Automatic scoring is the feature that makes people actually play. Four soft-tip boards ranked on segment quality, game count and whether the scoring gets in the way.
Updated October 2026 · By Stephen V.
The Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 is the electronic dartboard to buy for a home bar. It is the board closest to a commercial soft-tip machine: a 15.5-inch target, 40 built-in games and scoring that keeps up with fast play. If you want the board plus a cabinet in one purchase, the Viper Neptune is the better-looking answer for a finished room, and the Granboard Dash is the one to buy if you want to play opponents online through an app.
Electronic boards are not the lesser version of darts. They answer a different question: who else is in the house, and what is behind the board. Soft-tip plastic darts do not damage a wall, do not hurt, and the board scores for you — and automatic scoring is the single feature that decides whether casual players keep playing. Nobody ever stopped a game of darts because the throwing was hard; they stopped because somebody had to do the arithmetic.
We have not played these boards. The ranking is built from published target sizes, game counts, segment and scoring descriptions, cabinet construction, and owner-review consensus reported as other people's experience. Prices come live from Amazon with the date we checked them.
The short answer
In a hurry? These are the picks we'd buy. Prices are live; tap a card below for the full reasoning.
$104.9915% offPrice as of October 7, 2026·#addisclosure
Accudart Match Pro Dartboard Cabinet Set with LED
A cabinet set with automatic LED lighting at the lowest price here — the cheapest complete, wall-safe setup in this hub.
Type
Dartboard cabinet set
Lighting
Automatic LED
Brand
Accudart
Pros
Automatic LED lighting solves the shadow problem most people ignore
Complete set at the lowest price here
Cabinet protects the wall
Cons
Simplest electronics of the four
Lighter cabinet construction
Fewer games and less scoring sophistication
Best for: A first setup, or a family room on a budget.
Skip this
The budget traps that look cheap and cost you twice. We'd skip these.
Electronic boards under about 13 inches
A regulation board is 18 inches across with a 13.2-inch scoring diameter. Shrink the target far below that and the segments get so narrow that scoring becomes luck. Target size is the first spec to read and the one cheap boards quietly shrink.
Using steel-tip darts on an electronic board
Steel tips crack the plastic segments and destroy the board's scoring matrix, and it is not repairable. Electronic boards take soft plastic tips only. Keep the two dart sets physically separate if you own both kinds of board.
How to choose (and what to skip)
Target size is the headline spec
Regulation is an 18-inch board with a 13.2-inch scoring area. Electronic boards are usually smaller, and 15.5 inches is about as close to regulation as the category gets. The smaller the target, the narrower each segment, and the more your score depends on luck rather than aim. Read this number before anything else.
Scoring reliability, not game count
Every board advertises dozens of games; almost nobody plays more than four. What actually matters is whether the board registers every dart correctly at the speed you throw. Cheap boards miss darts, double-count, and fail to detect a dart that lands in a worn hole — which is far more frustrating than a short game list. Owner reviews are the practical source for this.
Segment hole pattern and bounce-outs
Soft-tip darts bounce out when a tip hits a divider instead of a hole. Boards with thinner dividers and a denser hole pattern bounce out less. Some manufacturers make this the centre of their design and it is a real difference in how the board feels to throw at.
Standalone display or app
A board with its own display switches on and works forever. An app-connected board needs a phone or tablet every session, and in exchange offers online opponents and real statistics. Neither is wrong, but they suit different households — check whether app features sit behind a subscription before you commit.
Cabinet or bare board
Electronic boards are plastic and look it, so a cabinet matters more here than for a bristle board, for appearance rather than wall protection. A cabinet also gives the soft-tip darts somewhere to live. If the board is going in a garage or dedicated games room, save the money and buy the better board instead.
What electronic boards genuinely do better
Three things, and they are not small. They score. Cricket, 301, 501, Round the Clock — all tracked automatically, which removes the one piece of friction that ends casual games. They are safe. Plastic tips do not damage drywall, do not hurt a bare foot, and are the correct choice in a house with children. They are quieter, which matters in a shared or apartment wall.
What they do worse is the throw itself. A soft tip in a plastic hole has none of the satisfying bite of a steel point sinking into sisal, and bounce-outs are more frequent on even a good electronic board than on a good bristle board. If the feel of the throw is what you care about, buy sisal. If getting people to play is what you care about, buy electronic.
Mounting is identical to a bristle board
The official dimensions do not change: 5 feet 8 inches from the floor to the bullseye, 7 feet 9.25 inches to the throw line along the floor. Electronic boards are lighter than a sisal board in a cabinet, but they still need a solid fixing — a board that shifts slightly on the wall will miscount, because the scoring matrix depends on the segments sitting square behind the face. See the mounting guide.
Power, batteries and soft-tip darts
Most electronic boards run on batteries, with an optional mains adapter that is almost always worth buying separately — a board that dies mid-game gets unplugged from the household's attention permanently. Check whether the adapter is included or extra.
Soft-tip darts are typically 16 to 20 grams, lighter than steel tips because the board does not need penetration. The plastic tips themselves are consumables: they bend and snap, and a bent tip causes bounce-outs that get blamed on the board. Buy a bag of spare tips with the board — they cost very little and replacing them is a thirty-second job that restores the board's accuracy.
Who should buy which
Children in the house, or a wall you cannot repair: electronic, no contest. A dedicated games room or garage and an interest in the sport: sisal. Both, if you can — a bristle board for real throwing and an electronic board for parties is a common and sensible pairing, and together they still cost less than any game table in this hub. Our full comparison works through the trade-offs in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Are electronic dartboards worth it?+
If you have children, a wall you cannot patch, or you want automatic scoring, yes. Scoring is the feature that keeps casual players playing, and soft-tip darts damage nothing. If the feel of the throw is the point, a sisal board is the better game — electronic boards bounce out more and feel less satisfying.
Can you use steel-tip darts on an electronic dartboard?+
No. Steel tips crack the plastic segments and destroy the scoring matrix underneath, and the damage is not repairable. Electronic boards take soft plastic tips only. If you own both board types, keep the two dart sets physically separate.
What size should an electronic dartboard be?+
As close to regulation as you can get. A regulation board is 18 inches across with a 13.2-inch scoring area; good electronic boards reach about 15.5 inches. Smaller targets mean narrower segments, which makes scoring more a matter of luck than aim. Target size is the first spec to check.
Why does my electronic dartboard keep bouncing darts out?+
Usually bent or worn plastic tips rather than the board. Soft tips bend with use and then skid off the dividers instead of entering a hole. Replace them — they are cheap and take seconds. After that, check the board is mounted square and solidly; a board that flexes on the wall both bounces out and miscounts.
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