Comparison

Nitrox Tools vs Buddy

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

Head to head
About

Nitrox Tools

This app provides essential tools for divers to plan and blend enriched air nitrox. It calculates dive parameters like equivalent air depth and maximum operating depth, and supports various blending methods for custom gas mixes. Easily switch between metric and imperial units and save custom settings for frequent use.

Highlights
  • Enriched air nitrox blending
  • Dive planning calculations
  • Equivalent Air Depth (EAD)
  • Partial Pressure of Oxygen (PPO2)
  • Maximum Operating Depth (MOD)
  • Save custom mixes and settings
  • Metric/Imperial unit switching
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Enriched Air Nitrox blending and planning tools in your hand and available at a touch. You can use these tools at your air station to provide the information you need to fill a Nitrox tank from any existing mix (or empty). Dive Planning tools provide your Equivalent Air Depth, PPO2 at your planned depth, Maximum & Contingency Operating Depth at various oxygen partial pressures and the "best mix" for a planned depth and oxygen partial pressure. You can easily switch between Metric and Imperial/U.S. systems of measurement to adapt to a new fill station. The dive planning tools also support both salt and fresh water calculations. Chances are you regularly work with a specific set of mixes and and common dive situations. Nitrox Tools includes the convenience of saved settings that you can recall at a touch and adjust to a new situation as needed. You can also select mix values using pre-installed default mixes or your own saved custom mixes. When updating one of the mixes for a tool you are offered a list of saved mixes that you can use directly or adjust as needed. You can save the currently displayed mix by clicking the "+" button. Just like with the saved calculations, you can re-arrange or delete any mixes in your saved list. Do you need to share your planning or blending calculations with other divers? All the tools have the ability to share the results of the calculations from within the application. You can set default email addresses and a subject within Nitrox Tool's settings that will be automatically added when you share a result. Nitrox Tools supports a number of blending methods: • Top Up - blend a final mix from starting mix and pressure using 100% oxygen and air or any available topping mix. • Bleed Down - save expensive oxygen and valuable time by easily calculating how much gas to bleed from an existing cylinder to switch to a different mix using air or any available topping mix. • Mix + Mix - make a specific final mix using the remaining gas in the cylinder and mixing that with banked Nitrox (rather than pure oxygen) and air or another topping mix. This enables the blending of Nitrox without the use of pure oxygen for certain combinations of mixes. Avoiding pure oxygen may increase the safety of the blending process and help manage the cost. • Top Off - determine the expected result from topping an existing cylinder with air or some other topping mix. This situation is common when a diver wants to have the blender top the mix remaining from the first dive with air from the boat's compressor. Remember you must always personally analyze your mix before diving it. This application is not a substitute for proper training and should not be used as a substitute for proper dive planning or the primary Nitrox blending and planning methods taught during training. Please do not attempt to handle high pressure oxygen or fill SCUBA cylinders without proper training.

About

Buddy

This app is a comprehensive companion for divers, offering features to log dives, manage gear, and connect with a community of ocean enthusiasts. It provides tools for both free and premium users to enhance their underwater adventures and discover new diving experiences.

Highlights
  • Dive Log recording and validation
  • Buddy network and activity feed
  • Gear management
  • Offline access to certifications
  • Buddy Radar for finding dive buddies
  • Discover feed for underwater content
Features
Read full description

Dive into adventure with Buddy, the ultimate companion for divers of all levels! Buddy makes diving accessible, exciting, and safe with both free and premium features that transform your underwater experiences. FREE FEATURES Dive Log: Record dives, validate them with instructors, add buddies, businesses, and share your adventure! Buddy Discover Activity: Build a network of divers, by viewing their dive log activity in the homepage diver feed of content. Gear Management: Add your gear to your profile and link it to dive logs. Offline Mode: Access certifications and log basic dive details, even offline. Discover Feed: Explore a live feed of Buddy activity and inspiring underwater content. PREMIUM FEATURES Buddy Radar: Meet dive buddies near you or at trip destinations for only $2.99/month or $29.99/year. Color-Correction Filters (Coming Soon): Enhance your underwater photos with professional-quality filters. COMING IN 2025 Dive Computer Integration (Coming Soon): Sync your dives directly to your Buddy profile. Book activities with verified dive shops worldwide through Buddy. Join the Buddy community and take your diving adventures to the next level!

Screenshots

Nitrox Tools4 screens
Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Buddy at Free against Nitrox Tools's $5.99. Buddy also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (49 vs 4). Nitrox Tools's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Buddy is free to download; Nitrox Tools costs $5.99 up front. Buddy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Nitrox Tools asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nitrox Tools holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy has 49 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Nitrox Tools's written reviews are positive against 77% of Buddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nitrox Tools ships an update every 5 months, Buddy monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Nitrox Tools versus Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNitrox ToolsBuddy
Price$5.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.3 (49 ratings)
Positive reviews88.5% of reviews — better76.9% of reviews
Number of ratings449 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#72 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB117 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGreg MclaughlinDive with Buddy, Inc.

Customer experience

Nitrox Tools

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive88.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.5%

Buddy

All ratings49 ratings
Positive75.5%
Neutral10.2%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral7.7%
Negative15.4%

Bugs and requests

Nitrox Tools

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Buddy

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Buddy radar not working
  • App crashes and becomes unresponsive
  • Login issues (email not found)
  • Draft dives appearing in public searches
  • Deleted drafts still appearing publicly
Show 2 more
  • Verification issues for certifications
  • App freezes and spins when adding info

Requested features

7 requests
  • Open to dive status to link people
  • Ability to import/export data
  • Direct data download from dive computers
  • Support for technical diving features (e.g., double tanks, trimix volumes)
  • Inclusion of smaller certification organizations (GUE, UTD)
Show 2 more
  • Booking features
  • More ways to connect with other divers

In-app purchases

None

Nitrox Tools

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Buddy

Subscriptions2
  • Buddy Radar: Monthly1 Month trial$3.991 Month
  • Buddy Radar: Annual1 Month trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Nitrox Tools free?
Nitrox Tools costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Buddy free?
Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Nitrox Tools or Buddy?
Nitrox Tools is rated higher. Nitrox Tools averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Buddy averages 4.3 from 49 ratings.
Do Nitrox Tools or Buddy have ads?
Neither Nitrox Tools nor Buddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nitrox Tools or Buddy?
Nitrox Tools ships an update every 5 months, and Buddy monthly. Most recently, Nitrox Tools was updated on October 17, 2026 and Buddy on October 16, 2026.

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