Golfers have logged more than 20,000 shots on StrokesGain.
What it costs
Nothing. StrokesGain is free to use. There is no paid tier, no subscription, no ads and no trial that expires. Every stat on the site is available to every user.
What you need
A phone and a browser. StrokesGain runs on the web, so there is no App Store or Play Store download. Add it to your home screen and it opens like any other app. No sensors, no club tags, no watch, no launch monitor.
How tracking works
You enter shots by hand. Basic mode asks for two things per shot — the distance and the lie — and takes about ten seconds a hole.
You can log during the round or afterwards from memory. A round entered from memory still produces real strokes gained numbers, because the calculation only needs distance and lie, and most golfers remember those well enough for the maths to hold.
What you get
Strokes gained off the tee, on approach, around the green and putting, calculated the way Mark Broadie defined it: the expected strokes from where the shot started, minus the expected strokes from where it finished, minus one. If you want the full explanation, read what strokes gained is and how it is calculated.
Two ways to read every number:
- Against PGA Tour baselines. The standard strokes gained scale, where Tour average is zero.
- As a handicap level. Each area is converted to the handicap it plays like, so you can see that your putting plays like a 5 while your approach plays like a 15. That tells you which part of your game is ahead of your handicap and which part is holding it back.
Also included
Make rates by distance compared to Tour, putt miss direction, hole-by-hole breakdowns, and the Tiger 5 mistakes — double bogeys, three-putts, bogeys on par 5s, bogeys from inside 150 yards, and blown easy up-and-downs.
Want to try it on one round of putts first, without an account? Use the strokes gained putting calculator.
How it compares to the sensor trackers
Arccos and Shot Scope capture shots automatically using club tags or a watch. Automatic capture is genuinely easier than typing, and if you will not enter shots by hand then they are the better choice. The trade-off is cost: hardware up front, and in Arccos’s case a subscription on top.
Automatic is not the same as accurate. Tags and watches detect a swing and estimate the distance from it. They do not see the lie you hit the ball from, and they are least reliable where shots are short — around the green and on the putts, where the ball moves only a few metres. Putting is the weakest case: a system that has to infer every putt from club and distance tends to miss or misplace the short ones, and those are the putts your putting numbers are made of.
That matters because lie and putting are the two inputs the maths depends on. Lie decides which shot you were actually hitting, and putting is where most of a round is lost. A round can look completely captured and still be wrong in the places that count. Both systems expect some correcting afterwards, which is the manual entry automatic capture was meant to remove.
StrokesGain goes the other way. You do the entry, and in exchange you pay nothing and carry nothing.
How it compares to free tiers
Several golf apps advertise a free tier and keep the parts you came for — full strokes gained, green maps, historical stats — behind a paid plan. StrokesGain has no paid plan, so there is nothing above the free tier to be kept out of.
Start
You do not need to be at a course. Enter a round you already played and you will have your first strokes gained numbers in about three minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Is StrokesGain really free?
Yes. StrokesGain is free with no paid tier, no subscription and no ads. Full Analysis opens after you complete three rounds, which is a data threshold rather than a payment one — three rounds is the point where the numbers start meaning something. It costs nothing at any stage.
Do I need sensors, club tags or a watch?
No. StrokesGain needs no hardware of any kind. You enter the distance and lie of each shot by hand.
Is there an iPhone or Android app?
StrokesGain is a web app, so there is nothing to download from the App Store or Play Store. It runs in your phone’s browser and can be added to your home screen, where it opens full screen like a native app.
How is this different from Arccos or Shot Scope?
Arccos and Shot Scope capture shots automatically using hardware you buy, and Arccos also charges a subscription. StrokesGain captures shots by manual entry and costs nothing. The analysis is comparable; the difference is whether you pay with money or with ten seconds a hole.
Are sensor trackers accurate?
Not completely. Tags and watches detect a swing and estimate the distance from it, but they do not see the lie you hit from, and they are least reliable on short shots — chips, pitches and putts. Lie and putting are the two inputs strokes gained depends on, so a round can look fully captured and still be wrong in the places that matter. Both systems expect you to review and correct shots afterwards.
How is this different from the free tier in other golf apps?
Most free tiers are the bottom step of a paid product, and strokes gained is usually on a higher step. StrokesGain has no higher step.
Can I log a round from memory after I finish?
Yes, and many users do. Strokes gained only needs the distance and lie of each shot, both of which most golfers recall well enough. A round entered from memory gives the same numbers as one entered live.
How many rounds before the numbers mean anything?
Three rounds shows you a shape. Around eight to ten the numbers start holding still. Putting takes the longest to settle, because make rates swing a lot over small samples.
What is strokes gained, exactly?
Strokes gained measures a shot against what an average player would do from the same place. Take the expected number of strokes to hole out from where your shot started, subtract the expected strokes from where it finished, then subtract the one stroke you used. A positive number means you gained ground on the benchmark.