SeaHelp vs Waterway Guide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SeaHelp
This app provides immediate professional assistance for boaters in distress in specific European coastal areas. It sends your location and contact details to a central operations center, which then contacts you to arrange support. Membership offers priority treatment during emergencies.
- Emergency help button via SMS
- Automatic GPS coordinate transfer
- Direct contact from operations center
- Membership for priority treatment
- Access to SeaHelp website
- Downloadable SeaMagazine
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SeaHelp – the breakdown service at sea With this kind of service, SeaHelp App is offering to all skippers the possibilty of asking for professional help on short notice in breakdown or emergency situations in the areas of Croatia, Slovenia, Northern Italy and the Balearic Islands. After activating the application, the help button has just to be pressed once in order to generate a SMS which will be received by the SeaHelp operations centre, tranferring the coordinates of the actual position, the mobile phone number and, in the case of a SeaHelp membership, as well the membership number. The SeaHelp operations centre will then promptly contact the skipper of the damaged boat by phone to get more detailed information and then will initiate the necessary supporting measures. This service is aimed at all skippers in the operational area as mentioned above. Nevertheless, SeaHelp would like to point out that, given the case of several simultaneous emergency calls, there will be priority treatment for SeaHelp members. This service, though, on no account, is meant as a replacement for the conventional emergency alarm scenarios as established in seamanship but, at best, may serve as a supplement. No internet link is required for the application of the SeaHelp emergency call function. Although, when using abroad roaming fees might occur, so, please contact your provider for information about the rates for using SMS and telephone services abroad. Persons seeking help and not being SeaHelp members will be charged the accruing costs as indicated on the pricelist stated on our website under www.sea-help.eu . Please inform yourself before using this application for the first time. In case you should find any mistakes within the information contained, we kindly ask you to advise us accordingly via the support sites indicated. Range of functions: • Appeal for help via SMS to the SeaHelp operations centre indicating the coordinates of the actual position of the person seeking help, the mobile phone number for recalls from the SeaHelp operations centre and the SeaHelp membership number guaranteeing priority treatment in the case of several simultaneous requests for help. • Possibility of applying via iPhone for a SeaHelp membership, the breakdown service at sea and support point partner of the ADAC for the Croatia region as well as a cooperation partner of the ÖAMTC, the Austrian Sailing Federation and the Austrian Cruiser Federation. Please note: activation of memebership will be made 24 hours after the application and receipt of payment by SeaHelp. • Direct access to the SeaHelp website. • Free of charge download of the printed edition of the SeaMagazine rehashed for iPhones. Important notice: No liability will be assumed for the correct determination of the GPS coordinates by means of the iPhone as well as for the delivery of the SMS to SeaHelp. This information is supplied without liability.
Waterway Guide
This app provides a comprehensive boating resource with a verified database of marinas, anchorages, and navigation alerts. Users can access real-time hazard information, plan trips with a digital handbook, and utilize detailed content optimized for mobile devices. Engage with a community of boaters through comments and reviews.
- Verified points of interest database
- Real-time navigation alerts
- Community comments and reviews
- Skipper's Handbook for trip planning
- Offline content access
- Marina filtering by amenities
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Optimized for your mobile devices with Waterway Guide's detailed and verified points of interest database. Includes over 1.3 million data points on marinas, anchorages, navigation alerts, free docks, bridges and locks displayed on the embedded map or satellite view. Benefit from the experience of 75 years of publishing and hundreds of thousands of active boaters through verified comments and reviews. Share your comments, add points of interest, earn rewards and engage with others from within the app. Stay informed with the latest hazards to navigation reported real time from USCG, government agencies, local experts and boaters everywhere. Plan your time on the water with Waterway Guide's Skipper's Handbook, which is included with the free app download. Access Waterway Guide's library of books as individual chapters or entire guides for the information and details you need for navigation. Content is optimized for mobile devices and can be bookmarked for availability offline. Easily find marinas that fit your needs. Filter our entire database of marinas based on amenities and your preferences. Same functionality as Waterway Guide’s Marinas App. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SeaHelp at 100% against Waterway Guide's 51%. SeaHelp also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 43) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). Waterway Guide's advantage is ratings volume (2.9K vs 34) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, ads and device support 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. Waterway Guide sells 43 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. SeaHelp asks for nothing beyond the download.
Waterway Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Waterway Guide has 2.9K ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of SeaHelp's written reviews are positive against 51% of Waterway Guide's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SeaHelp ships an update every 2 months, Waterway Guide every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SeaHelp | Waterway Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (34 ratings) | 4.7 (2.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 51.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 34 | 2.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #187 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 51 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sea-Help GmbH | Waterway Guide |
Customer experience
SeaHelp
Waterway Guide
Bugs and requests
SeaHelp
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Waterway Guide
Reported bugs
4 issues- App not working with latest iOS version
- Subscription purchases not working properly
- Unable to access purchased content
- Frequent crashes and errors
Requested features
4 requests- Provide vertical bridge clearances
- Improve offline functionality
- Enhance search and filtering options
- Implement dark mode
In-app purchases
SeaHelp
No in-app purchases
Waterway Guide
- Chesapeake Bay Ch.3$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Ch.2$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Ch.6$4.991 Year
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- Southern Ch.6$4.991 Year
- Southern Bridges & Locks$4.991 Year
- Bahamas Cruising Guide$4.991 Year
- Florida Keys Ch.3$4.991 Year
- Gulf IWW Ch.4$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Ch.10$4.991 Year
- Gulf IWW Ch.1$4.991 Year
- Western Gulf Coast Ch.4$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Ch.4$4.991 Year
- Southern Ch.4$4.991 Year
- Western Gulf Coast Ch.3$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW East Coast Inlets$4.991 Year
- Northern Ch.12$4.991 Year
- Great Lakes Vol.2 Ch.7$4.991 Year
- Northern Ch.11$4.991 Year
- Great Lakes Vol.1 Ch.7$4.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Ch.9$4.991 Year
- Great Lakes Vol.1 Ch.2$4.991 Year
- Northern Ch.1$14.991 Year
- Great Lakes Vol.2 Ch.8$14.991 Year
- Great Lakes Vol.2 Ch.6$14.991 Year
- Southern Ch.13$14.991 Year
- Southern Ch.10$14.991 Year
- Southern Ch.12$14.991 Year
- Southern Ch.3$14.991 Year
- Southern Ch.11$14.991 Year
- Anchorages Along the ICW$20.991 Year
- Bahamas Bound$20.991 Year
- ICW Cruising Guide by Bob423$29.991 Year
- Northern Edition$49.991 Year
- 1st Ed. Bahamas Land and Sea$49.991 Year
- Chesapeake Bay Edition$54.991 Year
- Atlantic ICW Edition$54.991 Year
- Southern Edition$54.991 Year
- Bahamas Edition$54.991 Year
- Western Gulf Coast Edition$54.991 Year
- Florida Keys Edition$54.991 Year
- Great Lakes Volume 1 Edition$54.991 Year
- Great Lakes Volume 2 Edition$54.991 Year
- Cuba Edition$59.991 Year
