Comparison

MountaiNow vs Upwind

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MountaiNow

This app provides a crowd-sourced live map of mountain conditions, offering real-time updates on hazards, condition levels, and photos from other users. It aims to enhance safety for mountain sports enthusiasts by sharing critical, up-to-the-minute information.

Highlights
  • Live crowd-sourced mountain map
  • Real-time hazard reporting
  • Condition level indicators (red-orange-green)
  • Geolocalized warnings and photos
  • Global coverage
  • Free to use
Features
Read full description

A next-generation map to share the latest mountain conditions on your mobile, any day of the year - this is what MountaiNow offers you for free! MOUNTAINS ARE CHANGING... HOW TO COMBINE FUN AND SAFETY? Over 400 people died playing mountain sports in 2015 in Italy and Switzerland alone, and over 6,500 ended up in a situation of distress requiring mountain rescue. Crevasses are opening, rocks are falling, and snow is becoming scarcer and scarcer. Do you love going to the mountains? How do you deal with risk, and the major complication that climate change brings in? A "LIVE MAP" OF MOUNTAIN CONDITIONS FOR FREE - AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER Imagine… Thousands of people sharing what they see in the mountains – via their smartphones in a few seconds – for everyone’s safety. Then, a “live map” compiling this crowd-sourced data to give you the latest conditions instantly, including condition levels (red-orange-green), and geolocalized hazard types (e.g. rock falls, slippery terrain), photos and warnings. Operational every day of the year, anywhere in the world, and available to you for free on your iPhone or iPad. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Upwind

Features
Read full description

Upwind is a sailing tracker for Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad: live speed, course and manoeuvres, and every outing recorded with a speed-colored track. Free, with no accounts and no ads. INSTRUMENTS - SOG (speed over ground) in knots, big and readable at a glance - COG (course over ground) written on a compass ribbon - Six live values: COG, distance, average, MAX 10s, manoeuvres and peak - MAX 10s: the best 10-second average, so a wave or a GPS glitch can't inflate it - Tacks and gybes counted while you sail - Speed chart of the whole outing, with time and speed axes - Instruments or Map view on iPhone, portrait and landscape; iPad shows everything on one screen - iPhone Duo support - Automatic night mode: red instruments after sunset to preserve night vision LOCK SCREEN AND DYNAMIC ISLAND While recording on iPhone, speed and course stay on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with time, distance and the last 10 minutes of speed. Keep the phone locked: the track keeps recording. RECORDING - Explicit Rec button: recording never starts on its own - Speed-colored track, from cyan (slow) to coral (fast), scaled to your session - Recording keeps going in light air and at anchor with the screen off - Sessions saved to Health as Sailing workouts with their route (with your permission) WATCH, IPHONE OR BOTH - Apple Watch records standalone with its own GPS: big speed, compass with your course, live manoeuvres - iPhone and iPad are full trackers too, with live map and instruments - Sessions sync automatically between your devices through iCloud AFTER THE SAIL - Each session shows distance, duration, average, MAX 10s, manoeuvres and peak - Tacks and gybes marked on the map: tap one and the chart jumps to that moment - Scrub through the speed chart: speed, time and position at any moment - Standard or satellite map - Share sessions via AirDrop, export GPX, import GPX from other apps - Nautical coordinates (degrees and decimal minutes) - A Glossary explains every abbreviation and how values are worked out PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no developer servers, no ads, no analytics. Your data stays on your devices and in your private iCloud. TIPS - For sessions longer than a couple of hours, record with an iPhone or iPad connected to onboard power - On iPad, GPS requires a Wi-Fi + Cellular model Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

MountaiNow4 screens
Upwind4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: MountaiNow at 12.4 against Upwind's 18.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MountaiNow ships an update every 2 months, Upwind every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
MountaiNow versus Upwind: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMountaiNowUpwind
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS12.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size362 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOne Earth sarlVincenzo Risi

In-app purchases

None

MountaiNow

No in-app purchases

None

Upwind

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MountaiNow free?
MountaiNow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Upwind free?
Upwind is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do MountaiNow or Upwind have ads?
Neither MountaiNow nor Upwind shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MountaiNow or Upwind?
MountaiNow ships an update every 2 months, and Upwind every 3 months. Most recently, MountaiNow was updated on November 2, 2026 and Upwind on October 31, 2026.

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