Paddle Out vs Wakes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paddle Out
Connect with fellow water sports enthusiasts for shared adventures and safety. Organize sessions, chat with friends, and discover new crews. Enhance your ocean, river, and lake experiences by finding others to paddle out with.
- Find water sports partners
- Organize and join sessions
- In-app chat and location sharing
- Create and manage crews
- Personalized profile management
- Receive activity notifications
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PaddleOut is a mobile application designed to help surfers, kayakers, paddle boarders, canoe enthusiasts, windsurfers, kite surfers, outrigger enthusiasts, foil boarders, body boarders, knee boarders, wake surfers and boogie boarders find other watermen and women to share the experience. Water sports that involve the oceans, rivers, and lakes of our great planet can be enjoyed more safely in numbers. This App is designed to help the water sports community connect. Paddle to new adventures and friendships with PaddleOut. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/ Privacy and Policy: https://paddlout.com/privacy-policy/ Subscription Details: A subscription is required to enjoy the full features of PaddleOut. Users can subscribe to our monthly plan at $0.99 per month. This subscription provides comprehensive access to all app features, including sessions, social interactions, chats, notifications, and profile management. New subscribers can take advantage of a 7-day free trial to experience everything the app offers. After the trial period, the subscription will automatically renew each month. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account upon confirmation of purchase. This subscription includes the following features: 1) Sessions: This feature allows users to interact with fellow sports enthusiasts. It includes options to contact participants, view participant lists, and use the session’s chat functionality for messaging, and sharing locations, and images. 2) Social Interactions: Subscribers can connect with new people and crews for conversations and shared activities through the social page. 3) Chats: The chat feature enables users to communicate with individuals and crews they are part of, facilitating direct and group conversations. 4) Notifications: This feature alerts users about Message Requests, Session Invites, or Crew Invites, keeping them informed and engaged with community activities. 5) Profile Management: Users can create and manage their profiles, form crews, organize sessions, and update their personal information to reflect their interests and activities.
Wakes
Discover nearby lakes with detailed information including fish and media. Track your live position on the map for easy navigation. Access integrated depth maps for underwater exploration and anchoring.
- Discover nearby lakes
- Live position tracking
- Integrated depth maps
- Lake details (fish, media)
- Search radius filtering
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There are millions of lakes in North America. Go explore. #KnowTheWater Pan a live map of thousands of lakes across the state, then tap any lake for the full picture — its depth, water quality, fish, amenities, and current weather. When you're ready to get on the water, Paddle Mode turns your phone into a real-time companion that tracks your route and shows the depth right beneath you. EXPLORE THE MAP Browse thousands of Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes on a fast, fluid map. Lakes cluster when you zoom out and reveal their true shorelines as you zoom in. Search by name, or filter by distance, water clarity, fish species, and amenities to find exactly the water you're looking for. DIVE INTO EVERY LAKE Open any lake to see what matters: current weather and conditions, water quality and clarity, fish species and biology, size and shape, and the amenities along the shore — boat launches, beaches, parks, and more. SEE THE BOTTOM — BATHYMETRY IN 2D & 3D Read depth contours on a flat map, or tilt into a fully interactive 3D model of the lake bottom. Know the shallows, drop-offs, and deep holes before you go. GET A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW Aerial drone video and photos give you a true sense of a lake before you ever leave the dock. PADDLE MODE A full-screen, on-the-water experience built for kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. Record your GPS track, watch the depth beneath your hull update live from bathymetry, and see your watercraft right on the map. Save every paddle to look back on. WEATHER BUILT FOR THE WATER Current conditions plus a detailed wind forecast — the stuff that actually matters when you're heading out — powered by Apple Weather. Whether you're chasing fish, planning a paddle, or just exploring, Wakes puts lake details in your pocket. *Support is currently offered for select states
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Wakes at none against Paddle Out's shown. Wakes also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Paddle Out's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Paddle Out sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Wakes sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Paddle Out against 5.0 for Wakes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 7 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Paddle Out ships an update every 2 months, Wakes every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paddle Out | Wakes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 135 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SIMM Consulting, LLC | Logan Nelsen |
Customer experience
Paddle Out
Wakes
In-app purchases
Paddle Out
- Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription Dating$2.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription$9.991 Year
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- Yearly Subscription Dating$20.991 Year
Wakes
- Tip - Coffee$1.99
- Tip - Gas$4.99
- Tip - Drone$9.99
Questions
Is Paddle Out free?
Is Wakes free?
Which has better reviews, Paddle Out or Wakes?
Do Paddle Out or Wakes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Paddle Out or Wakes?
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