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The golf GPS apps, from their own listings
Four apps give you the distance to the green for free. What you pay for is what they do with it: plays-like numbers, a club suggestion, shot tracking. Here is each one as its own listing describes it, with the price on the day we read it, and the one thing none of them can do.
By Morris, by Badgie Golf · Updated
The four, side by side
| App | Free tier | Paid tier adds | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18Birdies | Rangefinder, scorecard, handicap, stats, basic shot tracking, Watch | GPS rangefinder, scorecard, handicap tracking, stats, basic shot tracking, Apple Watch; Premium adds plays-like distances, club recommendations, 3D greens, strokes gained, automatic swing detection and an AI swing analyzer. | Yearly Premium $99.99 (a $69.99 variant is also listed), monthly $19.99 or $9.99, weekly $7.99 |
| Hole19 | GPS distances, scorecard, course preview, Watch distances, leaderboards | GPS front/centre/back, scorecard with putts, fairways and greens, Apple Watch distances, live leaderboards; Premium adds plays-like distances, shot tracker, club recommendations, AR overlay, dispersion; an 'Intelligence' tier adds AI round reports and strokes gained. | Premium Pro yearly $69.99, monthly $12.99, weekly $6.99; Intelligence 1 year $99.99 |
| Golfshot | GPS distances, scoring, basic stats | GPS distances, scoring, stats, course coverage; Pro adds 3D flyovers, advanced GPS, club tracking, Watch support and 'Caddie' club recommendations; a Champions tier adds swing analysis on the range. | Pro $79.99/year (also $14.99/month, $5.99/week); Champions $99.99/year |
| Garmin Golf | The app: scorecards, shot history, stats, leaderboards | The companion app of Garmin's golf watches and launch monitors: scorecards, shot history, stats, weekly leaderboards; a paid membership adds green contours, premium course maps, aerial imagery, Home Tee Hero simulator rounds with a Garmin launch monitor, and swing video storage. | Garmin Golf Membership, billed monthly or annually; the price is on garmin.com for your region |
What the distance cannot tell you
A GPS app answers ‘how far’ well and ‘what now’ badly. 150 to the pin is a 7-iron for one golfer and a 5-hybrid for another, into wind it is a club more, from a downslope a club less, and with water short it is a different shot altogether. The paid club recommendations try, from the distances you logged; they are as honest as your log. Morris reads your Garmin distances and your rounds and tells you which club and why, and the distance chart gives you the starting numbers. The full app comparison covers trackers, video and coaching.
Sources
- 18Birdies — App Store listing — Features and prices as stated there. Read 9 October 2026.
- Hole19 — App Store listing — Features and prices as stated there. Read 9 October 2026.
- Golfshot — golfshot.com — Features and prices as stated there. Read 9 October 2026.
- Garmin Golf — garmin.com — Features and prices as stated there. Read 9 October 2026.
What no GPS app shows: your swing
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GPS app questions
Which golf GPS app is best?
For free distances and a scorecard, 18Birdies, Hole19 and Golfshot all do it; the differences are in the paid tiers (plays-like distances, club recommendations, shot tracking, AR) and the price: Hole19 Premium Pro $69.99 a year, Golfshot Pro $79.99, 18Birdies Premium $99.99 (with a $69.99 variant listed), as of 9 October 2026. Garmin Golf is free and built around Garmin watches.
Do I need a paid GPS app?
Not for distances. Pay if you play courses you do not know and want plays-like numbers and a club suggestion, or if you will review shot tracking after the round. If you own a Garmin watch, its free app already keeps your scorecards and shots.
Are golf GPS apps accurate?
Phone GPS is good to a few yards in the open and worse under trees or near buildings; the apps' own listings describe front, centre and back distances, not survey accuracy. For a shot that needs the exact number, a laser rangefinder still wins; for course management, a few yards do not matter.
Can a GPS app tell me what club to hit?
The paid tiers suggest a club from your logged distances and the plays-like yardage. A suggestion is only as good as the distances it has: log honest ones. Morris does the same from your Garmin distances on WhatsApp, and tells you why.
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