Is PBVision Worth It?

Can an app really help improve your pickleball game? In today’s review, we’ll answer the question once and for all.

_{Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review. I spoke with the Founders of PBVision and they offered me a paid account in return for some feedback. However, I was not obligated to a review and they have no input on this review whatsoever.}

What is PBVision?

PBVision is a cross-platform (Android, iOS, and desktop) app that analyzes your singles and doubles gameplay with AI. You record your matches, upload the video, and in roughly 10 minutes get an analyzed report and searchable replay of your games. It analyzes everything from different types of shots to success rates, court coverage, serve and return depth, and strategic patterns.

Watching yourself play is important

Before we dig into the review, I want to highlight how important it is to record your pickleball games.

Watching yourself play pickleball bridges the gap between your perceived reality and actual reality on the court. Just as Kobe Bryant made the film room his second home to identify weaknesses before opponents could exploit them, pickleball players need to analyze their gameplay to understand what’s truly happening versus what they think is happening.

Watching film gives you the self-awareness to spot technical flaws, positioning errors, and strategic mistakes that are so easily missed in the heat of competition but glaringly obvious when reviewed on video.

Okay not everyone wants to be Kobe Bryant. But his approach of analyzing not just what happened, but what could have and should have happened, applies directly to pickleball.

Deliberate practice through film, combined with drilling and coaching, creates a fast pathway that upskills your game far beyond what practice and watching YouTube videos alone can achieve.

What are PBVision’s best features?

PBVision is pushing out updates all the time. And at first glance it can feel somewhat overwhelming. Here are some of my favorite features that I utilize on the app.

Shot Explorer & Filters

Shot explorer is probably where I spend most of my time. You can drill down into individual shots: serve, return, smash, drives, resets, etc. The app will also categorize your shots by quality (Excellent 🟢 | Average ⚫️ | Poor 🔴) attributes, error, and direction. Since I’ve been focusing a lot on my drops, I filter out my shots by “drop” and I can watch every single one of mine in one go with a few clicks.

Pattern Explorer is cool and lets you view sequences, like a serve → return → 3rd shot, so you can see which combos tend to win or lose. I don’t find myself using this feature very much, though.

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Automatic Highlights & Dead Time Removal

A single game of pickleball might take 15 minutes, but you’re only playing for a few of them. When you upload a video to PBVision, it automatically cuts dead time, trimming the clips where you’re picking up the ball, arguing about the score, or taking a timeout.

Court Coverage & Positioning Insights

Heat maps or “court coverage” visualizations show where you're spending your time, where you're vulnerable, how well you’re covering angles. These help with movement, footwork, and anticipating shots.

Serve & Return Depth, and 3rd Shot Breakdown

PBVision identifies how deep your serves/returns are, classifies 3rd shots into drive / drop / hybrid / lob, and helps you identify your weaknesses immediately.

User Interface & Usability

Overall, the app and the desktop app are very easy to navigate. I’ve never had trouble uploading from my phone’s library. I would say watching back your replays and looking at the stats are best when using a desktop computer. One of my favorite features is the auto scoreboard feature that tracks the score on the top left.

Stats, Trends, & Advanced Data

The two reports I check after every game are “Team Stats” and “Player Performance.” In the Team Stats section, you’ll see how many times you reached the kitchen when serving and returning — one of the most important metrics for judging whether we put ourselves in advantageous positions throughout the game.

You’ll also see the percentage of shots each player of each team took, total rallies, kitchen rallies, average shot per rally, and longest rally. And each individual player will get a drilldown of their shot quality.

Easy to record and works on every device

PBVision works on iOS, Android and Desktop, which isn’t offered with other competitors. And since you upload the file online rather than processing directly on your phone, you can use any camera without worrying about having the latest tech. You just need to have a tripod and a camera. And as long as you’re able to film both baselines, you’re good to go.

Active community support

PBVision backs up its product with one of the more active communities I’ve seen. Their Discord is the hub — a place where players can report bugs, share suggestions, or just ask questions. From my experience, the team is quick to respond and genuinely open to feedback. What stands out most is how often they test new features directly with the community, rolling out beta tools to real users and iterating based on what they hear. That level of transparency is rare and shows they’re building a smart business but also genuinely care about the community’s feedback. It’s clear these guys care about the sport.

Where PBVision falls short

No app is perfect. These are the edge cases and complaints people have raised:

AI misclassifies shots sometimes

Occasionally, wild outlier readings show up. There’s a stat that says “fastest shot” and I find it to be inaccurate most of the time. One of my weak drives got recorded as 60mph. As you can see in the screenshot below, my noodle arm drives average 27mph.

Sometimes shots get miscategorized or mismeasured, which throws off the averages. I found this to be more common when I didn’t have the best filming angle. However, I’d like to see a manual “exclude” option for bad shots or the ability to edit them in the future. That said, this is a very rare occurrence and never enough to take away from the overall experience.

Feature overload vs what you’ll actually use

There are lots of metrics and filters to drill down into the nitty gritty of every game. After using it for so long, I realistically gravitate toward maybe 4–5 key ones and rarely touch the rest. If you’re not someone who loves data, this can be overwhelming.

Actionable metrics

I think the app can do a better job tracking of unforced errors and winners, and more detailed definitions of errors. I think the AI coaching is certainly getting there, but this is more of a nice quality of life feature I’d like to see down the road.

Pricing

The pricing can get a little confusing as features are subscription‐locked. Some of the “best” features (high fps, 4K) are behind higher tier passes. I think they’re figuring out how to figure out pricing as they scale and onboard more users, so this is definitely a growing pain as they still need to operate as a successful business. It also needs to be noted that since videos are processed on their servers rather than locally on your phone, this adds to the costs of analyzing every video.

PBVision vs SwingVision: What’s better for pickleball?

SwingVision is PBVision’s biggest competitor, and for good reason. It’s been around longer, has won multiple awards, and is a household name among tennis players. In my experience using both apps, SwingVision still feels like a tennis-first platform that shines as a live tool. Pickleball support has been added, but it isn’t as robust or specialized as what PBVision delivers.

SwingVision only runs on iOS and requires an Apple Watch to function. Instead of letting you record a match and upload it later, it processes everything live. That means you get useful features like real-time scoring and live line calls — a huge perk in tournament settings. The tradeoff, though, is that you need a modern iPhone, an Apple Watch, plenty of battery, and usually a tall tripod or SwingStick to set it up. SwingVision’s pricing starts at $14.99 per month, which includes 30 hours of recording.

PBVision, on the other hand, is built from the ground up for pickleball by founders who are deeply invested in the sport. It doesn’t do line calls in real time, but its upload-and-analyze model produces more detailed insights specific to pickleball strategy. The friction comes in needing to film, upload, and wait a few minutes for processing — it’s not quite as “instant” as live tools. But for players serious about analyzing patterns, tendencies, and shot quality, PBVision feels more focused and effective.

How much does PBVision cost?

PBVision’s pricing has evolved since launch, but the structure is designed to give players flexibility based on how much they play. Every new user can try the app free for one game without any payment. If you decide to subscribe during onboarding, you’ll also get a 60-minute bonus credit to kick things off.

Original Pricing Model

PBVision uses a credit system, where one credit equals one processed game (up to 30 minutes). Subscriptions come with a set number of credits per year, and you’ll need to buy extras if you run out.

Starter: $20/month or $180 annually ($15/month)

60 game credits
Match replays, Pattern Explorer, Shot Explorer
Player tagging
10GB storage
1080p at 30fps

Premium: $33/month or $396 annually

180 credits upfront each year
Unlimited video storage
4K at 60fps
Access to all advanced features

Extra credits were available separately:

$29.99 for 5 credits
$99.99 for 30 credits
$179.99 for 60 credits

Credits don’t expire and are rolled over with renewals, but you need an active subscription to use them.

New Pricing Model (Starting October)

Beginning in October, PBVision is shifting away from credits toward a minutes-based model, which feels simpler and more flexible for players. Instead of managing credits, you get a set number of minutes each month or year to process your games.

Starter Pass

$19.99/month or $99.99/year
120 minutes per month (~10 games) or 1,200 minutes annually (~100 games)

Premium Pass

$49.99/month or $396/year
420 minutes per month (~35 games) or 4,800 minutes annually (~400 games)

I would highly recommend PBVision to any player looking to improve, especially playing especially if you are trying to level up beyond recreational play. Here’s when PBVision is especially strong, and when you might hold off:

PBVision is worth it if…

you’re regularly playing matches like tournaments or competitive leagues
you’re already spending time watching film
you’re manually taking notes or calculating stats by hand
you like data and are willing to try changing habits based on what you see

PBVision isn’t worth it if…

you like to play for fun or don’t really care about metrics
you want live feedback and line calls on your Apple Watch
you feel like paying for stuff you’ll seldom use (and forget you have a subscription)

The Verdict

When I think about whether PBVision is worth it, the biggest difference for me is how it takes the guesswork out of improvement. Instead of replaying points in my head after a loss and wondering where I went wrong, I can pull up the footage and see it for myself — every missed drop, every weak return, every pattern I didn’t notice in the moment. Having that kind of clarity keeps me from spiraling after tough games and helps me focus on the exact areas where I can actually improve.

Could you get some of this by filming your games and reviewing them on your own? Sure. But the time you’d spend scrubbing through video, tagging points, and tallying stats is where you get the most value from PBVision. The app saves you lots of time and catches things you probably wouldn’t have on your own.

And of course, there are still lots of kinks to iron out, but PBVision has pushed out a ton of improvements over the 6 months. Their commitment to their community and dedication to pickleball makes me excited to see what they have in store. They’ve rolled out an AI analyzer that keys in on over 30 characteristics of each player’s performance to match their performance to a corresponding rating. They hope this becomes a DUPR competitor (which is sorely needed).

For players who just play casually, PBVision may be more than you need. But if you’re chasing a higher DUPR, trying to compete in tournaments, or just love the idea of measuring your progress with real data, PBVision is easily the best tool available today.

And honestly, beyond all the stats and charts, the biggest sign it’s worth it is how excited my group gets every time we film. Between the highlights, the bodybag clips, and the blooper reels, it’s become part of the fun of playing and that’s tough to put a price on.

If you’re interested in getting started with PBVision, you can get 15 free credits by using this link!

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