SimBox vs Carl's Place: enclosure in a box vs build it yourself

The takeaway is simple. The GolfBays SimBox is the enclosure for golfers who want the whole bay in one box. The Carl's Place DIY C-Series is the enclosure for golfers who want to choose their screen, build the frame themselves, and keep the starting price lower. Both give you a screen and a bay. They differ on what you still have to supply, how deep the bay sits in your room, and how finished it looks when the projector goes on.

SimBox: the complete kit

The SimBox is a tool-free aluminium frame that clicks together without tools in about 45 minutes, according to GolfBays. The kit includes the PRO+ Premium impact screen, a triple layer HD screen, plus a black velvet surround and side barriers. GolfBays lists the side barriers as worth $299. The screen is rated for ball speeds over 200 mph, and GolfBays says the frame folds down for storage.

SimBox comes in seven sizes. Prices below are as of Oct 31, 2026, from GolfBays, and the deal pages carry the live price:

• 8 ft 6 in wide by 8 ft 2 in high by 4 ft 11 in deep: $1,699.15
• 9 ft 10 in wide by 8 ft 2 in high by 4 ft 11 in deep: $1,741.65
• 11 ft 10 in wide by 8 ft 2 in high by 4 ft 11 in deep: $1,784.15
• 13 ft 2 in wide by 8 ft 2 in high by 4 ft 11 in deep: $1,826.65
• 12 ft 5 in wide by 9 ft 2 in high by 4 ft 11 in deep: $1,869.15
• 9 ft 10 in wide by 9 ft 10 in high by 9 ft 10 in deep: $1,911.65
• 13 ft 2 in wide by 9 ft 10 in high by 9 ft 10 in deep: $2,124.15

GolfBays lists the SimBox as in stock and ready to ship as of Oct 31, 2026. Turf is not included. The shallow sizes are only 4 ft 11 in deep, which is the SimBox advantage in a tight garage. The two cube sizes are a different proposition: a full 9 ft 10 in deep bay that needs a much deeper room, in exchange for a taller, wider picture and more space inside the bay.

Carl's Place DIY: the build-it-yourself kit

The Carl's Place DIY C-Series is a screen plus enclosure kit, not a complete frame kit. You get the impact screen in your chosen material, BlackStop blackout enclosure panels, steel corner and support fittings, cable receivers, springs, zip ties, and hook-and-loop fasteners, plus an assembly guide with an EMT cut list. Carl's Place puts assembly at about an hour with basic tools, once the frame is ready.

The frame is the catch, and it is also the saving. The kit needs 1 inch EMT pipe, which is not included in the base kit. You either add Carl's Place Pipe Framing Kit, pre-cut to your size, or you cut your own pipe from the guide's cut list at a hardware store. If you like that kind of job, you save money and you control the build. If you do not, the pipe kit erases part of the price advantage, so price the kit with pipes before you compare it to the SimBox.

Carl's Place offers six stock sizes, all 5 ft deep:

• 8 ft by 8 ft
• 7 ft 7 in by 10 ft
• 8 ft by 10 ft 6 in
• 8 ft 6 in by 11 ft 6 in
• 7 ft 7 in by 13 ft
• 9 ft by 12 ft

Prices start at $999.95 for the smallest size with the Standard screen, as of Oct 31, 2026, and rise with size and screen tier. Four screen materials are offered: Standard, Preferred, Premium, and High-Contrast Gray. Premium is the triple layer option, with a cushioned center layer that quiets impact noise. High-Contrast Gray is the pick for a room with ambient light you cannot kill. Check the deal pages for the live price on the size and screen you actually want, because the screen tier changes the total by hundreds of dollars.

The room math

Measure first, then choose. Both enclosures need more room than the frame itself.

For the SimBox, the shallow sizes need only 4 ft 11 in of bay depth, plus your hitting distance to the screen and room to swing behind the ball. The cube sizes need 9 ft 10 in of bay depth before you add any of that, so they belong in a dedicated room or a deep garage, not a spare bedroom.

For Carl's Place DIY, the frame itself is 5 ft deep, and Carl's Place asks for 12 to 16 inches of free clearance behind the screen, with 8.25 inches as the minimum for the rear fittings. Add 2 to 3 inches of buffer around the frame, and 10 to 12 ft of hitting distance from the screen. Top Shelf Golf, a Carl's Place dealer, works that out to about 16 ft 9 in of total room depth for a DIY bay. That is the honest number to tape on the wall before you order either enclosure.

Height is the other trap. The smallest SimBox is 8 ft 2 in high, and the smallest Carl's Place DIY sizes are 7 ft 7 in or 8 ft high. A tall golfer with a full driver swing needs to test the swing in the real room, at the real ceiling height, before buying. A bay that fits on paper and clips your driver on the follow through is a return waiting to happen.

Screen and bounce-back

The SimBox screen is fixed: one triple layer PRO+ screen in every size, with a black velvet surround that keeps the focus on the picture and helps contrast in a brighter room. That simplicity is the appeal. You are not choosing between four screen tiers, and you are not wondering whether you picked the wrong one.

Carl's Place gives you the choice, and the choice is the point. The DIY screen runs to the floor with a borderless bottom cable, so the picture has no black border and no gap between your turf and the image. Low chips and putts read cleanly instead of dying on a border. The trade is tensioning: the screen is secured with zip ties and a bottom cable, which is a solid DIY system but not the higher tension, flatter screen of Carl's Place Pro line. If a perfectly flat picture is your top priority and your budget stretches, the Pro line is the Carl's Place upgrade, not the DIY kit.

Bounce-back follows the same split. Both makers rate their screens for full speed real golf balls, SimBox over 200 mph and Carl's Place screens up to 250 mph. A tighter, heavier screen with a cushioned layer returns less energy and less noise. That favors the SimBox PRO+ screen and the Carl's Place Premium tier over the budget Standard screen.

Our take

• Buy the SimBox if you want one box, one screen, and no hardware store trip. The tool-free frame, the included screen and side barriers, and the fold-down storage make it the renter friendly pick and the simplest garage pick. The shallow 8 ft 6 in size at $1,699.15 as of Oct 31, 2026 is the entry point, and the 11 ft 10 in size at $1,784.15 is the sweet spot for a standard room, wide enough for near centered hitting without jumping to the deep cube sizes.
• Buy the Carl's Place DIY if you want to pick your screen, you are happy cutting or ordering pipe, and the starting price matters more than the one-box convenience. The 8 ft by 8 ft size at $999.95 as of Oct 31, 2026 with the Standard screen is the cheapest way into a real bay, and the 9 ft by 12 ft size is the large room pick, with 9 ft of height for taller golfers. Price it with the Pipe Framing Kit if you are not cutting your own pipe, and step up to Premium if the bay sits in a living room where noise matters.
• Skip both and look at the Carl's Place Pro line if you want a flatter, higher tension screen and deeper bay options up to 15 ft. That is a dedicated room purchase, not a first bay purchase.

Check the deal pages for each enclosure before you buy. The live price is the one that counts, and the right enclosure is the one your room actually fits, with a screen your household can live with after a thousand drives.

Sources: GolfBays SimBox product page for sizes, prices, screen, and assembly, Top Shelf Golf Carl's Place DIY enclosure page for sizes, screen materials, and starting price, and Carl's Place DIY assembly guide for the EMT pipe requirement. Internal link: our blog index.