Comparison

Helmsman's Kit vs Marine Compass Pro

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

Head to head
About

Helmsman's Kit

This navigation app provides essential yacht cockpit features, including a spherical compass, man-over-board alerts, and anchor watch. It offers offline charts, weather overlays, and marine instrument displays for a comprehensive sailing experience.

Highlights
  • Spherical compass display
  • Man-over-board button with direction/distance
  • Anchor watch with forwarding
  • Offline chart caching
  • Weather overlay (wind, waves, temp, pressure)
  • Marine instruments display (position, heading, speed)
  • Track export in GPX format
Features
Read full description

This app combines the essential features you need in the cockpit of your yacht, optimized for easy and fast usage. β€’ Display of a spherical compass as you are used to. β€’ Man-over-board button, display direction/distance with compass. β€’ Anchor watch with forwarding to a second device. β€’ Bearing compass. β€’ Charts with sea signs. β€’ Offline charts by caching of all chart access. β€’ Weather overlay: wind, waves, temperature, pressure. β€’ Tracking optimized for boats. β€’ Full access to and export of the tracks in standard format (GPX). β€’ Post images of your tracks on social media. β€’ Marine instruments display with the standard values: Position, Heading, Speed over ground, Course over Ground, Heel, Log, Average speed, Time. No account or registration required, even not for forwarding the anchor watch alarm to a second iPhone or iPad!

About

Marine Compass Pro

Features
Read full description

Navigate with confidence β€” and stay safe β€” with Marine Compass Pro, the all-in-one tool for boaters and sailors. Real-time heading, speed and position. One-tap save for any spot you want to remember. A background anchor watch that wakes your phone if you drift. Marine weather. All in your language, wherever you sail. Whether you're crossing the Baltic, dropping anchor in a quiet cove, or learning the ropes on a weekend trip, Marine Compass Pro keeps the essentials front and center. KEY FEATURES PRECISE COMPASS True or magnetic heading, with optional Course-Up rotation so your direction of travel is always at the top of the dial. Smooth, sensor-fused readings you can trust. SAVED POINTS OF INTEREST Name a spot on save β€” or enable Quick Save and skip the prompt for true one-tap capture. See live distance and bearing from your current position to every saved point. Tap Navigate to make any point the active waypoint and the compass guides you straight to it. ANCHOR WATCH Drop anchor in the app, pick your drift radius (15, 30, 50 or 100 m), and your phone wakes you with a notification if you slip outside it. Keeps monitoring in the background with the screen locked. MAN OVERBOARD (MOB) One tap saves your current position with a red flag and instantly makes it your active waypoint, so the compass guides you back to the mark. MARINE WEATHER Current wind speed and direction in knots, gusts, wave height and period, plus sea-level data for your exact position. SUN AND MOON Sunrise, sunset, solar noon and moon phase for your current location. Handles polar night and midnight sun. TRIP STATS Average and maximum speed for the current session β€” handy for log entries when you get back to shore. SHARE AND EXPORT Share any saved spot via the system share sheet, or export every point as a GPX file you can import into Navionics, Aqua Map, your chartplotter or any other navigation app. SUNSET REMINDER Optional notification 1 hour and 15 minutes before sunset, so you're never caught out in the dark on the way back. CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING - Light, Dark or System theme - Heading in degrees or mils - Compass mode: magnetometer (magnetic) or sensor fusion (true north) - Smoothing: Low, Medium or High - COG update interval: 1, 5 or 10 seconds - Independent on/off toggles for each notification type - Show or hide any home-screen readout - Haptic feedback control SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE Fully localized in English, Swedish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Arabic. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your location is used only to power the compass and the optional anchor watch. We never sell it, never share it with third parties, and there are no ads. No account required. Perfect for boaters, sailors, kayakers, paddleboarders, fishermen, and anyone who wants to know exactly where they are on the water. This app uses Apple's standard Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Helmsman's Kit4 screens
Marine Compass Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Marine Compass Pro at Free against Helmsman's Kit's $1.99. Marine Compass Pro also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months). Helmsman's Kit's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Marine Compass Pro is free to download; Helmsman's Kit costs $1.99 up front. Marine Compass Pro sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Helmsman's Kit asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Helmsman's Kit ships an update every 7 months, Marine Compass Pro every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 4 level
Helmsman's Kit versus Marine Compass Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelmsman's KitMarine Compass Pro
Price$1.99Free β€” better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsβ€”
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 weeks β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
MonetizationPaidβ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 β€” better15.1
Further details β€” not scored
Size5 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDr. Harald MerkelDF Tech Consulting AB

In-app purchases

None

Helmsman's Kit

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Marine Compass Pro

Subscriptions2
  • PRO Monthly$3.991 Month
  • PRO Yearly$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Helmsman's Kit free?
Helmsman's Kit costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Marine Compass Pro free?
Marine Compass Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Helmsman's Kit or Marine Compass Pro have ads?
Neither Helmsman's Kit nor Marine Compass Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Helmsman's Kit or Marine Compass Pro?
Helmsman's Kit ships an update every 7 months, and Marine Compass Pro every 3 weeks. Most recently, Helmsman's Kit was updated on November 11, 2026 and Marine Compass Pro on November 7, 2026.

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