Pickleball is cheaper and quicker to learn: a small open court, an underhand serve and a plastic ball, often ₹100 to ₹325 per player for an hour of doubles in Delhi NCR. Padel costs more, roughly ₹75 to ₹1,000 per player depending on the city and club, but its glass walls give longer rallies, and many FindYourFit players play both.
Padel and pickleball arrived in Indian cities at about the same time, and now they share venues, booking apps and a lot of the same players. If you're choosing one to start, the honest answer depends on your city, your budget and what kind of game you enjoy. Here's the comparison, with real prices.
Padel was invented in Mexico in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera, who merged elements of tennis and squash, and is most popular today in Spain and Latin America. Pickleball was invented in 1965 in the United States by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, mixing badminton, tennis and table tennis, and spread fastest across North America before reaching India in 2006.
A typical social match also runs longer in padel (about 60 to 90 minutes) than in pickleball (about 15 to 25 minutes), since pickleball rallies and games are both shorter.
| Pickleball | Padel | |
|---|---|---|
| Court | 20 × 44 ft, open | 10 × 20 m, enclosed by glass and metal mesh |
| Walls | None | In play after the ball bounces |
| Equipment | Flat paddle, plastic ball with holes | Solid perforated racket, low-pressure ball |
| Serve | Underhand, diagonal, struck out of the air (or a drop serve) | Underhand, after a bounce, at or below the waist |
| Scoring | To 11, win by 2 (side-out or rally scoring) | Tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game; sets to 6 |
| Format | Singles or doubles | Doubles (almost always) |
| Key rule | No volleys from the kitchen (7 ft by the net) | Ball must bounce before touching the opponents' walls |
| Learning curve | Rallies in the first session | A few sessions to master the walls |
| Building cost | Low | About ₹15-25 lakh per court |
Per-player figures assume doubles (four players splitting one court). App prices are starting prices for a slot and can be lower than the final price, especially at peak times.
| City | Pickleball (court per hour) | Pickleball per player | Padel (court per hour) | Padel per player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi NCR | ₹400 - ₹1,300 (LBB) | ₹100 - ₹325 | Gurgaon listings from ₹300 - ₹1,500; Padel Rushh ₹700 (Hudle, LBB) | ₹75 - ₹375 |
| Mumbai | Varies; check Hudle and District | ₹1,250 - ₹3,000 at 7Padel; up to ₹4,000 at Padel 360 (Time Out) | ₹310 - ₹1,000 | |
| Bangalore | Listings from ₹100 - ₹750 (Hudle) | ₹25 - ₹190 | Listings from ₹250 - ₹1,500 (Hudle) | ₹60 - ₹375 |
| Jaipur | ₹800 at Play All, Orbit Mall (Pickleheads) | ₹200 | Play Padel, Clarks Amer: contact the venue |
The pattern holds in every city: pickleball is the cheaper hour, and the gap is biggest in Mumbai.
Pickleball wins day one. The court is small, the ball is slow and the underhand serve is simple. Most beginners rally within minutes. The tricky part is the kitchen rule and the two-bounce rule, which our doubles rules guide explains.
Padel catches up by week three. The walls feel strange at first: you have to let the ball come off the glass instead of hitting it early. Once that clicks, padel is forgiving. Balls you'd lose in tennis or pickleball come back off the wall, so points last longer. Our padel rules for beginners covers the walls.
| Choose pickleball if… | Choose padel if… |
|---|---|
| You want the cheapest way to play a racket sport regularly | You enjoy longer rallies and a bit of tactics |
| You want to play singles sometimes | You always have (or want) a regular four |
| There are courts within 10 minutes of you | There's a padel club near work or home |
| You're in Jaipur or Bangalore, where courts are plentiful and cheap | You're in Mumbai or Gurgaon, where padel courts are everywhere |
| You want something easy for family and friends of all ages | You played tennis or squash before |
The skills carry over: soft hands, quick reactions at the net and doubles positioning. Many FindYourFit players play both, and FindYourFit Sports runs pickleball and padel at the same venue on the same evening, on the same ticket, so you can try one and switch while your arm recovers.
FindYourFit runs pickleball and padel in five cities. Upcoming tournaments and league nights are on each city page: Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Jaipur, and on FindYourFit Sports. For the full picture of each sport, read Padel in India 2026 and Pickleball in India 2026.
Sources: LBB Delhi, pickleball courts; Time Out Mumbai, padel clubs (Aug 2026); Hudle: Gurgaon padel, Bengaluru padel, Bengaluru pickleball; Pickleheads: Play All, Orbit Mall; The Playbook (court build cost).
Padel is played on an enclosed 10 × 20 m court where the glass walls stay in play, with a solid racket and a low-pressure ball, almost always as doubles. Pickleball is played on an open 20 × 44 ft court with a flat paddle and a plastic ball with holes, as singles or doubles.
Pickleball is usually easier on day one: the court is small and the plastic ball is slow. Padel's walls take a few sessions to get used to, but once they click, rallies last longer.
Yes. A padel court costs much more to build, so hourly rates are higher. In Delhi NCR, pickleball doubles often costs ₹100 to ₹325 per player an hour, while padel in Mumbai can run ₹300 to ₹1,000 per player.
Yes. The skills overlap (soft hands, net play, doubles positioning), and FindYourFit Sports runs both sports at the same venues on the same evening.
Both are good cardio. Padel rallies tend to be longer and involve more running and overhead shots; pickleball has more quick reactions at the net.
If courts are close and cheap, start with pickleball. If you have a padel court nearby and three friends, padel is worth it. In Jaipur, where FindYourFit has run the most pickleball events, pickleball is the easier entry.