Comparison

Coastal Explorer vs Cortex Onboard

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

Head to head
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.

About

Cortex Onboard

This app allows you to configure and update your marine electronics from your mobile device. Monitor vessel data, receive alerts, and manage features like Anchor Watch from anywhere on board.

Highlights
  • Configure and update Cortex devices
  • View AIS information and alerts
  • Manage Anchor Watch
  • Monitor vessel sensors
  • Connect NMEA 2000 instruments
Read full description

Cortex Onboard is free with your Cortex. Use it to configure your Cortex Hub and download updates to your Cortex devices with new features and improvements. You can also use Cortex Onboard to receive and manage alerts, view AIS information and instrument data anywhere on board your boat. View out-of-the-box sensors or NMEA 2000 networked instruments. - Setup is easy and free. - Use Cortex Onboard to configure and update your Cortex devices easily. - View AIS information and receive alerts on board direct to your device. - Manage Anchor Watch from the palm of your hand anywhere on board. - Use the Cortex Hub’s built-in sensors for battery level, barometric pressure and boat position. - Connect your Cortex Hub to NMEA 2000, or an external sensor, to add monitoring for wind, depth, bilge high water, temperature, shore power or security. - The Cortex Hub supports up to 10 WiFi devices (includes Handsets).

Screenshots

Coastal Explorer4 screens
Cortex Onboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cortex Onboard at 56% against Coastal Explorer's 11%. Cortex Onboard also leads on rating (3.8 vs 2.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Coastal Explorer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, 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. Cortex Onboard asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cortex Onboard holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 11% of Coastal Explorer's written reviews are positive against 56% of Cortex Onboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Coastal Explorer ships an update every 2 weeks, Cortex Onboard every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 6, 2026 and June 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Coastal Explorer versus Cortex Onboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCoastal ExplorerCortex Onboard
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (16 ratings)3.8 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews11.1% of reviews55.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16 — better12
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB376 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRose Point Navigation Systems, IncGarmin New Zealand Ltd

Customer experience

Coastal Explorer

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

Cortex Onboard

All ratings12 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral11.1%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$19.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
None

Cortex Onboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Coastal Explorer free?
Coastal Explorer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cortex Onboard free?
Cortex Onboard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Coastal Explorer or Cortex Onboard?
Cortex Onboard is rated higher. Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Cortex Onboard averages 3.8 from 12 ratings.
Do Coastal Explorer or Cortex Onboard have ads?
Neither Coastal Explorer nor Cortex Onboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Coastal Explorer or Cortex Onboard?
Coastal Explorer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Cortex Onboard every 2 months. Most recently, Coastal Explorer was updated on September 6, 2026 and Cortex Onboard on June 7, 2026.

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