RadarScope vs RainAware
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
RainAware
Get precise rain timing and severe weather alerts for your location. Visualize weather data with interactive graphs and maps, and customize notifications to stay informed about changing conditions.
- Rain Clock with precise timing
- Customizable rain and severe weather notifications
- Interactive temperature and wind graphs
- Weather map overlays with watches and warnings
- Satellite and radar imagery
- Forecast clock for 8-day outlook
- Site lists for nearby locations
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Know exactly when rain will start and stop at your location. RainAware, the original hyperlocal rain app with RainClock, push alerts, live radar, satellite, lightning & storm tracking. ***** INCLUDED IN THE STANDARD VERSION ***** • Rain Clock See rain timing for your location up to 3 hours ahead. Example: “Rain starts in 1 hr 30 min and ends at 4:30 PM.” Background images match the weather outside. • Alerts & notifications Get notified when rain is coming or ending, or when severe weather threatens. Customize alert timing, rain-duration thresholds, proximity settings, and alert frequency. • Regional radar, satellite, and 1-hour precipitation View live weather imagery over a regional domain, then move the domain anywhere to inspect weather there. • Watches, warnings, and advisories View active hazards including severe storms, floods, winter weather, wind, fire, marine alerts, and more. • Weather map overlays Analyze the map with overlays for surface observations, lightning, hurricane tracks, storm reports, moving ship observations, and more. • Landscape mode & fast looping Use landscape mode for a larger map with extra pan and zoom controls. Long-press to burst-loop imagery faster and spot trends. • Current conditions ticker Cycles through the nearest surface observation and also shows nearby lightning, precipitation, and storm reports when relevant. Tap icons to jump to the location. • Interactive graphs View 36-hour trend graphs for temperature, wind, cloud cover, precipitation amount and type. • Forecast Clock See the next 8 days in a concise Today/Tonight format, including sunrise, sunset, and moon phase. • Site lists Quickly check weather for nearby cities, airports, ballparks, speedways, golf courses, and more. Stadium views include wind direction for in, out, or across-field awareness. • Drawing tools Draw on the map, add text, overlay it on weather imagery, and share. • Weather badges Badges show when rapid changes in rain, temperature, clouds, or wind are forecast. Configurable. • Deep customization RainAware includes extensive settings so you can tune the app to your workflow. ***** SUBSCRIPTION FEATURES ***** Subscriptions are available in-app and work across supported devices. • Full-map access View the full weather map without regional limits. • Storm cell tracking Filter storm cells and view motion, hail potential, rotation, and more. • National radar products Includes Echo Tops, Hail Swaths, and Rotation Tracks. • Single-site radar Access reflectivity and velocity products, with options to merge Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico radar into the national view. • Expanded satellite imagery Adds water vapor and colorized visible imagery for enhanced cloud-top analysis. • More alert types Add lightning proximity alerts, severe storm report alerts, and alerts for another location. • RainPro tool Interactively refine precipitation motion for even more precise rain timing. • Environmental fields Display threat areas, VAD wind profiles, isobars, CAPE, updraft helicity, 500 & 850 mb charts & more. • Warning & observation monitor Filter and sort warnings and surface observations. • Advanced surface observations Plot thousands of stations, ships, and buoys, including water temperature and wave height. • Longer loops Animate up to 36 frames and as much as 12 hours ahead on capable devices. • Aviation mode Use FAA sectional maps as an underlay, display flight rules at stations, and view winds aloft at VWP locations. • Advanced drawing tools Draw fronts, time-match drawings to imagery, and create lines, polygons, circles, and squares. • Faster data updates Get more frequent radar, satellite, and surface data refreshes. • Performance controls Manage memory, cache behavior, panning, and image tiling. Coverage is best across the USA and southern Canada. Satellite and local radar coverage also extends from Hawaii to the Caribbean. https://www.rainaware.com/rainaware_coverage_map.webp
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: RainAware at $4.99 against RadarScope's $9.99. RadarScope's advantage is rating (4.2 vs 3.9) and chart position (#1 vs #20). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and 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
RadarScope costs $9.99 and RainAware $4.99 up front. RadarScope sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and RainAware sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
RadarScope holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.7K and 1.1K respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 51% and 51% positive.
RadarScope ships an update monthly, RainAware every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.
| Parameter | RadarScope | RainAware |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.2 (2.7K ratings) — better | 3.9 (1.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 51.0% of reviews — better | 50.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 1.1K |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | #20 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 310 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Base Velocity, LLC | RainAware LLC |
Customer experience
RadarScope
RainAware
User reviews
RadarScope
From 2.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent radar app
- 🔍 Detailed radar data and features
- ⚡ Lightning detection
- 📍 Accurate location tracking
- 🌪️ Helpful for storm tracking and chasing
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive with additional subscription fees
- 🗺️ Limited map details without subscription
- 🕰️ Radar data can be delayed
- 🇨🇦 Limited support for Canadian users
- 🤔 Steep learning curve for novice users
RainAware
From 1.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Quick and Accurate
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Very dependable
- 👍 Pretty accurate
- 👍 Reliable - Accurate - Worth Every Penny
Room to improve
- 🐛 Worse lately
- 🐛 Very disappointed
- 🐛 do not waste your money
- 🐛 You never Know!
- 🐛 Not reliable
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
RainAware
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login screen freezes
- Incompatible with older devices
- JSON could not be serialized because of error: The data couldn't be read because it isn't in the correct format. [47
Requested features
3 requests- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Push notifications to alert you to rain within 3 hours
In-app purchases
RadarScope
- Pro Tier 1$9.991 Year
- Pro Tier 2$14.991 Month
- Pro Tier 2$99.991 Year
- RadarScope Pro Subscription$9.99
RainAware
- RainAware Suite - Monthly$6.991 Month
- RainAware Suite - Annual$69.991 Year
- RainAware Suite - Day Pass$0.99
Questions
Is RadarScope free?
Is RainAware free?
Which has better reviews, RadarScope or RainAware?
Do RadarScope or RainAware have ads?
Which is updated more often, RadarScope or RainAware?
Which is more popular, RadarScope or RainAware?
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