FormCourt vs SwingVision
These two apps get compared constantly and they are not actually competing. SwingVision is in our opinion the best ball-and-line product in tennis, and it is not built to look at your body. FormCourt does nothing but look at your body, across serve, forehand and backhand. Here is the honest split, including the parts where SwingVision wins outright.
| FormCourt | SwingVision | |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Your mechanics — joint angles through toss, trophy, drop, contact and landing. | The ball and the point — shot speed, depth, placement, rally length, in or out. |
| The question it answers | “Why does my serve do that, and what do I train on Tuesday?” | “What happened in that match?” |
| Technique score | 32 measured checkpoints across serve, forehand and backhand, graded against published elite ranges, each with the number shown. | Not what it sets out to do — its published feature set scores the shot from ball outcome, not body position. |
| Training that follows | A weekly plan generated from your lowest measured checkpoints across all three strokes, scheduled around the days you play. | No technique-driven training plan in its published feature set; the output is stats and highlight reels. |
| Setup | Phone at hip height, side-on for serves and three-quarters behind for groundstrokes. No tripod required, no court markings needed. | Phone mounted high on the fence, aimed to see the whole court — its own setup guide calls for a tripod or clamp. |
| Works off a court | Yes — a wall, a garden, a gym. It only needs to see you. | No. Court lines are how it works. |
| Video privacy | Analysis runs on your iPhone. Video and pose tracks never leave the device; only result numbers sync. | Processes in the cloud and keeps a cloud video library, per its own description of the service. |
| Line calling | No — and never. Court-relative ball work is explicitly out of scope. | Yes, and in our opinion it is the best in the category. |
| Match stats & highlights | No. | Yes — automatic scoring, highlight reels, shot filters. |
| Official federation use | No. One developer, no governing body behind it. | Tennis Australia, LTA and ITA, as listed by SwingVision. |
| Price | $12.99/month or $79.99/year, with a free week on the annual plan. Three analyses a month free without paying, and the annual price is locked for as long as the subscription stays active. | Around $179/year for Pro, subscription only; free tier capped at roughly two hours a month. |
| Platform | iPhone. | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch. |
Every statement in the SwingVision column is drawn from its own public website, App Store listing and support documentation as they stood in September 2026, and describes what those materials say the product does — not a test we ran. Products change; if something here is out of date or wrong, email support@formcourt.com and it gets corrected. SwingVision is a trademark of its owner. FormCourt is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to SwingVision, Tennis Australia, the LTA or the ITA.
Choose FormCourt if…
- Your technique is what is holding your level back, on any of the three strokes
- You want to know why, in degrees, not just that the ball went long
- You hit a one-handed backhand and are tired of being graded as a failed two-hander
- You practise alone, against a wall, or on a court with no fence to mount a phone on
- You want the training plan, not just the diagnosis
- You do not want your video on anyone’s server
Choose SwingVision if…
- You play matches and want line calls and automatic scoring
- You want highlight reels of your points
- You care about shot depth, placement and win percentage
- You can mount a phone high enough to see the whole court
- Match data matters more to you than mechanics
Plenty of people should have both.
They are complements, not substitutes: one tells you the second serve landed short again, the other tells you your racquet lag never developed and books you the med-ball work that fixes it. The only reason to pick just one is the budget.
On iPhone
Try the technique half.
Three analyses a month free. iPhone. No tripod, no sensor, nothing uploaded.
iPhone · iOS 17 or later · free to install · three analyses a month free