guides
Best Laser Putting Alignment Device: $30 Beats $150
A $30 green shaft laser from Amazon does 90% of what the $150 PuttAIM does. A $20 hardware store laser level does 80% of it. I know because I read everything published on these devices. Nobody has compared them side by side. MyGolfSpy reviewed exactly one, the PuttAIM, back in December. Reddit has been asking which one to buy since 2019 and getting community guesses.
The three name-brand laser putting devices all cost between $125 and $150, and they all do one narrow thing: project a green line onto the ground so you can finally see where you are actually aimed. The golf industry would rather sell you a $500 putter than a $30 laser that exposes your aim in five seconds.
The question is not which laser to buy. It is whether you need a laser at all.
What a Laser Fixes That a Mirror Can’t
A putting mirror shows you your setup. Your eye position, your shoulder line, whether the putter face looks square at address. That is valuable, but it stops there.
A laser shows you your aim in real time. It projects the actual line the ball will start on. When you set up and the green line sits three inches right of the hole, you see it instantly. No guesswork. The laser does not care how your stroke looks. It cares where the ball is going.
That is the difference between “you are set up wrong” and “you are aimed at the wrong target.” If your setup is fine but you still miss left, a mirror will not catch it. A laser will.
Two rules before you buy. First, green laser only. Red lasers are nearly invisible outdoors and weak indoors. Any Amazon listing that does not say green is a red laser wearing a coat. Skip it. Second, these are indoor tools. MyGolfSpy took the PuttAIM to a practice green on an overcast day and could barely see the beam. The Visio is the exception because its 5mW laser is strong enough to trace a line on the surface in daylight. If you practice outdoors, that detail matters more than the brand name.
1. PuttAIM PRO $150: The Fitting-Studio Flagship
The PuttAIM is a bright green line laser on an elevated arm, with a base the exact diameter of a golf hole. You aim it at a real hole or putt toward the base. The beam is a solid line, not a dot, so you can track the ball along it. It charges over USB, disassembles, and packs into a carrying case.
MyGolfSpy’s Dave Wolfe summed it up in four words: “It’s what it does, it’s all it does.” It lays down a green line and nothing else. He also wrote the sentence that should stop you cold: “I’m not sure every golfer will find $150 of value in the PuttAIM.” He uses his constantly on his garage green, and L.A.B. Golf keeps one in their fitting studio. But for a home golfer, $150 for a line projector is a lot.
The PuttAIM Mini drops under $100 but loses the cup-shaped stand. At that point you are paying for a bright beam and not much else.
Verdict: Skip for home use. It is a fitting tool sold as a consumer product. If you run a shop or a studio, buy it.
2. Visio Putting Laser $149.99: The One That Works Outdoors
The Visio is the Phil Kenyon brand, and it is the most complete package. You get a 5mW 532nm green laser, the strongest output allowed for commercial use, plus two end caps that project either a dot or a straight line. An adjustable tripod and a removable bumper leg let you trace the aim path on the surface or shoot parallel to a target backboard.
The practical difference is daylight. SuperStroke’s product page says the laser is powerful enough to trace the aim path outdoors with no backboard. That is the one thing the PuttAIM cannot do. If your practice is on a real green in the sun, the Visio is the only name-brand laser that works.
It costs $149.99 on SuperStroke’s site and about £146 direct from Visio. The Aim Board, a $29.99 backboard that measures your degrees of error at 5, 10, and 15 feet, sells separately.
Verdict: Worth it if you practice outdoors and want a real aim line. Indoor-only, keep reading.
3. EyeLine Groove+ $124.95: The Shaft-Mounted Cross Laser
EyeLine’s entry is a cross laser that clips onto your putter shaft with a polycarbonate connector. It projects a line along your target so you see the aim as you set up, not from a stand behind the ball. EyeLine has 20-plus years in putting mirrors and gates, and this is the same build philosophy.
It is $124.95 on the EyeLine site. But it is still a $125 laser doing a $30 job. There is nothing here that a generic green shaft laser will not do for a fifth of the price.
Verdict: Skip. Buy the generic version and keep the $95.
4. Generic Green Shaft Lasers $25-$40: The Smart Buy
This is where the value lives. Amazon is full of magnetic green laser levels that clip onto a putter shaft and project a line along your aim. The Green Line Indoor Golf Putting Trainer is the category leader, and there are a dozen clones. Buy one that says green, costs under $40, and has a shaft connector. Some sellers bundle a mirror with the laser. Skip the bundle. The laser is the part doing the work.
This is the same feedback as the $125 EyeLine for $30. GolfWRX posters figured this out years ago, which is why the “which laser is best” threads never resolve. The answer was always the cheap one.
Verdict: Buy it. This is the one I would actually own.
Skip the Laser: What You Probably Already Own
Before you spend anything, check your bag. If you already own an EyeLine Putting Alignment Mirror ($39.95) or a set of putting gates ($15 to $30), you already have most of the feedback a laser gives. The mirror fixes your setup. The gates fix your start line. The laser just makes the aim line visible in real time. See our full EyeLine mirror review for the setup side.
If fixing your aim is the real goal and you want to go deeper, the EyeLine Tour Roll mirror at $80 adds a stroke-path guide to the mirror. That is a more complete tool than any laser on this list for less money. And if you want the printed-line version of this whole idea, we covered it in our putting mat alignment lines guide.
What I Would Actually Buy
If you want a laser and you practice indoors, buy the $30 generic green shaft laser. It does 90% of the $150 job for a fifth of the price. Add an EyeLine Putting Alignment Mirror for $39.95 and you have aim feedback plus setup feedback for $70 total. That is less than two dozen Pro V1s.
If you practice outdoors in daylight, the Visio at $149.99 is the only laser that shows up. If that price stings, a $20 hardware store laser level does the same job on a putting green without the tripod or the name.
What I would not do is pay $150 for the PuttAIM or $125 for the EyeLine Groove+ as a home golfer. Those are for fitting studios and for people who enjoy buying gear more than they enjoy making putts.
The problem was never your equipment. You could not see your own aim. A $30 laser shows it to you in five seconds. Everything after that is practice.
Where to Buy
- EyeLine Groove+ Putting Laser $124.95 at Amazon
- EyeLine Putting Alignment Mirror $39.95 at Amazon
- Generic Green Shaft Laser $25-$40 at Amazon
- PuttAIM PRO $150 at puttaim.com (sold direct, not on Amazon)
- Visio Putting Laser $149.99 at superstrokeusa.com (sold direct, not on Amazon)
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.