How Much Does It Cost to Build Your Own Golf Simulator?

How much does a DIY golf simulator cost?

Built from parts at current retail prices, a working DIY golf simulator costs about $1,795 for a net-based setup and roughly $4,400 to $13,100 for a full screen-and-projector build. The spread is almost entirely the launch monitor and the enclosure. The mat, the projector, and the software cost about the same in every build.

Those figures cover the parts you buy and assemble yourself. Having a company deliver and build the whole thing is a different purchase with different numbers, and the prices installers put in writing are collected in our installation cost guide.

Every figure below comes from the seller's live product page. Prices move, and two of the three launch monitors were on promotion when we checked, so read the page again the week you order.

What does each component cost right now?

One row per buying decision, with one launch monitor per tier. Promotional prices are marked, with the list price in parentheses.

Every price checked on the seller's live page in August 2026, before tax and shipping.

Which launch monitor tier do you need?

The launch monitor decides more of your budget than every other part combined, and a build budget needs exactly one launch monitor decision: $499.99 buys the entry tier (Garmin Approach R10 at PlayBetter), $1,995 the mid tier (SkyTrak ST MAX, on sale), and $5,999 the top tier (Foresight GC3, on promotion).

The tiers differ in what surrounds the purchase, too. The ST MAX ships with a 14-day trial membership, and SkyTrak's product page ties continuing features such as unlimited cloud storage to its paid Essential, Core, or Elite plans. The GC3's $5,999 is Foresight's promotional price against a $6,999 regular price, so the top tier's floor returns to $6,999 whenever the promotion ends.

Those three are the monitors these builds use. The full tier ladder, Rapsodo and Uneekor models included, is priced model by model in our launch monitor comparison.

What do the screen and enclosure cost?

A surface you can safely hit a golf ball into costs anywhere from $179.95 for a raw impact screen to $3,409.95 and up for a Pro enclosure kit. Carl's Place prints the whole ladder on its shop pages: standalone impact screens at $179.95 (Standard), $298.95 (Preferred), $439.95 (Premium), and $449.95 (High-Contrast Gray), a DIY enclosure kit from $999.95, and the larger Pro enclosure kit from $3,409.95. Both enclosures arrive as kits you assemble.

The $999.95 DIY kit includes your choice of screen material, the black enclosure walls, and steel corner fittings. It does not include the frame. The kit builds on 1-inch EMT conduit, and Carl's product page sends you to the hardware store for it unless you add the optional pipe framing kit. Sizing a kit to your room is its own exercise, and our DIY kit guide walks through it.

The cheapest route skips the screen entirely and hits into a practice net, reading shots off the launch monitor's app. The Net Return net in the table anchors that build here, and fold-away versions of the same idea are covered in our portable setup guide.

How much is a hitting mat?

Carl's Place prices its HotShot hitting mat systems from $499.95 to $3,207.60, and the design that matters most for long-term cost is the replaceable strip: the piece of turf that takes every divot swaps out for $79.95, so a worn mat costs $79.95 to refresh instead of $499.95 to replace.

All three build totals below use the $499.95 entry system. The top of the mat range, $3,207.60, costs more than the mid build's entire launch monitor.

What about the projector, the computer, and the software?

Plan on $949 for a short-throw projector, $2,249 for a simulator computer if you don't already own a gaming PC, and $250 a year for course software. Those three lines together can cost more than a mid-tier launch monitor, and skipping all three is exactly how the net build stays under $1,800.

The BenQ TH671ST, a 1080p short-throw model that golf retailers sell specifically for simulator bays, lists at $949 at Shop Indoor Golf. Short throw means the projector mounts closer to the screen than a standard model, which keeps it behind you and out of the picture.

GSPro lists at $250 a year on its own site, and its requirements page calls for a Windows PC with at least a GTX 3060 graphics card and 16GB of memory. Purpose-built simulator desktops that clear that spec start at $2,249 (SurfThing's SG3-5602 at Indoor Golf Outlet), and a gaming desktop you already own may clear it for free. Renewal pricing for every course-play platform, SkyTrak memberships included, lives in our support guide.

Turf beyond the hitting mat is optional and priced by area. Pro Putt Systems quotes its putting-turf base systems at $11 to $34 per square foot plus freight, depending on the base construction. A mat and a rug work fine until you decide the room needs a green.

What do three complete builds total?

Each total is the sum of its listed parts at the prices in the component table above.

Components only: tax, shipping, EMT framing on the DIY kit, and yearly software sit on top. Two of the monitors were at promotional prices when checked.

Where does DIY stop making sense?

At the top of the component ladder, DIY no longer wins on price. Full turnkey packages the vendors themselves publish start at $8,500 (Home AV Pros), with $12,000 (Amplex) and $12,995 (Paradise Greens) close behind, and run to $45,000+ (Pop's Indoor Golf). The top-tier DIY build costs $13,106.90 in parts before tax, shipping, and your own weekends. That is more than three of those installed packages. Past roughly $10,000, self-assembly stops saving money and buys control over the component list instead.

Below $5,000, DIY is the only route to the price. None of the 92 builder sites we read in August 2026 lists a package at these prices with a launch monitor included; the closest is My Golf Cave's $1,499 enclosure-only package. The work at that level is assembly with hand tools. The line between the two sits wherever your project starts needing an electrician, a framed opening in a finished wall, or a ceiling-mounted launch monitor positioned and calibrated by someone who has done it before. Past that line, the labor is trade work whoever does it, and the installed packages in the cost guide linked above become the fair comparison.