The short answer: choose Nine Iron if you want one clear club answer from your own numbers, with no subscription and no account, and you don't mind logging shots yourself. Choose Golfshot, 18Birdies or Arccos if you want ready-made course maps, automatic shot tracking or strokes gained. Those are things Nine Iron doesn't do.
Prices and features were checked on each company's own pages and App Store listings on November 4, 2026. They can change, so confirm before you buy. Nine Iron isn't out yet, and its price isn't set.
What each one costs
| App | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Nine Iron | Planned as one purchase, once, with a 7-day free trial. Price not set yet. |
| Golfshot | Free edition. Pro is $79.99 a year and Champions is $99.99 a year. |
| 18Birdies | Free edition. Premium is a subscription, with the price shown in the app before you buy. We couldn't find a published price. |
| Arccos | Smart Sensors are $249.99, including the first year. Membership is then $199.99 a year. |
What each one does best
Nine Iron
Keeps separate numbers for the course, the range and the bay, and labels where each number came from. No account, no ads and no analytics, and your shots stay on your device. It has real gaps: no built-in course library, no automatic shot tracking, no handicap posting and no strokes gained.
Golfshot
Its App Store listing covers 47,000+ courses. Pro adds club recommendations from your shot history, automatic shot tracking on Apple Watch, Strokes Gained and hazard distances. The free edition gives distance to the center of the green.
18Birdies
Its listing offers free GPS yardages on 45,000+ courses, plus a scorecard, handicap tracking, and tournaments and leagues with friends. Premium adds club recommendations, plays-like distances, Strokes Gained and an AI swing analyzer.
Arccos
Tracks shots automatically with hardware, so you don't log anything by hand. Sensors on each club know which club you hit, and Arccos shows your true distances and where you lose strokes. It costs the most here, and it needs a membership after the first year.
When they're the better fit
- You want every hole mapped the moment you arrive. Golfshot or 18Birdies. In Nine Iron, you set each green yourself by standing on it.
- You want free GPS on a ready-made course list. 18Birdies' free edition has that, and Nine Iron doesn't.
- You won't log shots by hand. Arccos, or Golfshot Pro with an Apple Watch.
- You want a handicap or strokes gained. Any of the three.
When Nine Iron is the better fit
- You'd rather not pay every year. It's planned as one purchase.
- You play at bays and ranges as well as courses. Shots are never averaged across places. If a place has no shots yet, any estimate is labeled as one.
- You want one answer, not a dashboard. The club is the biggest thing on the screen.
- You don't want an account. There isn't one, and we can't see your shots.
Sources: Golfshot Get Pro, Golfshot on the App Store, 18Birdies on the App Store, 18Birdies upgrade help, Arccos setup and pricing. Product names belong to their owners, and none of them has any connection with Nine Iron.