Comparison

PRO CHARTS vs Coastal Explorer

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

Head to head
About

PRO CHARTS

Navigate marine environments with detailed nautical charts and route planning. Track your location, find friends on the water, and share your trip details for safety. Offline chart access ensures reliable navigation even without an internet connection.

Highlights
  • High-resolution NOAA nautical charts
  • Offline chart access
  • Waypoint and route creation
  • Buddy tracking
  • Float plan sharing
  • Point-and-steer navigation
  • Track recording
Features
Read full description

MiraTrex PRO CHARTS™ is a powerful, yet easy-to-use marine navigation system. Whether you’re a fisherman, weekend cruiser, sailor, diver, jet-skier, or an offshore captain needing to find an exact location hundreds of miles offshore, PRO CHARTS™ will get you there and back home safely – with nothing more than your iPhone or iPad. Key Features: • High-resolution NOAA nautical chart coverage with depths for all U.S. coastal areas, the Great Lakes, major U.S. river systems, and Brazil plus global high-level nautical charts. Charts are automatically updated based on NOAA chart corrections. • Easy one-touch Waypoint and Route creation. Pre-plan your routes at home or create them at sea with equal ease. Just touch the screen to create new waypoints and routes. • Find your friends on the water. With our new Buddy-tracking feature, you can see and meet up with your friends while you’re out on the water. If you’re on your secret spot and don’t want to be seen, you can hide your location with the touch of a button. • Stay safe. Easily create and send a Float Plan of your trip to a friend or family member. Your Float Plan and location history can be forwarded to search and rescue personnel in case of an emergency. • Easy point-and-steer navigation. The red heading bug on the large on-screen compass always directs you to the next point on your route. Navigation is as easy as pointing your boat at the heading bug to stay on course. • No Network. No Problem. PRO CHARTS™ is designed so no internet connection is required to view your charts while out on the water. You simply download in advance any charts you’ll need at sea with the touch of a button. • Record your tracks. Track your position in real-time and later view your track history. • Fully indexed point of interest (POI) database including weather, aids to navigation (markers and lights), obstructions, tides, currents, your buddies, and more. Website: www.miratrex.com -------------------- Plans: Base app with limited features - Free 14 day trial of all premium features - Free All premium features (Monthly) - $2.99 All premium features (Annual) - $29.99 (Save 16%, about 2 months free) -Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. -Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. -You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period, for the same duration and at the current subscription rate for that product. -You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings in the Apple Settings app after purchase. -No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. This does not affect your statutory rights. -Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. -We will be collecting information about your use of the app both when you are online and offline. To find out more please see our privacy policy. -------------------- By purchasing a subscription or downloading an app you agree that you have read and accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. http://www.miratrex.com/procharts/terms-of-use/ http://www.miratrex.com/procharts/privacy/ NOTE: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Though PRO CHARTS™ will function without a GPS as a chart reader, a GPS-enabled device is required for point-to-point navigation. Third-party Bluetooth GPS units are available to enable GPS for iOS devices such as WiFi-only iPads that do not include a GPS receiver. For offline use where no Internet connection is available, charts must be pre-cached while still on-line and connected, any charts downloaded while online will be available for offline use.

About

Coastal Explorer

Plan and log your cruises with detailed nautical charts and weather forecasts. Enhance your experience with a subscription for offline access, real-time navigation, and integration with marine electronics.

Highlights
  • View NOAA and USACE nautical charts
  • Create routes and waypoints
  • Cloud synchronization
  • ActiveCaptain points of interest
  • US Coast Pilot information
  • Marine weather forecasts
  • Tide and current predictions
Features
Read full description

Coastal Explorer™ is a sophisticated, full-featured, easy-to-use cruise planning and logging tool designed specifically for the pleasure boater. And it becomes a complete navigation system with the purchase of a chart subscription. The free Coastal Explorer app provides these great planning features: * View NOAA and USACE nautical charts for the US in vector format * Create routes, waypoints, boundaries, and other navigation objects * Cloud-synchronization of your navigation objects * ActiveCaptain points of interest * US Coast Pilot information * Marine weather forecasts and observations for the US * Tide and current predictions for the US Purchasing a chart subscription turns Coastal Explorer into a complete navigation system that includes: * Downloadable charts, tide and current predictions, Coast Pilot, and ActiveCaptain places for offline use * Interfacing with compatible networked marine electronics devices, including GPS, compass, depth sounder, anemometer, AIS, autopilot, and more * Customizable instrument panels * Route following with cross-track error, distance and time to go, estimated time of arrival, etc * Track and event recording * Integrated blogging Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. See our Terms of Service at https://www.rosepoint.com/legal/terms_of_service.

Screenshots

PRO CHARTS4 screens
Coastal Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PRO CHARTS at 4.5 against Coastal Explorer's 2.8. PRO CHARTS also leads on ratings volume (8.5K vs 16) and review sentiment (27% vs 11%). Coastal Explorer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, 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. PRO CHARTS sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Coastal Explorer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PRO CHARTS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PRO CHARTS has 8.5K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of PRO CHARTS's written reviews are positive against 11% of Coastal Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PRO CHARTS ships an update every 2 months, Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
PRO CHARTS versus Coastal Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPRO CHARTSCoastal Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8.5K ratings) — better2.8 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews27.1% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings8.5K — better16
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#190 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.614.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMiraTrex, Inc.Rose Point Navigation Systems, Inc

Customer experience

PRO CHARTS

All ratings8,499 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral4.1%
Negative7.6%
Written reviews129 reviews
Positive27.1%
Neutral7.8%
Negative65.1%

Coastal Explorer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive43.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative56.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative88.9%

Bugs and requests

PRO CHARTS

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Charts not loading or disappearing
  • Subscription not recognized
  • Login/account issues

Requested features

3 requests
  • Offline map downloads
  • Depth and hazard data
  • Better route planning tools

Coastal Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PRO CHARTS

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Year Auto Renewing Subscription14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • 1 Year Auto Renewing Subscription14 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Brazil - Nautical Charts$4.99
  • 1 Year Subscription$29.99
2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$19.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$49.991 Year

Questions

Is PRO CHARTS free?
PRO CHARTS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Coastal Explorer free?
Coastal Explorer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PRO CHARTS or Coastal Explorer?
PRO CHARTS is rated higher. PRO CHARTS averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8.5K ratings, while Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 from 16 ratings.
Do PRO CHARTS or Coastal Explorer have ads?
Neither PRO CHARTS nor Coastal Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PRO CHARTS or Coastal Explorer?
PRO CHARTS ships an update every 2 months, and Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Most recently, PRO CHARTS was updated on November 2, 2026 and Coastal Explorer on November 2, 2026.

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