Titan ACE vs Erne – which pickleball machine is best?

The Titan ACE and the Erne are two of the biggest names when it comes to pickleball machines. Whether you're an aspiring pro looking to up their training, or a coach wanting to invest in the latest tech, I've got you covered.

I've put both the Titan ACE and the Erne through their paces and compared the two on preset drills, speed range, shot diversity, ease of use, and more to help you decide which one is the best pickleball machine for you.

These two leading pickleball machines are similar in a lot of ways. Both use the latest tech, running off smartphone apps for superior ease of use.

Personally, I prefer the Erne because it has a more user-friendly app, preset drills that better replicate real gameplay, and a larger ball capacity, meaning I spend less time picking up pickleballs. On top of that, it's cheaper too – you'll save $300 against the Titan ACE.

If the Erne is on backorder, though, the Titan ACE is the next best thing. It's also a better choice for you if you want a more compact, easy-to-transport machine. It's like a sleeker version of the Erne.

To learn more, check out my full Titan ACE review.

To learn more, check out my full Erne machine review.

The Titan ACE has 12 sets of preinstalled drills, while the Erne has 25 with 8 variations. Some of the drills on the Titan ACE aren't very useful, like the "Slinky" and "Narrow Dinking", so you'll actually get better drill customization from the Erne.

The Erne's drills are better for improving your game because they replicate real-life gameplay more accurately. In my testing, I felt like I was getting good practice that will genuinely help me on the courts.

Both of these machines give you more speed than you'll ever need. The Erne is already too powerful at 65 mph, but the Titan ACE goes all the way up to 75! This is just a marketing gimmick for me, as playing at that speed is just dangerous when you consider a pro player's serve is around 50 mph.

45-50 mph is my sweet spot, and both machines can do this. So don't get the Titan ACE just because it can feed balls faster. You won't need to go beyond the 65 mph, which the Erne gives you too. Check out the other ratings before making a decision.

Both the Titan ACE and the Erne perform better than the majority of machines when it comes to shot diversity. With the Titan ACE, you get 20 "direction" settings that basically cover the entire court.

The Erne is even better because it offers horizontal angle settings from 3 to 77 degrees. This gives you roughly three times the granularity in picking your exact spot in between the wide extremes.

Both machines have an internal yoke. When you're doing a random drill, the yoke kicks in and the whole machine doesn't move (like some machines). Instead, the yoke oscillates, throwing out balls at random points without you knowing where they're going, which is a huge plus when you're training your reactions and reflexes.

This is one of the main areas where the Erne proves its value. Its 150-capacity ball hopper makes drilling more fun and efficient. I spent less time picking up balls, which is the least enjoyable part about drilling with a machine.

If you want a more compact machine for portability and storage reasons, you probably won't mind that the Titan ACE holds 110 balls. That's a lot for such a small machine.

Bottom line: get the Erne if ball capacity is important to you; if you need a smaller machine, the Titan ACE is still great for holding plenty of balls.

This is where the Titan ACE really shines. The Erne is a beast at 50 lbs and it's not easy to transport from your house to the courts. I couldn't fit it in the trunk of my sedan, and my back didn't appreciate the effort it took to haul it in and out of my backseat.

The Titan ACE, meanwhile, is a compact machine with a rectangular shape that makes it easy to slide in and out of your trunk and store neatly at home. It's 11 lbs lighter at 39 lbs.

While the Erne performs better in many categories, the Titan ACE is the one for you if you need a compact, portable pickleball ball machine.

The Erne wins here because its battery lasts up to eight hours. It's great for marathon sessions. The Titan ACE has a surprisingly low battery life, advertised at just two hours. This depends on how hard you run it, and I was able to stretch it to three to four hours, which was more than enough for my session.

Once home, I liked that I could simply pop out the Titan ACE battery and recharge it. It's so much easier than charging the Erne, which you have to wheel around and plug into a wall outlet.

You can also buy spare batteries for the Titan ACE so you have backups on the court. But even still, the Erne is a powerhouse when it comes to battery life. It can also run without the battery if you plug it into an outlet. This is so useful for clubs or coaches if you have an outlet available on the court.

I scored the Erne higher here because its smartphone app is easier to use. I had to get the Titan team to send me a tutorial on how to access the customization features. The drill names aren't always obvious, and scrolling through the sequences can be a chore.

The Erne is more seamless. Besides figuring out how to toggle through sub-drills (you have to click on a drill first), I didn't have any issues navigating the app and selecting all the drills I wanted.

While both machines are easy to set up (the Titan ACE actually requires no setup as it comes pre-assembled), the app on the Erne is slightly better.

When it comes to customizing each ball in a preset sequence – choosing the height, direction, feed, spin, and speed you want – the Titan ACE scores a slight win for me because my Erne didn't have this feature yet. They have since introduced it on the latest models.

For that reason, I can't comment on how good the newer models are when it comes to shot customization but I have no reason to believe Erne won't be going up to a 9.5 or 10 here. I'm excited to see how it plays.

With the Titan ACE, one small gripe is that I wish I could build it from scratch. You can only customize each shot in one of the preset drills, so it's not fully customizable.

Besides that, the Erne is still very customizable. You can choose 28 ball positions on the court and sequence any way you like. With new models, I'm confident the Erne has caught up with the Titan ACE overall.

The Erne is such good value for money. It's a high-tech machine that's cheaper than other big names like the Spinshot and the SIMON X.

Titan made a bold decision pricing their machine higher. I like the confidence of that, because they clearly knew the Erne was their biggest rival. Maybe they're counting on the Erne being regularly out of stock, so they can afford to price it higher and people will pay it. Or maybe they feel they warrant it by offering something new from a more compact machine.

Overall, you can save a lot of money by getting the Erne. If you're going with the Titan ACE, a $300 bump isn't the worst when you're getting a long-term investment in your game.

The Erne is overall a better machine, and surprisingly costs less too. If it's in stock, and you don't mind its heavier weight and bigger size, it's great value at $1,899.

If you want a smaller machine, or the Erne is on backorder, the Titan ACE is a worthy alternative for any serious player if you have that extra $300 to spend.

If neither of these paddles feels like they're right for you, check out some of my other top picks below:

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