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.
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.
- 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
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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!
Marine Compass Pro
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
| Parameter | Helmsman's Kit | Marine Compass Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free β better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | β |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 3 weeks β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | β |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 β better | 15.1 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dr. Harald Merkel | DF Tech Consulting AB |
In-app purchases
Helmsman's Kit
No in-app purchases
Marine Compass Pro
- PRO Monthly$3.991 Month
- PRO Yearly$12.991 Year
- Lifetime$14.99
Questions
Is Helmsman's Kit free?
Is Marine Compass Pro free?
Do Helmsman's Kit or Marine Compass Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Helmsman's Kit or Marine Compass Pro?
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