Comparison

Virtual Regatta vs True Surf

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

Head to head
About

Virtual Regatta

Experience realistic offshore sailing races against thousands of players worldwide. Manage your boat's energy, adapt to real-time weather, and compete in official virtual regattas. Choose from a vast fleet of sailboats and test your tactical skills.

Highlights
  • Real-time offshore racing
  • Realistic weather simulation
  • Energy management
  • Fleet of diverse sailboats
  • Official race partner
  • Multi-platform play
Features
Read full description

WHAT IS VIRTUAL REGATTA ? Virtual Regatta is a free sailing game, an offshore racing simulation. Virtual Regatta is not like simple sailing games, by playing Virtual Regatta you become the skipper of your boat/sailboat against the "winds of the globes". Race against hundreds of thousands of rivals in real time and compete against Vendée Globe skippers like Jérémie Beyou, Sam Davies and Alex Thomson from your computer, smartphone or tablet. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES ON VIRTUAL REGATTA! An incomparable fleet of sailing boats: you will have more choice than in a boat rental! Indeed Virtual Regatta allows you to sail on many boats such as Class 40, Imoca, Figaro, Imoca, Ocean 50, Offshore Racer, mini 6,50, Super Maxi 100, Tara, Ultim, Caravelle... In addition, several formats of offshore races are available to delight all e-sailors. AS CLOSE TO REALITY AS POSSIBLE! Virtual Regatta innovates day after day in order to bring e-sailors closer to the real conditions experienced by skippers on their boats at sea with features such as • Energy management: Learn how to manage your energy like a strategist to stand out from your competitors, because depending on your state of fatigue, your manoeuvres are more or less fast as in reality. • The one-minute engine: The position of your boat is now calculated every minute! JOIN THE VIRTUAL REGATTA COMMUNITY! Virtual Regatta is the biggest sailing community in the world and counts more than 1 million active e-skippers. Virtual Regatta is an official partner of the FFVoile, the World Sailing Federation (World Sailing) and the Olympic Games with whom Virtual Regatta co-organizes all existing official eSailing events. Sail with the best ! Virtual Regatta is the official sailing simulation game of the biggest sailing races: Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabre, Solitaire Le Figaro, and the Olympic Virtual Series. Take the helm of your boat and compete with the biggest names in offshore racing in Virtual Regatta! HOW TO PLAY VIRTUAL REGATTA ? • Give your boat a name. • Start at the same time as the real skippers on your virtual boat. • Use the real weather as a tactician. • Adapt your sails to the weather conditions. • Adjust your course according to the weather conditions. • Follow your boat on your mobile or tablet. • Track the position of other competitors. • Plan a course change. VIRTUAL REGATTA VIP MEMBERSHIP • The VIP membership is available for a period of 3, 6 or 12 months (automatically renewable). • The VIP membership gives access to bonus features of the game. • The payment will be debited from the iTunes account when the purchase is confirmed. • Subscription renews automatically unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • The account will be billed for the renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, and identifies the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions can be managed by the user and automatic renewal can be disabled by accessing the user's account settings after purchase. TERMS OF USE https://click.virtualregatta.com/?li=4952 PRIVACY POLICY https://static.virtualregatta.com/ressources/PrivacyPolicyVRApps.htm?v=201807• If the subscription is cancelled, the package will still be available until the end of the paid period

About

True Surf

Experience the most authentic surfing simulation with realistic physics and live weather forecasts from Surfline. Master real-time controls, travel to world-famous breaks, and compete in WSL events. Evolve your surfer, build your gear, and chase the perfect wave.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics simulation
  • Live Surfline weather forecasts
  • World-famous surf breaks
  • Real-time touch controls
  • Character progression and customization
  • Board quiver management
  • Live WSL competitions
Features
Read full description

Conquer legendary past swells by crushing feat-based missions across a quiver of boards, from the world’s leading shapers, and unlock 34 of the planet's most iconic surf spots. Experience mind blowing realistic wave graphics, driven by True Axis' cutting-edge, real-world physics simulation engine, featuring real-time surf conditions powered by Surfline! True Surf is the Official Game of World Surf League (WSL). REAL TIME CONTROLS Realistic touch based physics enable complete control of your surfer in real time. Use one finger, your thumb or mind surf with two fingers like the Pros. NEW GAMEPLAY: FIRST PERSON BARREL MODE Automatically switch to first person mode when in the barrel. NEW MISSION MODE: Smash feat-based missions across the world’s most iconic breaks to unlock new surf spots! Every victory earns you essential rewards to fuel your career, including Clams, Travel Tickets, and Perfect Storms to boost live conditions. IMPROVED REPLAY GRAPHICS Edit and share POV drainers, pig dog shots in the barrel, and spine-twisting laybacks in the pocket! THE WORLD'S BEST WAVES A huge part of surfing is about chasing the perfect wave and True Surf comes jam-packed with the world's best. Travel the world chasing classic reef breaks with hollow barrels at Pipe in Hawaii, Cloudbreak, Fiji to rolling 'power-curve' breaks at Bells Beach, Australia. Or try to beat the sections at some of the world's fastest point breaks like Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. If BIG waves are your thing then head to Nazare, Portugal and Jaws (Pe-ahi), Hawaii. True Surf has it all including Surf Ranch, the epic man made wave located between farm fields in California’s Central Valley. REAL-TIME CONDITIONS POWERED BY SURFLINE True Surf is powered by real time surf forecasting data from Surfline (experts in marine weather forecasting). Data is updated throughout the day and includes Swell Height, Swell Direction, Wind, Tide and Water Temperature. PERFECT STORM Play god of thunder and boost LIVE swells. WILDLIFE Surf with dolphins, look out for the sharks! COMPETE IN WSL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR EVENTS Are you ready for the CT? Test your skills in WSL Events and compete against other players from around the world to see if you have what it takes to become a CT champ! CHARACTER & QUIVER Experience apparel and boards from legendary brands including Billabong, Catch Surf, Firewire Surfboards, Pyzel Surfboards, Quiksilver, Roxy, Rusty, Shane, SharpEye Surfboards, Simon Anderson Surfboards, Slater Designs, Stretch Boards, and Vissla. Note: An internet connection is required to access some features. Frequent Flyer (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited travel to all surf spots in True Surf. Frequent Flyer Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Perfect Storm (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited activations of Perfect Storms at all surf spots in True Surf. Perfect Storms provide a boost to live surf conditions and each activation lasts for 5 minutes. Perfect Storm Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to users iTunes account settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Terms of service can be found at https://trueaxis.com/tsfua.html

Screenshots

Virtual Regatta4 screens
True Surf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: True Surf at none against Virtual Regatta's shown. True Surf also leads on review sentiment (61% vs 48%) and chart position (#86 vs unranked). Virtual Regatta's advantage is rating (4.2 vs 3.9). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Virtual Regatta sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $27.49 per 3 months and True Surf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Virtual Regatta holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 752 and 3.4K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 48% of Virtual Regatta's written reviews are positive against 61% of True Surf's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Virtual Regatta versus True Surf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVirtual RegattaTrue Surf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (752 ratings) — better3.9 (3.4K ratings)
Positive reviews48.4% of reviews60.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7523.4K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#86 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size304 MB211 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVirtual RegattaTrue Axis

Customer experience

Virtual Regatta

All ratings752 ratings
Positive82.0%
Neutral5.1%
Negative12.9%
Written reviews754 reviews
Positive48.4%
Neutral12.6%
Negative39.0%

True Surf

All ratings3,441 ratings
Positive68.2%
Neutral10.6%
Negative21.2%
Written reviews1,131 reviews
Positive60.7%
Neutral17.0%
Negative22.3%

User reviews

Virtual Regatta

From 752 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Virtual reality experience
  • 👍 Realistic sailing simulation
  • 💡 Ability to race against real-world sailors
  • 🌍 Opportunity to learn about sailing and geography

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases required to be competitive
  • 🔍 Lack of clear instructions and tutorials
  • 🕰️ Slow app performance and long loading times
  • 🔌 Drains device battery quickly

True Surf

From 3.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌊 Realistic wave physics and graphics
  • 🤙 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 🔥 Best surfing game on mobile
  • 👍 Intuitive controls once learned
  • 🌍 Variety of real-world surf spots

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for boards and upgrades
  • 🐢 Extremely slow progression and leveling up
  • 🤯 Inconsistent and unreliable scoring system
  • 🌊 Lack of consistently good waves at many locations
  • 🔋 Battery draining issues

Bugs and requests

Virtual Regatta

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Waypoints and course changes not registering properly
  • Ranking system shows inaccurate and inconsistent positions
  • Inability to log in or access races after updates
  • Boat position and movement not syncing correctly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add offline mode and ability to create custom races
  • Improve 3D graphics and visualization of land/water
  • Provide better support and communication from developers
  • Implement more realistic weather and current simulations
  • Allow easier customization of boat settings and controls

True Surf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Waves not generating properly at Surf Ranch
  • Progression resets and lost progress
  • Inability to travel to desired surf spots

Requested features

5 requests
  • First-person camera mode
  • Customizable boards and characters
  • Competitive multiplayer mode
  • Career mode with challenges and sponsorships
  • Ability to create and share custom surf spots

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Virtual Regatta

Subscriptions1
  • VIP Membership Subscription$27.493 Months
One-time9
  • Pack 400 credits$1.99
  • Full option pack$3.99
  • Pack 1000 credits$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Full option pack$8.99
  • Pack 2300 credits$9.99
  • Full option pack$13.99
  • Full option pack$18.99
  • Full option pack$23.99
  • Full option pack$24.99
7 purchases

True Surf

Subscriptions2
  • Perfect Storm (monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Frequent Flyer (monthly)$2.991 Month
One-time5
  • Handful of Clams$0.99
  • Bag of Clams$7.99
  • Chest of Clams$28.99
Show 2 more
  • Boatload of Clams$49.99
  • Sea of Clams$99.99

Questions

Is Virtual Regatta free?
Virtual Regatta is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is True Surf free?
True Surf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Virtual Regatta or True Surf?
Virtual Regatta is rated higher. Virtual Regatta averages 4.2 out of 5 from 752 ratings, while True Surf averages 3.9 from 3.4K ratings.
Do Virtual Regatta or True Surf have ads?
Virtual Regatta shows ads; True Surf does not.
Which is updated more often, Virtual Regatta or True Surf?
Virtual Regatta ships an update fortnightly, and True Surf fortnightly. Most recently, Virtual Regatta was updated on October 17, 2026 and True Surf on October 17, 2026.

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