Comparison

SEAiq 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

This marine navigation app offers comprehensive charting capabilities, allowing users to load various standard chart formats and download NOAA charts. It includes essential navigation tools like waypoints, routes, and an anchor alarm, along with weather overlays and NMEA/AIS integration.

Highlights
  • Load custom S-57, S-63, iENC, BSB, KAP charts
  • Automatic NOAA chart downloads
  • Waypoints, routes, and tracks
  • Anchor alarm
  • Automatic weather downloads
  • NMEA and AIS integration
Read full description

SEAiq is a full-featured marine navigation app. It lets you load your own charts in standard formats, including S-57, S-63, iENC, BSB, and KAP. It also automatically downloads charts from NOAA for the United States. 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 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

SEAiq2 screens
Coastal Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SEAiq at 61% against Coastal Explorer's 11%. SEAiq also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.8) and ratings volume (194 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 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $15.00 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 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SEAiq has 194 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of SEAiq's written reviews are positive against 11% of Coastal Explorer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SEAiq ships an update every 3 weeks, Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SEAiq versus Coastal Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSEAiqCoastal Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (194 ratings) — better2.8 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews61.3% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings194 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
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
Size54 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSakhalinRose Point Navigation Systems, Inc

Customer experience

SEAiq

All ratings194 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral3.6%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive61.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative32.0%

Coastal Explorer

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

Bugs and requests

SEAiq

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • No access to premium features after payment
  • Chart downloads fail if app is not on screen
  • App freezes when trying to delete
  • App crashes

Requested features

13 requests
  • Simplify course plotting
  • Add support for .MBTiles
  • Add VMG feature
  • Add support for .MBTiles
  • Add support for .MBTiles
Show 8 more
  • Allow selection of discreet chart areas
  • Add GPS data from TCP/IP source
  • Allow disabling internal GPS
  • Provide good integration/complement to OpenCpn
  • Provide TCP/IP support for NMEA data
  • Broadcast waypoint and NMEA data to external systems
  • Lower price for waypoints creation
  • Allow using purchased charts across devices

Coastal Explorer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SEAiq

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Annual$15.001 Year
One-time1
  • Upgrade for Premium Features$49.99
2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

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

Questions

Is SEAiq free?
SEAiq 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 or Coastal Explorer?
SEAiq is rated higher. SEAiq averages 4.7 out of 5 from 194 ratings, while Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 from 16 ratings.
Do SEAiq or Coastal Explorer have ads?
Neither SEAiq nor Coastal Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SEAiq or Coastal Explorer?
SEAiq ships an update every 3 weeks, and Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Most recently, SEAiq was updated on October 23, 2026 and Coastal Explorer on October 24, 2026.

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