Players
More and more padel clubs have a ball machine you can use when you book a court. If there's one near you, buying your own rarely adds up.
Subscriptions with court time included are starting to appear too (around £55 a month in Sweden). Where they exist, they're usually the cheapest option for anyone who wants to train regularly.
Buying makes sense if you have your own court or free access to one. If that's you, these are the machines we've compared.
Read the guide for playersPrices are approximate, checked with UK retailers and manufacturers in November 2026.
| Machine | Approx. price | Weight | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Padelmaster | £4,500 | 24 kg | The best hardware and software in our view, but one of the most expensive on the market |
| Spinfire Pro 2 | about £2,150 | about 18–24 kg | Robust and proven |
| Pongbot | from about £500 (Aura) | about 7 kg | Good value and the easiest to take with you |
| Slinger Bag Padel | about £975 | about 19 kg | We don't recommend it |
We think Padelmaster has the best combination of machine and app for padel, but it costs more than Spinfire. In the app, you build your own training programmes and can use programmes your coach shares with you.
A good choice if you want a robust, proven machine. Spinfire started out as a tennis ball machine, but it has software for padel and you control it with an app or a remote.
A good-value option. The new Aura weighs around 7 kg and holds 120 balls, which makes it the easiest of these machines to take with you. The app isn't fully user-friendly yet and lacks some padel features, but it has clearly improved lately.
Slinger Bag has built a strong brand, but we don't recommend the machine, for players or for clubs. You control it with dials for speed and interval, it reaches up to 45 mph (73 km/h) and the battery lasts around 3 hours (according to retailers). In the UK, it's currently hard to find in stock.
For the same money, you could book around 30 hours on court at a club with a ball machine.
Find a club with a ball machineExpect to pay from about £500 for a light, basic machine up to £4,500 for a premium one like Padelmaster. Most robust machines for home use cost £1,000–£2,200. On top of that, you pay for a court every time you train, unless you have your own.
It depends on who's using it. For clubs, we recommend Padelmaster, because it's built for heavy use and comes with an app, round-the-clock support and fast servicing. For players with their own court, Spinfire Pro 2 is a robust, proven choice, and Pongbot Aura is the lightest and cheapest. Many players are better off using their club's machine, though.
Yes, but it isn't ideal. Padel balls have lower pressure than tennis balls, and padel drills need lobs, balls off the glass and short gaps between shots. Some machines started out in tennis and have a padel mode, like Spinfire. Before you buy, check that both the machine and its app are really set up for padel.
A ball machine is the easiest way: you can repeat the same shot dozens of times, from volleys and bandejas to balls off the back glass. Book a court at a club with a ball machine, or use your own if you have a court. If your coach builds programmes in the machine's app, you can follow them on your own.
