Subsurface vs Diveplanner Tec & Rec
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Subsurface
This application allows divers to manage their dive logs on their mobile devices. It supports editing dive data and downloading new information from compatible dive computers. Optional cloud synchronization is available for seamless data transfer with desktop versions.
- Mobile dive log management
- Edit dive data
- Download from Bluetooth LE dive computers
- Optional cloud synchronization
- Open-source and free
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Subsurface-mobile is an iOS dive log application based on Subsurface, the best free open source dive log application available on Windows, Mac and Linux. Subsurface-mobile allows you to access your dive log on your tablet or phone, edit the data and even download new dive information from many Bluetooth LE enabled dive computers. Using a free Subsurface Cloud Storage account you can synchronize your dive data with the Subsurface desktop application (while significantly increasing the usefulness, the cloud account is not required to use Subsurface-mobile). To get support from the developers, please use the in-app menu entry "Ask for support" Please check out the Subsurface-mobile user manual: https://subsurface-divelog.org/documentation/subsurface-mobile-v3-user-manual (also available from within the app) Subsurface-mobile is free and open source. No ads, no commercial anything. And it comes with free cloud storage (if you decide to use that - it's optional). Your data aren't used for anything, nothing gets monetized.
Diveplanner Tec & Rec
Plan technical and recreational scuba dives with detailed gas management, decompression schedules, and contingency planning. This tool helps divers quickly create and share dive plans for various depths and conditions.
- Technical and recreational dive planning
- Multi-gas and CCR dive schedules
- Bühlmann decompression model (ZH16L-C)
- Automatic contingency plans
- Gas requirement and weight calculation
- Dive table generation
- Metric and Imperial units
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Plan your technical or recreational dives in seconds on your iPhone, iPad and Mac ! Diveplanner is a full featured planner for technical and recreational scuba diving. It features various modules to quickly plan one or multiple dives including gas contingency and oxygen toxicity. Diveplanner was designed as a safe and reliable tool for divers. It helps plan technical and recreational dives quickly and easily and to share the schedule instantly with your dive buddy. Dive planning module: • Open Circuit / CCR, multi gas, decompression dive schedules up to 300 m/985 ft deep in fresh water or saltwater (including EN13319) at sea level or altitude • Uses Bühlmann decompression model ZH16L-C with user selectable gradient factors as conservatism • Multi level dive instructions • Full automatic gas switch (from the list of selected gas for the dive) or manual gas switch or a mix of both • Full automatic contingency plans computation (lost decompression or travel gas) and ++ (too long/too deep) plans • Automatic bailout plan computation in CCR mode • Various information, caution or warnings for deep END, high or low PPO2, Setpoint, ICD, vestibular DCS due to ICD on gas switch • Computation of gas requirement and gas weight • Account for up to 6 consecutive dives with surface interval to account for residual saturation at start of the current dive • Works in Metric or Imperial units Dive table module: • Open Circuit / CCR, multi gas decompression dive table up to 66 m/210 ft deep and 60 min bottom time, in freshwater or saltwater (including EN13319) at sea level or altitude • Uses Bühlmann decompression model ZH16L-C with user selectable gradient factors as conservatism • Account for up to 6 consecutive dives with surface interval to account for residual saturation while computing the dive table • Works in Metric or Imperial units • Translated in English, French and German
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Subsurface at 63% against Diveplanner Tec & Rec's 20%. Subsurface also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.1) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Diveplanner Tec & Rec's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Diveplanner Tec & Rec sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Subsurface asks for nothing beyond the download.
Subsurface holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Subsurface has 48 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Subsurface's written reviews are positive against 20% of Diveplanner Tec & Rec's.
Subsurface ships an update every 2 months, Diveplanner Tec & Rec every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and August 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Subsurface | Diveplanner Tec & Rec |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (48 ratings) — better | 3.1 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 63.3% of reviews — better | 20.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 48 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dirk Hohndel | Sensetrails LLC |
Customer experience
Subsurface
Diveplanner Tec & Rec
In-app purchases
Subsurface
No in-app purchases
Diveplanner Tec & Rec
- Two weeks free trialFree
- Tec Basic$7.99
- Tec Advanced$19.99
Questions
Is Subsurface free?
Is Diveplanner Tec & Rec free?
Which has better reviews, Subsurface or Diveplanner Tec & Rec?
Do Subsurface or Diveplanner Tec & Rec have ads?
Which is updated more often, Subsurface or Diveplanner Tec & Rec?
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