Comparison

rakkup vs whitewater.guide

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

Head to head
About

rakkup

Access a vast library of climbing and backcountry skiing guidebooks on your mobile device, even without an internet connection. Navigate trails to your destination with turn-by-turn directions and detailed maps. Explore climbs and descents with rich visuals and discover new routes.

Highlights
  • Offline guidebook access
  • Turn-by-turn trail navigation
  • GPS-enabled route finding
  • Map and list browsing
  • Search and filter capabilities
  • Color photos and topo drawings
Features
Read full description

rakkup allows you to access an entire bookshelf of climbing and backcountry skiing guidebooks on your iPhone, even beyond the reach of cell phone coverage. Once downloaded, guidebooks work offline with no Internet connection! It is also the first and only mobile climbing app that navigates you through the trail system to your climb, turn by turn. Produced in partnership with Outdoor Research, rakkup reinvents the guidebook for the smartphone era. We've partnered with Beacon Guidebooks, Wolverine Publishing ,and other publishers to bring you rich guidebooks complete with color photos and topo drawings. Free sample climbs and ski descents are included. Browse climbs and descents on a map or in the list format of your choice, filter and search in seconds, then navigate using your phone's GPS with a single tap. In climbing guidebooks, the app continuously calculates the easiest route through the trail system from your current location. Simply follow the arrow and moving map. Note: When actively navigating to a climb, rakkup uses GPS in background. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

whitewater.guide

Discover and explore river sections with detailed information for kayakers. Filter by difficulty, water level, and style, view photos and videos, and navigate to access points easily. All essential whitewater information in one place.

Highlights
  • River section discovery
  • Map and list view
  • Filter by difficulty and water level
  • Photos and videos
  • Navigation to access points
  • Detailed river descriptions
Features
Read full description

Аll-in-one mobile app for kayakers and all White Water enthusiasts. In the app you can find river sections both in the list or on the map. You can filter them by difficulty, current water level, rating or whitewater style. For each section you can read a description, check out photos and videos, water levels if provided and navigate to the put-in/take-out using any navigation app with one tap.

Screenshots

rakkup4 screens
whitewater.guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: whitewater.guide at 3.4 against rakkup's 2.2. whitewater.guide also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (70% vs 54%). rakkup's advantage is ratings volume (25 vs 5). 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. rakkup sells 16 one-off in-app purchases and whitewater.guide sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

whitewater.guide holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: rakkup has 25 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of rakkup's written reviews are positive against 70% of whitewater.guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

rakkup ships an update every 2 months, whitewater.guide every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
rakkup versus whitewater.guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterrakkupwhitewater.guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.2 (25 ratings)3.4 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.9% of reviews70.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings25 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOutdoor Geeks, LLCWhitewater Guide App Inc

Customer experience

rakkup

All ratings25 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral16.0%
Negative64.0%
Written reviews102 reviews
Positive53.9%
Neutral5.9%
Negative40.2%

whitewater.guide

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

rakkup

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • App crashes on login
  • App freezes when opening routes
  • Crashes every 30 seconds to few minutes
  • Splash screen appears repeatedly despite cached data
  • Collapse/expand toggles stop working
Show 8 more
  • Route selection auto-selects wrong area
  • Maps fail to load without internet connectivity
  • Bookshelf is buggy and inaccessible
  • Password field incompatible with password managers
  • Specific routes cause crashes (e.g., Sun Kissed)
  • iOS 15 compatibility issues
  • Frozen screens requiring app reinstall
  • GPS functionality unreliable (20% success rate)

Requested features

12 requests
  • Simplified and more intuitive UI redesign
  • Gear and rack information for routes
  • Pitch length specifications
  • User ratings and comments system
  • Personalization settings (filter preferences)
Show 7 more
  • PDF guidebook downloads
  • YouTube tutorial videos for app navigation
  • Climbing log with progress tracking
  • Route notes and personal annotations
  • Better offline map handling
  • Access codes for physical guidebook purchases
  • Improved map clustering for nearby crags

whitewater.guide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

rakkup

One-time16
  • Elizabeth Furnace$2.99
  • Long Branch and Guide Walls$3.99
  • Reed's Creek$4.99
Show 13 more
  • Exit 38 Rock Climbs$9.99
  • Staunton State Park Climbing$9.99
  • Silverton$9.99
  • Bridger Ridge$9.99
  • Powerlinez$11.99
  • Teton Pass Descents$14.99
  • Snoqualmie Pass$14.99
  • Index Town Walls$15.99
  • Red Rocks Climbs by SuperTopo$19.99
  • Mt. Erie$19.99
  • Potrero Chico$19.99
  • Backcountry Skiing California's Eastern Sierra$19.99
  • Vermont Tough Schist$19.99
8 purchases

whitewater.guide

One-time8
  • Pyrenees$4.99
  • Uganda$7.99
  • Georgia (country)$8.99
Show 5 more
  • Altai$9.99
  • Scotland$9.99
  • Kyrgyzstan$12.99
  • Québec$13.99
  • Norway$13.99

Questions

Is rakkup free?
rakkup is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is whitewater.guide free?
whitewater.guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, rakkup or whitewater.guide?
whitewater.guide is rated higher. rakkup averages 2.2 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while whitewater.guide averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do rakkup or whitewater.guide have ads?
Neither rakkup nor whitewater.guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, rakkup or whitewater.guide?
rakkup ships an update every 2 months, and whitewater.guide every 3 weeks. Most recently, rakkup was updated on September 24, 2026 and whitewater.guide on August 1, 2026.

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