TideApp vs Windfinder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TideApp
Access real-time tidal charts and data for over 4,000 locations globally. Plan trips with future tide information and view daily highs, lows, and sun/moon cycles.
- Global tidal charts
- Daily tide highs and lows
- Sun and moon cycles
- Future tide graphs
- Trip planning tool
- Updated interface
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TideApp turns your phone into a tide table for 3,486 NOAA stations across the United States — the 1,251 reference stations NOAA publishes full harmonic data for, plus 2,235 subordinate stations derived from them. Drag the chart and the water follows your finger. Predictions are computed on your device from NOAA's published harmonic constants, so once the app has loaded, no signal or connection is needed to read the tide. FREE • Today's tide at any station, with sunrise, sunset and the day's moon • Conditions above the chart — the sky, the temperature, and the day's high and low • Nearest-station lookup from your location, or find any of the 3,486 by name or on the map • Switch between stations any time — starred stations are free, not a Pro feature PRO • Every day, not just today — drag the chart and the day strip as far as you like • Wind and gusts on a compass, pressure and which way it's going, visibility, and the chance of rain • Apple Watch app and complications • Widgets on your home screen • Alerts for high and low tides as well as thresholds The weather needs a connection. The tide does not — it is computed on your phone, so an outage takes the sky off the screen and leaves the water exactly where it was. TideApp Pro is a 4.99 USD/month or 49.99 USD/year auto-renewing subscription with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at purchase confirmation; the subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID account settings. See Terms of Use and Privacy Policy below. Predictions are computed from published NOAA CO-OPS harmonic constants. They are not official NOAA products, are not endorsed by NOAA, and are not a substitute for official navigational sources — they exclude storm surge, wind, and other weather effects and should not be relied on for navigation. Weather data provided by Apple Weather. Terms of Use: https://tideapp.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://tideapp.com/privacy.html
Windfinder
Get detailed wind, wave, tide, and weather forecasts for over 160,000 locations worldwide. Access real-time measurements from thousands of weather stations and animated wind maps for a global overview. Ideal for outdoor enthusiasts and professionals needing precise weather data.
- Detailed wind and weather forecasts
- Real-time wind and weather measurements
- Tide forecasts
- Animated wind map
- Severe weather warnings
- Webcams
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Detailed wind and weather forecasts for your location. See wind, waves, tides and weather reports and current wind measurements for your own weather predictions. Easy to use and free of charge. FEATURES: + Detailed wind and weather forecasts for over 160,000 locations + Current wind and weather measurements in real-time from 21,000 weather stations + Tide forecasts for high and low tides for over 20,000 locations around the world + Favorites: save nearby locations and monitor the weather + Animated wind map for a global wind overview + Small Wind Widgets (current conditions) + New: Severe weather warnings for the US and Europe + Measurements listed in knots, Beaufort, mph, km/h and m/s + Parameters: Wind speed, wind direction, gusts, air temperature, felt temperature, clouds coverage, precipitation, air pressure, wave height, wave period and wave direction + Webcams + Optimized display for optimal readability on the go and on any mobile device + Optimized data transfer for a quicker load speed + Topographic maps provide a quick overview of weather conditions and assist with route planning + Easy to use interface - even with wet and cold hands PERFECT FOR: • Kitesurfing & Windsurfing – find that next storm or windy days next door or at your next vacation • Sailing – plan your next sailing trip and ensure safe passage by avoiding bad weather at sea • Wing Foiling - Catch the wind with your wing • Surfing – find the perfect wave and high swell • Dinghy sailing & regatta racers • SUP & Kayak – make sure high waves and wind don’t risk your adventures • Paragliding – find a good wind right from the start • Fishing – ensure a good catch with wind directions and tides • Cycling, hiking & trekking – check if it will be windy on your route and take the right gear • Boat owners & captains – keep an eye on the current wind conditions and tides • ... anyone interested in reliable wind and weather predictions WINDFINDER PLUS: Subscribe to Windfinder Plus to get access to all features. With Windfinder Plus you also get: + Wind alerts: Specify your preferred wind conditions and get notified when windy or calm days are forecasted + Superforecast: our hourly high-resolution forecasting model for North America, Europe, South Africa, Egypt and the Canary Islands + Wind & Weather Widgets in all sizes with wind preview + Ad free: no distractions + Wind preview: get a quick visual overview of the next ten days + New: Value grid for weather parameters directly on the map + Animated wind speed maps with wind gusts, temperature, precipitation and topographic images + Wind report map: Real-time wind measurements from over 21,000 stations directly on the wind map + all webcams in the area + many more Windfinder Plus is available as an In App Purchase. Subscriptions: Windfinder Plus: We offer auto-renewable "Windfinder Plus" subscriptions for one month or one year. The subscription unlocks the full feature set of Windfinder Plus. Remove Ads: We offer auto-renewable "Remove Ads" subscriptions for 3 months, 6 months or one year. The app will be free of ads while the "Remove Ads" subscription is active. Details: A free trial period of 7 days is offered. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. You will be charged for another period (1 month, 3 months, 6 months or one year) unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the subscription is renewed. You can turn off the auto-renewal in your account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: www.windfinder.com/contact/terms Privacy Policy: www.windfinder.com/contact/privacy_policy SOCIAL MEDIA: • Facebook: @Windfinder.com • Instagram: @windfindercom • Youtube: wind.to/Youtube • Support: support@windfinder.com • FAQ: windfinder.com/help
Screenshots
Verdict
TideApp and Windfinder both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 81% of Windfinder's written reviews are positive against 40% of TideApp's. Windfinder also leads on ratings volume (63K vs 19) and chart position (#49 vs unranked). TideApp's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. TideApp sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Windfinder sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for TideApp against 4.8 for Windfinder. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Windfinder has 63K ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 40% of TideApp's written reviews are positive against 81% of Windfinder's.
TideApp ships an update every 2 weeks, Windfinder every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.
| Parameter | TideApp | Windfinder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (19 ratings) | 4.8 (63K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 81.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 19 | 63K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #49 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 88 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Forrest Grant | Windfinder |
Customer experience
TideApp
Windfinder
User reviews
TideApp
From 19 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Used to be great
- 👍 Phenomenal for timing slack tides
- 👍 Useful for planning activities
- 👍 Good free app
- 👍 Comprehensive location listings
Room to improve
- 😞 App is dead
- 😞 Stopped working
- 😞 Startup ad issues
- 😞 Now terrible
- 😞 Full screen ads
Windfinder
From 63K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Accurate wind and weather forecasts
- 🚀 Detailed and easy-to-use interface
- 💡 Helpful for planning outdoor activities and sports
- 👍 Reliable and consistent performance
- 💡 Includes tide information
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional inaccuracies in wind/weather predictions
- 🔍 Limited information for some locations
- 💰 Ads can be intrusive in free version
- 🔍 Lack of advanced features like dark mode
Bugs and requests
TideApp
Reported bugs
41 issues- Startup ad forces browser launch
- Cannot get past opening ad
- Full screen ads that can't be closed
- Ads fill entire screen
- Full screen adds one after the other
Show 36 moreShow fewer
- Screen to install a game that can't be bypassed
- Update ruined app
- Deleted useful functionality
- Blank colored screen or lock up when working with favorites
- App needs to be forced quit
- Tide waveform does not allow scrolling
- Full screen ad on opening blocks tide info
- Ad can't be closed without downloading something unrelated
- Cannot drag line on tide graph
- New version doesn't list things in order
- Doesn't tell next high or low tide
- Screens don't move to reveal information
- App does not get past opening ad
- Not possible to scroll down graph
- Does not load
- Previous version opened in an ad that could not be closed
- No way of seeing data for any day other than current
- Changing a date does nothing
- Crashed frequently
- App crashes
- Graph part of application quit, immediately closing the app
- White banner and a black screen
- Dates back on track (temporary glitch)
- App crashes when surfing other locations
- Freezing
- Washington, D.C. sites listed under Washington state
- Tolerable work-around needed for launch
- App can be launched when no network connection is available
- Latest app deleted, old version synced back
- App takes too much memory
- Advertisement needs WiFi connection sometimes
- App says it needs WiFi, cellular is fine other times
- Totally failed
- Undo the upgrade and give back old version
- No time zone correction for tides
- Base time zone appears to be US Eastern Time Zone
Requested features
21 requests- Make a version I can buy and go ad free
- Bring back scrolling through chart waveform
- Bring back future date chart view
- Bring back ability to scroll waveform
- Add tide time offset feature
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Add option to offset time for specific location
- Add moonphase percentage to moon rise
- Add a black (or red) line at 0 ft mark in chart mode
- See chart for one week at a time
- Get favorites loaded offline
- Include CURRENTS
- Date picker in calendar format
- Graph scrollable for 7 days
- Support switching to landscape
- Search for minus tides
- Add option to use GPS location to find tide stations nearby
- List locations under actual geographic state
- Update icon to match other apps
- Add bookmarks/default to often-used locations
- Go straight to last port viewed when opened
- Add time zone correction
Windfinder
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes or freezes on some devices
- Widget not functioning properly
Requested features
4 requests- Hourly wind/weather updates
- Ability to add custom locations
- More detailed weather information (rain, humidity, etc.)
- Integration with other weather/outdoor apps
In-app purchases
TideApp
- TideApp Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- TideApp Pro Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Windfinder
- Windfinder Plus monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- 3 month ad-free2 variants$2.493 Months
- 6 month ad-free2 variants$3.996 Months
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- 1 Year ad free2 variants$4.991 Year
- Windfinder Plus Yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year
- Windfinder Plus Yearly1 Year trial$12.991 Year









