Comparison

Wavve Boating vs Anchor Buddy

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

Head to head
About

Wavve Boating

This navigation app provides detailed nautical charts, tide predictions, and weather forecasts for boaters. It features a user-friendly GPS interface, community-shared points of interest, and the ability to track friends on the water.

Highlights
  • Seamless marine GPS navigation
  • Customizable nautical charts
  • Community boating points of interest
  • Tide and water level tracking
  • Seven-day weather forecasts
  • Friend location sharing (Fleets)
Features
Read full description

Ever have a stressful day navigating on the water? Wanted to know more about the conditions you are about to head into? Are you looking for exciting places to explore, the best place to refuel, or just trying to meet up with a friend? Wavve Boating takes a new spin on traditional boating navigation by bringing detailed nautical charts, tide predictions, weather forecasts, and more in one easy-to-use tool. Join a fast-growing community of boaters building a network of marine knowledge that everyone can enjoy. With Wavve Boating you get: - Simple and Seamless Marine GPS Navigation - Put away overcrowded and complex charts and apps. Wavve Boating's GPS focuses on important and relevant information so that navigating is as easy as staying in the blue and avoiding the red. - Custom Nautical Charts - View and change Wavve Boating's nautical charts based on your unique boating needs and preferences. Set your draft and Wavve Boating redraws the nautical charts to fit your boat. Nautical charts are available for the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. You can view a map of our coverage on our website. - Community Boating - Just like at the dock or on the water, we all help each other in Wavve Boating. Share expert knowledge of the local waterways by adding shared points of interest to the map. The community can vote on pins, making sure they are all valid and valuable. Not quite ready to share a great find? No problem, you can keep your points of interest private as well. - Tides - Track changes in water height in tidal regions and along rivers and lakes with the tides function. View a body of water in North America, and the app will update to reflect the current water levels. View predicted water heights up to 18 hours in advance and track the next tidal variances. - Weather - Check the weather, including a complete seven-day forecast, across all of North America. Easily view the temperature, wind speed, and wave height as you move around the map. The local daily forecasts are color-coded to show if it is dangerous to go boating, using guidelines from the Coast Guard's small vessel advisory. - Fleets of Friends - See who is on the water and where they are by adding friends to your fleet. Share your locations with members of your fleet to make meeting up a breeze. Want to keep your best fishing hole a secret, even from your boating buds? Easily hide your location to boat under the radar. - So Long Chart Plotters - Marine navigation is more than concentrating on a cluttered chart plotter. Get your head out of the cabin and enjoy the journey. Stop buying marine charts piece by piece for your chart plotter. Wavve Boating has integrated all the marine charts into one map for your boating GPS needs. Subscription Pricing and Terms Wavve Boating is free to download, and all customers are welcome to a free 14 day trial period. Should you choose to continue to use the Wavve Boating app after the free trial, we offer two auto-renewing subscription options, monthly ($11.99/month) or yearly ($69.99/year). Wavve Boating needs you! We've built the platform, but it is boaters that will build our Wavver community. Share your knowledge, share your time, and save a prop or two in the process. MORE INFORMATION Want to learn more about Wavve Boating’s marine navigation aid? Still deciding if this is the right boat GPS app for you to replace your chart plotter? Looking for an alternative to Navionics, Embark, Garmin Active Captain or other? Head to our website to learn more. TERMS OF SERVICE https://wavveboating.com/terms-of-service/ PRIVACY POLICY https://wavveboating.com/privacy-policy/

About

Anchor Buddy

This app helps boaters monitor their vessel's position and safety zone while anchored. It provides continuous background tracking and critical alerts for potential issues like anchor dragging or GPS inaccuracies.

Highlights
  • Anchor and safe zone radius definition
  • Continuous background monitoring
  • Critical alerts for dragging and GPS
  • GPS-based precision tracking
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

Embark with confidence using Anchor Buddy, your essential anchor watch companion. Designed for boaters who prioritize safety and simplicity, our app delivers a dependable system to monitor your vessel's position, ensuring you remain safely within your predefined zone. - Anchor & Safe Zone Radius: Easily mark your anchor location and define a safety radius for drift. - Continuous Background Monitoring: Vigilantly tracks your location when anchored, operating smoothly in the background. - Critical Alerts: Get notified about location unavailability, unsafe GPS accuracy, and potential anchor dragging. - GPS-Based Precision: Advanced GPS technology for accurate, real-time monitoring. - User-Friendly Interface: Simple, intuitive interface that caters to both experienced sailors and recreational boaters alike. Enjoy peace of mind on the water knowing that Anchor Buddy is keeping a watchful eye on your vessel. Download Anchor Buddy now for a worry-free boating experience.

Screenshots

Wavve Boating4 screens
Anchor Buddy3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Wavve Boating at 52% against Anchor Buddy's 0%. Wavve Boating also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and ratings volume (6.7K vs 8). Anchor Buddy's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On ads and iOS requirement 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

Wavve Boating is free to download; Anchor Buddy costs $4.99 up front. Wavve Boating sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Anchor Buddy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wavve Boating holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wavve Boating has 6.7K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Wavve Boating's written reviews are positive against 0% of Anchor Buddy's.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Wavve Boating versus Anchor Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWavve BoatingAnchor Buddy
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.7 (6.7K ratings) — better4.5 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews51.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6.7K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 6 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#32 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size201 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWavve Boating INCUniversal Queue LLC

Customer experience

Wavve Boating

All ratings6,646 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews240 reviews
Positive51.7%
Neutral5.8%
Negative42.5%

Anchor Buddy

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Wavve Boating

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when accessing depth data
  • Logged out unexpectedly, unable to log back in
  • Subscription charges despite cancellation

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more inland lake and river coverage
  • Improve auto-routing capabilities
  • Allow editing of saved routes
  • Integrate with more boat displays
  • Add social features to share trips with friends

Anchor Buddy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Wavve Boating

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Subscription (No Data)$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$11.991 Month
  • Best Value - Wavve Boating14 Days trial$69.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Subscription (No Data)14 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Best Value - Wavve Boating1 Month trial$69.991 Year
None

Anchor Buddy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wavve Boating free?
Wavve Boating is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Anchor Buddy free?
Anchor Buddy costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wavve Boating or Anchor Buddy?
Wavve Boating is rated higher. Wavve Boating averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.7K ratings, while Anchor Buddy averages 4.5 from 8 ratings.
Do Wavve Boating or Anchor Buddy have ads?
Neither Wavve Boating nor Anchor Buddy shows ads.

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