An honest comparison · 1 November 2026
Hole19 alternatives
Hole19 is a Portuguese GPS app: front, centre and back distances, a scorecard and Apple Watch on the free plan; plays-like distances, shot tracking and an AI caddie on the paid ones. People look elsewhere for the price of Intelligence, for automatic tracking, or because they want to improve, not just measure. Each app below is described from its own listing.
Why not try an AI golf coach on WhatsApp?
Ask MorrisBy Morris, by Badgie Golf · Updated
Hole19 and the alternatives at a glance
| App | What it does | Free | Paid | Devices and languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hole19 | GPS to the front, centre and back of the green, a scorecard with putts, fairways and greens, Apple Watch distances without the phone and live leaderboards. Premium adds plays-like distances, shot tracking, club recommendations, an AR view and a handicap calculator; Intelligence adds an AI caddie («Otto»), AI round reports and strokes gained. Over 42,000 courses in 201 countries, by the company's count. | GPS, scorecard, hole preview, Watch distances, leaderboards | Premium Pro $6.99/week, $12.99/month, $49.99 for six months or $69.99/year; Intelligence $99.99/year | iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. 14 languages |
| 18Birdies | GPS with distances to greens, hazards, layups and carries, scorecard and handicap tracking, stats, shot tracking, instant swing replay, games (Scramble, Best Ball, Skins, Wolf), leagues and Apple Watch. Premium adds plays-like distances, club recommendations, 3D greens, strokes gained and an AI Swing Analyzer. Over 45,000 courses, by its listing. | Rangefinder, scorecard, handicap, stats, basic shot tracking, Watch | Premium $9.99 or $19.99/month, $69.99 or $99.99/year, $7.99/week (several prices listed) | iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. English, Japanese and Korean |
| Golfshot | GPS to the centre of the green, scorecard and stats, Handicap Index linking (GHIN) and tee times through GolfNow. Pro adds front, back and hazard distances, «Smart Caddy» club recommendations, automatic shot tracking and Swing ID swing analysis with the Apple Watch, strokes gained and games. Over 47,000 courses in 169 countries, by its listing. | GPS to the centre of the green, scorecard, stats | Pro, with a 7-day trial: $4.99/week, $14.99/month or $69.99/year by its description | iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. 11 languages |
| Arccos | Automatic shot tracking with Arccos Air (no club sensors) or a sensor on every club, AI Strategy (club and target for each shot), AI round summaries, strokes gained in four areas, practice plans, dispersion, green maps and Apple Watch. | Nothing without the hardware | Air $349.99 or Smart Sensors $249.99, each with the first year of membership, then $199.99/year | iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. English, Japanese and Korean |
| Morris (Badgie Golf) | An AI golf coach on WhatsApp, nothing to download, plus the Morris app for iPhone and Android. He reviews your swing from a video (one priority, one feel, one drill), looks the Rules up in the official text and gives you the rule number, tells you which club from your Garmin distances, reads your rounds and strokes gained, and brings the official RFEG handicap for players federated in Spain. He answers in your language. Same account, Badgie Golf: GPS on mapped courses, live scorecard, games with friends and Apple Watch. | Free to start and no message limit today; the web swing analyzer is free with no account | Nothing to start | WhatsApp, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch (Badgie Golf). Answers in 12 languages |
What Hole19 does well
Free GPS and the watch: front, centre and back of the green, a scorecard with putts, fairways and greens, and Apple Watch distances without carrying the phone. It lists 14 languages and over 42,000 courses in 201 countries. If all you want is the yardage, the free plan does it.
Why golfers look for another
What Hole19 charges most for (the AI caddie, round reports and strokes gained) sits in Intelligence at $99.99 a year. If you are paying to learn where you lose shots, compare with Arccos, which logs every shot on its own, and decide who will turn the number into practice. See the best golf GPS apps and whether Arccos is worth it.
Pick by the job
- 1
Just yardages and a scorecard
The free plan of Hole19, 18Birdies or Golfshot. Pay when you want plays-like distances and club recommendations.
- 2
Automatic shot tracking
Arccos (sensors or Air) or Golfshot Pro on the Apple Watch. With a Garmin, Morris reads your GPS shots and real club distances.
- 3
Seeing your swing
18Birdies Premium has an AI analyzer. Morris reviews the video you send him and gives you one priority, one feel and one drill.
- 4
A coach, not a dashboard
Morris reads your rounds and your swing and answers on WhatsApp, in your language.
Which club, from your own distances
A GPS app recommends a club from tables or from the shots you log with it. Morris uses the median of each club in your bag when you connect your Garmin; without one, a good reference is the club distance chart by swing speed. Try the free swing analyzer or get the app at morris.golf/download.
The other comparisons
Each one with the same rule: what every app says about itself, with its source and the date it was read.
Sources
- Hole19 — ficha de la App Store (España) — Prices in euros, courses and languages. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Hole19 — ficha de la App Store (EE. UU.) — Free, Premium and Intelligence features, and prices in dollars. Read on 1 November 2026.
- 18Birdies — App Store listing (US) — Free and Premium features, courses and prices. Read on 1 November 2026.
- 18Birdies — ficha de la App Store (España) — Prices in euros. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Golfshot — ficha de la App Store (EE. UU.) — Free and Pro features, courses and the prices in its description. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Arccos — App Store listing (US) — Features, hardware and the company's figures. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Arccos — US store — Prices of Air and Smart Sensors and the renewal. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Arccos — tienda europea — Prices in euros, VAT included. Read on 1 November 2026.
- Morris — morris.golf — What Morris does and what it costs to start. Read on 1 November 2026.
Try it free: your swing reviewed from a video
Drop a video of one swing here
One swing, face-on or down the line, your whole body in the frame. Up to 20 seconds.
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Questions about Hole19 and its alternatives
How much is Hole19 Premium?
On the US App Store, Premium Pro is $6.99 a week, $12.99 a month, $49.99 for six months or $69.99 a year, and Intelligence (the AI caddie, AI round reports and strokes gained) is $99.99 a year (1 November 2026). The free plan has GPS, a scorecard and Apple Watch distances.
What is the best free alternative to Hole19?
For GPS and a scorecard, the free plans of 18Birdies and Golfshot do a similar job. For help with your game, Morris is free to start with no message limit today, and his app, Badgie Golf, has a GPS rangefinder on the courses that already have a map.
Which Hole19 alternative tracks shots automatically?
Arccos, with sensors on the clubs or Arccos Air, and Golfshot Pro with the Apple Watch. Hole19 does it in its Intelligence tier. With a Garmin watch, Morris reads your rounds with GPS shots and the real distance of each club.
Does Hole19 have an AI coach?
Its Intelligence tier has an AI caddie, «Otto», and AI round reports. Morris is a different thing: a coach on WhatsApp who reads your rounds and your swing videos and gives you one thing to practise, with its drill.
A golf coach, not another app
No downloads, no passwords: you text him on WhatsApp and Morris helps with your game, using everything he knows about you.
Text Morris on WhatsApp