Comparison

Argo Navigation vs moodSailor

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

Head to head
About

Argo Navigation

This free marine navigation app provides NOAA charts, depth surveys, and points of interest for US waters. It allows users to plot routes, share locations, and access community-reported hazards. Premium features offer advanced routing, weather forecasts, and tide predictions.

Highlights
  • NOAA charts and USACE depth surveys
  • 500,000+ marinas, anchorages, and fuel docks
  • Community-reported hazards
  • Route plotting with ETA and fuel use
  • Live location sharing
  • Offline chart downloads
  • Marine weather and tides
Features
Read full description

Argo is a boat navigation app you can actually use for free. Not a trial. You get NOAA charts and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers depth surveys for US waters, 500,000+ marinas, anchorages and fuel docks, hazards reported by other boaters, and routes you plot yourself, with ETA and fuel use. On your first trip, open the map to see how deep it is and read what other boaters say about the anchorage before you drop the hook. A hundred trips in, you're checking how old the Army Corps survey is before you run a shoaling inlet, or laying out a few route options and picking one underway. Think of Argo as the boating buddy who knows every good dock bar and never asks for gas money. FREE FOR EVERY BOATER Navigate • Up-to-date NOAA charts plus Army Corps (USACE) surveys you can filter by survey date • Shoal areas, dredged channels, restricted areas and recommended tracks on the coast and inland rivers • See your GPS position and speed on the chart • Search buoys, beacons, lights, wrecks and mile markers • Record your track and use Return to follow it back • Depth shading presets, including two built for bright sun glare Plan • Search 500,000+ places, from boat ramps and moorings to non-ethanol fuel and dock bars • Read reviews from boaters who've been there • Plot your own route on the map and see distance, ETA and fuel use • A trip log of everywhere you've been Connect • See other Argo boaters on the water and share your live location with family ashore • Join your boat club, marina or rally group • Share routes, places and trips, and post photos and video • Report hazards and see the ones other boaters have reported • Keep fishing spots private or share them with your group One account works on every phone and tablet you own, free. ARGO PREMIUM, WHEN YOU WANT MORE Smarter routes • Autoroute plans around shallow water, hazards and restricted areas based on your boat's draft, height and safety buffer • Run inside or outside, or set Autoroute to stay in the marked channel • Save several routes to your chart, start a track, and choose between them underway • Have a sailboat and a powerboat? Save both, each with its own draft and height Marine weather and tides • 7-day marine forecast: weather, wind, wave height and period, tides and currents • Wind, rain and lightning overlays on your chart • 6,000+ tide and current stations on your chart, with predictions as far ahead as you want • Tide variance right next to your depth gauge On the water • Offline charts download automatically around your location and home port, for when you lose signal • Connect over NMEA (Wi-Fi gateway) for depth, speed and heading from your electronics, plus AIS targets • Custom depth shading and contours, so shallow water and fishing drop-offs stand out • Distance, time, bearing and course to your next turn, always in view Logbook and planning tools • Import and export GPX routes and tracks between Argo and your chartplotter • Download a PDF trip report to document sea time toward your captain's license Coverage: US coastal waters, the ICW, inland lakes and rivers, Canada and the Caribbean. WHO'S BEHIND ARGO Argo is family-owned. Our founder, Captain Jeff, grew up boating on the Chesapeake Bay. He built Argo so the local knowledge usually shared between friends at the dock is on the map for everyone. Many of our features started as boater requests. Send yours to support@argonav.io. Argo is a navigation aid. Always check official charts and conditions, and use your own judgment on the water. Plan. Navigate. Connect. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.argonav.io/privacy/

About

moodSailor

Features
Read full description

moodSailor is a nautical navigation app for sailors, boaters, kayakers and anyone who spends time on the water. It works offline, runs on your phone, and respects your privacy. NAVIGATION - Man overboard: MOB button on every screen, alarm, bearing and drift area - COG, SOG, max and average speed - Distance travelled, current GPS position, magnetic heading - Compass: fixed or rotating mode - Head-up course-over-ground compass - Reorderable metric cards - Custom cockpit panels: your cards, your sizes - Regatta mode: course marks, start sequence with flags and countdown, over-early alert - Signal K and NMEA instruments on the cockpit: heading, depth, wind - TVMDC calculator, units converter and IALA region card MAP - OpenStreetMap base layer with OpenSeaMap nautical chart overlay - Official charts where a hydrographic office publishes one free: Norway, US, Canada, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain - Offline tile caching: pick an area, layers and zoom - One-tap Map/Satellite view switch - Adjustable overlay opacity - Download tiles, weather, marine data and marks - Three rotation modes: north up, COG-aligned, compass-aligned - Follow mode with position marker and heading line - Route tool: draw, measure, save multi-leg routes - Sketches: draw freely on the map in eight colours, save by name, export as KML or GeoJSON - Route deviation watch: alarm when your heading leaves the course, even with the screen off - Anchor watch: circle or polygon around the drop point, alarm if the boat drags - Navigational warnings: French AVURNAV, Canada, Croatia and relayed authorities WEATHER, CURRENTS AND TIDES - Wind, ocean currents, waves and swell from Open-Meteo - Wave and swell height, direction and period - Choose the forecast sheet's weather fields - Animated particles or wind-barb arrows - Smooth heatmap with colour scale - Forecast time slider - Tide curve integrated in the sea-level row - Every recorded GPS point carries its weather, currents, waves and tide GPS TRACES - Recording interval: 1, 2 or 5 seconds - Background mode: keeps running with screen locked - Live trace coloured by speed - Resilient to GPS dropouts - Native iOS location manager for reliable background recording - Editor: mini-map, altitude graph, weather, currents, tide - Six denoising rules - Import via "Open With" from Files, Mail - Export to GPX, GeoJSON, CSV or KML POINTS OF INTEREST - Create, edit and delete POIs - Nautical marks: the full IALA set, incl. wreck and preferred channel - POIs on the map with type-specific icons - Mark detail pages: light rhythm, cardinal topmark - Lit marks flash their real light rhythm on the map - OpenSeaMap nautical marks: download as POIs, search by signal code - Export points, seamarks or your position as GPX, KML, CSV or GeoJSON AR POI FINDER - Live camera with augmented-reality POI markers - Compass ribbon with cardinal labels - Configurable distance range and marker size - Immersive full-screen mode - OpenSeaMap nautical marks and saved POIs visible in AR view - Camera detects the real horizon line - Night light ID: matches flash rhythm against charted lights AIS VESSEL TRACKING (optional) - Live nearby vessel positions on the map and in AR POI Finder - Course and speed indicators - Vessels rendered as kites under way and circles when stopped - AR vessels at real angular size - Status icons on vessel symbol - Predicted AR positions from last course/speed KNOWLEDGE - Built-in reference: glossary, beacons, ship lights, day marks, wind, magnetism, currents, tides - Search, sources, illustrations - Interactive tide tool: pick a point on the map - Morse & ICS signal flags: text->code/flag SETTINGS - 25 languages - Units: distance, speed, altitude, temperature, coordinates - Themes: light, system, dark - Weather model selector - Offline regions list with size and delete PRIVACY - No account, no ads, no tracking - Your data stays on your device - Train the fleet: opt-in sightings sharpen recognition

Screenshots

Argo Navigation4 screens
moodSailor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: moodSailor at none against Argo Navigation's 4. Argo Navigation's advantage is chart position (#99 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 9 days). On price, ads, device support 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

Both are free to download. Argo Navigation sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. moodSailor asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Argo Navigation ships an update every 4 days, moodSailor every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Argo Navigation versus moodSailor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArgo NavigationmoodSailor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (6.2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews84.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings6.2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
Best chart rank#99 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size139 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperARGO TECHNOLOGIES, LLCSociété Française d'Infonuagique

Bugs and requests

Argo Navigation

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login/account creation issues
  • Slow map loading times

Requested features

3 requests
  • Improved offline map capabilities
  • Integration with marine weather data
  • Enhanced route planning tools

moodSailor

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Argo Navigation

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Canada Charts14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Argo Premium Monthly14 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Argo Canada Charts14 Days trial$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Argo Premium14 Days trial$39.991 Year
None

moodSailor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Argo Navigation free?
Argo Navigation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is moodSailor free?
moodSailor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Argo Navigation or moodSailor have ads?
Neither Argo Navigation nor moodSailor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Argo Navigation or moodSailor?
Argo Navigation ships an update every 4 days, and moodSailor every 9 days. Most recently, Argo Navigation was updated on November 1, 2026 and moodSailor on October 31, 2026.

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