If you are new to darts or just getting started and looking for the right equipment, it can be difficult to know which brands are reputable and also which brands are the best. “Best” is a subjective phrase as everyone will have their own opinions but in this article, we’ll cover what we believe to be the best dart brands on the market.
In terms of criteria for making it onto this list, we have a few factors that we take into consideration:
- Reputation – How old is the company and how well known are they in the darting world
- Product Range – What products do they manufacture and how good is the quality
- Player Preference – What players use their products and are they sponsoring players
- Finances – Does the brand sponsor competitions and players and can they invest in product innovation
This criteria means we’ve been able to compile a solid list of the best dart brands. If you choose products from any of these brands, you can be confident that you’ll be getting a good quality product from a well-established company.
Table of Contents
Best Dart Brands
The best dart brands are:
- Winmau
- Target
- Unicorn
- Viper
- Cuesoul
- Harrows
- Arachnid
- Nodor
- Red Dragon Darts
- Bottlesen
- Shot Darts
Below, we’ll cover these brands in more detail letting you know what products they specialize in, where they are based for ease of ordering, and also how reputable of a brand they are – a company that can afford to sponsor major championships will also have a significant budget available to produce the best products and darts technology…
1. Winmanu
Without a doubt, the leading global brand in darts, sponsoring none other than Michael Van Gerwyn as well as other top players.
They sponsor many tournaments worldwide and have just announced a 3-year deal to sponsor the WDF World Darts Championship at the LakesideCountry Club.
The company is based in Bridgend South Wales and produces the blade dartboard, one of the finest around due to its handbuilt 5 Dual Core technically advanced system, as well as producing military-grade tungsten darts with distinctive designs and always at the front for innovation and standard.
They are without doubt the most universally recognized brand in the dart world, pronounced Winmore, if you know your darts you will know their name.
This is one of the dart brands of choice at Decent Darts, we have a Winmau SFB Dartboard, a Winmau Dartboard Surround (check out the review here), and a Winmau Laser Throw Line.
Check out the official site for Winmau here.
2. Target
Launched in 2006, Target has built quite a reputation for producing exceptional darts and sponsors the World Champion Rob Cross as well as other world-leading players, like Nathan Aspinall, Steve Bunting, and Raymond Van Barneveld.
The company which is based in Essex (UK) has just announced a global advertising campaign which will air on Sky Sports, the home of Darts, as well as BT Sports and the Discovery Channel.
The company is obsessed with its pursuit of perfection and although a small company their popularity is recognized, especially in the growing Asian market, and the fact that Phil “The Power” Taylor wore their Target logo is a testament to their place in darts hierarchy.
Check out the official site for Target here.
3. Unicorn
With over 80 years of experience, this brand will be known to every darts player and those who watch it due to the fact that every dart ever thrown at The World Championship live on Sky or terrestrial tv, will be on their Eclipse range dartboards.
They sponsor Gary Anderson, Michael Smith, James Wade as well as many other leading lights in the game and up and coming players on the PDC circuit. The company operates out of Nottingham (UK) and supplies specialist darts and accessories using their innovation and experience to enhance their players and also are a major supplier to other sports such as Cricket and Snooker.
Unicorn provides everything you’d need when getting started in darts or advancing to a more elite level. Dartboards, steel tip, soft tip, shafts, throw lines, and even dartboard lighting systems.
Check out the official site for Unicorn here.
4. Viper
Viper darts are owned and distributed by GLD products based in the US.
This company is well renowned for selling soft-tipped darts for Electronic boards and this is typically what you’d consider to be their specialty, their Viper Astro 80% Tungsten as an example is regarded among the best darts in its class.
This is an ideal dart brand for beginners without much budget to spend. They have all the beginner equipment needs whilst also being readily available from a range of suppliers including Amazon for global shipping.
Check out the official site for Viper here.
5. Cuesoul
The motto of Cuesoul is ‘Be unique, be awesome’ which would give the impression this company is highly regarded in darts terms, though in reality, they offer more of an entry-level dart. Though they have upped their game to produce more expensive and higher grade tungsten darts.
The company is based in the USA, where it manufactures products for darts, billiards, and snooker.
Their accessories in the darts markets are what stand out the most to players and include a unique spring on the dart shaft/stems which rotates the flights to avoid collision when grouping together which are on the AK Tero Flight System.
These shafts are so impressive that they even make it onto our recommendation list for the best dart shafts – a clear indication of their quality.
Check out the official site for Cuesoul here.
6. Harrows
Founded in 1973 in Enfield London, Harrows prides itself on its roots in the game. Indeed, it gained much credence when it teamed up with The Crafty Cockney himself, Eric Bristow, in 1985.
This gave Harrows a world global stage to become recognized as a brand. Though it was always firmly rooted in the traditional darts world, Harrows have since also accepted the changing world of darts and now is active in producing soft-tipped darts and sponsoring tournaments in the far east, The Harrows Cup.
The most famous player it sponsors on the PDC tour is Dave Chisnall, though its far eastern involvement has introduced players from that area onto a global stage. Their products are distributed all over the world.
Check out the official site for Harrows here.
7. Arachnid
Formed in 1975 in the USA by Rudy Allison, who whilst on his travels to Ireland discovered the game of darts and subsequently with the development of machinery, would develop via differing personnel along the way today’s amazing Arachnid state of the art boards which offer exciting technology and visuals to the darts world.
They specialize in providing darts and accessories for their boards and are without doubt the most respected brand when talking about electronic dartboards and soft-tipped darts based gaming. Their products are extremely popular with younger players who, as the first experience into darts, enjoy the ease of use as well as the variations of games and the fact that it can involve multiple players.
Check out the official site for Arachnid here.
8. Nodor
This company founded in 1923 was one of the very first to manufacture dartboards using clay after moving on from wood. However this wasn’t a great success but they went on to manufacture the bristle dartboard and after relocating to Kenya (home to the best sisal) which is the key ingredient for bristle, now produces the finest bristle boards.
It then moved on to making darts and acquired the firm Winmau though the brands still operate on their own terms, with the darts made at the factory in Bridgend and the boards still made abroad in Kenya. Nodor International consists of Winmau, Red Dragon, and itself, all using its base in South Wales to make tailor-made darts for the world’s best players.
Check out the official site for Nodor here.
9. Red Dragon Darts
Probably the fastest growing brand in darts at the moment. With back-to-back wins in the World Championship, this company was founded in 1975 by two lovers of the game with an engineering background, to produce the very finest Tungsten darts on the market.
Judging by the players who use them such as Gerwyn Price (without doubt the leading player in World Darts today), Johnny Clayton, and Peter Wright, then their dedication to producing the best darts is obviously working in a big way.
The company based in Bridgend in South Wales boasts its own built-in darts facility in order to stay at the very top, delivering products to over 100 countries and selling millions of sets of its tungsten darts and making sure it appreciates the differing needs of its players to individualize its product.
If you need tungsten darts, Red Dragon darts are high on the priority list and just to back up this statement, the below picture shows my set of darts which have the RD logo attached – just to demonstrate how highly we rate them!
Check out the official site for Red Dragon Darts here.
10. Bottlesen
This company was formed in 1975 in the USA by Walt Bottlesen, who after competing in an exhibition match against the world champion Alan Evans (you may have heard of an Alan Evans phrase in darts), bounced 3 darts out of the board which cost him the match and so he was inspired to overcome this and invent the HammerHead no bounce dart.
This is designed to not bounce out and Bottlesen now uses precision and innovative technology to produce world-class darts.
Now a household name, their darts are held in high esteem and at the more expensive end of the market, and like a lot of companies, they have moved onto the emerging Soft tipped darts game by producing high-quality soft-tipped darts.
Check out the official site for Bottlesen here.
11. Shot Darts
The Shot Darts company has been in business for 50 years, starting in Auckland in 1970.
Initially as a dartboard maker before moving its base and developing its darts. It used emerging technology to produce exceptionally high-quality darts in its Katikati workshop in New Zealand, where every barrel is 100% designed and made for the world’s best players including Michael Van Gerwyn amongst others.
It likes to use color to invigorate its designs and has now become a respected brand in the darts world. They are typically found on Amazon to reach a larger market and their base makes it ideal for the growth of the game in Australasia and the far east and increase brand popularity.
Check out the official site for Shot Darts here.
Final Thoughts
This is not an exhaustive list when it comes to dart brands – though it is quite long – and there are definitely some smaller and niche dart brands that are worth considering but haven’t made this list.
To not sit on the fence, we do have some recommendations for preferred suppliers which are due to product quality and reputation. In our opinion, Winmau, Target, and Red Dragon are among the best dart brands and provide a solid option for all playing levels and darting requirements.
Their equipment is not only a professional standard but are in fact used by professionals and are also used at tournaments which are as good as a testament you will get to product quality!
