Wedge vs 18Birdies

18Birdies and Wedge overlap on the basics: both keep score hole by hole, show GPS distances, run Nassau with presses and have a feed of your friends' rounds. They differ on three things that matter to a regular money game.

• GHIN. Wedge links your GHIN account, imports your Handicap Index and posts your round to GHIN hole by hole. 18Birdies says in its help center that it does not currently sync with GHIN, and that its own 18Birdies Handicap is not an official Handicap Index.
• Golf trips. Wedge runs multi-day events with buy-ins, two teams and a Ryder Cup across singles, four-ball and alternate shot. 18Birdies runs free tournaments and leagues, but its help center says it has no dedicated Ryder Cup format yet and no alternate shot format.
• Price. 18Birdies is free for scoring, side games and tournaments, with Premium at $99.99 a year for features such as Strokes Gained and swing analysis. Wedge is free to download, but playing rounds and games needs Wedge Pass at $29.99 a year after a 3-month free trial.

If you play alone, use Android, want free scoring or want swing tools, 18Birdies fits better. If you play the same Nassau every weekend, post to GHIN and plan a trip once a year, Wedge is built for that.

• Android and Wear OS. 18Birdies runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch and Wear OS. Wedge runs on iPhone and Apple Watch only, so a group with Android players will find 18Birdies easier to share.
• Free scoring. You can keep score, track shots, play side games and run tournaments in 18Birdies without paying. Wedge needs Wedge Pass to play a round once the 3-month trial ends.
• More side games. 18Birdies lists Wolf, Vegas, Sixes, Dots, Points, Rolling Stroke and Targets alongside Skins, Nassau and Match. Wedge has no Wolf, Vegas, Bingo Bango Bongo or Snake.
• Improvement tools. Premium adds Strokes Gained, plays-like distances, 3D green maps, club recommendations, an AI swing analyzer and Golf School lessons. Wedge has no Strokes Gained, green slope maps or swing analysis.
• Course coverage and reach. 18Birdies says it has GPS on 45,000+ courses, and its App Store listing has more than 300,000 US ratings.

• Your handicap stays official. Link GHIN once and Wedge imports your Handicap Index, works out course handicaps for every match and posts the round to GHIN hole by hole when you finish. With 18Birdies you post to GHIN separately, which its help center also says.
• Settling up. Wedge works out who owes whom when the match ends, netting every bet and press into one amount per pair of players. We found no settle-up feature like this in 18Birdies' listing or help center.
• Golf trips. A Wedge tournament can run over several days with a buy-in, two teams, a Ryder Cup across singles, four-ball and alternate shot, a Classic stroke-play leaderboard and side games such as Skins, Stableford and Quota. Players join from an invite link. See how to run a Ryder Cup on your golf trip.
• Guests. Players who do not have the app can be added to a match and scored for.

18Birdies is free to download and free to score with. Its Premium plan costs $99.99 a year or $19.99 a month, each with a 7-day free trial, or $7.99 a week with no trial. Premium adds the analysis and improvement tools rather than the scoring or side games.

Wedge is free to download. Playing rounds, money games, matches and tournaments needs Wedge Pass at $29.99 a year, and new subscribers get a 3-month free trial. Your history, stats and feed stay available without a pass. Wedge has no monthly plan.

So the honest comparison is not the sticker price. If you only need a scorecard and a few side games, 18Birdies costs nothing. If you want GHIN posting and a Ryder Cup format, which 18Birdies' help center says it does not offer today, Wedge costs $29.99 a year.

Some golfers keep 18Birdies for solo practice rounds and swing analysis, and use Wedge for the weekend game and the trip. The two apps do not share data, so a round you score in 18Birdies is not posted to GHIN or added to your Wedge stats. If your Handicap Index matters to your group's matches, score the rounds that count in Wedge or post them to GHIN yourself.

Disclosure: Wedge Golf makes Wedge. The facts about 18Birdies on this page come from 18Birdies' own website, help center and App Store listing, checked in October 2026 and listed under Sources. Apps change often, so check the current listing before you decide. 18Birdies is a trademark of its owner, and Wedge Golf is not affiliated with or endorsed by 18Birdies.