Comparison

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast vs SurfMap

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

Head to head
About

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast

This app provides a personalized surf forecast by combining marine weather data with your past surf session ratings. It learns your preferences to offer more accurate predictions for your favorite spots. You can also benefit from community ratings at new locations or create custom spots worldwide.

Highlights
  • Personalized surf forecasts
  • Surf session logging and rating
  • Community spot ratings
  • Custom spot creation
  • Friend connections and session sharing
  • Ad-free PRO version
Features
Read full description

Spot advisor is a personalized surf forecast and surf spot rating app. We know it's hard to create a realistic nearshore forecast just from swell, period, and direction. With Spotadvisor you can enter your surf sessions and rate the current conditions. After entering a few sessions, we show a personalized forecast for your favorite surf spots based on marine weather data and your ratings. The more sessions you enter, the more accurate the forecast will be. If you come to a new spot where you haven't entered any sessions so far, you can benefit from the ratings of the other users. Get a surf forecast from many known spots or create your own private spot to get a forecast from every place around the world. Connect with friends and share your sessions and your experience. HOW TO USE THE SPOTADVISOR PRO VERSION: • The app is free to download and runs by default in the free basic version. If you like, you can subscribe to the PRO version. The PRO version contains extra features like private spots and it comes Ad free. • The PRO version can be activated by a monthly or yearly subscription. You will find a full list with all features in the App. • The cost of the subscription will be made clear to you before the purchase process and may vary from time to time or by country. • Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. • Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your iTunes account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. • You can manage your subscription and switch off the auto-renewal by accessing your iTunes account settings after purchase. • Full terms and conditions can be found at https://spotadvisor.app/terms/

About

SurfMap

This app uses AI to provide personalized surf forecasts based on your skill level and preferred spots. It offers an interactive map for viewing conditions and custom alerts to never miss a great session.

Highlights
  • AI-powered personalized forecasts
  • Interactive map with live conditions
  • 7-day surf planning
  • Customizable alerts
  • Tide and crowd level tracking
  • Skill-level adaptation
Features
Read full description

SurfMap rates the surf for your level at more than 5,000 spots around the world. For each spot, it shows you the best hours to go and tells you why. RATED FOR YOUR LEVEL • Tell SurfMap if you're a beginner, an intermediate or an advanced surfer, and every hour of the week gets a rating for you. • Each rating gives its reason in plain words, like "Ideal size for your level" or "Too much wind". • When the tide makes a spot dangerous, a warning sign shows next to its rating. • Rate your sessions and the AI adds a personal score that predicts how much you'll enjoy each hour. It runs on your iPhone and learns only from your own sessions. MAKE EACH SPOT YOURS • Tell SurfMap which tides work at your spot, which ones are dangerous and how big the waves really get there, and the ratings take it into account. • Save your favorite spots. Around 6:30 pm, SurfMap tells you if one of them looks good tomorrow, and it stays quiet when nothing is worth the trip. • Home Screen widgets show the spot you pick, or the closest spot wherever you are. FIND WHERE TO SURF • See which spots around you, or which of your favorites, look good today, tomorrow, this weekend or later in the week. • Hourly graphs show the waves, wind, tide and weather. Drag across the day to check any hour. • The nearby forecast shows seven days for every spot around you. Open the week in landscape, or compare two spots side by side. • Search spots, towns and guides by the name locals use or the one travelers know. WHERE THE FORECAST COMES FROM • Waves, wind and weather come from global wave and weather models, refreshed twice a day for the next seven days. The ratings are SurfMap's own reading of them. • Tides are predicted for each spot from its own tidal constants, the same method behind printed tide tables. 16 SURF GUIDES • The guides cover Ericeira, Peniche, the Algarve, Hossegor, both sides of the Basque Country, Galicia, Asturias, Cornwall, the west coast of Ireland, Fuerteventura, Taghazout, Bali, the Mentawai Islands, Siargao and Sri Lanka. • Each guide says which spot suits your level, the tide that makes it work and the hazards to watch out for. ASK SIRI • "Hey Siri, does it surf today in Huntington Beach with SurfMap?" Siri answers with your rating and the best window, and a tap opens the spot. • With Apple Intelligence, ask SurfMap anything, like "Is tomorrow better than today at Huntington Beach?" Siri questions need iOS 26. APPLE WATCH • Track your session from your wrist, with no phone in the water. The watch counts your waves, and notices missed waves and wipeouts too. • Follow your heart rate, calories and paddle distance live, and keep the GPS track. If your watch runs out of battery, the session isn't lost. • The watch shows conditions and tide for your spots, and its complications can follow the closest spot. YOUR SURF LOG • Every session goes into your log with its conditions and the board you rode, and each month gets its own recap page. • Share a spot's forecast, a session or a whole month as an image. • Your profile keeps your records and a stamp for each new spot and each new country. • Surf workouts go to Apple Health and count toward your rings. SurfMap has no ads. Please note: All features in SurfMap require a subscription. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast4 screens
SurfMap4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Spotadvisor Surf Forecast at freemium against SurfMap's subscription. Spotadvisor Surf Forecast also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Spotadvisor Surf Forecast sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per year and SurfMap sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast ships an update every 10 days, SurfMap every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Spotadvisor Surf Forecast versus SurfMap: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpotadvisor Surf ForecastSurfMap
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (40 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—40 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB57 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPixelnomads LtdGuillaume Bernos

Customer experience

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast

Written reviews10 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SurfMap

All ratings40 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Spotadvisor Surf Forecast

Subscriptions1
  • Spotadvisor PRO annual$19.991 Year
4 purchases

SurfMap

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Plan$1.997 Days
  • Monthly Plan$6.991 Month
  • Annual Plan14 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$99.00

Questions

Is Spotadvisor Surf Forecast free?
Spotadvisor Surf Forecast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SurfMap free?
SurfMap is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Spotadvisor Surf Forecast or SurfMap have ads?
Neither Spotadvisor Surf Forecast nor SurfMap shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spotadvisor Surf Forecast or SurfMap?
Spotadvisor Surf Forecast ships an update every 10 days, and SurfMap every 6 days. Most recently, Spotadvisor Surf Forecast was updated on November 7, 2026 and SurfMap on November 5, 2026.

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