26 September 2026 · 8 min read
Simulator subscription or single hour: when a pass pays off
Seven venues in the directory publish a pass, and the models differ more than the hourly rates do. What they cost and from how many hours they pay off.
Anyone going to the same bay every week through the winter pays for about twenty single hours. That is what passes exist for, and they differ more than you would expect: monthly flat rates, annual cards, blocks of ten and reduced hourly rates for subscribers. Seven of the 110 indoor venues in the directory publish one; here are their models and the sums that show when each works.
What Swiss venues publish
| Venue | Single hour | Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Golf Indoor Moutier | CHF 40 | 10 hours CHF 300, 20 hours CHF 400, a year CHF 500 |
| Golf Range Magenwil | CHF 130 | monthly pass CHF 300 |
| Golf Sempach Performance Center | CHF 60 unstaffed | annual passes from CHF 800 |
| ALBATROSS Indoor Golf, Langenthal | not published | annual pass CHF 1,081 |
| Impact Golf, Collombey-Muraz | CHF 35 to 70 by season | subscribers from CHF 10 an hour |
| Golf Medical Clinic, Rheinfelden | not published | block of ten CHF 350 |
| Golf-Fit Performance Center, Puidoux | CHF 70 | multi-hour rates: 2 hours CHF 130, 3 hours CHF 190 |
The details come from the directory as at 26 September 2026 and are the venues' published prices. They show four different logics, and it is worth keeping them apart, because they suit very different playing habits.
The four models
The block of hours. You buy ten or twenty hours in advance and use them when you like. At Moutier ten hours are CHF 300 instead of CHF 400, thirty francs an hour instead of forty. The advantage is that nothing expires as long as the venue sets no deadline; the drawback is paying up front.
The monthly pass. A fixed amount per month with access under the venue's rules. Magenwil names CHF 300 a month against CHF 130 for a single hour: from the third hour in a month the pass is ahead.
The annual pass. Moutier asks CHF 500 for a year, Sempach from CHF 800, Langenthal CHF 1,081. At an hourly rate of CHF 40 the Moutier offer equals twelve and a half single hours: come more than thirteen times a year and the pass costs less.
The subscriber rate. Instead of a flat fee you pay a base amount and then reduced hours. Impact Golf names subscriber rates from CHF 10 an hour against CHF 35 to 70 without a pass. That suits people who come very often and still want to pay only for what they use.
The sum you do yourself
It needs three numbers: the single price, the pass price and the hours you really play. The third is the only one people get wrong. So take not the winter you are planning but the last one you actually had.
| If you play | Then take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 5 hours a winter | single hours | any pass goes unused |
| 10 to 15 hours | a block of ten | about a quarter cheaper, with no commitment |
| 20 hours and more | an annual pass | ahead from about thirteen hours |
| Twice a week | a monthly pass or subscriber rate | from the third hour in a month |
What is in the small print
Four points decide whether a pass is really cheaper. First the times: some passes apply only outside peak hours, which is exactly when you want to play. Second validity: does a block of ten expire at the end of a season or not? Third the number of people: does the hour still belong to the bay, or may you bring nobody? Fourth booking: can you reserve at short notice, or are the evening slots given to single bookings?
The third question is the expensive one. A bay is a median CHF 50 for up to four people. A personal pass that applies only to you is therefore not comparable with the hourly rate but with a quarter of it, as soon as four of you turn up.
When a pass is more than a calculation
It has a second effect no table shows: people who have paid, go. An annual pass for CHF 500 is a reason to leave the house on 3 January, and that is exactly where most winter resolutions fail. If you know you will not otherwise get yourself out, what you buy with a pass is not hours but commitment.
The reverse also holds: a pass you use three times is the most expensive hour of golf of your year. If you are unsure, buy a block of ten, play it off and decide afterwards.
Why hourly rates differ so much
Between CHF 25 and CHF 130 for the same hour lie three things. First supervision: a bay you enter with a code and operate yourself costs less than one where somebody sets the device up and explains the numbers. Second the device: a TrackMan in a large room is a different investment from an entry-level system in a back room. Third the location: a bay on a tram line in the city pays a different rent from one in an industrial zone.
That also explains why a pass pays off faster at an expensive venue than at a cheap one. At Magenwil the monthly pass is covered after two and a half hours; at Moutier the annual pass needs thirteen. So when comparing, compare not the pass prices but their ratio to the respective hourly rate.
The pass and the coaching
A pass buys you time on the mat, not instruction. 95 of the 126 venues in the directory offer coaching, and it is almost always billed separately, usually as a 50-minute lesson. Buy a pass and then practise alone for six months and you get many hours and little feedback.
The better split for a winter therefore looks like this: the pass for repetition, plus three or four lessons spread across the months. The lesson provides the subject, the pass the time to groove it. What makes sense in those months is in the winter training plan.
When a pass does not fit
Three situations argue against one. When you play irregularly, because work or family make evenings unpredictable: too much goes unused. When you usually come as two or four, because the bay price is shared anyway. And when you are still finding out whether indoor golf suits you, because a commitment is the wrong question at the wrong time.
In all three cases a block of ten is the sensible middle step: cheaper than single hours, without a year's obligation, and usually transferable to company. Ask whether it also applies when you bring somebody.
The question before you buy
It is not whether the pass is cheap but how many hours you actually played last winter. Everybody knows that number roughly, and for most people it is lower than they expect. Multiply it by the hourly rate and compare the result with the pass before you factor in your good intentions.
If the sum is close, take single hours and buy the pass in the second year. If it clearly favours the pass, buy it at once, because in January a paid card is a better argument than a resolution made in December.
More on this: What a golf lesson costs, Indoor golf around the clock, Paying for indoor golf in Switzerland, Indoor golf prices by canton.
And the alternative
If you play little, single hours for four people beat any pass: the same bay, divided by four, is a median CHF 12.50 each. If you play a lot and could have a room of your own, the sums change eventually; the figures are in Buy or rent.
Which venue publishes which price is on the price overview and on every venue page. Ask about passes when you book: not every venue puts them on its website, and many make regular guests a price that appears nowhere.
Frequently asked questions
From when does a simulator pass pay off?
For an annual pass, from about thirteen hours: Golf Indoor Moutier asks CHF 500 a year against CHF 40 for a single hour. A monthly pass such as Magenwil's at CHF 300 is ahead from the third hour in a month, because a single hour there is CHF 130.
Which subscription models exist?
Four: blocks of hours such as ten hours for CHF 300, monthly flat rates, annual passes between CHF 500 and 1,081, and reduced subscriber rates from CHF 10 an hour. Seven of the 110 indoor venues in the directory publish a model.
Does a pass cover the bay or one person?
That is the most important question before buying. The normal hourly rate covers the bay, so up to four people. A personal pass often covers only you, and then you compare it not with CHF 50 an hour but with CHF 12.50, as soon as four of you come.
What should I check in the small print?
The hours the pass applies to, how long a block of hours stays valid, how many people it covers, and whether you can book at short notice. A pass that applies only outside peak hours is little use if you play in the evening.
What is cheaper than any pass?
Booking a single hour for four. The price belongs to the bay, a median CHF 50, so CHF 12.50 each. A pass mainly pays off for people who practise alone and regularly.
Sources
- golfsimulators.ch: Preise der Indoor-Anlagen (publizierte Abo- und Stundenpreise, Stand 26. September 2026)
- golfsimulators.ch: alle Standorte