Comparison

SEAiq vs BlueHelm Boating

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

BlueHelm Boating

This app provides advanced navigation tools for boaters, including an anchor alarm, trip planning with smart routing, and marine weather forecasts. It also acts as a personalized AI guide for your vessel, offering offline access to your boat's systems and procedures.

Highlights
  • Anchor-drift alarm
  • Live float plans
  • Marine weather forecasts
  • AI-powered boat guide
  • Offline vessel procedures
  • Smart water routing
  • Find nearest marinas and fuel docks
Features
Read full description

Navigation, Anchor-drift alarm. Live float plans. Marine weather. And your boat's own guide — with you at the helm, even offline. BlueHelm is built around YOUR boat: its systems, procedures, and checklists become a guide you can actually use underway, with the safety tools running alongside. YOUR BOAT (AI) Ask questions and get answers drawn from your boat's guide plus current conditions. "Where's the A/C seacock?" "What do I shut off on the inverter?" Boating questions only — and it never replaces your own judgment or official sources. ANCHOR WATCH Drop anchor, set your rode, and BlueHelm watches your swing. If your boat drifts past your ring, the alarm sounds — even with the screen off. Adaptive monitoring is designed to be easy on your battery overnight. TRIPS & FLOAT PLANS Plan a trip with a suggested water route, or just tap Track Now and go. Share a live float plan so the people who worry can watch your track. Every trip is saved with distance and time. SMART WATER ROUTING Plan a trip and BlueHelm suggests a route over real water — out the harbor channel, around the headland, never a straight line across land. In US waters, routing is informed by NOAA chart data. A planning suggestion to refine, not navigation — always verify against official charts. FIND NEAREST The closest marinas, fuel docks, launch ramps, harbors, anchorages, and bays — sorted by distance from your position, with over 17,000 US coastal places built in. Works with zero signal, exactly when you need it. Tap any place to plan a route there, or just ask Your Boat. TRAVEL WINDOW A same-day read on wind and swell, scored hour by hour, so you can pick the calm window instead of guessing. Transparent about its sources and thresholds — a planning aid, not a go/no-go verdict. MARINE CONDITIONS Wind, tide, waves, and water temperature with hourly and 7-day forecasts, tide charts, and NOAA coastal alerts in US waters. VESSEL GUIDE Your boat's procedures — getting on, heading out, heading back, closing up — as living checklists that work fully offline. Multi-boat ready: every vessel keeps its own guide, log, and documents. MOB & EMERGENCY One-tap man-overboard marking and an emergency console with your position ready to read over the radio. MEMBERSHIP — STRAIGHT PRICES Free to download, and free forever for anchor watch, the map with your position, nearby places, today's conditions, float plans, SOS and your boat's guide. Premium adds the Premium chart (charted depths and hazards, water routing, tracked trips), Ask your boat and the week ahead, for up to three boats: $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Try each Premium feature free first: five 24-hour passes each, started with a tap, no card, nothing automatic. No ads. We never sell your data, and your guide content is never used to train AI. BlueHelm is an aid to seamanship — not a substitute for it. Always maintain a proper lookout, monitor official forecasts and notices, and carry required safety equipment. AI answers can be wrong; verify anything safety-critical against your boat's documentation. Questions? services@getbluehelm.com Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://getbluehelm.com/legal

Screenshots

SEAiq2 screens
BlueHelm Boating4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BlueHelm Boating at 100% against SEAiq's 61%. BlueHelm Boating also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). SEAiq's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ratings volume (194 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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 BlueHelm Boating sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BlueHelm Boating holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SEAiq has 194 ratings behind it against 1, 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 100% of BlueHelm Boating's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SEAiq ships an update every 3 weeks, BlueHelm Boating every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SEAiq versus BlueHelm Boating: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSEAiqBlueHelm Boating
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (194 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings194 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSakhalinBlue Helm LLC

Customer experience

SEAiq

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

BlueHelm Boating

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

BlueHelm Boating

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
9 purchases

BlueHelm Boating

Subscriptions9
  • BlueHelm Premium$9.991 Month
  • Crew Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Captain Monthly$17.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Add a Boat$49.001 Year
  • Add a Boat (2nd)$49.001 Year
  • Add a Boat (3rd)$49.001 Year
  • BlueHelm Premium$59.991 Year
  • Crew Annual$99.001 Year
  • Captain Annual$199.001 Year

Questions

Is SEAiq free?
SEAiq is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BlueHelm Boating free?
BlueHelm Boating is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SEAiq or BlueHelm Boating?
BlueHelm Boating is rated higher. SEAiq averages 4.7 out of 5 from 194 ratings, while BlueHelm Boating averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do SEAiq or BlueHelm Boating have ads?
Neither SEAiq nor BlueHelm Boating shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SEAiq or BlueHelm Boating?
SEAiq ships an update every 3 weeks, and BlueHelm Boating every 4 days. Most recently, SEAiq was updated on October 29, 2026 and BlueHelm Boating on October 28, 2026.

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