How we chose and how to read this
This guide was reviewed on November 7, 2026 using each developer’s current official pages. It is a positioning review, not a hands-on accuracy test. Prices are not quoted because they differ by region and change often; confirm tiers, trials, and hardware requirements with each developer.
We sorted the apps by where the caddie gets its information about you, because that decides how good the advice can be and what it costs to get there.
What an AI golf caddie actually does
A caddie does three things: knows the hole, knows your game, and gives you one call. Every app here knows the hole through GPS. The difference is how it learns your game. Sensor systems record every shot automatically and build a precise picture over many rounds. Phone-only apps learn from the scores and outcomes you enter, or lean on data from golfers at your level. Then each one decides how much of the advice lives behind a subscription.
Two rules of thumb. First, advice that goes beyond distance and public information, including club suggestions, is not allowed during a competitive round under the Rules of Golf, so every caddie here is a practice and casual-round tool. Second, no app can promise coverage at every course; eligibility and detail vary everywhere.
- Learns from sensors: Arccos Caddie
- Learns from the rounds you record on your phone: Grassy, 18Birdies, Golfshot, SwingU
- Learns from golfers like you: Hello Birdie
- Phone caddie with optional connected gear: Blue Tees GAME
The best AI golf caddie app for each priority
Start with how much hardware you want to buy and how many rounds you play. The tradeoff line on each pick is the part to read twice.
Grassy
Best for: A phone-only caddie that plans around your misses, with no GPS subscriptionDuring an eligible Course GPS Beta round, Grassy builds a shot-by-shot plan around your real miss patterns, factors available wind and elevation into the club it suggests from your bag, and on supported courses adds 3D terrain and LiDAR green reads. All current Course GPS Beta planning tools are included for everyone, and the same app analyzes your swing and keeps your stats and course rankings.
Tradeoff: Grassy is currently on iPhone, Course GPS is in beta, and it does not track shots automatically, so its picture of your game comes from the rounds you record. Starter AI usage is included; more AI usage is part of Grassy Pro, Grassy Max, or credit top-ups.
Meet the Grassy AI caddie →Arccos Caddie
Best for: Automatic shot tracking and the most detailed picture of your gameArccos sensors in your grips record every shot automatically. Over many rounds that feeds strokes-gained analysis, Smart Distances, an AI rangefinder, and AI strategy that knows your real dispersion better than any phone-only app can.
Tradeoff: It needs the sensor hardware and an active membership, and the advice improves with volume, so it rewards golfers who play often. Check the current bundle and renewal terms.
Compare Grassy and Arccos Caddie →18Birdies
Best for: A broad free GPS app with an AI caddie in Premium18Birdies combines free GPS, scoring, hazards, and games with a large community, and adds an AI caddie, Plays Like distances, club recommendations, and 3D green maps in Premium, alongside its AI Swing Analyzer.
Tradeoff: The caddie features are in the paid tier, and the app covers a lot of ground, so no single part is as deep as a specialist tool.
Compare Grassy and 18Birdies →Golfshot
Best for: A GPS-first app with Apple Watch and watch-led shot trackingGolfshot emphasizes GPS, scoring, statistics, and wearable use, with automatic shot tracking through a compatible watch and caddie-style guidance in its paid membership.
Tradeoff: Hazard and target distances, club recommendations, and green maps sit in the paid tier, and the membership naming has changed, so confirm what the current plan includes.
Compare Grassy and Golfshot →Hello Birdie
Best for: A game plan for each hole based on golfers at your levelHello Birdie positions itself as a game-planning app: a free GPS rangefinder plus a premium real-time caddie that suggests clubs and plays-like distances, drawing on data from players of similar ability, with Apple Watch support and a competition mode that limits advice to what the rules allow.
Tradeoff: The caddie is a premium feature, and its advice starts from players like you rather than from your own recorded shots until it learns your game.
Hello Birdie on the App Store →Blue Tees GAME
Best for: Apple Watch, AI club guidance, and connected Blue Tees gearBlue Tees GAME offers GPS, dynamic hazards, True Distance, one-tap shot tracking, AI club guidance, analytics, Apple Watch, USGA posting, and a connected rangefinder and speaker ecosystem.
Tradeoff: Blue Tees says GAME is free to get started and membership unlocks the complete experience, and the current feature table is ambiguous, so confirm exact access in-app.
Compare Grassy and Blue Tees GAME →SwingU
Best for: Coaching content and strokes-gained analysis around a GPS coreSwingU pairs a free GPS rangefinder and scorecard with a coaching and performance platform. Its Plus tier adds wind and elevation adjustments, Plays Like distances, club recommendations, and advanced statistics.
Tradeoff: The caddie-style features are in Plus, and the emphasis is instruction and analysis rather than a hole-by-hole plan.
Compare Grassy and SwingU →Where Grassy fits in this list
Grassy is the pick if you want strategy and club guidance without buying sensors or a GPS subscription, and you want the caddie in the same app that analyzes your swing, tracks your stats, and ranks the courses you play. It is also the pick if you care that the plan is built around your own misses rather than a generic golfer.
Grassy is not the pick if you want shots tracked automatically, a watch on your wrist, Android, or a mature GPS release rather than a beta. Arccos, Golfshot, Blue Tees GAME, and 18Birdies each do one or more of those jobs well.