Comparison

Rainchasers vs PeakFlows

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

Head to head
About

Rainchasers

Discover whitewater kayaking and canoeing adventures across the UK. Browse, search, and save your favorite runs, with detailed gauge levels to help you judge paddling conditions.

Highlights
  • Whitewater adventure collection
  • UK-wide coverage
  • Search and browse runs
  • Favorite runs
  • Gauge level calibration
  • Paddling condition judgment
Features
Read full description

A collection of kayaking or canoeing whitewater adventures in the UK to browse, search, and favourite in the hope of weekend rain. Gauge levels calibrated to the specific runs are included to allow you to judge the likely paddling conditions.

About

PeakFlows

Features
Read full description

PeakFlows is a river level and forecast app for whitewater kayakers. Over 450 curated rivers across 36 countries, free to use, no paywalled levels. WHAT IT ANSWERS Is it on. That is the question every paddler asks when they look at a river gauge. PeakFlows translates the raw number into a straight answer: low, medium, sweet spot, high, flood. For every river, every hour. No more screenshots of graphs in the WhatsApp group. No more asking the one person in the club who always seems to know. You open the app, you look at the card, you know. LIVE FROM OFFICIAL GAUGES Level data updated every 15 minutes from official national monitoring authorities: OPW in Ireland, the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland, USGS in the US, BOM in Australia, NVE in Norway, Vigicrues in France, and a dozen more, plus the volunteer RiverSpy network and the PegelAlarm service for rivers they cover. The same data hydrologists use, turned into a paddling verdict. EVERY RIVER EARNS ITS PLACE Over 450 runs, hand-picked. If it's in PeakFlows, it's whitewater worth paddling. No navigation gauges, no flat water, no rivers that never make a wave. 36 countries: Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Norway, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and more. COMMUNITY SWEET SPOT Gauge numbers don't tell you if a river is good. Paddlers do. Every river has a sweet spot band voted on by the people who run it. When enough votes come in, the sweet spot shifts to match reality. FORECAST BUILT ON HYDROLOGY PeakFlows forecasts river levels using rainfall, soil saturation, catchment terrain, and how each river actually responds to weather. A forecast specific to your river, not a generic regional rain estimate. Full four-day forecast with Pro. GROUP TRIP Create a trip, invite your crew. The Heads Up button pushes live conditions to everyone on the trip. Free for all paddlers. Not an emergency service: in any life-threatening situation call 112 or 999. WHAT YOU GET FREE Every river. Every level. Every sweet spot. Group Trip coordination. Hazard alerts. Curated photos. Always. WHAT PRO ADDS Full four-day forecast with predicted levels at 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 48h, 72h and 96h. Unlimited push alerts. Home Screen widget. Seasonal context. Historical percentiles. EUR 12.99 per year. 30-day free trial, no payment details required. DATA SOURCES River levels from official national monitoring authorities: OPW (Ireland): gov.ie/en/organisation/opw Environment Agency (England): environment.data.gov.uk/flood-monitoring SEPA (Scotland): sepa.org.uk USGS (United States): waterdata.usgs.gov Bureau of Meteorology (Australia): bom.gov.au/water NVE (Norway): nve.no Vigicrues (France): vigicrues.gouv.fr RiverSpy (Ireland, volunteer community gauge network): riverspy.net PegelAlarm (Austria / Croatia / Wales, free community gauge service): pegelalarm.at DISCLAIMER PeakFlows is an independent app by Peak Media Limited. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government entity. We report live river levels published by official agencies and add our own independent forecasts. For recreational planning only, always check conditions in person. Save your home river and check it before you load your boat.

Screenshots

Rainchasers4 screens
PeakFlows4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PeakFlows at monthly against Rainchasers's every 6 months. Rainchasers's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rainchasers ships an update every 6 months, PeakFlows monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 6 level
Rainchasers versus PeakFlows: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRainchasersPeakFlows
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRob TuleyMark Sheils

In-app purchases

None

Rainchasers

No in-app purchases

None

PeakFlows

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Rainchasers free?
Rainchasers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PeakFlows free?
PeakFlows is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Rainchasers or PeakFlows have ads?
Neither Rainchasers nor PeakFlows shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rainchasers or PeakFlows?
Rainchasers ships an update every 6 months, and PeakFlows monthly. Most recently, Rainchasers was updated on October 3, 2026 and PeakFlows on October 7, 2026.

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