Comparison

MSW Surf Forecast vs Nautide

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

Head to head
About

MSW Surf Forecast

Access comprehensive surf forecasts, live surf cams, and expert reports for breaks worldwide. Plan future surf trips with 16-day forecasts and relive your sessions with wave analysis and video playback. Shop surf gear and stay updated on surf news.

Highlights
  • Live surf cams at 950+ breaks
  • 16-day long-range forecasts
  • Daily surf reports from experts
  • Wave height, wind, weather, and tide data
  • Surf Alerts for perfect conditions
  • Cam Rewind for session replays
  • Surf gear shopping with premium benefits
Features
Read full description

Magicseaweed has joined Surfline and the MSW app is no longer being supported. You can now get all your favorite features on Surfline: ​ ​Keep track of current surf conditions.​ -View live surf cams at 950+ breaks around the world.​ -Get daily surf reports from our team of experts.​ -View wave height, live wind, weather, water temperature, and tide.​ -Choose to get notified when the conditions are perfect at your favorite spots with Surf Alerts. ​ -View detailed buoy charts and nearshore models.​ ​Plan future surf adventures.​ -Use 16-day long-range forecasts to plan ahead.​ -Read swell analysis from our in-house forecasting team.​ ​Relive your sessions and watch your waves.​ -Use Cam Rewind to watch and download your best waves (and wipeouts).​ -Sync your Apple Watch to log Surfline Sessions and get your waves sent straight to your phone.​ -View detailed analysis of waves ridden, length of ride, and speed.​ -Share your rides with friends and on social media.​ Shop top-quality surf essentials.​ -Shop a selection of surfboards, wetsuits, surf accessories, and other gear. ​ -Save up to $60 on every order. (Premium only)​ -Get free shipping on every order. (Premium only)​ -View gear guides, reviews, and other gear-related stories. ​Stay connected to all things surf.​ -Watch the world’s best waves with live coverage of major swell events.​ -Read up on the latest surf news, travel, training, and gear content.​ ​Search for ‘Surfline’ on the App Store to download. ​ --​ MSW Pro Subscriptions and Renewals​ Magicseaweed Pro Subscriptions are no longer available to purchase for most subscribers as part of the migration to Surfline. MSW Pro subscribers now have access to a Surfline Premium membership until the end of their current MSW Pro subscription term. Unless auto-renewal is turned off through iTunes account settings, the Surfline Premium membership will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of your current MSW subscription term. Full terms and conditions can be found at https://magicseaweed.com/legal/terms-and-conditions-of-use/.​

About

Nautide

Plan your maritime activities with comprehensive data on tides, waves, wind, and weather. Access detailed charts and forecasts for over 25,000 coastal stations worldwide, including fishing activity predictions and astronomical information.

Highlights
  • Tide charts and tables
  • Surf swell height and direction
  • Fish activity and solunar periods
  • Sunrise, sunset, and moon phases
  • Wind speed and direction
  • Coastal weather conditions
  • Marine open water forecast
Features
Read full description

All the information you need to know to plan activities at sea in a simple and practical app. More than 25,000 coastal stations around the world. TIDES Daily tide charts and tidal coefficient. High tides and low tides. Tides height. Monthly tide table. Tides for fishing. SURF Height and direction of the swell, wave period, hourly surf table. FISH ACTIVITY Hourly activity chart and solunar periods with the best fishing moments of every day. Monthly activity table with daily fish activity and major and minor fishing periods. SUN AND MOON Sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, azimut, moon phases, eclipses, transits and other astronomical data. BAROMETER Fishing barometer, pressure graph and hourly pressure table with trend indicator. WIND Wind at land and wind at sea: wind speed, wind gust, wind force, land and sea conditions and hourly wind table. WEATHER Weather conditions at coast: Cloud cover, visibility, temperature, precipitation, wind chill, humidity, dew point and hourly weather table. MARINE Open water forecast for marine/sailing. Includes all weather indicators and also the water temp. Hourly marine table. AIR QUALITY Major air pollutants, particulate matter, hour-by-hour forecast. ----------------- Free download with restrictions. Requires suscription to activate all the sections and remove the ads. Terms of use: https://nautide.com/usage-terms © tides4fishing official app

Screenshots

MSW Surf Forecast4 screens
Nautide4 screens

Verdict

The call

MSW Surf Forecast and Nautide both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 93% of MSW Surf Forecast's written reviews are positive against 67% of Nautide's. MSW Surf Forecast also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (15K vs 3.4K). Nautide's advantage is chart position (#72 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MSW Surf Forecast sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Nautide sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for MSW Surf Forecast against 4.8 for Nautide. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15K and 3.4K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of MSW Surf Forecast's written reviews are positive against 67% of Nautide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MSW Surf Forecast ships an update every 6 weeks, Nautide every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
MSW Surf Forecast versus Nautide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMSW Surf ForecastNautide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (15K ratings) — better4.8 (3.4K ratings)
Positive reviews93.1% of reviews — better67.1% of reviews
Number of ratings15K — better3.4K
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#72 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSurfline/WavetrakIgoox

Customer experience

MSW Surf Forecast

All ratings14,904 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral1.0%
Negative0.7%
Written reviews494 reviews
Positive93.1%
Neutral2.8%
Negative4.0%

Nautide

All ratings3,393 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews371 reviews
Positive67.1%
Neutral6.7%
Negative26.1%

User reviews

MSW Surf Forecast

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌊 Accurate surf forecasts
  • 📊 Detailed wave and weather information
  • 🗺️ Comprehensive coverage of surf spots
  • ⏱️ Helpful tide and sunrise/sunset times
  • 🎨 Intuitive and user-friendly interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional inaccuracies in forecasts
  • 💰 Paywall for some features (e.g., webcams)
  • 🔍 Limited number of spots in some regions
  • 🔀 Navigation changes can be confusing
  • 🔋 Concerns about battery drain

Nautide

From 3.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate information
  • 👍 Comprehensive data
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 👍 Helpful for fishing/boating
  • 👍 Great app overall

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Requires paid subscription to access full features
  • 💸 Expensive subscription fee
  • 🔍 Confusing navigation
  • 🐛 Inaccurate weather/tide data
  • 🔋 Excessive ads in free version

Bugs and requests

MSW Surf Forecast

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Favorites list not syncing across devices
  • Webcam functionality not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Customizable notifications for swell/conditions
  • Improved sorting/filtering of favorite spots
  • More detailed local spot descriptions
  • Integration with other weather/surf apps

Nautide

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Paid subscription issues (e.g. not working, no access to content)
  • App freezing or crashing
  • Incorrect data display (e.g. water temperature)

Requested features

4 requests
  • Landscape mode support for tablets
  • Ability to link forecasts to specific weather stations
  • Integration with Apple Watch
  • Offline access to data

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MSW Surf Forecast

One-time1
  • MSW App+$2.99
2 purchases

Nautide

Subscriptions2
  • Nautide PRO Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Nautide PRO Annual7 Days trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is MSW Surf Forecast free?
MSW Surf Forecast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nautide free?
Nautide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MSW Surf Forecast or Nautide?
MSW Surf Forecast is rated higher. MSW Surf Forecast averages 4.8 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Nautide averages 4.8 from 3.4K ratings.
Do MSW Surf Forecast or Nautide have ads?
Both MSW Surf Forecast and Nautide show ads.
Which is updated more often, MSW Surf Forecast or Nautide?
MSW Surf Forecast ships an update every 6 weeks, and Nautide every 3 months. Most recently, MSW Surf Forecast was updated on November 6, 2026 and Nautide on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons