Buy or rent a golf simulator? What a home setup costs in 2026 and when the hourly rate wins

Somewhere after the twentieth hour in the lounge everyone does the sum. CHF 50 an hour, twice a week, that is CHF 5,000 a year. Surely that would buy a simulator of your own? Maybe. Here is the calculation with real numbers and no sales pitch, because we do not sell any.

What a setup costs

A home simulator has five parts: the launch monitor, the screen with its enclosure, the projector, the mat and the computer with software. The prices below are from the 2026 cost guide at Best Golf Simulator, in US dollars because that is where the market is; Swiss dealers sit above them because of import and VAT.

• Launch monitor: from USD 499 (Garmin Approach R10) via USD 2,499 (Bushnell Launch Pro) to USD 7,500 (Foresight GC3) and USD 13,995 (TrackMan iO). The device decides whether you get numbers or estimates.
• Screen and enclosure: USD 300 for a net, USD 800 to 1,500 as a kit, USD 3,600 to 4,000 ready-made.
• Projector: USD 700 to 900 for a short-throw starter, USD 3,500 to 4,000 for laser.
• Mat: USD 150 to 950. Saving on the mat means saving on your wrists.
• Computer and software: USD 900 to 1,900 for a gaming PC, plus the subscription: GSPro USD 250 a year, E6 Connect USD 300 to 600, TrackMan and Full Swing USD 700 to 1,100.

Added up: a starter setup from around USD 1,500 to 3,000, a usable one between USD 5,000 and 12,000, one that keeps up with a good lounge from USD 15,000. What stands in a lounge typically costs USD 25,000 to 70,000.

The room

This is the number most plans fail on. For a driver swing you need at least 2.75 metres of ceiling, better 3. A radar system like TrackMan wants around five metres of depth, a camera system manages with 3.7 to 4.6. Add 4 metres of width so left- and right-handers can play and the club does not hit the wall. A Swiss garage has a 2.4-metre ceiling. An old-building basement rarely more. If you have this room, half the decision is made.

The measurements, before you order anything

Measure the room before you compare a single device. That order saves money.

Measurement	Minimum	Comfortable
Ceiling height	2.75 m	3.0 m and more
Depth, camera system	3.7 m	4.6 m
Depth, radar	around 5 m	6 m
Width	3.5 m	4 m, for left- and right-handers

The test takes a minute: take the driver, address a ball and make the backswing in slow motion all the way to the top. If the club touches the ceiling or the lamp, the room is too low, and no device changes that. Repeat it with the follow-through, which often goes higher than the backswing. A Swiss garage is usually 2.4 metres. All the measurements with the makers' figures are in Ceiling height, width, depth, and the parts list for a self-build is in Building a golf simulator yourself.

The sum

In Switzerland an hour at an indoor venue costs a median CHF 50, the cheapest CHF 25, the dearest CHF 99 (price page, 80 venues with a published rate). That is the price per bay, so for up to four people.

Take a solid setup at CHF 15,000, comparable to a lounge, and CHF 500 a year for software. At CHF 50 an hour the purchase is paid off after 300 hours. Someone who plays 90 minutes twice a week reaches around 150 hours a year: break-even after two years, plus the subscription, plus the room, plus the projector that gets replaced after five years. Someone who plays one hour a week needs six years.

The honest number is not the hour, it is the hours. Most golfers who want a simulator play 40 to 60 hours a year. For them the lounge is cheaper for years to come, and it comes with a TrackMan, a professional, a bar and other people.

Break-even, in years

The question is never whether a simulator is expensive, but how often you play. At CHF 50 an hour and CHF 500 of software a year it looks like this:

Hours a year	Saved a year	Setup at CHF 6,000	Setup at CHF 15,000
50 (once a fortnight)	CHF 2,000	3.0 years	7.5 years
100 (twice a month, longer)	CHF 4,500	1.3 years	3.3 years
150 (twice a week in winter)	CHF 7,000	0.9 years	2.1 years
200	CHF 9,500	0.6 years	1.6 years
300 (almost daily)	CHF 14,500	0.4 years	1.0 year

The table assumes you play alone. If somebody regularly comes with you, everything shifts towards the venue, because there the bay costs the same whether one person hits or four. And it assumes you really play those hours: somebody who plays 40 hours a year today rarely plays 200 once the simulator is in the cellar.

What the sum usually leaves out

The purchase is the number people quote. The rest is rarely in the offer:

• The room. A room 3 metres high and 4 metres wide is not a cupboard in Switzerland, it is a room. What it costs depends on what else would be in it.
• Replacement. Projector lamp, mat, net and computer do not last forever. Reckon on a quarter of the purchase every five years.
• The subscription. CHF 250 to 1,100 a year depending on the software, and it runs on while you play outside all summer.
• The noise. A ball into a net is a bang the flat next door can hear. In an apartment building that, rather than the price, is the real constraint.
• Resale. A used complete setup sells badly, a launch monitor on its own sells well. That tells you which part actually holds value.

On the other side there is one cost the venue has and the cellar does not: the journey. Twenty minutes each way, at 100 hours a year, is around 70 hours of your life. Count that in and the table above shifts appreciably.

When buying is still right

• If you have the room and play more than 150 hours a year, or have a family that plays along.
• If you live in a canton where the nearest venue is 40 minutes away. Five cantons still have none.
• If you coach and need the numbers professionally.
• If you can afford it and simply want it. That is a good reason. It just does not need to pretend to be a calculation.

What the venue can do and the cellar cannot

Before the table decides, it is worth listing what comes with the hour: a device that is maintained and will not be out of date in two years. A professional in the house, at 81 of 110 venues. Other people who also play. A tournament night. A bar. And no capital standing in a cellar when you move.

The other way round, the cellar can do something no venue can: twenty balls at half past ten, with no booking, no journey and no bill. Hitting for ten minutes every evening through the winter does make you better, and that is hard to arrange by the hour. Which is why the most honest middle way is often a launch monitor with a net at home and a bay at a venue for the round. Where the nearest one is, is on the map.

The middle way

Between buying and the hourly rate there are two things that get forgotten. First, the subscriptions many venues offer: regulars pay per month and play off-peak without limit. Second, the launch monitor on its own: a device like the Garmin R10 or the Bushnell Launch Pro costs a fraction of a setup, fits in a backpack and measures your carry distances on the range or in the garden. The screen is the most expensive part and the one you need least to get better.

Every venue near you, with price and system, is on the map. If you want to rent, for an evening or an event, the options are under rent a golf simulator.

Frequently asked questions

How much room does a home golf simulator need?

At least 2.75 metres of ceiling, better 3, around 4 metres of width and, depending on the system, 3.7 to 5 metres of depth. Radar needs more depth than a camera system.

After how many hours does buying pay off?

With a CHF 15,000 setup and CHF 50 an hour at a venue, around 300 hours, plus software and replacements every year. Anyone playing under 100 hours a year is cheaper at a venue for years.

What does a launch monitor alone cost?

From USD 499 for a Garmin Approach R10 via USD 2,499 for the Bushnell Launch Pro to USD 13,995 for the TrackMan iO. The device alone already measures your carry distances on the range.

After how many years does a golf simulator pay for itself?

At CHF 50 an hour and CHF 500 of software a year: a CHF 15,000 setup is paid off in about two years if you play 150 hours a year, and in seven and a half years at 50 hours. A CHF 6,000 setup takes one year and three years respectively.

Is my garage big enough for a golf simulator?

Usually not. A Swiss garage is typically 2.4 metres high; a driver swing needs 2.75 and 3 metres is comfortable. The test takes a minute: backswing and follow-through with the driver in slow motion, and if nothing touches the ceiling the room will do.

Sources

• Best Golf Simulator: Golf Simulator Cost, full price breakdown 2026 (Preisbänder, Komponenten, Software-Abos, Raumbedarf; in USD)
• golfsimulators.ch: Preise (80 Anlagen mit Stundenpreis, CHF 25 bis 99, Median CHF 50, Stand 2. Oktober 2026)
• golfsimulators.ch: Kantone (21 Kantone mit Standort, fünf ohne)