SkyTrak+ vs SkyTrak ST MAX: Closeout Savings or the Current Model

If you've been researching sub-$3K launch monitors for a home setup, you've probably met two SkyTrak units that look nearly identical, with overlapping marketing copy and forum threads that disagree about which one's right. The prices make it a real choice. The ST MAX has been $1,695 at every retailer we track since late August 2026 — SkyTrak bills it as a sale off a $2,995 list. The SkyTrak+ is the previous generation: SkyTrak has discontinued it and no longer sells it itself, and the closeout stock left is $1,095 on Amazon. Rain or Shine still lists it at $1,995.

The short answer: the two share a camera-plus-radar design and report the same metrics, and the closeout is about $600 cheaper. What that saving costs you is a hitting zone about a quarter the area (2 × 2 in against 4 × 4 in), GOLFTEC speed training, dual USB, and the support runway of a current model. Buy the SkyTrak+ at $1,095 if the money matters more than the bigger zone and you are buying soon, while stock lasts. Buy the ST MAX if a more forgiving ball position, GOLFTEC or a long ownership horizon matters to you, or if the only closeout you can find is Rain or Shine's $1,995, which is $300 more than the newer unit. Those gaps depend on SkyTrak's sale holding; the cost section below says what changes if it ends.

The longer answer is below. Let's get into it.

Why the Confusion Exists

SkyTrak released the SkyTrak+ in 2023 as a major upgrade over the original SkyTrak (no plus) — adding a radar component to the photometric base, improving indoor accuracy, and reducing ball-tracking errors at high swing speeds. It was a hit.

In 2025, SkyTrak released the ST MAX as the successor. The two look nearly identical from the outside. The internals were redesigned with a larger hitting zone, GOLFTEC integration was added, and the SkyTrak+ went on closeout to clear inventory. The price order has flipped twice since. For a while the closeout undercut the ST MAX; then from late August 2026 the ST MAX sold for $1,695 everywhere, a sale SkyTrak runs off its $2,995 list, and for about two months it was cheaper than the SkyTrak+ at most of the retailers still carrying it. By October 2026 SkyTrak had stopped selling the SkyTrak+ itself, and Amazon's remaining stock is cheaper than the ST MAX again, at $1,095. The result: two units that look like the same product, a $600 gap between them, and no clear product-page explanation of which is better for whom.

The Hardware: What's the Same

Both units use the same kind of hybrid system: a photometric camera reads the ball, dual Doppler radar reads the club. That means:

• Comparable accuracy, as far as it has been tested: MyGolfSpy's 2024 testing put the SkyTrak+ within 1% of a Foresight GCQuad on indoor ball speed — among the best indoor numbers under $3K.
• Same ball data: ball speed, launch angle, spin (direct), launch direction, carry distance.
• Same club data: club speed, smash factor, club path, face angle, and face-to-path. Neither reports angle of attack.
• Similar room requirements, though SkyTrak's own pages disagree: both sit beside the ball, so nothing of theirs takes room behind you. SkyTrak's ST MAX guide asks for a clear area 10 ft long and 10 ft wide, printing both as 3.35 m, which is 11 ft; its general room guide asks for 12 ft long and 10 ft wide, and recommends 15 × 15 ft with a 10 ft ceiling. We plan on 11 ft wide for the ST MAX, the stricter figure, and on our room planner's length for both: about a foot behind the screen, SkyTrak's recommended 10 ft to the ball and the 7 ft behind the tee that Shop Indoor Golf and Carl's Place advise, 18 ft in all. Neither sets a ceiling minimum, and neither floor unit adds one: the swing sets it, which Shop Indoor Golf's height table puts at 10 ft for a 5'10"–6'2" golfer (9.5 ft under 5'10").
• Same native software: the SkyTrak app, with the free, no-membership level included on both units.
• Same Mac and iOS support: native, no Windows required — on an M-series iPad or Mac (M1 or newer).

The ST MAX is a redesign rather than the SkyTrak+'s sensor block carried over — SkyTrak gives it a larger hitting zone — and we haven't seen an independent test of the ST MAX itself to the same standard, so treat the SkyTrak+ result as an indication for the MAX, not a measurement of it.

One thing that is identical: neither has a GSPro path for a new buyer. GSPro's published list of 31 supported launch monitors contains no SkyTrak model, and SkyTrak does not advertise GSPro. Owners of both reached it through OpenSkyPlus 2, a free community bridge built around the SkyTrak+ that injects into the SkyTrak Windows desktop app and relays shots to GSPro over GSPro's Open API. It supports SkyTrak's app versions 5.4 to 5.8, and SkyTrak now offers only 6.2, which also updates the firmware on both units, so a new unit of either model can't use it; owners still on 5.8 can keep using it. Neither unit is the one to buy for GSPro.

The Hardware: What's Different

SkyTrak lists these hardware changes on the ST MAX:

• Larger hitting zone — SkyTrak's spec tables give the ST MAX about 4 × 4 in against the SkyTrak+'s 2 × 2 in, so the ball doesn't have to sit in as precise a spot.
• Dual USB ports — SkyTrak says they allow simultaneous charging and data transfer, so a long session doesn't have to choose between power and a wired connection.
• New modular internal design — SkyTrak describes an architecture with fewer internal components, built for system stability and for holding calibration from session to session.
• Charcoal grey finish — cosmetic, but it is how you tell the two apart.

You'll also see a faster processor claimed for the ST MAX; SkyTrak's own product page doesn't mention one or quantify any speed or battery difference, so we don't either. Apart from the hitting zone, these are build-quality and ergonomic upgrades rather than changes to what the unit measures.

One listing difference runs the other way. SkyTrak's own ST MAX spec table says "Location: Indoor", while its SkyTrak+ page says indoor and outdoor. Retailers still list the ST MAX for both; if range use matters to you, go by SkyTrak's spec, not the retailer's.

The Software: What the ST MAX Adds

The bigger functional difference is software-side:

GOLFTEC Integration (ST MAX only)

GOLFTEC is one of the largest US golf coaching chains. Its speed-training program measures baseline swing speed, prescribes drills, and tracks progress over weeks. The ST MAX includes this module natively; SkyTrak lists it as exclusive to the MAX.

For golfers actively working on club speed gains, this is a real feature — a structured version of the speed work GOLFTEC sells as in-person coaching, and part of what the ST MAX's extra $600 over the closeout buys. If you're already a GOLFTEC student or considering one, this is a meaningful add.

For casual sim users, it's a feature you won't use.

Cloud Continuity

ST MAX gets new features first. The SkyTrak+ runs the same app and SkyTrak says it continues to support it, with no end-of-support date announced — but hardware-tied modules like GOLFTEC speed training have shipped on the ST MAX only, and that pattern is likely to continue.

This matters less than it sounds. The current-state SkyTrak ecosystem already does most of what casual and intermediate users want. The "missing future features" argument is hypothetical until SkyTrak announces specific things.

Five-Year Cost Math

Membership pricing is identical on both, so on a like-for-like basis the hardware gap is the whole story: $600 in the SkyTrak+'s favor at Amazon's $1,095. Only Rain or Shine's $1,995 listing reverses it, to $300 in the ST MAX's favor.

The free first year can move it, since only the ST MAX is confirmed to get one. Through November 12, 2026 (SkyTrak's Holiday Sale), a new ST MAX comes with a free first year of Core: Foresight (it activates when you register the unit), and PlayBetter, Rain or Shine Golf and Indoor Golf Outlet advertise a free year of course play with the ST MAX too. We couldn't confirm a free year with Amazon's $1,095 SkyTrak+; without one, the ST MAX's free year narrows the five-year gap to about $300 ($2,594.95 against $2,894.96) while the offer runs. Free-year offers come and go, so check the listing the day you buy.

All of this rests on the ST MAX's $1,695, which SkyTrak shows as a sale price off a $2,995 regular price, with no end date given. It has held at every tracked retailer since late August 2026, but it is a sale. If it ends and the ST MAX goes back to its earlier $1,995, the closeout's lead grows to $800–$900 while its stock lasts.

Where the SkyTrak+ Closeout Risk Lives

The SkyTrak+ case rests entirely on the closeout price, and it comes with one real caveat: stock. SkyTrak has discontinued the model, and its own store now lists the SkyTrak+ as no longer available. In our November 2026 checks, Amazon ($1,095) and Rain or Shine Golf ($1,995) still showed new stock; PlayBetter's listing has been out of stock since late October, Indoor Golf Outlet dropped it in May and Shop Indoor Golf no longer sells it. No date is published for when the rest runs out.

Practical implications:

• At $1,095 the closeout is about $600 under the ST MAX. Rain or Shine's $1,995 is the exception: $300 more than the newer unit, so skip it there.
• Once stock runs out, the SkyTrak+ disappears new. Your path forward is the ST MAX ($1,695 while SkyTrak's sale holds) — or SkyTrak's own certified pre-owned units, which SkyTrak's store listed at $895 for a SkyTrak+ and $1,195 for an ST MAX when we checked in October 2026.
• SkyTrak's warranty on a new unit is 6 months or 25,000 shots, the same as the ST MAX's. On closeout stock, confirm before you pay that the unit is new and that the seller can pass that warranty on; on Amazon, check who it is sold by.

At $1,095 it is a good buy while it lasts, for anyone who can live with the smaller hitting zone. If you'd be paying $1,995 — or you're 6+ months out from purchase — plan around the ST MAX as the realistic SKU.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the SkyTrak ST MAX if:

• You want the larger hitting zone (about 4 × 4 in against 2 × 2 in) and a current model, and the extra $600 is affordable
• Plan to keep the unit 7+ years and want maximum software longevity
• Already a GOLFTEC student or want the speed training program
• Want current-gen hardware and dual USB
• The only SkyTrak+ you can find is at $1,995, or you're buying months out and the closeout stock may be gone

Buy the SkyTrak+ closeout if:

• You can get it at $1,095 (Amazon as of November 2026) and the $600 matters more to you than the bigger zone
• Don't care about GOLFTEC speed training or being first in line for new features
• Buying soon, while closeout stock lasts

Builds That Use Each

The ST MAX anchors five builds: Garage $6K Recreational, Garage $6K Cost-Effective, The Portable Build, The 11 ft Wide Garage Build, and Dedicated $10K Recreational. The first four used the SkyTrak+ until we switched them in early October 2026, when the ST MAX was the cheaper unit at most retailers. The closeout is cheaper again now, and each build lists the SkyTrak+ as the alternative: at $1,095 it takes about $600 off any of them while stock lasts. The builds stay on the ST MAX because a build should still be buyable after the closeout stock is gone.

→ See the SkyTrak+ vs SkyTrak ST MAX side-by-side specs comparison

→ See related: Garmin R10 vs Rapsodo MLM2PRO — the tier below

→ See related: Photometric vs Doppler Radar Launch Monitors

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