Comparison

SEAiq USA 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

SEAiq USA

This marine navigation app provides detailed charts for the United States, including weather and AIS data. It offers features like waypoints, routes, and an anchor alarm. While basic chart viewing is free, premium navigation requires an annual subscription after a trial.

Highlights
  • NOAA chart downloads
  • Weather and AIS data
  • Waypoints and routes
  • Anchor alarm
  • Night color modes
  • Chart measuring tools
Read full description

SEAiq USA is a full-featured marine navigation app for the United States. It automatically downloads and displays charts from NOAA and the US Army Corps of Engineers for the regions you select. Features include: * Waypoints * Routes * Tracks * Night color modes * Anchor alarm * Automatic download and display of weather (wind & isobar) * Chart measuring tools (EBL/VRM) * Wi-Fi-based NMEA and AIS * Vector charts No purchase is required to view charts. Premium navigation features are enabled during a 7-day evaluation period. After that, an annual subscription is required. Existing one-time purchases retain the features they unlocked. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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

SEAiq USA4 screens
Coastal Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SEAiq USA at 76% against Coastal Explorer's 11%. SEAiq USA also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.8) and ratings volume (503 vs 16). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. SEAiq USA sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $10.00 per year 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

SEAiq USA holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SEAiq USA has 503 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of SEAiq USA's written reviews are positive against 11% of Coastal Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SEAiq USA versus Coastal Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSEAiq USACoastal Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (503 ratings) — better2.8 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews75.5% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings503 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSakhalinRose Point Navigation Systems, Inc

Customer experience

SEAiq USA

All ratings502 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive75.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative20.4%

Coastal Explorer

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

Bugs and requests

SEAiq USA

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Chart download failures with error messages
  • App incompatibility with iOS 8 updates causing loss of purchase
  • Performance degradation on iPad 3 and older devices
  • Slow zoom and pan responsiveness
  • Active Captain integration not fully functional in free version
Show 1 more
  • Deceptive Active Captain marker display without content access

Requested features

7 requests
  • Delete and rename imported tracks functionality
  • Track export as CSV spreadsheet with date, time, course, speed, location
  • International chart support in free version
  • Precipitation weather integration
  • More prominent waypoint highlighting when route not selected
Show 2 more
  • Enhanced navigation marker visibility
  • Improved iPad-to-iPhone GPS sharing

Coastal Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SEAiq USA

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Annual$10.001 Year
One-time1
  • Upgrade for Premium Features$24.99
2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

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

Questions

Is SEAiq USA free?
SEAiq USA 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, SEAiq USA or Coastal Explorer?
SEAiq USA is rated higher. SEAiq USA averages 4.7 out of 5 from 503 ratings, while Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 from 16 ratings.
Do SEAiq USA or Coastal Explorer have ads?
Neither SEAiq USA nor Coastal Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SEAiq USA or Coastal Explorer?
SEAiq USA ships an update every 2 weeks, and Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Most recently, SEAiq USA was updated on November 6, 2026 and Coastal Explorer on November 2, 2026.

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