SailTimer™ vs Cortex Onboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SailTimer™
Visualize wind and wave conditions before you head out on the water with this marine weather app. It uses crowdsourced data for more accurate, real-time forecasts than traditional satellite imagery. Track your GPS, create waypoints, and access offline charts for any boat type.
- Crowdsourced wind and wave map animation
- Route viewing with aerial photos and land maps
- Waypoint creation and GPS track saving
- Offline map and chart usage
- Follow-Me GPS tracking
- Optimal tacking distance calculation for sailboats
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Now for all types of boats. Beautiful weather animations with different types of marine weather: • Crowdsourced wind maps for the most accuracy and highest resolution. • Marine weather forecasts from Weathernews Inc. (WNI) with maps of precipitation, visibility, air & sea temperature, wind, waves/swell & ocean currents. • AI models of ocean currents and marine weather from Amphitrite. There are lots of weather services and apps, but they all use the same satellite weather forecast. Low resolution, low accuracy, and only updated 4 times per day. Weather satellites are 500 to 22,000 miles up in space. Crowdsourcing is changing marine weather. Why rely on satellite imaging, when you can use actual measurements from other boaters? In coastal areas, we archive these to map wind flow for more accuracy. Crowdsourced weather maps like these have never been possible before. A wind sensor measures local wind around your boat, but now you can also know the wind and sea state up ahead or around the next point. FEATURES FOR ALL TYPES OF BOATS: • View your route with free aerial photos and land maps worldwide. If you have the Navionics Boating app, you can import worldwide Navionics charts here with a yearly subscription. • The weather map animations each have a low-cost monthly subscription with a free 7-day trial. • Create and rename waypoints by tapping or importing a list. Save, import or email your GPS track. • All maps and charts in the app can be used offline. • The white crosshair icon in the top left is the “Follow-Me” button. If tapped, it turns blue and keeps your location in the center of the screen as you move. Unselect when not moving to look around the map. • Your device will not go to sleep when the app is open, to allow you to continue to monitor your progress on the chart. You can also continue to track your movement with the app running in the background or when the device is asleep (unless you hard-quit). (Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. This app may use your location even when it isn’t open, which can decrease device battery life.) FOR SAILBOATS: Whether cruising or racing, it is important to be able to determine the best heading on all points of sail. GPS chartplotters do not calculate tacking distances. But if they do not know the distance you will travel, how can they calculate your correct ETA? This is the only product that calculates your optimal tacks using your tacking distance and polar plots. Details at www.SailTimerApp.com. SailTimer gives you a quick and easy display of your optimal tacks and TTD® (Tacking Time to Destination). • Use our wireless Wind Instrument or wired Ultrasonic (www.SailTimer.co) to see wind direction, angle & speed. Enter a waypoint and your optimal tacks will update automatically as the wind changes. • Bring in wind data from any other wind sensor on wifi from NMEA 2000 or 0183, using our low-cost Air Link™ (https://wi-rb.com/airlink). • Custom polar plots: When using a wind sensor, the app can learn your sailboat's unique speed profile on all points of sail, for the most accurate tacking results. • Switch the display to the port or starboard tack to avoid obstructions, or let the app automatically display the tack nearest to your current heading. • Audio Navigation: when using the wireless Wind Instrument, optionally hear wind conditions or boat speed when they change by more than a set amount. • Convert from Apparent to True wind direction, angle & speed. See our channel on Tiktok and YouTube Shorts for more background.
Cortex Onboard
This app allows you to configure and update your marine electronics from your mobile device. Monitor vessel data, receive alerts, and manage features like Anchor Watch from anywhere on board.
- Configure and update Cortex devices
- View AIS information and alerts
- Manage Anchor Watch
- Monitor vessel sensors
- Connect NMEA 2000 instruments
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Cortex Onboard is free with your Cortex. Use it to configure your Cortex Hub and download updates to your Cortex devices with new features and improvements. You can also use Cortex Onboard to receive and manage alerts, view AIS information and instrument data anywhere on board your boat. View out-of-the-box sensors or NMEA 2000 networked instruments. - Setup is easy and free. - Use Cortex Onboard to configure and update your Cortex devices easily. - View AIS information and receive alerts on board direct to your device. - Manage Anchor Watch from the palm of your hand anywhere on board. - Use the Cortex Hub’s built-in sensors for battery level, barometric pressure and boat position. - Connect your Cortex Hub to NMEA 2000, or an external sensor, to add monitoring for wind, depth, bilge high water, temperature, shore power or security. - The Cortex Hub supports up to 10 WiFi devices (includes Handsets).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Cortex Onboard at 3.8 against SailTimer™'s 1.7. Cortex Onboard also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 12) and review sentiment (56% vs 37%). SailTimer™'s advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, 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
Both are free to download. SailTimer™ sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Cortex Onboard asks for nothing beyond the download.
Cortex Onboard holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 1.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 12 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of SailTimer™'s written reviews are positive against 56% of Cortex Onboard's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SailTimer™ | Cortex Onboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.7 (6 ratings) | 3.8 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 37.0% of reviews | 55.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 126 MB | 376 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SailTimer Inc. | Garmin New Zealand Ltd |
Customer experience
SailTimer™
Cortex Onboard
In-app purchases
SailTimer™
- WNI Marine Weather Map7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Wind Animation7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Navionics Charts$10.991 Year
- ActiveCaptainFree
- Polar Plot LearningFree
- Import NMEA data$0.99
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- SailTimer Pro Bundle$7.99
- USA Atlantic Coast$15.99
- USA Pacific Coast$15.99
- USA Great Lakes$15.99
- USA Gulf Coast$15.99
- Cuba, Bahamas, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands$15.99
Cortex Onboard
No in-app purchases









