Comparison

AV Assistant vs Coastal Explorer

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

Head to head
About

AV Assistant

This app provides U.S. waters navigation information, displaying your location and details of surrounding aids like buoys and lights. It downloads weekly U.S. Coast Guard Light List data and includes relevant Local Notice for Mariners information. It also allows users to report discrepancies in navigation aids to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Highlights
  • Location-based aid display
  • U.S. Coast Guard Light List data
  • Local Notice for Mariners integration
  • Discrepancy reporting to USCG
  • Informational aid for U.S. waters
Features
Read full description

AV Assistant is an informational aid for U.S. waters that shows your location and details on all surrounding aids to navigation (buoys, lights, etc) within your Area of Interest. The app downloads the weekly U.S. Coast Guard Light List for your district, and then shows the aids within your Area of Interest and their details. Any applicable Local Notice for Mariners information is also shown with the light data. For reference use, Nearest Light, also in the App Store, is the better choice. AV Assistant is capable of making reports to the U.S. Coast Guard regarding discrepancies in aids to navigation and is primarily intended for USCG and USCG Auxiliary use. Refer to the website (url in Settings|Reference) for additional information. Warning: AV Assistant, which provides Light List data, is not intended to be used in place of charts or Coast Pilots. Charts should be consulted for the location of all aids to navigation. It may be dangerous to use aids to navigation without reference to charts.

About

Coastal Explorer

Plan and log your cruises with detailed nautical charts and weather forecasts. Enhance your experience with a subscription for offline access, real-time navigation, and integration with marine electronics.

Highlights
  • View NOAA and USACE nautical charts
  • Create routes and waypoints
  • Cloud synchronization
  • ActiveCaptain points of interest
  • US Coast Pilot information
  • Marine weather forecasts
  • Tide and current predictions
Features
Read full description

Coastal Explorer™ is a sophisticated, full-featured, easy-to-use cruise planning and logging tool designed specifically for the pleasure boater. And it becomes a complete navigation system with the purchase of a chart subscription. The free Coastal Explorer app provides these great planning features: * View NOAA and USACE nautical charts for the US in vector format * Create routes, waypoints, boundaries, and other navigation objects * Cloud-synchronization of your navigation objects * ActiveCaptain points of interest * US Coast Pilot information * Marine weather forecasts and observations for the US * Tide and current predictions for the US Purchasing a chart subscription turns Coastal Explorer into a complete navigation system that includes: * Downloadable charts, tide and current predictions, Coast Pilot, and ActiveCaptain places for offline use * Interfacing with compatible networked marine electronics devices, including GPS, compass, depth sounder, anemometer, AIS, autopilot, and more * Customizable instrument panels * Route following with cross-track error, distance and time to go, estimated time of arrival, etc * Track and event recording * Integrated blogging Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. See our Terms of Service at https://www.rosepoint.com/legal/terms_of_service.

Screenshots

AV Assistant3 screens
Coastal Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: AV Assistant at 5.0 against Coastal Explorer's 2.8. AV Assistant also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.4 vs 14.0). Coastal Explorer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (16 vs 4). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Coastal Explorer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. AV Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AV Assistant holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 16 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AV Assistant ships an update every 2 months, Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
AV Assistant versus Coastal Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAV AssistantCoastal Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better2.8 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews—11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings416 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.4 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperClint O'ConnorRose Point Navigation Systems, Inc

Customer experience

AV Assistant

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Coastal Explorer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive43.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative56.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative88.9%

In-app purchases

None

AV Assistant

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$19.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$49.991 Year

Questions

Is AV Assistant free?
AV Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Coastal Explorer free?
Coastal Explorer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, AV Assistant or Coastal Explorer?
AV Assistant is rated higher. AV Assistant averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 from 16 ratings.
Do AV Assistant or Coastal Explorer have ads?
Neither AV Assistant nor Coastal Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AV Assistant or Coastal Explorer?
AV Assistant ships an update every 2 months, and Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Most recently, AV Assistant was updated on September 23, 2026 and Coastal Explorer on September 21, 2026.

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