Comparison

Lake Lowdown vs Rivers.run

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

Head to head
About

Lake Lowdown

Access comprehensive lake information including weather, water levels, and navigation. Easily find lakes by state or proximity, and save your favorites for quick access. Plan your next lake trip or monitor water conditions with this convenient tool.

Highlights
  • Lake weather and forecasts
  • Water level data
  • Navigation and map locations
  • List lakes by state or proximity
  • Favorite lakes for quick access
  • Recreational information
Features
Read full description

Lake Lowdown delivers real-time lake levels and official National Weather Service forecasts in one streamlined experience. Explore lakes by state, proximity, or favorites. Instantly view current water levels, 12-hour trends, historical data, and live weather conditions. All sourced from trusted government providers. Each lake includes: • Current stage and recent trend data • Historical water level history • Official NWS forecasts and observations • Quick access to maps and navigation • Reference links for additional lake information Built for boaters, anglers, lake homeowners, and anyone tracking drought or flooding conditions. Fast. Accurate. Reliable. Know before you go.

About

Rivers.run

Access real-time river data including water levels, temperature, and skill level estimates. Discover nearby rivers using GPS, search by various criteria, and utilize interactive maps for navigation. Includes weather overlays for rain tracking.

Highlights
  • Water levels and temperature
  • Crowdsourced skill level estimates
  • GPS river discovery
  • Search by water level, skill, name
  • Interactive river maps
  • Weather overlays for rain
  • Offline access to downloaded data
Features
Read full description

Real-time river levels and crowdsourced paddling beta for whitewater paddlers. Rivers.run covers 10,000+ rivers and creeks across the US, Canada, and the UK & Ireland. Match live gauge data with hard-won local knowledge: flow color-coding, rapid-by-rapid descriptions, access points, and difficulty ratings, all in one place. Flow data comes straight from government gauges — USGS, Environment Canada, and the UK & Ireland — alongside NOAA forecasts. River descriptions, access points, and runnable levels are crowdsourced by the paddling community. KEY FEATURES Live Flows & Forecasts See current levels from USGS, Environment Canada, UK, and Ireland gauges, with simple low/runnable/high color coding. Dig into 28-day history graphs and NOAA forecasts to plan ahead. Switch freely between imperial and metric (CFS/CMS, ft/m, °F/°C). Interactive Map & Weather Radar Discover nearby rivers, view live weather radar (US), and tap any run for gauge readings, access points, and rapid descriptions. Offline Navigation (USA-only) Easy, free state-by-state map downloads keep you oriented when your signal disappears. Find put-ins and take-outs, get directions, and follow your live GPS location with no cell service at all — your favorites, lists, and saved flows come along too. Powerful Search & Filtering Find your next trip by water level, difficulty class, distance, region, custom tags, and more — then sort by what's running right now. Flow Alerts That Find Rare Runs Star the runs you care about and get an alert the moment they come into your preferred range — perfect for creeks that only run a few days a year. Prefer the big picture? Switch to a daily email digest of conditions, delivered at a time you choose. Custom Lists & Sync Build river lists by region, difficulty, or trip plan, and sync them across all your devices. Apple Watch Sync your lists to the companion Apple Watch app and check levels from the trailhead. Community-Driven Can't find your local creek? Disagree with a runnable level? The map is crowdsourced: anyone can suggest edits, new access points, or a fresh run write-up, and our moderators review every change to keep it accurate. Built for Everyone Dark mode and a colorblind-friendly palette come standard. Rivers.run is free, open-source, and built by paddlers for paddlers. River flows change and conditions can vary rapidly. Always exercise caution, wear appropriate safety gear, and verify local conditions before paddling. Need help or have feedback? Reach out to support@rivers.run Privacy Policy: https://rivers.run/privacy Terms of Service: https://rivers.run/terms

Screenshots

Lake Lowdown4 screens
Rivers.run4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Rivers.run at 55% against Lake Lowdown's 21%. Rivers.run also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lake Lowdown ships an update every 3 months, Rivers.run every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lake Lowdown versus Rivers.run: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLake LowdownRivers.run
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.4 (28 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.4% of reviews54.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—28 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBob JackTucker Willenborg

Customer experience

Lake Lowdown

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive21.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative78.6%

Rivers.run

All ratings28 ratings
Positive82.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative45.5%

In-app purchases

None

Lake Lowdown

No in-app purchases

None

Rivers.run

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lake Lowdown free?
Lake Lowdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rivers.run free?
Rivers.run is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Lake Lowdown or Rivers.run have ads?
Neither Lake Lowdown nor Rivers.run shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lake Lowdown or Rivers.run?
Lake Lowdown ships an update every 3 months, and Rivers.run every 6 weeks. Most recently, Lake Lowdown was updated on June 1, 2026 and Rivers.run on September 21, 2026.

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