete video app. It has slow motion, drawing tools, side-by-side comparison, voice-over, sharing with athletes and 2D skeleton tracking. It bought Hudl Technique and its users in 2021. It is not tennis-specific: its feature list does not include automatic shot detection, ball tracking or line calls.

• Platforms: iOS (full features), Android (limited features) and web.
• Price (official site, USD excluding tax, checked Nov 2026): athlete Standard $9.99 a month, Premium $14.99 a month; athlete Basic $0 when connected to a coach; coach plans from $19.99 a month. 14-day free trial.

Manual vs automatic tennis video analysis

This is the real choice, so it is worth setting out side by side.

• Manual tools (OnForm, Dartfish, Kinovea): you choose the frame, draw the line, measure the angle and compare two clips. Total control. The analysis is only as good, and as quick, as the person doing it.
• Automatic tennis apps (ContactFrame, SwingVision and others): the app tracks the ball and the player and gives you the numbers for every shot. Less control over any single frame, but a whole session is measured without you marking anything, and the same measures repeat next time.

Coaches who teach from a single frame will keep a manual tool. Players filming themselves usually want the numbers.

OnForm alternatives for tennis at a glance

1. ContactFrame: best for tennis players who want measurement without drawing
2. SwingVision: best automatic tennis app on iPhone today
3. Dartfish: best manual tool for professional coaching
4. Kinovea: best free manual tool, on Windows
5. SportAI Open: best free AI technique check, while in beta
6. Ten-Fifty5: best pay-per-match singles breakdown

1. ContactFrame: best for measurement without drawing

ContactFrame is built for tennis and measures automatically. Film with one phone behind the baseline and The Lab gives you, for every shot, ball speed, spin in rpm (topspin or slice), the bounce position, an in / out / close call, the shot type and a shot quality score out of 100. It leaves out a number it is unsure of rather than guessing.

For the session you get Session insights: a placement map, speed and spin by shot type, winners and errors, serve placement on the deuce and ad sides, and movement, meaning how far you moved, where you stood and how well you recovered. On Pro, shot mechanics tracks body points through the swing, scores preparation, contact, footwork and kinetic chain, shows a stick-figure replay of each contact and gives one Next fix with a drill. Trends then show the same numbers session after session. There is more in what AI tennis video analysis measures.

• Needs: a phone and a tripod.
• Platforms: iOS and Android at launch. ContactFrame is not out yet; join the list.
• Price (checked Nov 2026): Free £0 (15 minutes a month); Basic £9.99 a month (unlimited recording); Pro £17.99 a month (adds sharper filming and shot mechanics).
• Good at: ball, movement and mechanics measured automatically, then tracked over time.
• Watch out for: no drawing or voice-over tools; mechanics are Pro only and cover the player nearest the camera; small free tier.

2. SwingVision: best automatic tennis app on iPhone today

If you want automatic tennis analysis this week and own an iPhone, use SwingVision. It films from one camera behind the baseline. Its plan page lists video trimming, shot stats and heatmaps for speed, depth and consistency, scoring and match stats, line calls and strategy insights; it does not list spin readings, movement, shot quality scores or swing mechanics. It has extras we lack: Apple Watch control, live streaming and raw data export on Pro.

• Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, visionOS and Apple Watch. No Android app.
• Price (UK App Store, checked Nov 2026): Free (8 hours a month, much more than our 15 minutes); Pro £24.99 a month or £179.99 a year (30 hours a month). The annual plan is cheaper per month.
• Watch out for: Apple only; recording hours capped on every tier.

3. Dartfish: best manual tool for professional coaching

Dartfish is the professional end of manual analysis, used by federations and coaches. It offers tagging, annotation, multi-video comparison, StroMotion, Simulcam, 3D drawings and live feeds. See the Dartfish plans page for current pricing.

• Platforms: Windows, iOS, Android and cloud.
• Price (official site, EUR per month billed annually, checked Nov 2026): myDartfish Mobile from 7€; 360 at 20€; Live at 60€; Pro at 120€. 15-day trial on desktop plans.
• Good at: multi-video comparison with full frame-by-frame control.
• Watch out for: it is not automated tennis analysis; you supply the expertise.

4. Kinovea: best free manual tool

Kinovea is free, open-source desktop software. It has slow motion, synchronised side-by-side comparison, angle, distance and time measurement, semi-automatic point tracking and spreadsheet export. Version 2025.2.0 is current.

• Platforms: Windows 7 to 11 only; not Apple Silicon Macs, even virtualised; no mobile app.
• Price: free (GPL v2).
• Good at: precise measurement for anyone willing to learn it.
• Watch out for: you need a Windows PC and the time to do it.

5. SportAI Open: best free AI technique check

SportAI Open is a web app that analyses stroke mechanics, footwork and body position from uploaded video, with training plans, for tennis, padel and pickleball.

• Platforms: web.
• Price: free with unlimited analyses during the beta; paid tiers are planned, prices not yet published.
• Watch out for: no tactical or match stats in the beta; ball tracking and line calling are not described.

6. Ten-Fifty5: best pay-per-match singles breakdown

Ten-Fifty5 is browser-based. Upload a singles match filmed from behind the baseline and you get a point-by-point breakdown of serve, return and rally play, shot placement and rally length, plus an AI coach chat on paid plans.

• Platforms: web, so it works from Android.
• Price (official site, USD, checked Nov 2026): first match free, then $25 a match, bundles from $15 a match, or $40 a month for up to 10 matches. Coach accounts are free.
• Watch out for: singles only; analysis after the match.

How to choose between manual and automatic

• You are a coach teaching from a single frame: keep OnForm or Dartfish, or use Kinovea if you have a Windows PC and no budget.
• You are a player who wants to know if you are improving: an automatic app, because it measures the same things every session. Our guide to tracking your tennis progress explains why that matters.
• You use both: plenty of players measure with an app and bring the clips to a coach. They are not rivals for the same job.

Verdict

OnForm, Dartfish and Kinovea remain the right tools for coaches who want frame-by-frame control and side-by-side comparison. For tennis players who would rather play than draw, ContactFrame is our pick: it measures the ball, your movement and, on Pro, your mechanics automatically, and tracks them over time. It is launching on iOS and Android, so join the list. Until then, SwingVision is the automatic option on iPhone. For a broader comparison, see the best tennis video analysis apps, and for line calls or club cameras, In/Out alternatives and PlaySight alternatives.

Common questions

Is OnForm good for tennis?

OnForm is a strong general coaching video app, with slow motion, drawing, side-by-side comparison, voice-over and 2D skeleton tracking. It is not tennis-specific: its feature list does not include automatic shot detection, ball tracking or line calls.

Does OnForm work on Android?

Yes, with limited features. OnForm’s full feature set is on iOS, and it also has a web app.

How much does OnForm cost?

On OnForm’s US pricing page in November 2026, athlete plans started at $9.99 a month and coach plans at $19.99 a month, excluding tax, with a 14-day free trial. An athlete can use the Basic plan free when connected to a coach.

Is Kinovea available on Mac?

No. Kinovea runs on Windows 7 to 11 only, and its site says it does not work on Apple Silicon Macs, even through virtualisation. There is no mobile app.

What is the difference between manual and automatic tennis video analysis?

In a manual tool you pause the video and draw or measure what you want to see. An automatic tennis app tracks the ball and the player and gives you the numbers, such as speed, spin and where each shot landed, without you marking anything.