Most strokes gained apps do the same thing — they turn your round into strokes gained numbers. The ones on this list do that well. But we’re starting to see new strokes-gained apps appear that now offer more than the run-of-the-mill graphs and charts.
After testing 19 golf apps last month, here is a rundown of the best for strokes gained and a straightforward recommendation depending on what you actually need from your app.
The 5 best strokes gained apps at a glance
Best Strokes Gained Apps 2026
Tested and rated by a PGA Professional
Break X Golf — Best strokes gained app for lowering your handicap
Full disclosure: Will Shaw, Golf Insider’s founder, is also a co-founder of Break X Golf. However, Break X Golf is the best app for turning strokes gained data into a practice plan (it’s not the best at automation, course strategy, or other aspects..)
Most strokes gained apps tell you what’s costing you shots. Break X Golf tells you what to do about it and gives you a data-driven practice plan. Enter your handicap goal, how often you practice, and watch the app map your SG data to a personalised practice plan.
The practice sessions are built from a library of 130+ skills games and drills, scaled to your ability and the time you have. As you improve, the plan evolves with you.
The one caveat: it’s a newer app, so the app doesn’t have as much automation and fancy hardware to go along with the stats tracking. But if shooting lower scores is the goal, nothing else on this list builds the bridge between SG data and what and how to practice.
- Only app that builds personalised practice plans directly from your SG data
- 130+ skills games and drills scaled to your ability and available time
- Import data from Arccos, Shot Scope, and other trackers
- Plan evolves as your game improves — not a static template
- Newer app — smaller user base and community than Arccos or 18Birdies
- No automated shot tracking — you still need to enter round data manually or import it
- Subscription cost adds up if you’re only an occasional practicer
Disclosure: Break X Golf was founded by Will Shaw, Golf Insider’s founder. Ratings and copy reflect independent assessment against the same criteria applied to all apps in this article.
Arccos Golf — Best strokes gained app for automated tracking
If you want strokes gained data without the faff of manual entry, Arccos is the gold standard. It’s not perfect, but it leads the way.
Attach the sensors to your grips, open the app, and it tracks every shot automatically using GPS and AI club recognition. Over a full season, you build one of the most complete pictures of your game available to an amateur golfer.
The SG analysis is genuinely good — you get breakdowns by area, distance bands, and by club. The AI caddie uses your historical data to recommend club selection and course strategy in real time. For on-course strategy and less work entering stats, it is very good.
The downsides: it’s expensive once you factor in sensors plus subscription, it automates 80% of tracking, but even with the hardware, you’ll still need to edit distance, putts and pin locations after the round (most of the time).
Arccos tells you what’s costing you shots. What you do about it at the range is still on you — which is exactly the gap BxG fills if you want to combine the two.
- Fully automatic shot tracking — no manual entry during your round
- AI caddie uses your personal shot history for real-time club recommendations
- 1.5 billion shot database for meaningful SG benchmarking
- Beautiful data visualisations and dispersion maps
- Expensive — sensors plus annual subscription is a significant outlay
- Club recognition still needs occasional manual correction
- Android experience historically weaker than iOS
- No practice planning — diagnosis only, no guidance on what to do next
UpGame Golf — Best strokes gained app for elite-level data
If in-depth data is what you’re after, UpGame is in a league of its own. The shot entry process is more involved than any other app on this list — you log target, shot location, pin position, slope, and wind — but what you get back justifies the effort, if it’s worth the effort for you. Strokes gained breakdowns by distance band, lie type, putting analysis based on distance and slope, and much more.
The drag-and-drop shot entry interface is well designed once you’re used to it, and the dispersion data is very genuinely useful for understanding your actual patterns rather than what you think you do. This app is used by many of the best golfers in the world.
The trade-offs are three things: Be prepared for a lot of data entry if you pick up the pro level. And the entry-level subscription doesn’t have much-needed info, such as which club you hit off the tee.
The practice games feel bolted on rather than integral — they don’t connect to your data, and there’s no structured plan to follow. UpGame diagnoses brilliantly. It doesn’t prescribe. If you want to know exactly where your game stands at tour-comparison level, it’s the best tool available. If you want to know what to do about it, you’ll need BxG or another practice app alongside it.
- Deepest SG breakdowns available — distance band, lie type, shot shape
- Drag-and-drop shot entry is well designed once you’re used to it
- Dispersion data by club reveals your actual patterns, not what you think you do
- Coach sharing and tour-level benchmarking built in
- Manual entry is demanding — more work per round than any other app here
- Practice games feel disconnected from your data — generic rather than personalised
- Interface can feel clunky until you’ve put in the learning curve
- Pro plan pricing is steep for the practice planning you get in return
Draw More Circles — Best For Trends & Benchmarking
Draw More Circles has built one of the best analytics interfaces of any app on this list. The strokes gained visuals are impressive — clean charts, and solid benchmarking against players of a similar handicap. They also have a coach-connect feature that lets your instructor pull your data directly.
The app works across iOS, Android, and web, and the data entry is less demanding than UpGame while still giving you meaningful SG breakdowns by area. The handicap benchmarking is well executed, and the app does give you recommendations on where to focus your practice time, although the drills are a little more basic than Break X Golf.
At the time of writing, the native apps have a reputation for being buggy, but I’m sure they’re working hard to improve those aspects. The practice side is there but thin — it points you toward areas to work on but doesn’t build you a plan or give you fully customisable sessions to follow. And the pricing climbs quickly once you want the features that make it genuinely useful.
- Best SG visualisations on this list — clean, clear, and well structured
- Handicap benchmarking compares you to similar players, not tour pros
- Coach-connect lets your instructor access your data directly
- Works across iOS, Android, and web
- Native apps can be buggy — most users end up on the web version
- Practice side is thin — tells you what to work on but not how
- Pricing climbs quickly to access the features that make it useful
- No automated tracking — manual entry required for every round
Shot Scope — Best strokes gained app for value
Most strokes gained apps come with an ongoing subscription that adds up over a season. Shot Scope flips that model — buy one of their GPS watches once and the app is free to use indefinitely. For golfers who want meaningful SG data without committing to another monthly bill, this is well worth considering.
The SG analysis is solid rather than spectacular. You get breakdowns by area — driving, approach, short game, putting — along with distance-based filtering and dispersion cones. It won’t satisfy everyone, but for the majority of club golfers it gives you more than enough to understand where shots are going and why.
The watch-based tracking is a neat middle ground between Arccos sensors and fully manual entry. Club tags are available for automatic shot recognition, though as with Arccos they need occasional correction.
The one clear gap is practice planning — Shot Scope tells you what the data says, but leaves you to figure out what to do at the range from there. Again, a lot of Shot Scope users use Break X Golf to fill this gap.
- No ongoing subscription — pay once for the watch, use the app indefinitely
- Watch-based tracking is a solid middle ground between sensors and manual entry
- MyStrategy dispersion cones give clear visual feedback on shot patterns
- App has improved significantly over the past 12 months and keeps getting better
- Requires a Shot Scope GPS watch — additional upfront hardware cost
- Club tags still need occasional manual correction like Arccos
- SG depth doesn’t match UpGame or Draw More Circles at the analytical end
- No practice planning — data diagnosis only
Which strokes gained app is right for you?
It depends on what you want the data to do.
If you practice regularly and want your SG data to drive structured improvement, Break X Golf is the clear answer. It’s the only app that closes the loop between diagnosis and what you actually do at the range.
If effortless on-course data collection is the priority, Arccos is the gold standard — just factor in the full cost of sensors plus subscription before committing. Shot Scope is the better call if you want similar functionality without the ongoing bill.
If you’re a serious or elite player who wants the deepest possible data, UpGame gives you analysis that goes deeper than other apps, but be prepared for a lot of data entry.
Draw More Circles sits between those camps — stronger on analytics than GPS apps, weaker on practice planning than BxG. Best suited to golfers who work closely with a coach and want to share clean data.
FAQ
What is strokes gained and why does it matter?
Strokes gained measures every shot you hit against a statistical baseline. Rather than counting fairways hit or greens in regulation, it tells you exactly how many shots each area of your game is costing or saving you per round. It’s the most precise way to understand where to focus your practice time.
Do I need special hardware to track strokes gained?
It depends on the app. Arccos requires sensors on your grips, or their new in-pocket sensor. Shot Scope works with their GPS watch. Break X Golf, UpGame, and Draw More Circles all work with manual shot entry on your phone — no extra hardware required, though you can import data from tracking devices into BxG.
Can I use more than one strokes gained app at the same time?
Yes, and for some golfers it makes sense. A common combination is using Arccos or Shot Scope for on-course data collection, then importing that data into Break X Golf for practice planning. You get the best of automated tracking and structured improvement in one workflow.
Is strokes gained useful for high handicappers?
Absolutely — most golfers want to get better, but just don’t know where to start. As a high handicap golfer, it will be a little more work, as you have more shots to enter, but even tracking one round a month will give you a much clearer picture of how to improve your scores.
Summary
The strokes gained apps on this list are the best available right now. Most of them are excellent at diagnosis and now we’re seeing them each head in different directions as they try to take this data and make it more useful for golfers trying to shoot lower scores.