Windy.com vs WaveForm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Windy.com
This app offers advanced weather forecasting with over 50 detailed maps and 15 weather models, including live radar, satellite imagery, and hurricane tracking. It provides customizable alerts for storms, wind, and snow, making it ideal for outdoor activities and aviation.
- Live weather radar & satellite
- Over 50 weather maps
- 15+ weather models
- Hurricane tracker
- Customizable weather alerts
- Aviation-specific forecasts
- Air quality index
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A UNIQUE WEATHER FORECAST VISUALISATION While most weather forecasting apps rely solely on free global models, Windy has gone a step further by investing heavily in the most accurate weather models available, always at the highest possible resolution, to deliver you the most accurate forecasts in the world. LIVE WEATHER APP - WEATHER RADAR & SATELLITE (Now with Precipitation Type & Lightning tracker) Radar is a highly valued tool for weather forecasting. To provide you with the most accurate radar imagery, we constantly expand our resources so that rain, snow, and storms don't catch you by surprise. Trusted radar sources include NOAA, Met Office, Météo France, DWD, JMA, IMD, BoM & more. The global satellite composite is created from NOAA, EUMETSAT & Himawari data. MORE THAN 50 WEATHER MAPS - Rain radar, Satellite and a unique combined layer of Radar & Satellite images (blue, infrared, visible) - Hurricane tracker, Weather warnings & Extreme forecast - Wind forecast: Wind speed, Wind gusts & Accumulation, models comparison, data from live Weather stations - Temperature: Humidity, Pressure, Dew point, live data from Weather stations - Rain: Thunder & storms, Rain accumulation, Thunderstorms, Precipitation type, CAPE-index - Aviation: Clouds, Cloud tops, Cloud base, Visibility (LIFR, IFR, MVFR, VFR), Fog, Icing, Clear air turbulence, Thermals, Freezing altitude - Marine Forecast: Waves, Swell, Wave power, Tide forecast, Currents, Sea temperature - Solar activity: Solar power, UV index, Wet-bulb temperature - Snow: Snow depth, New snow, Snow density - Air Quality: Air Quality Index (AQI) with Pollen (CAMS), NO2, PM 2.5, Aerosol, SO2, Ozone layer, Surface ozone, CO concentration, Dust mass - Soil moisture, Moisture anomaly, Drought intensity, Fire Danger, Fuel moisture MORE THAN 15 WEATHER MODELS Global weather models: - meteoblue - AI forecast - ECMWF - GFS by NOAA - ICON by DWD Local weather models: - HRRR by NOAA - NAM by NOAA - HRDPS by MSC - ICON-EU by DWD - ICON-D2 by DWD - UKV by Met Office - AROME-HD by Météo France - ALADIN by CHMI - NEMS by meteoblue - MSM by JMA - ACCESS-C by BoM LIVE RAIN, STORM ALERTS & CUSTOM WEATHER ALERTS Want to know before the storm hits near you while you hike, bike or spend time outdoors? You can now access live weather alerts or set up your custom weather alert for wind, sunshine, or new snow. HURRICANE TRACKER FOR STORM TRACKING With Windy's hurricane tracker, you can track the past and projected path of a hurricane or a storm. Windy doesn't rely on just one hurricane model, but will give you all the forecasts available for a storm or hurricane. WINDY MADE FOR PILOTS - 16 altitude levels from the surface to 13.5km/FL450 - 50k+ Airports searchable by ICAO and IATA, including runway info, decoded & raw METAR, TAF & NOTAMs - Detailed Airgram and Meteogram: temperature and dew point, wind speed and wind gusts, pressure, precipitation, altitude cloud cover, freezing altitude - Thermals forecast - Route planner WINDY MADE FOR OUTDOOR SPORTS, SURF & BOATING - 67K+ global webcams - Summer & winter outdoor topographic maps by Mapy.com - 4.5K+ Surfing spots - 12.1K+ Paragliding spots - 4.3K+ Kiting spots - Boating tide forecast - Sun & Moon tracker - Plugins with buoy data WINDY AS A WEATHER WIDGET ON YOUR DEVICE Get the weather now on your iPhone, MacOS, iPad, CarPlay & Apple Watch, from forecast, Radar, METAR, Weather stations & Wind, ready for your travels and outdoor sports. WINDY PREMIUM — FORECAST LIKE A PRO - 1-hour & 15-day outlook with 4–6× daily updates - Radar/Satellite 24h loops & 1-year archives - More maps (Tide Forecast) - Model comparison to find the best model Terms of Use: https://account.windy.com/agreements/windy-terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://account.windy.com/agreements/windy-privacy-policy GET IN TOUCH Join us on social media or at community.windy.com to discuss weather-related topics, report bugs, or suggest a new feature. Contact us directly at info@windy.com.
WaveForm
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WaveForm is a surf forecast you read like a map, not a spreadsheet. The whole California coast, Point Arena to the border, is one living canvas. Every spot draws its own waves from real bathymetry: where the sets stand up, how far the paddle-out is, whether it peels or closes out. Drag the time capsule and the day plays through, tide and all. Tap a spot for its numbers, its swell window, its hourly chart. Pull back and the coast becomes the Pacific. Storms are tracked from real pressure fields, and their swell fronts cross the ocean toward the beaches they will actually reach. Tap open water to read the swell there. Built on measured data, never made-up numbers. Swell partitions and wind come from the Open-Meteo Marine and weather models, tides from NOAA, and offshore buoys anchor the numbers where they measure something different from the model. Every forecast is per spot, read at that beach's own offshore water. When data is missing or stale, the map says so. What it does today • SoCal, Central and Northern California in one continuous map, plus Hawaii • Hour-by-hour swell, wind in each beach's frame, and tide, three days back and seven ahead • A per-spot swell window that shows which directions each break actually takes • Storm tracking and swell fronts at the globe view • Your own spots, pinned where you surf them, and a journal to log sessions Free, no ads, no tracking. Your account holds your spots and journal, nothing else.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: WaveForm at none against Windy.com's 10. Windy.com's advantage is chart position (#4 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. Windy.com sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. WaveForm asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Windy.com | WaveForm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (80K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 89.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 80K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #4 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Windyty, SE | Nicholas Ernest Bilotto |
Bugs and requests
Windy.com
Reported bugs
3 issues- Map dragging issues on newer iPhone models
- Inconsistent temperature display units
- Premium features not always working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Add weather front data on isobar charts
- Improve font size and layout for better readability
- Provide option to hide webcams or certain layers
- Implement weather warning notifications
- Add support for Apple Watch and other wearables
WaveForm
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Windy.com
- Donate 3 EUR/USD a month$2.991 Month
- Windy Premium$2.991 Month
- Donate 6 EUR/USD a month$5.491 Month
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- Windy Premium2 variants$24.991 Year
- Donate approx 5 EUR/USD$4.99
- Donate approx 10 EUR/USD$9.99
- Donate approx 20 EUR/USD$19.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Windy Premium$29.99
- Donate approx 50 EUR/USD$49.99
WaveForm
No in-app purchases








