Practice debate against an AI that argues back

The best way to practice debate with AI is against an opponent that holds a real position and pushes back on yours. DebateHero gives you that with AI versions of historical figures, each one grounded in that person's own writing and speeches, and an AI judge scores every exchange so you can see which arguments held up.

Why a normal chatbot isn’t enough

You can ask a general chatbot to take the other side, and it will for a while. It’s built to be helpful though, so it tends to come around to your view after a couple of turns, and nobody is keeping score. You finish the conversation feeling good and you still don’t know which of your points were weak.

Practice works when the other side holds its ground and something tells you where you won and lost the exchange. That is what DebateHero is built around.

How it works

1. Pick a figure and a topic. Take a suggested topic or type the question you care about.
2. Make the first argument. You always go first, typing or speaking.
3. The figure answers. They argue from their own positions, in their own voice.
4. The judge scores both sides after each exchange. Tap a score under a message to see why it got that score.
5. Finish the format. Short is 3 turns each, Standard is 4 (an opening, two rebuttals and a closing), Extended is 7. There’s no clock, so you can think.

What the judge rewards

The judge scores what an argument does, not how polished it sounds. Each claim is graded from 0 to 4 and each reason, piece of evidence or rebuttal that backs it up is graded from 0 to 3. A good rebuttal takes points off the other side’s claim, so you can lose points as well as win them. Repeating yourself, filler, and arguing the other side’s position earn nothing. Saying “good point” never costs you anything.

The full scoring, with worked examples, is in the rulebook.

Other ways to practice

• The Daily. Everyone gets the same matchup each day. A character opens with a claim and you argue against it. No account needed.
• Topic Dungeon. One topic, three characters who each take a side, and you argue the other side against all three before a shared clock runs out.
• League. Five-turn debates against tougher characters across three levels.
• Live Duel. Debate another person on a live call, in timed formats based on Public Forum. More on that in the Public Forum practice guide.
• Watch. Two figures debate a topic you set while the judge scores them, which is useful for seeing how an argument gets taken apart.

Honest limits

• The judge is an AI and it can get a call wrong. Treat a score as a read on your argument, not a ballot from a real judge.
• The figures are AI interpretations of real people. They’re grounded in what those people wrote and said, but they are still interpretations.
• There’s no Lincoln-Douglas or policy format. The timed formats are a shortened Public Forum, and they only run in Live Duel.
• Typing is unlimited on every plan. Voice is metered in minutes, and that is what the paid plans pay for. See pricing.
• It runs in a web browser, there’s no phone app. You need to be 13 or older to make an account.

Getting started

The Daily is the quickest way in, it needs no account and takes a few minutes. For a debate on your own topic, sign in, open Create and pick Debate.

Comparing tools? Here is how DebateHero lines up against Debate Arena.