PRO CHARTS vs Navionics® Boating
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- High-resolution NOAA nautical charts
- Offline chart access
- Waypoint and route creation
- Buddy tracking
- Float plan sharing
- Point-and-steer navigation
- Track recording
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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.
Navionics® Boating
Access detailed nautical charts and advanced boating features offline on your mobile device. Plan trips with dock-to-dock guidance, check weather and tides, and connect with a community of boaters. Ideal for cruising, fishing, sailing, and diving.
- Offline nautical charts
- HD bathymetry maps
- Dock-to-dock route planning
- Weather and tide forecasts
- Community edits and recommendations
- Track recording and sharing
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Get up-to-date, detailed charts you can use offline plus a boatload of features on your mobile device, so they’re on hand wherever you go. The Boating app is a must-have for cruising, fishing, sailing, diving and all your activities on the water. Try it free for a limited time. To continue using charts and advanced features, you can purchase a yearly auto-renewable subscription*. A COMPLETE PACKAGE • INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED NAVIONICS® CHARTS: Use them offline along with multiple overlays, so you can be more aware of what’s above and below the water. - NAUTICAL CHART: Use this premier marine reference to study port plans, anchorages and safety depth contours, locate navaids, marine services and more. - SONARCHART™ HD BATHYMETRY MAPS: Extraordinary 1’ (0.5 meter) HD bottom contour detail is the ideal tool for locating new fishing areas. - U.S. GOVERNMENT CHARTS (NOAA): These are available within the following coverages: U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Caribbean to Brazil. - OVERLAYS: The relief shading overlay allows you to have a better understanding of bottom topography for improved fishing and diving. Sonar imagery reveals bottom hardness clearly and in vivid color on select lakes. Want more? Display satellite imagery on land and water. - MAP OPTIONS: Change chart-overlay combinations to customize chart views, activate night mode, highlight shallow areas, target multiple fishing ranges and more. - DAILY UPDATES: Benefit of thousands of daily updates worldwide. • TOOLS FOR PLANNING AND ENJOYING YOUR DAY - AUTO GUIDANCE+TM TECHNOLOGY**: Easily plan your trip with a suggested dock-to-dock path based on chart data and navigation aids. Get ETA, distance to arrival, heading to waypoint, fuel consumption and more. - WEATHER AND TIDES: Knowing conditions before heading out is crucial. Access real-time weather data, daily and hourly forecasts as well as wind, weather buoys, tides and currents. - MARKERS, TRACKS, DISTANCE: Place a marker on a good anchorage spot or where you reeled in a big fish. Record your track, take photos and videos within the app, and look back at your day anytime. Easily check distance among two points. • AN ACTIVE AND HELPFUL COMMUNITY - COMMUNITY EDITS and the ACTIVECAPTAIN® COMMUNITY: Obtain and contribute useful local knowledge along with thousands of fellow boaters, such as points of interest, navigation aids and valuable recommendations from people with firsthand experience of the local environment. - CONNECTIONS: Stay in touch with your friends and fellow boaters by sharing your live location, tracks, routes and markers to easily meet on the water or let them check out your adventures. - GPX IMPORT/EXPORT: Share your saved data outside the app or transfer it to your chartplotter. - SHARE MAP OBJECTS: Share a marina, repair shop or any other location outside the app. • EXTERNAL DEVICE-FRIENDLY FOR MORE FEATURES - PLOTTER SYNC: If you own a compatible chartplotter, sync it with the app to transfer routes and markers, activate, update or renew your Navionics chartplotter card subscription. - SONARCHART LIVE MAPPING FEATURE***: Connect with a compatible sonar/plotter, and create your own maps in real time while navigating. - AIS: Connect to a compatible AIS receiver with Wi-Fi® connectivity to see nearby marine traffic. Set a safe range, and receive visual and aural alerts to signal potential collisions. NOTES: *You can manage your subscription anytime, and you can turn auto-renewal off. **Auto Guidance+ is for planning purposes only and does not replace safe navigation operations ***Free features A tablet device with Wi-Fi connectivity locates your approximate position if it is connected to Wi-Fi. A tablet Wi-Fi + 3G model operates similarly to a phone device with GPS. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. iOS is a trademark licensed to Apple, Inc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PRO CHARTS at 4.5 against Navionics® Boating's 2.9. PRO CHARTS also leads on ratings volume (8.5K vs 2.4K) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). Navionics® Boating's advantage is chart position (#5 vs #178). On price, review sentiment, 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. PRO CHARTS sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Navionics® Boating sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PRO CHARTS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8.5K and 2.4K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 17% of PRO CHARTS's written reviews are positive against 22% of Navionics® Boating's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PRO CHARTS ships an update every 2 months, Navionics® Boating every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | PRO CHARTS | Navionics® Boating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (8.5K ratings) — better | 2.9 (2.4K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 17.2% of reviews | 22.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8.5K — better | 2.4K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #178 | #5 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 154 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MiraTrex, Inc. | Garmin |
Customer experience
PRO CHARTS
Navionics® Boating
User reviews
PRO CHARTS
From 8.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great for navigation
- 🗺️ Helpful for coastal areas
- 👍 Useful app overall
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- ⚠️ Subscription issues and hidden costs
- 🌐 Lacks coverage for non-US regions
- 🔒 Poor account management and support
Navionics® Boating
From 2.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great navigation app
- 🗺️ Detailed charts and maps
- ⚓ Useful for boating and sailing
- 💰 Good value for money
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Login issues and unreliable offline access
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🗺️ Inaccurate or outdated map data
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
Navionics® Boating
Reported bugs
3 issues- GPS signal loss and position tracking issues
- Inability to download or access previously purchased maps
- Constant requirement to log in, even offline
Requested features
4 requests- Add anchor alarm feature
- Improve route planning and waypoint functionality
- Provide better support for multiple devices
- Enhance user interface and customization options
In-app purchases
PRO CHARTS
- 1 Year Auto Renewing Subscription14 Days trial$2.991 Month
- 1 Year Auto Renewing Subscription14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Brazil - Nautical Charts$4.99
- 1 Year Subscription$29.99
Navionics® Boating
- Norway$49.991 Year
- Baltic Sea3 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Australia & New Zealand7 Days trial$49.991 Year
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- Africa & Middle East7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Mexico, Caribbean to Brazil7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Indian Ocean and South China7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Pacific Islands7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- US & Canada7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- UK, Ireland & Holland7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Chile, Argentina&Easter Island$49.991 Year
- China Sea & Japan$49.991 Year
- Central and West Europe7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Mediterranean & Black Sea7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Adriatic & Ionian Seas7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Scandinavia S. & Germany N.$99.991 Year
Questions
Is PRO CHARTS free?
Is Navionics® Boating free?
Which has better reviews, PRO CHARTS or Navionics® Boating?
Do PRO CHARTS or Navionics® Boating have ads?
Which is updated more often, PRO CHARTS or Navionics® Boating?
Which is more popular, PRO CHARTS or Navionics® Boating?
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