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What We Charge — and What's Free Forever

App UpdatesMay 17, 2026• By Alar
GPS rangefinder and scorecard are free forever. AI Caddy, swing capture, and analytics are $1.99 a month — roughly three times cheaper than comparable apps. Here is the breakdown and why we can charge less.

What We Charge — and What's Free Forever

If you're shopping golf apps, the pricing page is usually the most confusing part. So let's just say it plainly.

Free Forever

The things every golfer needs during a round are free in GolfStory and will stay free:

  • GPS rangefinder — front / middle / back of green, distance to hazards, distance from last shot.

  • Scorecard — score entry, hole-by-hole stats, full handicap-style summary at the end of the round.

  • Course library — search and play any of the ~36,000 courses in our database.

That's the basics. The kind of thing rangefinder watches and most golf apps charge for. No paywall, no trial countdown, no nag screen on the 16th tee.

$1.99 / month — Everything Else

The paid tier unlocks the parts that take real compute to build:

  • AI Caddy — automatic club recommendation, aim point, dispersion-aware risk assessment, hazard avoidance.

  • Swing capture — every swing recorded by the Apple Watch with full sensor data, replayable later.

  • Analytics — strokes-gained breakdowns, club performance, dispersion patterns over time.

  • Course planning — pre-round hole studies, multi-shot strategy, planned aim points.

One price, all the AI, all the analytics. No bundles, no "Pro vs Premium vs Champions" tiers.

How That Compares

For context, here's what comparable apps charge for their paid tiers (annual prices, late 2025 / early 2026):

  • 18Birdies Premium — $99.99/yr

  • Arccos Caddie — $99.99–$199.99/yr

  • Golfshot Pro — $79.99/yr

  • GolfLogix Premium — $69.99/yr

  • Hole19 Premium — ~$50/yr

  • SwingU Plus — $49.99/yr

  • TheGrint Pro — $39.99/yr

Average across this list: ~$70/year. GolfStory at $1.99/month works out to $23.88/year — roughly three times cheaper.

Why We Can Charge Less

Two reasons. First, GolfStory is built lean — small team, no marketing department, no celebrity endorsements baked into the price. Second, our long-term plan isn't to extract maximum revenue per golfer. It's to be the app every golfer uses, at a price nobody has to think about.

Paying $20 a year for something you use every round of every week is easy. Paying $100 a year is a decision you re-evaluate every spring.

Pay for What Makes You Better

Distance to the green should be free — it's basic information. The AI that helps you choose a club, learn from your patterns, and plan smarter rounds is what's worth paying for. That's the line we drew, and that's where it stays.

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