How much does a golf simulator cost?

What do you need for a home golf simulator?

A home golf simulator has six parts. The first three are enough to practice with the shot on your phone, and the rest put the range or course on a big screen in front of you:

• Launch monitor: reads each shot and sends the numbers to software that draws its flight. A radar launch monitor, also called Doppler, sits behind the ball. It measures ball and club speed from the change in frequency of a radio signal bounced off them, and measures or calculates launch angle and spin, depending on the model. A camera launch monitor, also called photometric, sits beside the ball or on the ceiling and photographs the ball and club at impact. Our radar vs camera launch monitors comparison explains what each kind needs from the room.
• Net, impact screen or enclosure: stops the ball. An impact screen is a tight layered fabric strong enough to take a full driver shot and smooth enough to show a projected picture. An enclosure is a frame that holds the impact screen, with side and top panels that catch mishits.
• Hitting mat: synthetic turf on a foam base. The foam absorbs the club’s impact, which protects your wrists and the floor.
• Display: shows the shot. It can be your phone or tablet, a TV, or a projector aimed at the impact screen. A short-throw projector sits a few feet from the screen, above or in front of you, so your body stays out of the picture.
• Computer: runs the simulator program. If the launch monitor’s own app has the simulator, your phone or tablet is the computer. A few launch monitors, such as the Garmin R50, run the simulator on their own built-in screen, so the launch monitor is the computer.
• Simulator software: draws the range and courses. Most programs charge a yearly subscription; our GSPro guide covers GSPro, the main program for a Windows PC.

How much does each part of a golf simulator cost?

Launch monitors have the widest range, $180 to $25,995 across 53 current models. Higher-priced launch monitors measure more of the ball and club data directly, such as spin and club path; lower-priced ones calculate more of it from the ball speed and launch angle they measure. Our guide to which numbers each launch monitor measures and which it calculates shows what each price buys. To choose one, see our picks of the best golf launch monitors at every price, the best golf launch monitors under $1,000 and the best golf launch monitors under $500.

Three of the other parts cost more as they get bigger, sturdier or brighter:

• Enclosure: a wider screen and a sturdier frame. The GoSports enclosure, with a 10 by 8 foot screen, is $1,000, and the SIG12, about 12 feet wide, is $2,500.
• Hitting mat: thicker foam and a larger surface. The GoSports Pro, on 5 mm (about 0.2 inch) of foam, is $100, and the SIGPRO Softy, 2.5 inches thick, is $1,000.
• Projector: brightness, resolution and a laser light source. The BenQ TH671ST (1080p, 3,000 lumens, lamp) is $949, and the BenQ LK936ST (4K, 5,100 lumens, laser) is $4,899.

A computer costs more with the simulator program’s requirements. GSPro runs only on Windows and recommends an Nvidia RTX 3070 or 3060 Ti graphics card and 16 GB of memory for 1080p, so the PCs in the table, Windows desktops and laptops that meet those requirements, run $1,750 to $3,000. Our GSPro guide lists its requirements in full.

What three complete golf simulator setups cost

Each setup is priced at each part’s regular price, and the 3-year totals add three years of software.

A Garmin R10 with a net and a mat, and the simulator on your phone

This setup is for practice, with each shot drawn on your phone. Garmin lists the R10's indoor minimum room as 15 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet high.

• Launch monitor: the Garmin R10, a radar unit on a small tripod behind the ball. The Garmin Golf app on your phone shows each shot on a free driving range.
• Net: the Spornia SPG-7, a pop-up net that rolls the ball back to you.
• Mat: the GoSports Pro, a 5 by 4 foot turf mat on 5 mm of foam.

These parts cost $950 up front. Course play needs a Garmin Golf membership, $100 a year, which runs Garmin's Home Tee Hero simulator on your phone with more than 43,000 courses.

Our guide to golf simulator ceiling height and room size explains how much room each launch monitor needs.

A FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 with an enclosure, a projector and a PC running GSPro

This setup puts the course on an impact screen in front of you. FlightScope asks for at least 16 feet of room depth for the Mevo Gen 2, half behind the ball and half in front of it, and a ceiling of at least 9 feet.

• Launch monitor: the FlightScope Mevo Gen 2, a radar unit with a camera, which sits behind the ball.
• Enclosure: the GoSports enclosure, a 10 by 8 foot steel frame with the impact screen and the side and top covers included.
• Mat: the Real Feel Country Club Elite, 1.75 inches thick, with 1-inch turf over foam.
• Projector: the BenQ TH671ST, a 1080p short-throw projector.
• Computer: the MSI Aegis Z2, a Windows desktop with an Nvidia RTX 5060 graphics card, which meets GSPro’s recommended hardware for 1080p.

These parts cost $5,477 up front. The GSPro simulator program costs $250 a year. A ceiling mount and cables for the projector are extra.

For a room with less depth, see our best launch monitors for a room with limited depth.

A Uneekor EYE MINI with a padded enclosure, a laser projector and a PC that runs GSPro at 4K

In this setup, a camera launch monitor on the floor beside you reads the ball and club, and a brighter projector and a faster computer drive the screen. Uneekor asks for a room at least 13 feet wide (15 feet if you are 6 feet or taller) with a ceiling at least 10 feet high, and the SIG10 enclosure's manual asks for a room at least 18 feet long.

• Launch monitor: the Uneekor EYE MINI, a camera unit that photographs the ball and club at impact.
• Enclosure: the SIG10, with its impact screen and padding included.
• Mat: the SIGPRO Softy, 2.5 inches thick.
• Projector: the BenQ AH500ST, a 1080p laser projector. Its throw ratio, the distance from the screen divided by the picture’s width, is 0.499, so it fills a 10-foot-wide screen from 5 feet away.
• Computer: the Acer Predator Orion 6000, a Windows desktop with an Nvidia RTX 5070 and 32 GB of memory, which meets GSPro’s recommended hardware for 4K, so it can run a 4K projector later.

These parts cost $11,699 up front. To send shots to GSPro, the EYE MINI needs Uneekor's Pro membership, $199 a year, on top of GSPro's $250.

What owners report spending on a golf simulator

On the r/Golfsimulator forum, owners who built a complete simulator themselves, with a projector and an impact screen, most often report spending $1,600 to $3,000, usually around a Square Golf, Rapsodo MLM2PRO or Garmin R10 launch monitor; our Garmin R10 vs Rapsodo MLM2PRO vs Square Golf comparison sets those three side by side. Those builds use a launch monitor that costs under $1,000, often a used projector, and a laptop, TV or tablet the owner already had, while the setups above price every part new at regular prices.

Owners who built around a premium launch monitor, such as a Foresight GC3 or a Uneekor EYE XO2, and added a gaming PC and a finished room report $12,000 to $35,000. They say the launch monitor and any hired labor make up most of that, and the rest goes to finishing the room: padding, lighting, flooring and furniture.

Where owners say to spend and where to save

Owners on r/Golfsimulator agree on four points:

• Hitting mat: spend on what's under your swing. More than 25 owners report wrist, elbow or shoulder pain from a cheap mat on a concrete floor. Their usual fix costs less than a premium full mat: a good hitting strip, the small patch of turf you hit from, set into a low-priced stance mat, with foam gym tiles underneath.
• Projector: a used name-brand projector works in a room you can darken. Owners who bought the lowest-priced new projectors found the picture too dim or blurry, and a room kept dark for a dim projector can be too dark for a camera launch monitor to read the ball.
• Display and computer: start with what you own. Many owners began with a net and a TV, tablet or phone and added the projector, impact screen or gaming PC later; our launch monitor vs golf simulator comparison shows what a net setup and a full simulator each cost and what owners say each one is like to play.
• Garage: budget for the room as well as the simulator. A garage door opener or its rails can sit in the swing path and need moving, and a garage in a hot or cold climate may need heating or air conditioning before it is usable year-round. Our garage golf simulator guide covers both.

How much does golf simulator software cost per year?

A simulator program draws the range and courses your shots fly on. Most programs charge a yearly subscription, and the launch monitor decides which programs you can run.

Some launch monitors need their own membership to send shots to GSPro:

• Rapsodo MLM2PRO: the Premium membership, $200 a year.
• Bushnell Launch Pro: the Gold level, $599 a year.
• Uneekor units: the Pro membership, $199 a year.

These units include a free range or courses:

• Garmin R10: the driving range in the Garmin Golf app.
• Uneekor units: the included Player package, with a virtual driving range.
• FlightScope Mevo Gen 2: 8 E6 Connect courses with a lifetime license.

To pay nothing after you buy, see our best launch monitors without a subscription: launch monitors that show all their numbers in a free app.

What do golf simulator packages cost?

Golf simulator stores sell packages that pair a launch monitor with a net or an enclosure, a mat and sometimes a projector and a computer. At regular prices:

• Rain or Shine Golf: a Garmin R10 practice package with a net and a mat, $1,574.
• The Indoor Golf Shop: a Garmin R10 with the store's SIG enclosure kit, $1,550; the kit's frame is 1-inch steel conduit you buy at a hardware store. At the top, its HD Golf Ultimate Entertainment package is $70,000.

A package holds the same kinds of parts as the three setups on this page, chosen for you and shipped in one order. Price the parts on their own before you buy, because a package’s projector, mat or computer may be a different model from the one you would pick.

Store prices for launch monitors and simulator parts change with sales; our guide to when launch monitors go on sale shows when they usually drop.