Short answer: 18 gram darts with flexible plastic tips, short aluminum shafts with O-rings, and more spare tips than you think you need. Stay at or under the weight limit printed on your board. Buy three darts per person who plays. That specification covers nearly every electronic board sold for the home in the last ten years. The rest of this guide explains each part, and where a different answer applies.
What makes a soft tip dart "best" for an electronic board?
The board does, because an electronic board is a far more demanding target than a bristle board.
A bristle board is a block of compressed sisal. Anything sharp sticks in it. An electronic board is a grid of thin plastic segments with holes in them and a sensor membrane behind. For a dart to score, the tip has to enter a hole cleanly, push the segment back, and not break or bend doing it. For the board to last, the dart has to do that without hammering the plastic.
So the best soft tip dart is the one that lands cleanly thousands of times without damaging the board or itself. That comes down to four things: weight, tip, shaft, and how many spares you have. Looks come fifth.
What weight soft tip darts should I use on an electronic board?
18 grams, unless your board says otherwise.
Most electronic boards are rated for 18 g or 20 g maximum per dart. The rating is there because a heavier dart hits harder, lands deeper and, over a few thousand throws, wears the segment holes wide until darts start falling out. 18 g sits under the limit of nearly every board, is heavy enough to fly straight without a perfect throw, and is where the largest share of soft tip players end up.
Go to 16 g if you throw hard and fast and find 18 g darts landing high, or if the darts are mainly for kids. Go to 20 g only if your board is rated for it and you already know you like a heavier feel. Heavier does not mean fewer bounce-outs on plastic. It means more wear.
Our Dart Weight Guide covers how weight interacts with your throw, and the rules are the same for soft tip, just with smaller numbers.
What kind of tips do soft tip darts need?
Short, slightly flexible, and plentiful.
The tip is the part of a soft tip dart that does the work and takes the damage. A tip that flexes a little on impact absorbs the hit instead of snapping, and is less likely to jam in a segment hole. A rigid tip snaps more often. A long tip bends. Most tips are around 28 mm and screw into the barrel, which means you replace them rather than the dart.
You will break tips. A casual player goes through one every few weeks, a regular player faster. That is not a defect, it is how the system is designed: the tip is the sacrificial part that protects the board and the dart. So the number of spare tips in the box matters more than almost any other spec. A set with 10 spares runs out in a season. A set with 70 lasts years.
Replace a tip the moment it bends. A bent tip catches segment dividers it would otherwise miss, causes bounce-outs, and registers misses on hits.
Why do the shafts matter on an electronic board?
Because a plastic board vibrates, and vibration loosens threads.
The single most repeated complaint in reviews of soft tip darts is shafts that come loose, sometimes every throw. On a bristle board that is annoying. On an electronic board it is worse, because a loose shaft changes the dart's angle of entry and a dart entering at an angle is a bounce-out.
Two things fix it. A standard 2BA thread, which is the size nearly every dart and shaft uses, so replacements fit. And a rubber O-ring on that thread, which holds the shaft tight through a full session. Short aluminum shafts, around 35 to 40 mm, also help: a shorter lever behind the barrel means a steadier flight and less leverage working the thread loose. If a set does not mention O-rings, assume it does not have them.
How many soft tip darts do I need?
Three per person, and no sharing.
Electronic boards go up in a basement, a garage or a rec room, and the people throwing at them are usually two or three at a time. Three darts means everyone shares one set and walks to the board between turns. A set per player means the game actually flows, which is the whole point of a board that keeps score for you.
A second reason: different people throw different weights and like different grips. A 9-pack with three grip patterns lets three people each find the barrel that feels right in their hand, on the same evening, from the same box.
What should I look for in a soft tip darts set?
Six things, in the order they go wrong.
- A stated weight per dart, at or under your board's limit. If the listing does not say the weight, the maker is not controlling it. Weight consistency across the darts matters more than the number itself.
- Flexible tips and a lot of spares. Thirty is the minimum for a household board. Seventy is comfortable.
- 2BA shaft thread with O-rings. It keeps shafts tight and means spare shafts fit.
- Short aluminum shafts. Steadier flight on a plastic board than long nylon ones, and they do not snap.
- Flights in matching shapes, with spares. Flights tear. A set that ships spares in the same shape keeps the three darts flying the same.
- A warranty with a way to claim it. Darts are simple objects, but barrels crack and threads strip. A stated warranty and a registration process tell you the maker expects the set to last.
A case, a wrench for tightening shafts and pulling broken tips, and a scoring app are useful extras. Count them, but buy on the six above.
What should I avoid with an electronic board?
Steel tip darts. They pierce and crack plastic segments. The damage is permanent. If someone in the house throws steel tip, keep those darts away from the electronic board.
Darts over the weight limit. Even with plastic tips, a 24 g barrel will wear out a board rated for 18 g.
Rigid or long tips. They snap and bend more than short flexible ones, and a bent tip is a bounce-out.
Sets with no spare tips. You will be ordering tips within a month.
Sets with no stated weight. The weight is the one number the board cares about. A maker who does not state it is not measuring it.
We go through the full soft tip versus steel tip comparison in Soft Tip vs Steel Tip Darts.
Which soft tip darts should I buy?
Four honest cases.
An electronic board at home and more than one person throws. A 9-pack in 18 g with three grip patterns, a lot of spare tips, O-ringed shafts and a case, around $30. Everyone gets their own three, and each person finds the grip that suits them. Our best-selling soft tip set, LA Starlight, is built for exactly this: nine 18 g stainless steel darts in three grip patterns, 24 flights, 70 spare tips, and the IgnatGames Companion app for scoring and practice.
Kids, or a fast thrower who finds 18 g landing high. The same set in 16 g. Lighter darts are easier for small hands and safer for the room, and the plastic tips are already the safe choice.
One player who knows their weight and wants a single matched set. A set of three in your exact weight from a specialist maker. Harrows, Target, Red Dragon and Winmau all make tungsten soft tip sets, slimmer in the barrel and priced accordingly. This is the right answer for a bar league player who throws several times a week and already groups tightly.
A bar or club with an electronic board and house darts. The 9-pack again, because the question is not grip or weight, it is how many darts survive a Friday. Spare tips and tight shafts are what keep house darts in service.
The mistake most lists make is answering all four buyers with the third answer.
Do I need a scoring app with an electronic board?
Not for the board itself, which already keeps score. An app is useful for the things the board does not do: practice drills, tracking your averages over weeks, and games the board's menu does not have. Ours, the IgnatGames Companion, is free on the App Store and on Google Play, and it works with any darts, not just ours. If your set comes with a different one, use that. If it does not, your board's own display is enough to play.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best soft tip darts?
For a home electronic board, 18 g darts with flexible plastic tips, 2BA aluminum shafts with O-rings, matching flights, and a large supply of spare tips, bought as a set per player. For a league player who knows their weight, a tungsten soft tip set of three from a specialist maker.
Which darts work best with an electronic dartboard?
Soft tip darts at or under the weight limit printed on the board, usually 18 g or 20 g, with short flexible plastic tips. Steel tip darts damage the segments and should never be used on a plastic electronic board.
Can I use any soft tip darts on any electronic board?
Nearly. The two things to match are the weight limit, printed on the board or in its manual, and a standard tip that fits the segment holes. Almost every soft tip dart sold meets both, as long as you respect the weight.
Why do my soft tip darts keep bouncing out?
Usually a bent tip, a loose shaft, or a dart entering at a shallow angle. Replace bent tips immediately, check that shafts are tight, and throw with a slight upward arc. If bounce-outs are constant regardless, check the board for worn segments.
How many spare tips should come with a set?
As many as possible. Tips are the wear item on a soft tip dart. Thirty covers a household board for a while. Seventy covers it for years.
Are 16 g or 18 g soft tip darts better?
18 g for most adults: heavy enough to fly straight, under the limit of nearly every board. 16 g for kids and for players with a fast, hard throw. The difference between the two feels bigger in soft tip than a 2 g change does in steel tip.
Are tungsten soft tip darts worth it for home use?
Only if you already know your weight and grip and your darts are blocking each other in the board. Otherwise you are paying for a slimmer barrel you cannot yet use, and for one set of three instead of a set for everyone.
Do soft tip darts work on a bristle dartboard?
Poorly. The plastic tip is thicker and blunter than a steel point, so it holds less in sisal and bounces out more. If you have both boards at home, keep a set for each.
IgnatGames makes soft tip darts in 16 to 22 g, including 9-pack sets with three grip patterns, 70 spare tips, 2BA aluminum shafts with O-rings and a scoring app, all under $50 and backed by a 10-year warranty after registration. If you are the league player who wants tungsten, buy the tungsten. This guide holds either way.
