Helmsman's Kit vs qth locator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — 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. • Display of a spherical compass as you are used to. • Man-over-board button, display direction/distance with compass. • Anchor watch with forwarding to a second device. • Bearing compass. • Charts with sea signs. • Offline charts by caching of all chart access. • Weather overlay: wind, waves, temperature, pressure. • Tracking optimized for boats. • Full access to and export of the tracks in standard format (GPX). • Post images of your tracks on social media. • 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!
qth locator
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The qth locator app, or locator for short, queries your current location and calculates the maidenhead grid square locator. So whereever you operate your ham radio station, you know the exact location.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: qth locator at Free against Helmsman's Kit's $1.99. qth locator also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 7 months). Helmsman's Kit's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On ads, in-app purchases 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
qth locator is free to download; Helmsman's Kit costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Helmsman's Kit ships an update every 7 months, qth locator every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Helmsman's Kit | qth locator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dr. Harald Merkel | micro systems |
In-app purchases
Helmsman's Kit
No in-app purchases
qth locator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Helmsman's Kit free?
Is qth locator free?
Do Helmsman's Kit or qth locator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Helmsman's Kit or qth locator?
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