Comparison

Windy.com vs SwellSense

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Live weather radar & satellite
  • Over 50 weather maps
  • 15+ weather models
  • Hurricane tracker
  • Customizable weather alerts
  • Aviation-specific forecasts
  • Air quality index
Features
Read full description

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.

About

SwellSense

Features
Read full description

SwellSense - AI-powered surf forecasts Surf forecasts are broken. Buoys say 5ft, you show up to 3ft slop. SwellSense fixes this by letting surfers teach the AI what conditions actually look like at their break. THE PROBLEM Buoy readings don't account for what happens between open ocean and the shoreline - reefs, headlands, and local wind patterns all change the surf. That's why forecasts are wrong so often. THE FIX: YOU After every session, tell SwellSense what it actually looked like - wave height, power, consistency, wind. The AI compares your report to what it predicted, learns the gap, and adjusts future forecasts for that spot. The more you and your local crew report, the more dialled-in your forecast becomes. Every session makes it smarter. HOW IT WORKS • Check the AI-adjusted forecast for your spot • Go surf • Report actual conditions in seconds • Watch your local forecast accuracy improve over time FEATURES • Forecasts that learn from real surfer feedback • Wave height, power, period, consistency, wind & tide • 3-day hourly forecasts • Save your local breaks • Community-powered accuracy - the more reports, the better it gets

Screenshots

Windy.com4 screens
SwellSense4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SwellSense at none against Windy.com's 10. Windy.com's advantage is chart position (#3 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support 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. Windy.com sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. SwellSense asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Windy.com versus SwellSense: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWindy.comSwellSense
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (80K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews89.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings80K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#3 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWindyty, SEJames Kennedy Dunwoodie-Rowley

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

SwellSense

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Windy.com

Subscriptions4
  • Donate 3 EUR/USD a month$2.991 Month
  • Windy Premium$2.991 Month
  • Donate 6 EUR/USD a month$5.491 Month
Show 1 more
  • Windy Premium2 variants$24.991 Year
One-time5
  • Donate approx 5 EUR/USD$4.99
  • Donate approx 10 EUR/USD$9.99
  • Donate approx 20 EUR/USD$19.99
Show 2 more
  • Windy Premium$29.99
  • Donate approx 50 EUR/USD$49.99
None

SwellSense

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Windy.com free?
Windy.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SwellSense free?
SwellSense is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Windy.com or SwellSense have ads?
Neither Windy.com nor SwellSense shows ads.

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