Comparison

Arccos Golf vs GolfNow Compete

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Arccos Golf

This AI-powered golf app provides automatic shot tracking, personalized practice plans, and advanced analytics to help golfers improve their game. It offers features like shot dispersion charts, AI round summaries, and a smart rangefinder for precise yardage. The app aims to offer actionable recommendations and a deeper understanding of your performance on the course.

Highlights
  • AI-powered automatic shot tracking
  • Personalized practice plans
  • Shot dispersion charts
  • AI round summaries
  • Smart Laser Rangefinder
  • Strokes Gained analytics
Features
Read full description

PLAY SMARTER GOLF Arccos is the Official Game Tracker of the PGA TOUR. AI-powered game tracking and Smart Laser Rangefinder trusted by pros including Matt Fitzpatrick, and golfers at every level. Now improved with greater depth, personalization, focus, and actionable recommendations. THE NEW ARCCOS APP — NOW ROLLING OUT ON iOS The biggest update we've ever made. Every tab rebuilt. New AI features throughout. The app now tells you exactly what to do — not just what happened. WHERE TO FOCUS — YOUR PERSONAL PRACTICE PLAN Your Player tab pinpoints exactly where your next stroke is hiding across all four facets — Driving, Approach, Short Game, and Putting — using Strokes Gained analysis. Lock in a focus area and get personalized drill recommendations built from your own data. A real plan, for your game. SHOT DISPERSION — SEE WHERE YOUR SHOTS ACTUALLY GO Visual dispersion charts for every club. See where your shots land relative to target — consistency, miss tendencies, weapons vs. liabilities. The clearest scope of your ball-striking you've ever had. AI ROUND SUMMARIES — YOUR ROUND, TOLD LIKE A STORY After every round: an AI-generated summary of what actually happened. Skill Score, Club MVP, PGA Tour Quality Shots, Round Arc, and a Practice Focus with specific drills to work on before your next tee time. COURSES — YOUR GOLF PASSPORT A global map of every course you've ever played. Tap any course for hole-by-hole Strokes Gained, AI Course Insights, and Hole Highlights showing exactly which holes have been costing you strokes. PRE-ROUND WARMUP — SHOW UP READY A personalized 15, 30, or 60-minute range routine, generated based on your recent data and current focus. Specific clubs, specific drills. Practice with purpose. ARCCOS AIR — FIRST YEAR FREE No sensors required. Slip the Air AI wearable into your pocket and play. AI trained on 1.5 billion shots automatically detects every shot with Tour-level accuracy. Or add Smart Sensors for definitive club-by-club analysis. Your choice, every round. Link Pro users upgrade automatically — no purchase required. SMART LASER RANGEFINDER — FIRST YEAR FREE Know it's 176 yards to carry the bunker. Slope-only rangefinders capture just 19% of distance adjustments. Smart Laser factors in slope, wind, temperature, humidity, and altitude to capture it all, often making a club’s difference. Auto pin-setting syncs the flag to your app automatically. AI STRATEGY & GREEN MAPS — ALL iOS SUBSCRIBERS Recommended club and optimal target every shot, based on your tendencies, course layout, hazards, and conditions. The same strategy Matt Fitzpatrick used to win his major. Green Maps: LiDAR-mapped to 1mm precision across 9,000+ courses in the US, 3,000+ worldwide. See slopes, breaks, and exact pin position. AUTOMATIC GAME TRACKING Every shot tracked across 18 holes on 40,000+ courses worldwide. Strokes Gained Analytics. Smart Club Distances — your real numbers, not your best guesses. RESULTS New Arccos members lower their handicaps by 25% on average in the first year. Hit approach shots 14.9 feet closer and sink more birdies. With lower scores, you’ll have more to celebrate and share at the 19th hole. - Official Game Tracker of the PGA TOUR - 1.5 billion shots, 4 trillion data points - Works with Arccos Air, Smart Sensors, Smart Laser, Link/Link Pro, Apple Watch - Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies — #3 in Sports - Partners: PGA TOUR, PING, Cobra Golf, Club Champion, Golf Digest Stop guessing. Start knowing. Play better golf.

About

GolfNow Compete

Enhance your golf experience with a comprehensive app for competitive play. Track scores, challenge friends, and utilize GPS features for over 30,000 courses worldwide. Improve your game with advanced stats and find local tournaments.

Highlights
  • Live leaderboards
  • Virtual wagers
  • 30,000+ course GPS
  • Advanced stat tracking
  • Live scoring for up to 8 golfers
  • Tournament and event search
  • Custom competitions
Features
Read full description

GolfNow Compete – Golf GPS & Scoring Make every round count with GolfNow Compete. Challenge yourself and your friends with the #1 app in competitive golf. Raise the stakes with custom competitions and exciting side games that add excitement to every hole. Plus, you can register for local events, improve your game with stat tracking and use the built-in golf course GPS and rangefinder to measure shots and select the right club every time. Play for more than bragging rights • Compete against your friends in unique multi-games and track standings on the live leaderboards • Add virtual wagers to the round and put some skin in the game Keep your game sharp • Track your round with state-of-the-art golf course GPS maps and yardages for 30,000+ courses worldwide • Identify areas you can improve your game with advanced scoring and stat tracking Ditch the paper scorecard • Make every shot count and score live with up to eight golfers on the built-in scorecard • Score for your friends when they forget their phone, or add guests and we’ll share the scorecard with them • Add your Handicap to your profile and even the playing field with the Net scoring format Tee off against anyone, anywhere • Search for tournaments and outings near you from the Compete tab, or create your very own public or private event. • Find, invite and add your friends to join you in competitions, group rounds, your favorite games and virtual wagers. GolfNow Compete is for golfers, by golfers, and we want to hear from you! If you have feedback for us, please email us at compete@golfnow.com Terms of Use: https://www.golfnow.com/support/about-us/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.versantprivacy.com/privacy?intake=Golf&appname=GNCompete Your Privacy Choices: https://www.versantprivacy.com/privacy/notrtoo CA Notice: https://www.versantprivacy.com/privacy/california-consumer-privacy-act

Screenshots

Arccos Golf4 screens
GolfNow Compete4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Arccos Golf at none against GolfNow Compete's shown. Arccos Golf also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 weeks). GolfNow Compete's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Arccos Golf against 4.7 for GolfNow Compete. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Arccos Golf has 33K ratings behind it against 5.6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of Arccos Golf's written reviews are positive against 45% of GolfNow Compete's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Arccos Golf ships an update every 10 days, GolfNow Compete every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Arccos Golf versus GolfNow Compete: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArccos GolfGolfNow Compete
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (33K ratings)4.7 (5.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.0% of reviews45.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings33K — better5.6K
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size318 MB276 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperArccos Golf LLCGolfNow.com

Customer experience

Arccos Golf

All ratings32,994 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral7.3%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews620 reviews
Positive41.0%
Neutral15.0%
Negative44.0%

GolfNow Compete

All ratings5,589 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral17.5%
Negative37.3%

User reviews

Arccos Golf

From 33K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful data and analytics
  • 🚀 Accurate club distance tracking
  • 💡 Useful caddie feature
  • 👍 Great customer support
  • 👍 Insightful for improving game

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent shot detection
  • 🔋 High battery drain
  • 👎 Difficult user interface
  • 🐛 Syncing issues with Apple Watch
  • 👎 Expensive subscription

GolfNow Compete

From 5.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate GPS and yardages
  • 👍 Easy to use interface
  • 💡 Ability to adjust pin position
  • 🚀 Seamless transition from lock screen

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and login issues
  • 🔨 Missing features from previous app
  • 🔨 Inability to track 9-hole rounds
  • 🔨 Can't add other players to a round
  • 🔨 Limited statistics and scorecard history

Bugs and requests

Arccos Golf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes and freezes during rounds
  • Incorrect hole and shot tracking
  • Unreliable sensor connectivity

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to view round stats on mobile app
  • Better course mapping and layout visualization
  • Improved handling of penalties and missed shots
  • Integration with other golf apps and platforms

GolfNow Compete

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • GPS not working properly
  • Auto-scoring feature not functioning
  • Courses not showing up in search
  • Handicap not updating correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Apple Watch compatibility
  • Advanced statistics and analytics
  • Ability to edit and delete scorecards
  • Support for 9-hole rounds and competitions

In-app purchases

None

Arccos Golf

No in-app purchases

None

GolfNow Compete

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Arccos Golf free?
Arccos Golf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GolfNow Compete free?
GolfNow Compete is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Arccos Golf or GolfNow Compete?
GolfNow Compete is rated higher. Arccos Golf averages 4.6 out of 5 from 33K ratings, while GolfNow Compete averages 4.7 from 5.6K ratings.
Do Arccos Golf or GolfNow Compete have ads?
GolfNow Compete shows ads; Arccos Golf does not.
Which is updated more often, Arccos Golf or GolfNow Compete?
Arccos Golf ships an update every 10 days, and GolfNow Compete every 5 weeks. Most recently, Arccos Golf was updated on October 30, 2026 and GolfNow Compete on October 29, 2026.

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