Almost every golfer has a golf app on their phone. But "golf app" says little: one app measures distances, another keeps your handicap, a third tells you which club to hit. Below we put the best-known apps side by side, fairly, including our own, with the prices as they stood in October 2026.
Four kinds of golf app
- Rangefinders (GPS): how far is it to the green and to the hazards. The basis of almost every app.
- Scorecard and handicap: entering your score and having your handicap updated. In the Netherlands you do that for qualifying rounds through the GOLF.NL app.
- Statistics: where you lose shots, and how far you really hit each club.
- Caddie advice: which club, where to aim, with wind and elevation taken into account. In most apps this sits behind a paid subscription.
The apps side by side
| App | Free | Paid | Club advice | Wind and elevation | Courses | Languages | Install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CaddiQ | Everything, until March 2027 | No subscription yet | Yes, per shot, with target and dispersion | Yes, wind on the spot, height of ball and target, temperature | 33 Dutch courses, every hole mapped by hand | Dutch, English | No, works in the browser |
| 18Birdies | GPS, scorecard, statistics | Premium, in the Dutch App Store from approx. €80 a year | Premium, based on your game | Premium "Plays Like": wind, elevation, temperature | 45,000+ worldwide | English; Dutch not listed | App Store, Google Play, Apple Watch |
| Hole19 | GPS, scorecard, Apple Watch | Premium €69.99 a year | Premium, on your own distances | Premium: elevation; wind not listed | 42,000+ worldwide | Including English and Dutch | App Store, Google Play, watches |
| Golfshot | Distance to the middle of the green, statistics | Pro $79.99 a year | Pro, based on your performance | Not officially listed | 40,000+ worldwide | Including English and Dutch | App Store, Google Play, watches |
| Garmin Golf | App and scorecards | Membership €99.99 a year | "Virtual Caddie" on Garmin watches | Wind in Virtual Caddie; "PlaysLike" in the membership | 43,000+ worldwide | Including English and Dutch | App plus a Garmin device |
| GOLF.NL app | Everything: scores, handicap, tee times, NGF card | None | No | No | Dutch courses (booking) | Dutch | App Store, Google Play |
Prices and features according to the makers and the Dutch App Store, October 2026. In-app prices can differ by country and by plan.
What stands out
Distances are free everywhere, advice almost nowhere
Every app gives you the distance to the green for free. Advice on which club to hit, with wind and elevation included, is part of the paid subscription at 18Birdies, Hole19 and Golfshot, and at Garmin it needs a Garmin watch. Expect to pay about €70 to €100 a year.
Worldwide versus in detail
The big apps cover tens of thousands of courses, often generated automatically from map data. That is their strength: you can use them anywhere. CaddiQ works the other way round: few courses, but every hole has been mapped and checked by hand, with hazards, trees and the elevation profile of the hole. That means the caddie can tell you not just how far it is, but also where to aim to keep the water out of play.
You need the GOLF.NL app anyway
For your handicap and for booking tee times in the Netherlands there is no way around the GOLF.NL app. It gives no GPS distances or club advice, so most golfers combine it with a second app for on the course.
Is it allowed in competition?
You may use a distance-measuring device in most competitions, unless the committee bans it with a Local Rule. Advice on club selection, and distances that account for elevation or wind, are not allowed in a qualifying round or competition (Rule 4.3 of the Rules of Golf). That applies to every app on this list. So switch those features off, or only use them in your casual rounds.
Which app suits you?
- You play many different courses, including abroad: choose a big app such as Hole19 or 18Birdies. If you want advice that includes elevation, you need their paid version.
- You already have a Garmin watch: the Garmin Golf app fits it best.
- You mostly play one of the courses in CaddiQ and want to know, shot by shot, which club and where to aim: try CaddiQ. Nothing to install, and it is free until the end of March 2027.
- You only want to keep your score and handicap: the GOLF.NL app is enough.
Honest about CaddiQ: if your course is not in it yet, it won't help you on the course yet. See which courses are ready, or email your course to info@caddiq.ai.