Comparison

True Skate vs True Surf

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

Head to head
About

True Skate

Experience the most realistic skateboarding simulation with intuitive finger controls that mimic real-world foot movements. Perform any trick imaginable, customize your skater and board, and create your dream skatepark. Compete globally or with friends.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics-based controls
  • Perform any trick
  • Skater and board customization
  • Unlockable skateparks
  • DIY park creation
  • Replay editor
  • Community features
Features
Read full description

#1 game in 80 countries. Loved by millions of skateboarders all over the world. "True Skate is clearly something special" - 4.5/5 - Touch Arcade review. True Skate™ is the closest feeling to real-world skateboarding, with a decade long evolution as the ultimate skateboarding sim. True Skate™ is the Official Mobile Game of Street League Skateboarding. PURE PHYSICS CONTROLS Use your fingers like you would your feet on a real skateboard. Flick the board to make it react exactly how you would expect & drag your finger on the ground to push. - Play with one finger, mind skate with 2 fingers, or play with 2 thumbs, now with Gamepad! The skateboard reacts instantly as foot & finger, thumb or stick feels truly connected whether pushing, popping, flipping or grinding. - True Axis's instant & unified physics system listens for swipe, position, direction and strength from the player & processes how the skateboard should respond in real-time. So the same flick in two different points of the skateboard will react very differently. - Literally any trick is possible with TRUE CONTROL of the skateboard, so if you can dream-it, you can do-it! SKATEPARKS Begin at the Underpass, a beautiful skatepark to get lost in with ledges, stairs, grind rails plus a bowl, half pipe & quarter pipes. NEW! Complete Park Objectives to earn keys to unlock 10 Fantasy skateparks for free. Enter & complete events to shred over 20 real-world spots including; The Berrics, SPoT, Love Park, MACBA, & SLS Championship Courses from 2012. CUSTOMIZE YOUR SKATER AND SETUP Customize your skateboard with decks and grips from Santa Cruz, DGK, Primitive, MACBA Life, Grizzly, MOB, Independent, Knox, Creature, Nomad, Capitol, ALMOST, Blind, Cliche, Darkstar, Enjoi, Zero & more. Customize your wheels & trucks. NEW COMPLETES! OG players can choose legacy completes including Realistic Mode or try a range of new completes designed for street, park, vert and more. EDIT YOUR REPLAY True Skate™ is about nailing the perfect line; timing, strength, precision, angle, late corrections all make a difference. Edit Replays with a fisheye lens that can shake on impact. Insert keyframes on the timeline to blend between cams. Select from; - 5 preset Cams. - Custom Cam with FOV, distortion, distance, height, pitch, pan, yaw & orbit options. - Tripod Cam with auto, fixed, & follow options. DIY All DIY objects are now in the Shop! Check back weekly for sales and new object drops. Unlock objects via park and event missions. Create the park of your dreams. COMMUNITY Compete in Global Leaderboards, or connect with your mates via Challenges & games of S.K.A.T.E or join SANDBOX. SANDBOX is a subscription service that enables players to create & play your True Skate™ experience: - Custom board stats & graphics. - Create your own spot, including the gravity! - Or choose from tons of incredible Community-Made; Skateparks, DIYs, Boards, Skins, & Apparel. PLAY SECOND SCREEN Play with your iOS device or Gamepad as your controller and enjoy True Skate™ in landscape mode on the Big Screen!  - Connect your iOS device to an Apple TV (or AirPlay compatible smart TV), via wi-fi, or via cable using a Lightning Digital AV Adapter. - Pair your Gamepad with your iOS device via Bluetooth. Note: An internet connection is required to access some features. Terms of service can be found at http://trueaxis.com/tsua.html Privacy Policy can be found at https://trueaxis.com/tsspp.html Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to players iTunes account settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period.

About

True Surf

Experience the most authentic surfing simulation with realistic physics and live weather forecasts from Surfline. Master real-time controls, travel to world-famous breaks, and compete in WSL events. Evolve your surfer, build your gear, and chase the perfect wave.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics simulation
  • Live Surfline weather forecasts
  • World-famous surf breaks
  • Real-time touch controls
  • Character progression and customization
  • Board quiver management
  • Live WSL competitions
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Conquer legendary past swells by crushing feat-based missions across a quiver of boards, from the world’s leading shapers, and unlock 34 of the planet's most iconic surf spots. Experience mind blowing realistic wave graphics, driven by True Axis' cutting-edge, real-world physics simulation engine, featuring real-time surf conditions powered by Surfline! True Surf is the Official Game of World Surf League (WSL). REAL TIME CONTROLS Realistic touch based physics enable complete control of your surfer in real time. Use one finger, your thumb or mind surf with two fingers like the Pros. NEW GAMEPLAY: FIRST PERSON BARREL MODE Automatically switch to first person mode when in the barrel. NEW MISSION MODE: Smash feat-based missions across the world’s most iconic breaks to unlock new surf spots! Every victory earns you essential rewards to fuel your career, including Clams, Travel Tickets, and Perfect Storms to boost live conditions. IMPROVED REPLAY GRAPHICS Edit and share POV drainers, pig dog shots in the barrel, and spine-twisting laybacks in the pocket! THE WORLD'S BEST WAVES A huge part of surfing is about chasing the perfect wave and True Surf comes jam-packed with the world's best. Travel the world chasing classic reef breaks with hollow barrels at Pipe in Hawaii, Cloudbreak, Fiji to rolling 'power-curve' breaks at Bells Beach, Australia. Or try to beat the sections at some of the world's fastest point breaks like Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. If BIG waves are your thing then head to Nazare, Portugal and Jaws (Pe-ahi), Hawaii. True Surf has it all including Surf Ranch, the epic man made wave located between farm fields in California’s Central Valley. REAL-TIME CONDITIONS POWERED BY SURFLINE True Surf is powered by real time surf forecasting data from Surfline (experts in marine weather forecasting). Data is updated throughout the day and includes Swell Height, Swell Direction, Wind, Tide and Water Temperature. PERFECT STORM Play god of thunder and boost LIVE swells. WILDLIFE Surf with dolphins, look out for the sharks! COMPETE IN WSL CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR EVENTS Are you ready for the CT? Test your skills in WSL Events and compete against other players from around the world to see if you have what it takes to become a CT champ! CHARACTER & QUIVER Experience apparel and boards from legendary brands including Billabong, Catch Surf, Firewire Surfboards, Pyzel Surfboards, Quiksilver, Roxy, Rusty, Shane, SharpEye Surfboards, Simon Anderson Surfboards, Slater Designs, Stretch Boards, and Vissla. Note: An internet connection is required to access some features. Frequent Flyer (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited travel to all surf spots in True Surf. Frequent Flyer Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Perfect Storm (monthly) is a monthly subscription service that enables you unlimited activations of Perfect Storms at all surf spots in True Surf. Perfect Storms provide a boost to live surf conditions and each activation lasts for 5 minutes. Perfect Storm Monthly cost 2.99 USD/month (or local equivalent) and will be charged on your iTunes Account after purchase and when the subscription renews monthly. Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to users iTunes account settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Terms of service can be found at https://trueaxis.com/tsfua.html

Screenshots

True Skate4 screens
True Surf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: True Surf at Free against True Skate's $1.99. True Surf also leads on review sentiment (61% vs 51%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). True Skate's advantage is chart position (#1 vs #85). On rating, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

True Surf is free to download; True Skate costs $1.99 up front. True Skate sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and True Surf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for True Skate against 3.8 for True Surf. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9K and 3.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 51% of True Skate's written reviews are positive against 61% of True Surf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
True Skate versus True Surf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrue SkateTrue Surf
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (9K ratings)3.8 (3.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.2% of reviews60.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9K — better3.5K
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#1 — better#85
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size196 MB211 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTrue AxisTrue Axis

Customer experience

True Skate

All ratings8,971 ratings
Positive67.2%
Neutral8.5%
Negative24.3%
Written reviews1,964 reviews
Positive51.2%
Neutral14.9%
Negative34.0%

True Surf

All ratings3,441 ratings
Positive68.2%
Neutral10.6%
Negative21.2%
Written reviews1,136 reviews
Positive60.8%
Neutral16.9%
Negative22.3%

User reviews

True Skate

From 9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🛹 Realistic skateboarding mechanics
  • 🎨 Customizable boards and grip tape
  • 🏆 Addictive and challenging gameplay
  • 💯 Best mobile skating game

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for maps and content
  • 🤯 Frustrating missions and challenges
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches with saved progress and purchases
  • 🤖 Inconsistent trick recognition

True Surf

From 3.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌊 Realistic wave physics and graphics
  • 🤙 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 🔥 Best surfing game on mobile
  • 👍 Intuitive controls once learned
  • 🌍 Variety of real-world surf spots

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for boards and upgrades
  • 🐢 Extremely slow progression and leveling up
  • 🤯 Inconsistent and unreliable scoring system
  • 🌊 Lack of consistently good waves at many locations
  • 🔋 Battery draining issues

Bugs and requests

True Skate

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Saved parks and purchases disappearing
  • Crashes when accessing menus and customization
  • Wheels and grip tape resetting after updates
  • Missions not registering correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Multiplayer mode to skate with friends
  • More free skateparks and content
  • Ability to preview custom board designs
  • Improved controls for goofy stance players

True Surf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Waves not generating properly at Surf Ranch
  • Progression resets and lost progress
  • Inability to travel to desired surf spots

Requested features

5 requests
  • First-person camera mode
  • Customizable boards and characters
  • Competitive multiplayer mode
  • Career mode with challenges and sponsorships
  • Ability to create and share custom surf spots

In-app purchases

10 purchases

True Skate

One-time10
  • Slow Motion Mode$0.99
  • Skatepark: Inbound$0.99
  • Skatepark: Schoolyard$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Skatepark: The Warehouse$0.99
  • Skatepark: Double Infinity$0.99
  • Skatepark: The Factory$0.99
  • Skatepark: The Valley$0.99
  • Skatepark: Mondo Ramp$0.99
  • Unlimited Custom Images$4.99
  • Skatepark 6 Pack$4.99
7 purchases

True Surf

Subscriptions2
  • Perfect Storm (monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Frequent Flyer (monthly)$2.991 Month
One-time5
  • Handful of Clams$0.99
  • Bag of Clams$7.99
  • Chest of Clams$28.99
Show 2 more
  • Boatload of Clams$49.99
  • Sea of Clams$99.99

Questions

Is True Skate free?
True Skate costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is True Surf free?
True Surf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, True Skate or True Surf?
True Surf is rated higher. True Skate averages 3.8 out of 5 from 9K ratings, while True Surf averages 3.8 from 3.5K ratings.
Do True Skate or True Surf have ads?
Neither True Skate nor True Surf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, True Skate or True Surf?
True Skate ships an update fortnightly, and True Surf fortnightly. Most recently, True Skate was updated on October 24, 2026 and True Surf on October 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, True Skate or True Surf?
True Skate currently peaks at #1 in the App Store charts, and True Surf at #85. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons