Comparison

RadarScope vs EF Scale

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

Head to head
About

RadarScope

Visualize professional-grade weather radar data with advanced tools for meteorologists, storm spotters, and enthusiasts. Access real-time radar information, severe weather alerts, and historical data with optional subscription tiers for enhanced capabilities.

Highlights
  • Single-site radar data visualization
  • Severe weather alerts and warnings
  • NWS-generated storm tracks
  • Historical radar data archive
  • GOES satellite products
  • Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor products
Features
Read full description

RadarScope is an AMS-award-winning weather visualization tool that empowers meteorologists, public safety officials, storm spotters, and weather enthusiasts to view a full suite of single-site radar data and related severe weather products. Your initial purchase provides professional radar visualization in a fully native app, free from distracting and invasive practices, with optional subscription packages to add even more capabilities. Whether you’re scanning for a mesocyclone’s tell-tale hook echo, pinpointing the landfall of a hurricane’s eye wall, or identifying velocity couplet, hail spike, or debris ball signatures, RadarScope displays native radar data in its original radial format. You see what the radar sees almost as soon as the radar sees it, with automatic updates every two to ten minutes depending on the radar’s scanning strategy. Your initial app purchase includes the following: • Full suite of single-site radar products for the US, Canada, Guam, Denmark, Finland, and Germany • 10-frame radar loops • Two built-in providers for radar data • Tornado, thunderstorm, flash flood, marine, snow squall, extreme wind, tropical, and other warnings in the US • Selected severe weather warnings in Canada and Australia • Severe weather watches in the US and Canada • NWS-generated storm tracks with hail, TVS, and mesocyclone attributes • Inspector and distance tools • Color palette options for radar data • Weather Pulse data plan integration • Spotter Network integration for storm and location reporting • mPING integration for submitting weather reports to NSSL • Bundled maps with political borders, water bodies, and highways, optimized for low-bandwidth use • Support for widgets and complications • Universal app for Apple platforms, including Apple Watch, and Apple TV • CarPlay support • Family Sharing support RadarScope Pro Tier One is an optional annual subscription that adds more features for tracking severe weather: • 30-frame radar loops • Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes • Special weather statements in the US and Canada • Mesoscale convective and precipitation discussions • SPC convective, tornado, hail, wind, and fire outlooks • WPC excessive rainfall outlooks in the US • Local storm reports in the US • Custom color palette support • Multi-pane display (2 on phones; 4 on larger devices) • Family Sharing support RadarScope Pro Tier Two is an optional annual or monthly subscription that transforms RadarScope into a more complete visualization tool for a larger suite of weather products, including: • Everything in Pro Tier One • 50-frame radar loops • A third provider for US radar data • 30-year archive of NEXRAD Level II radar data • 6-year archive of NEXRAD Level III data • 30-day archive of super-res and non-US radar data • 20-year archive of NWS bulletins • GOES satellite data • Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) data • Real-Time Mesoscale Assimilation (RTMA) data • GFS, ECMWF, HRRR, HRW, NAM, and RRFS model data • Surface observations • ProbSevere layer • Atmospheric soundings in the US • Hail size, hail probability, and azimuthal shear contours with a 30-day archive • More detailed transportation and satellite imagery maps • Custom color palette support for GOES, MRMS, RTMA, and forecast products • Server-sent events for radar and warning updates • Cross-platform subscription sharing on up to 5 devices If you choose to buy a RadarScope Pro subscription, it will be charged to your App Store account. The subscription will be auto-renewed within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period at the same price you originally paid. Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal disabled via your App Store account settings after the purchase. Once purchased, the subscription cannot be canceled during the active subscription period. DTN is committed to safeguarding your privacy online. Our privacy policy is available for review at https://www.dtn.com/privacy-policy/ Please visit our web site for more information.

About

EF Scale

Assess tornado and wind damage with this tool that simplifies the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale. Follow on-screen prompts to select damage indicators and degrees of damage, then adjust for construction variability to estimate wind speeds.

Highlights
  • Simplified EF Scale assessment
  • Damage indicator selection
  • Degree of damage input
  • Construction variability adjustment
  • Visual damage examples
  • About and share functions
Features
Read full description

Rate tornado damage the way surveyors do. EF Scale puts the complete Enhanced Fujita scale on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac — all 28 damage indicators, every degree of damage, and the expected wind speeds behind each rating. Browse structure types from small barns and family residences to high-rise buildings, transmission lines, and trees. Compare what you see against reference photos and construction details, then pick a degree of damage and tune the wind speed estimate between its bounds to account for construction quality. • All 28 damage indicators of the Enhanced Fujita scale • Reference photos and construction details for every indicator • Degrees of damage with expected wind speeds and EF ratings • Interactive wind speed estimator with adjustable bounds • EF0–EF5 rating reference, always a tap away • Everything stored on device — works fully offline in the field Built for storm spotters, damage surveyors, emergency managers, students, and weather enthusiasts. *** PLEASE REMEMBER: This app is for reference purposes only. Doing a real damage survey takes knowledge and experience you can't build into an app! Official damage assessments are the business of the National Weather Service and their delegates! ***

Screenshots

RadarScope4 screens
EF Scale4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: EF Scale at Free against RadarScope's $9.99. EF Scale also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). RadarScope's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 20 months) and ratings volume (2.8K vs 4). On ads 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

EF Scale is free to download; RadarScope costs $9.99 up front. RadarScope sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. EF Scale asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EF Scale holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RadarScope has 2.8K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of RadarScope's written reviews are positive against 67% of EF Scale's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RadarScope ships an update monthly, EF Scale every 20 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
RadarScope versus EF Scale: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRadarScopeEF Scale
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (2.8K ratings)4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.4% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.8K — better4
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 20 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS16.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size310 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBase Velocity, LLCWeatherWary LLC

Customer experience

RadarScope

All ratings2,792 ratings
Positive77.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative18.0%
Written reviews414 reviews
Positive51.4%
Neutral8.5%
Negative40.1%

EF Scale

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral22.2%
Negative11.1%

Bugs and requests

RadarScope

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Subscription issues and failed purchases
  • Inconsistent radar updates and connectivity problems
  • Apple Watch app limitations and bugs

Requested features

5 requests
  • Winter weather advisories and precipitation coloring
  • Ability to view multiple radars simultaneously
  • More detailed road maps
  • Archived radar data access
  • Customizable alert colors and notifications

EF Scale

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

RadarScope

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Tier 1$9.991 Year
  • Pro Tier 2$14.991 Month
  • Pro Tier 2$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • RadarScope Pro Subscription$9.99
None

EF Scale

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RadarScope free?
RadarScope costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is EF Scale free?
EF Scale is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RadarScope or EF Scale?
EF Scale is rated higher. RadarScope averages 4.2 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while EF Scale averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do RadarScope or EF Scale have ads?
Neither RadarScope nor EF Scale shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RadarScope or EF Scale?
RadarScope ships an update monthly, and EF Scale every 20 months. Most recently, RadarScope was updated on October 17, 2026 and EF Scale on October 4, 2026.

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