Alternatives / HoldemResources Calculator
HoldemResources Calculator alternative: Push Fold Trainer
Push Fold Trainer is an HRC (HoldemResources Calculator) alternative for players who want to practise solved push/fold spots rather than set up and solve their own. It serves chip-EV and ICM spots from 4bb to 30bb one decision at a time and scores you, in a browser.
Prices and features checked How we solve our ranges
Should you switch
Move, or add this alongside it, if you have plenty of solved spots and too little practice on them. Stay if solving your own exact spots is how you study.
HRC Classic, the preflop edition, is $16.66/mo, $39.99 a quarter or $119.90/yr. HRC Pro, with postflop solves and unlimited trees, is $49.99/mo, $119.97 a quarter or $359.90/yr. We found no training mode in either. Push Fold Trainer Pro is $15/mo or $150/yr, and its chip-EV ranges are free.
- HoldemResources Calculator
- $16.66/mo
- Push Fold Trainer
- Free · $15/mo
Source: HoldemResources Calculator, checked .
Disclosure: Push Fold Trainer is our own product, so treat the comparison accordingly. The prices and capabilities below are the same ones on our trainer roundup, where the trainers are reviewed. HoldemResources Calculator is a solver rather than a trainer, so it is covered on this page instead of ranked there.
HRC is a solver for getting the real answer to a specific tournament spot. A reason to look beyond it is usually not a better solve. It is practice: repeating the answers until they come without thinking.
What HoldemResources Calculator is good at
HRC is a desktop solver from HoldemResources, a Vienna company. You enter the stacks, the payouts and the actions you want in the tree, and it solves the spot. It comes in two editions. Classic is the entry preflop solver, which its maker describes as best for stacks up to 30 big blinds. Pro, the flagship, adds unlimited tree size, dedicated postflop solves and scripted tree building, and is sold for cash games as well as tournaments. There is also a free viewer mode for opening saved calculations, and free web tools on its site, including a push/fold Nash calculator that takes a prize structure.
- Solves the exact spot you set up, with your stacks and your payouts, rather than the nearest preset
- Frequency locks let you model an opponent's leak and see the best response to it
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
- A 14-day Classic trial that asks for no payment details
- Free web tools on its site, including a push/fold Nash calculator that takes a prize structure
Why players look for a HoldemResources Calculator alternative
It solves spots, and you still have to learn them
HRC gives you the answer to the spot you built. Turning that answer into a decision you make at the table without hesitating is a separate job, and we found no training or quiz mode in HRC's documentation to do it. If you have a folder of solved spots you never look at again, that is the gap.
Setting up a spot takes time
Each calculation starts with stacks, payouts, antes and the tree you want solved. That precision is the point of a solver. It also means a study session can go on setting up hands rather than deciding them, which is slow when what you want is a hundred push/fold decisions in a row.
It lives on your desktop
HRC is a desktop program for Windows, macOS and Linux, licensed for one user on two installations. There is no browser or phone version, so study happens at the desk where it is installed.
Pro costs three times Classic
Classic is the preflop edition, described by its maker as best for stacks up to 30 big blinds. Dedicated postflop solves and unlimited tree size are Pro features, and Pro costs three times as much as Classic, whether billed monthly, quarterly or yearly. If you went to Pro for one of those features and mostly use the push/fold part, you are paying for the rest.
HoldemResources Calculator vs Push Fold Trainer
| Capability | HoldemResources Calculator | Push Fold Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $16.66/mo | Free · $15/mo |
| Drills you | None we could find | Scored, every spot |
| Solved ranges | Solves your setup | 4-30bb, 6 & 9-max |
| ICM | Uses your payouts | Included |
| Exploits | Frequency locks | Chip-EV + ICM, both |
| Short-stack focus | Classic: up to 30bb | Only thing it does |
HoldemResources Calculator lets you solve or configure a non-GTO opponent by hand. Where we believe we differ is the practice loop: the exploit ranges here are solved as best responses across a seven-tier scale of opponent looseness, chip-EV and ICM-aware both, and you are drilled and scored against them rather than only shown the solve.
Tiers and prices
The cheapest tier is rarely the one with the feature you came for, so here is each tier and what it unlocks, for both tools.
| Tier | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | $16.66/mo, $39.99/qtr or $119.90/yr | The preflop solver, described by its maker as best for stacks up to 30bb. Trees up to 50,000 nodes. |
| Pro | $49.99/mo, $119.97/qtr or $359.90/yr | Any stack depth, unlimited tree size, dedicated postflop solves and scripted tree building. |
A 14-day Classic trial needs no payment details, and paid licences have a 14-day money-back guarantee. We found no training mode in either edition.
| Tier | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Chip-EV push/fold ranges from 4bb to 30bb, shoving and calling, with no account. A free account adds 10 ICM and 3 exploit practice questions a day, and the ICM, bubble factor and satellite calculators are free. |
| Pro | $15/mo or $150/yr | Unlimited ICM and exploit practice, the full ICM range library, and accuracy stats by position and depth with a missed-hand review queue. |
What you would give up
The case for moving is above. This is the other half of it: the things HoldemResources Calculator does that we do not, which are worth knowing before you cancel anything rather than after:
Moving here costs you this
- You can no longer solve an arbitrary spot. Our ranges cover set stack depths from 4bb to 30bb in 6-max and 9-max, so a hand you played with an unusual stack distribution may not be in the library.
- No postflop solving at all. If HRC Pro is how you study flops, nothing here replaces it.
- No custom trees. You cannot add raise sizes or actions; each spot here is push or fold, or call or fold against a shove.
When you should stay with HoldemResources Calculator
Not every reason to look is a reason to move. The cases where HoldemResources Calculator is still the right answer:
Stay where you are if
- You want to solve your own spots with exact stacks and payouts. A fixed library of solved spots, which is what we have, cannot do that.
- You study postflop or deeper stacks with HRC Pro. We are preflop only, from 4bb to 30bb.
- You use frequency locks to work out how to exploit a specific opponent in a specific spot. Our exploit ranges come from preset opponent profiles, not from a player you describe.
If you do move
A page that argues someone into switching and then leaves them at the decision has done the easy half. Three steps that make the move cheap to test and cheap to reverse:
Keep HRC for the spots you want solved exactly
The two tools do different jobs. A solver answers a hand you are unsure about; a trainer makes you faster at the hands you already understand. Keeping Classic for the first and drilling here for the second is a reasonable way to split them.
Drill the depths that match your HRC work
Take the positions and stack depths you solve most often in HRC and practise the same spots here. Accuracy is tracked by position and by depth, so after a few sessions you can see whether the solving has turned into correct decisions.
Start with the free ranges
The chip-EV push/fold ranges here are free with no account, so you can compare them with your own HRC solves before paying for anything.
HoldemResources Calculator alternatives: common questions
- Does HRC have a trainer or quiz mode?
- Not that we could find. HRC's documentation covers setting up and solving spots, Monte Carlo sampling, frequency locks and postflop calculations, and none of it describes a training or quiz mode. If that changes, HRC's own site is the place to check.
- How much does HRC cost?
- HRC Classic is $16.66 a month, $39.99 a quarter or $119.90 a year. HRC Pro is $49.99 a month, $119.97 a quarter or $359.90 a year. Both come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, and Classic has a 14-day free trial that needs no payment details.
- Is HRC Classic enough for push/fold?
- Its maker describes Classic as an entry preflop solver best for stacks up to 30 big blinds, which covers push/fold depths. Pro is the edition for any stack depth, unlimited tree size and dedicated postflop solves.
- Does HRC run on a Mac?
- Yes. HRC has downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is desktop software, so there is no browser or phone version.
- What does HRC do that this tool does not?
- It solves any spot you can describe, with your own stacks, payouts and tree, and Pro takes that postflop and to deeper stacks. Frequency locks let you model a particular opponent. We do none of those. What we do is serve solved spots one decision at a time and score you on them.
The free tier covers every chip-EV push/fold range, 4bb to 30bb, 6-max and 9-max, plus the ICM, bubble factor and satellite calculators. No account needed to look at any of it.