Compete Badge vs Captain Badge — DerbyFish
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Compete Badge vs Captain Badge — Full Comparison

3 min read

Two Badges, Two Roles

DerbyFish runs on two badges. Pick the one that fits how you fish.

The Compete Badge is for anglers who want to enter derbies, climb leaderboards, and win prizes. The Captain Badge is for people who want to host derbies, build communities, and manage tournaments.

You can hold both.

Compete Badge — $20/year

This is your competition license. What you get:

  • League access — Join seasonal leagues and compete year-round
  • Derby eligibility — Enter any derby that requires a badge
  • Prize eligibility — Win cash, gear, and BAIT from derby placements
  • 5 BAIT per month — 60 BAIT annually, covering most VFS costs
  • Leaderboard ranking — Your catches count on global and regional boards
  • Seasonal rewards — Earn exclusive rewards through league participation

Twenty dollars a year. Less than two dollars a month. That's the price of one bad lure.

Captain Badge — $60/year

This is your tournament director license. Everything in Compete, plus:

  • Derby creation — Build and launch your own tournaments
  • Custom branding — Your logo, your colors, your rules
  • Promotion tools — Feature your derbies in the marketplace
  • Captain dashboard — Full management interface for entries, scoring, and payouts
  • More BAIT — Higher monthly allocation for running operations
  • Analytics — See participation data, catch patterns, and engagement metrics

Both Badges — $80/year

Buy both and save. Compete ($20) plus Captain ($60) would be $80. The bundle price is $80. No markup.

Most captains grab both because they compete in other people's derbies too.

Youth Accounts

Free. No badge required. Youth anglers can participate in designated youth derbies and log catches at no cost. We want kids fishing, period.

Which One Do You Need?

Ask yourself one question: do you want to fish in derbies, or run them?

Fish in them? Compete Badge.

Run them? Captain Badge.

Both? Get both.

No badge at all? You can still use DerbyFish for casual fishing sessions, FishDex collection, and social features. Badges unlock the competitive layer.