What does an unmanned golf simulator studio cost to run and earn? The published inputs
No public source publishes how busy unstaffed studios are, so this page publishes no utilisation figure and no break-even claim. It lists the inputs that do have a primary source. The calculator turns them, plus your rent and your guess at utilisation, into a break-even you can check.
Sources read and rows checked 2026-10-18.
Put your own numbers through it.Open the free studio calculator
What customers pay and how big venues are
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| GolfSim.co's directory report (794 venues with a published rate, rates last checked July 2, 2026) gives a national median of $40 for an hour in a simulator bay, with the middle half between $25 and $55 and a mean of $51. Rates were auto-extracted from venue websites and are approximate. | GolfSim.co report on indoor golf venues (AB Newswire, 2026-07-13) (read 2026-10-18) |
| The same report gives a median of 4 bays among the 255 venues that list a bay count; the average is 5.9. | GolfSim.co report on indoor golf venues (AB Newswire, 2026-07-13) (read 2026-10-18) |
| The NGF white paper (operator survey of golf facilities, so not standalone studios) reports an average investment of $45K per bay, sessions lasting just over an hour at $55 per session, and about $40 of food and beverage per visit. |
What the unstaffed parts cost
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Door hardware: Kisi lists Controller Pro 2 at $850 and Reader Pro 2 at $475, installation not included. | Kisi: pricing (read 2026-10-18) |
| Door software: RemoteLock Premium from $6 per door per month on an annual contract. | RemoteLock: plans (read 2026-10-18) |
| Launch-monitor software: Uneekor Pro is $199 a year per unit, and GSPro a further $250 a year per its FAQ. Trackman includes year one of Premium with a new unit and publishes no commercial renewal price. | Uneekor: software subscription tiers (read 2026-10-18) Trackman software terms (read 2026-10-18) |
| Card fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction. | Stripe: pricing (read 2026-10-18) |
| Labour you avoid: the BLS median wage for recreation workers is $17.58 an hour (May 2025), before payroll taxes and benefits. | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: recreation workers (read 2026-10-18) |
| OpenTeeSheet is $149 a month for up to 4 bays and $249 for unlimited bays, with no commission on any booking and a 14-day free trial. | OpenTeeSheet behaviour, pinned by automated tests: marketing-claims.test.ts |
What nobody publishes
Rent, insurance, utilities, cleaning and your true utilisation depend on your building and your town. Every field for them in the calculator is labelled "your number", and any value in it is a placeholder, not a statistic.
Using the numbers
- Start with utilisation set low and read the break-even: if it needs more hours than your market can fill, the plan is the problem, not the software.
- The staffing line is the cost of the front desk you are not hiring. Set it to zero to see the studio with no saving at all.
Related
Run the studio with nobody at the desk
OpenTeeSheet takes the booking, the payment and the door code, with zero commission. $149 a month for up to 4 bays, $249 for unlimited, 14-day free trial, no card to start.
Start your 14-day trialSources
- GolfSim.co report on indoor golf venues (AB Newswire, 2026-07-13), read 2026-10-18
- National Golf Foundation: The Golf Simulator Opportunity (white paper, April 2025), read 2026-10-18
- Kisi: pricing, read 2026-10-18
- RemoteLock: plans, read 2026-10-18
- Uneekor: software subscription tiers, read 2026-10-18
- Trackman software terms, read 2026-10-18
- Stripe: pricing, read 2026-10-18
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: recreation workers, read 2026-10-18