Comparison

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker vs Surf Athlete

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

Head to head
About

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker

Track your performance across over 30 water sports with detailed metrics like speed, distance, and wind conditions. Analyze your sessions, compare gear, and connect with a community of water sports enthusiasts. Offers advanced features for dedicated athletes.

Highlights
  • GPS tracking for 30+ water sports
  • Detailed speed, distance, and duration metrics
  • Wind, weather, and tide forecasts (Pro)
  • Heart rate and gear logging
  • Session history and progress tracking
  • Live location sharing (Pro)
  • Integration with Apple Watch, Garmin, Coros, Suunto
Features
Read full description

Waterspeed is a GPS tracker for sailing, wingfoil, windsurf, SUP, kayak and 30+ other water sports. Record every session on the water and see your speed, distance and track in detail. WIND ALERTS AND FORECASTS • Wind alerts: pick when you want to head out, and Waterspeed tells you when the wind is right, with time to get ready (Pro) • Wind, weather and tide forecasts for the spots near you (Pro) • Wind history and spot conditions (Explore+) MEASURE • Speed, max speed, average speed, distance and duration • Best speeds over 2 s, 10 s and 500 m (Pro) • Your track on the map, with speed shown along the route • Heart rate from your watch, wind, strokes and foiling time • Tacks and gybes analysis, foiling efficiency (Pro) • VMG (velocity made good) and true wind angle (Ultra) • Polar charts and performance against target speeds (Ultra) • Upwind/downwind and port/starboard analysis, legs and runs, gains and losses in distance and angle (Ultra) • Countdown timer for race starts (Pro) • Session history and progress over months and seasons WORKS WITH YOUR DEVICES AND APPS • Apple Watch: record your session right from your wrist • Garmin, Coros, Suunto and Vakaros: your sessions sync into Waterspeed automatically • Strava and GPS-Speedsurfing.com: send your sessions there automatically (Pro) SPORTS Sailing (dinghy, keelboat, catamaran), wingfoil, windsurf, kitesurf, foil, efoil, pumpfoil, SUP, kayak, canoe, downwind, powerboat and 30+ water sports. IMPROVE • Log your gear (boards, sails, wings, foils, boats) and compare sessions • Challenges and leaderboards with the community • Share sessions with friends LIVE SHARING • Live location sharing, so people on shore can follow you (Pro) PLANS Free to download and record. Pro unlocks full stats, history and sync. Ultra adds advanced sailing and racing analysis: VMG, true wind angle, polars, legs and runs. Waterspeed Pro and Ultra are monthly or yearly subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple account and renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. One subscription works on all Apple devices linked to your iCloud account. Waterspeed can export activities to Apple Health. We love hearing from the community: support@waterspeedapp.com Terms of Service: https://www.waterspeedapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.waterspeedapp.com/privacy

About

Surf Athlete

This app provides surf-specific training programs designed to enhance strength, endurance, and mobility. It offers workouts, stretching routines, and breath training to improve performance in the ocean and prevent injuries. Users can join a community and track progress.

Highlights
  • Surf-specific workouts
  • Strength, endurance, and mobility training
  • Stretch routines
  • Breath training
  • Technique tutorials
  • Global surfer community
Features
Read full description

Surf fitness that fits around your life. Build strength, paddle endurance, and mobility with training designed for surfers. Work out at home, while travelling, or wherever you have space, with minimal or no equipment. Surf Athlete brings together workouts, exercise demos, and coaching from Surf Strength Coach. Each exercise includes coaching cues and an explanation of how it relates to surfing, so you know what to do and why. START WITH THE FREE FEATURES • Bodyweight and mobility workouts • Stretch routines for surfers • Breath training to help you stay calm in heavy water • Technique tutorials and surf-specific drills • A community of surfers sharing their progress TRAIN FOR YOUR TIME IN THE WATER Work on paddling longer, moving more freely, and building strength for your pop-up. Training combines strength, mobility, breathwork, recovery, and mindset to help you stay active in the surf over the long term. Sync with Apple Health to track your progress. When you’re ready for more, upgrade to unlock full surf-specific programs, personalized training plans, and ongoing coaching from Surf Strength Coach. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://surfstrengthcoach.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker4 screens
Surf Athlete4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Surf Athlete at 4.9 against Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker's 4.6. Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Surf Athlete sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $18.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Surf Athlete holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.1K and 405 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker's written reviews are positive against 91% of Surf Athlete's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker ships an update every 10 days, Surf Athlete every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker versus Surf Athlete: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWaterspeed Sailing GPS TrackerSurf Athlete
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.1K ratings)4.9 (405 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.8% of reviews90.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K — better405
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size146 MB236 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperWaterspeed Technologies LimitedNautilus Surf Performance LLC

Customer experience

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker

All ratings1,115 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews604 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative10.1%

Surf Athlete

All ratings402 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral0.7%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews153 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative7.2%

Bugs and requests

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Surf Athlete

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Registration not working
  • App crashing on launch
  • Music playback interruptions

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Offline workout mode
  • Better music integration
  • More free content
  • Expanded exercise library
Show 1 more
  • Improved app stability

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker

Subscriptions10
  • WS Monthly subscription14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$3.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • WS Quarterly subscription14 Days trial$7.993 Months
  • Waterspeed Ultra Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Waterspeed Ultra Monthly$19.991 Month
  • WS Yearly subscription14 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Waterspeed Ultra Yearly1 Month trial$99.001 Year
  • Waterspeed Ultra Yearly14 Days trial$199.001 Year
10 purchases

Surf Athlete

Subscriptions3
  • Ocean Sports Academy (1 month)$18.991 Month
  • SURF ATHLETE PRO (1 month)$29.991 Month
  • Surf Athlete Academy (3 month)$83.993 Months
One-time7
  • Stretches for Surfers$27.99
  • The Perfect Pop Up$79.99
  • Bodyweight$119.99
Show 4 more
  • Surf Athlete$129.99
  • Cardboard Surfer$129.99
  • Surf Skate$139.99
  • Surf Training Foundations$159.99

Questions

Is Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker free?
Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Surf Athlete free?
Surf Athlete is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker or Surf Athlete?
Surf Athlete is rated higher. Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Surf Athlete averages 4.9 from 405 ratings.
Do Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker or Surf Athlete have ads?
Neither Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker nor Surf Athlete shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker or Surf Athlete?
Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker ships an update every 10 days, and Surf Athlete every 3 weeks. Most recently, Waterspeed Sailing GPS Tracker was updated on November 9, 2026 and Surf Athlete on November 6, 2026.

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