Waterway Guide vs WAVZ
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Waterway Guide
This app provides a comprehensive boating resource with a verified database of marinas, anchorages, and navigation alerts. Users can access real-time hazard information, plan trips with a digital handbook, and utilize detailed content optimized for mobile devices. Engage with a community of boaters through comments and reviews.
- Verified points of interest database
- Real-time navigation alerts
- Community comments and reviews
- Skipper's Handbook for trip planning
- Offline content access
- Marina filtering by amenities
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Optimized for your mobile devices with Waterway Guide's detailed and verified points of interest database. Includes over 1.3 million data points on marinas, anchorages, navigation alerts, free docks, bridges and locks displayed on the embedded map or satellite view. Benefit from the experience of 75 years of publishing and hundreds of thousands of active boaters through verified comments and reviews. Share your comments, add points of interest, earn rewards and engage with others from within the app. Stay informed with the latest hazards to navigation reported real time from USCG, government agencies, local experts and boaters everywhere. Plan your time on the water with Waterway Guide's Skipper's Handbook, which is included with the free app download. Access Waterway Guide's library of books as individual chapters or entire guides for the information and details you need for navigation. Content is optimized for mobile devices and can be bookmarked for availability offline. Easily find marinas that fit your needs. Filter our entire database of marinas based on amenities and your preferences. Same functionality as Waterway Guide’s Marinas App. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
WAVZ
This navigation app allows users to mark hazards, police presence, and points of interest on a map for others. Users can record travel paths, customize map views, and set up an SOS feature to contact emergency contacts. It also facilitates connecting with friends for shared journeys.
- Pin hazards, police, and POIs
- User-generated alerts with upvoting
- Record and replay travel paths
- Customizable map settings
- SOS emergency contact feature
- Connect with friends
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Travel-enthusiasts, come hither! The WAVZ app for iOS paves the way for hassle-free travel on land and water. Pin the presence of Hazards, Police and Points of Interest (POI) on the map to notify other users when the pins come within their notification range. Upvote and downvote on Hazard and Police pins to eventually retain only authentic pins on the map. Enjoy your journeys for a long time to come! Add Pins Pin the location of Hazards, Police and Points of Interest (POI) on the map to notify other users when they come within the notification range of such pins. Timeline Record the path of your travel to view it again on the map in future. App Settings Configure your app settings to customize your map view. SOS Set the SOS option to call your emergency contact when in need. Friends Make other users your friends and connect with them for exciting jaunts.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: WAVZ at none against Waterway Guide's 10. WAVZ also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Waterway Guide's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (2.9K vs 2). 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
Both are free to download. Waterway Guide sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. WAVZ asks for nothing beyond the download.
WAVZ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Waterway Guide has 2.9K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Waterway Guide ships an update every 2 weeks, WAVZ every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Waterway Guide | WAVZ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.9K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 52.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.9K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #195 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Waterway Guide | Wavz LLC |
Customer experience
Waterway Guide
WAVZ
Bugs and requests
Waterway Guide
Reported bugs
4 issues- App not working with latest iOS version
- Subscription purchases not working properly
- Unable to access purchased content
- Frequent crashes and errors
Requested features
4 requests- Provide vertical bridge clearances
- Improve offline functionality
- Enhance search and filtering options
- Implement dark mode
WAVZ
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Waterway Guide
- Great Lakes Vol.2 Ch.8$14.991 Year
- Anchorages Along the ICW$20.991 Year
- ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423$29.991 Year
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- Northern Edition$49.991 Year
- 1st Ed. Bahamas Land and Sea$49.991 Year
- Chesapeake Bay Edition$54.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Edition$54.991 Year
- Southern Edition$54.991 Year
- Western Gulf Coast Edition$54.991 Year
- Florida Keys Edition$54.991 Year
WAVZ
No in-app purchases
