SeaDrive vs Hip Charts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SeaDrive
This marine navigation app offers offline charting, route planning, and tide/current predictions. It provides free US charts and integrates weather forecasts and points of interest like marinas. Share your live track with others for enhanced safety and communication on the water.
- Offline charting and navigation
- Route building and navigation
- Tide and current predictions
- 5-day weather forecasts
- Live track sharing
- Points of Interest (marinas, boat ramps)
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* What is Sea Drive? Sea Drive is a marine and boating navigation application focused on charting, navigation, route building, track recording, tides, currents, and more! Our goal is to provide the best user experience for boaters on and off the water. Sea Drive provides FREE US charts! We believe that everyone should have the tools on the water to feel safe and know how to find their way home (or pull up to a restaurant). * Who is it for? Sea Drive is for all of you who love the water! If you spend time on sailboats, fishing boats, bowriders, wakeboard boats, kayaks, or canoes this app will quickly become your go to co-captain * What are the features? **Offline Use Sea Drive is meant to be used on the water and in the real world, that means cell service won't always be available. Charting, tides, currents, routing, tracks, GPS, compass, and more are all available without internet! ** Free Chart Data (US) Currently only US charts are available (and will always remain free thanks to NOAA and your tax dollars). As Sea Drive improves we will be adding other chart regions for free or as low cost as possible. ** Tides and Currents Tap a tides or currents icons on the chart to view offline predictions (for years into the future) at over 3000 locations. ** Build and Navigate Routes Build routes with easy to add waypoints, drag waypoints, delete waypoints, and give waypoints custom names. Export and share your routes with other boaters. Activate a route to see bearing (magnetic or true) to waypoints, estimated time to waypoints, and ETA at destination among other metrics. ** Record Tracks Review and playback previously recorded tracks. ** Create and Share Markers Add notes and measure distances to markers. ** Basic Features Location (GPS & Compass). Caliper tool. Display settings for custom chart options. Vessel details for hazard avoidance and route planning. Satellite and road map chart overlays. ** POI We've integrated with marinas.com so we can show points interest directly on the chart for features like marinas, boat ramps, anchorage areas, inlets, locks, harbors and more. ** Weather View weather forecasts for up to five days in the future including marine related weather like wind, gusts, swells, and wave information. ** Live Track Sharing Create a live track share and send the link to friends. When imported, followers will see your current location and previous track directly on the Sea Drive app or website. * We love feedback! Sea Drive is built by boaters for boaters. This is just the start of our journey and we would like you all to be a part of it with us! Please provide any and all feedback!
Hip Charts
Access NOAA nautical charts for free on your mobile devices. View charts online and download single areas for offline use. Additional features like multiple offline downloads and custom boundaries require a purchase.
- Unlimited online NOAA chart viewing
- Download single chart areas for offline use
- Automatic chart loading
- Cellular and WiFi chart downloads
- Custom download boundaries (paid)
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Hip Charts brings NOAA ENC nautical charts to your iPhone—completely free. Pan and zoom the map and official NOAA charts load automatically over Wi‑Fi or cellular. Download chart areas ahead of time for offline use on the water, including custom polygon boundaries. Measure distances right on the chart. Choose how charts look: • Default — NOAA’s standard chart tiles; fast and simple • Customized — adjust depth units, text size, harbor/shoreline structures (breakwaters, piers, docks), routes and marina info, and sharper rendering Need help reading symbols? Open Settings → Chart Legend for NOAA’s official U.S. Chart No. 1. Everything in the app is free. No subscriptions, no paywall. This app does not fulfill chart carriage requirements for regulated commercial vessels under Titles 33 and 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SeaDrive at 89% against Hip Charts's 25%. SeaDrive also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.3) and ratings volume (248 vs 7). Hip Charts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.1). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. SeaDrive sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Hip Charts asks for nothing beyond the download.
SeaDrive holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SeaDrive has 248 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of SeaDrive's written reviews are positive against 25% of Hip Charts's.
SeaDrive ships an update fortnightly, Hip Charts every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SeaDrive | Hip Charts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (248 ratings) — better | 3.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.5% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 248 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 58 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SeaDrive LLC | Walk About Apps |
Customer experience
SeaDrive
Hip Charts
In-app purchases
SeaDrive
- Sea Drive Pro2 Months trial$2.991 Month
- Sea Drive Pro1 Month trial$34.991 Year
- US ChartsFree
Hip Charts
No in-app purchases









