Chalk vs 18Birdies
Free, social, ad-supported golf scorecard
18Birdies is the largest free golf scorecard app in the US. GPS yardages, scoring, stats, a social feed, and aggressive ad placement throughout. It's a perfectly capable app — if you don't mind that the experience is built around advertising and engagement loops. Chalk is the opposite philosophy: a paid-when-you-want-pro scorebook with zero ads, zero social feed, and zero streaks. You hold the mic and talk the round.
Pick 18Birdies if free + GPS + social is the priority and ads don't bother you. Pick Chalk if you want a clean scorebook with no ads and no social feed, even if it means paying for the Pro features later.
At a glance
| Feature | Chalk | 18Birdies |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, Pro upgrade optional | Free with ads, premium tier $99/yr |
| Ads | None, ever | Yes, throughout the free tier |
| GPS yardages | Not the focus | Yes |
| Social feed | None | Yes |
| Streaks / leaderboards | None | Yes |
| Voice scoring | Yes | No |
| Offline | Yes | Limited |
What 18Birdies does better
- Huge community of players and a polished social experience
- GPS yardages and on-course features come standard, even on free tier
- Aggregate course data — they've been doing this for years
What Chalk does better
- No ads, ever. Not on free, not anywhere
- No social feed to scroll between holes
- Voice-first scoring keeps your eyes on the course
- Round transcripts — what you actually said about each hole — are saved, searchable, and yours
Who should switch
Players who use 18Birdies because it's free and ubiquitous, but find the ads, push notifications, and social feed corrosive to the part of golf they actually enjoy.
Common questions
- Is Chalk really free?
- The voice scorebook, hole-by-hole entry, course library, and handicap calculation are all free. Pro adds AI round analysis, cloud transcription fallback for noisy days, and unlimited scorecard scans.
- Why don't you have a social feed?
- Because we think golf is one of the few hobbies left where you can be off the internet for four hours. A social feed inside the scorecard works against that.
- Will Chalk ever show ads?
- No. The business model is paid Pro features. We never sell ad inventory and we never sell user data.
Try Chalk
Voice-first scorebook for golf. Free to start. No ads.
Learn more →