SailFlow vs Pilot Charts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SailFlow
Get hyper-accurate, real-time marine weather forecasts and live wind reports. This app uses proprietary weather systems and integrates public data for detailed wind, wave, tide, and radar information. Customize alerts and track your favorite sailing spots.
- Proprietary Tempest Weather Systems
- Live wind and current station reports
- AI-enhanced Nearcast forecasting
- Radar, satellite, and precipitation maps
- Tides charts and wave height
- Customizable wind notifications
- Nautical charts
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Whether you’re racing, cruising, day sailing, you need precise sailing forecasts and real-time wind. SailFlow delivers both. Powered by 90,000+ exclusive Tempest Weather Stations and 150,000+ total sources, SailFlow’s weather and wind app delivers unmatched accuracy. With stations on buoys, piers, and key waterfront locations, you get real conditions exactly where you sail. Plan with confidence using our Tempest Rapid Refresh Model combined with government data to deliver industry-leading Nearcast AI predictions. Then go deeper with radar, high-resolution forecast maps, and fully customizable alerts so you never miss a session. Real wind. Better sails. - Coastal observations from proprietary Tempest Weather Systems along with all public domain marine forecasts and reports (NOAA, NWS, METAR, ASOS, CWOP) including all major airports creating over 150,000 unique stations. - Exclusive Tempest Weather Systems deployed at key coastal locations report wind, rain, barometric pressure and more than 24 other weather observations. - Apple Watch compatibility - Live wind from our stations support powerful wind flow visualization – augmented by current station reports with advanced quality control. - Our Proprietary AI-enhanced Nearcast provides enhanced forecasting for temperature, wind gust, speed, direction, humidity, dewpoint, precipitation rate, probability of precipitation, and cloud cover percentage which is perfect for sailing. - Public domain forecast models including High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM), Global Forecast System (GFS), Canadian Meteorological Centre Model (CMC) and Icosahedral Non Hydrostatic Model (ICON). - Create your own favorite station list to keep an eye on your go-to weather stations at all your marine and sailing spots. Check the tides in minutes so you never miss a day on the water. - Maps: Live and Forecasted Wind Map, Forecasted Temperature, Radar, Satellite, Precipitation and Clouds, as well as Nautical Charts. - Free subscription for unlimited wind notifications/alerts with customizable thresholds to email, text, or in-app. - Monitor National Weather Service (NWS) Marine forecasts, high surf warnings, and other to better anticipate waves and current conditions, for safer, more informed decisions on the water. Additional weather parameters: - Tides charts - Wave height, wave period - Water temperature - Sunrise / sunset - Moonrise / moonset - Historical wind statistics - Windy days per month - Wind direction distribution Go Beyond the Basics: Upgrade to Plus, Pro, or Gold membership to gain access to more weather stations, ad-free browsing, and more. - Access exclusive Pro and hurricane-proof stations at premier coastal locations and unlock SailFlow’s hyper-accurate Pro forecasts, updated daily by expert meteorologists for sailing hotspots coast to coast. - Detailed weather at points of interest to coastal residents and property owners near the ocean, rivers, and other bodies of water. On the water features: - Sea surface temperatures - Sea surface currents - Detailed historical wind statistics - Historical wind speed average by year Does your spot need a station? Join the Tempest Weather Network! Get a Tempest Weather System for your club, dock, or backyard. Get support: help.weatherflow.com/hc/en-us/categories/200419268-iKitesurf-iWindsurf-SailFlow-FishWeather-WindAlert Connect with Tempest: - facebook.com/tempestwx - twitter.com/tempest_wx - youtube.com/@tempestwx - instagram.com/tempest.earth Contact Tempest: help.weatherflow.com/hc/en-us/requests/new Website: tempest.earth By purchasing a subscription or downloading SailFlow you agree that you have read and accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. got.wf/privacy got.wf/terms
Pilot Charts
Access historical wind and wave data for oceans worldwide, presented in monthly charts. Explore conditions for the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, with additional regions available for free download.
- Monthly wind and wave condition charts
- Oceanic data for Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans
- Historical data from the last century
- Free additional chart downloads
- Preloaded North Atlantic chart
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Pilot charts show the prevailing wind and wave conditions in our oceans for each month based on statistics of the last century. This app gives you easy access to all those and lets you browse them month by month. The charts are provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and cover: - Atlantic - Pacific - Indian Ocean - Caribbean Sea The app comes preloaded with the chart for the North Atlantic. Additional charts can be downloaded free of charge.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SailFlow at 84% against Pilot Charts's 33%. SailFlow also leads on price (Free vs $5.99) and rating (4.7 vs 1.7). Pilot Charts's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
SailFlow is free to download; Pilot Charts costs $5.99 up front. SailFlow sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Pilot Charts asks for nothing beyond the download.
SailFlow holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SailFlow has 5.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of SailFlow's written reviews are positive against 33% of Pilot Charts's.
SailFlow ships an update every 3 weeks, Pilot Charts every 23 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SailFlow | Pilot Charts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (5.7K ratings) — better | 1.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.4% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.7K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 23 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #43 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 138 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | WeatherFlow | Johannes Wagener |
Customer experience
SailFlow
Pilot Charts
Bugs and requests
SailFlow
Reported bugs
3 issues- Recent update caused app to crash
- Favorites list not working properly
- Wind direction arrow pointing incorrectly
Requested features
5 requests- Add more local weather stations
- Improve map and location search
- Provide more forecast models
- Add support for Apple Watch
- Fix wind direction arrow issue
Pilot Charts
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SailFlow
- Plus$3.991 Month
- Plus7 Days trial$5.491 Month
- Gold$14.991 Month
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- Pro7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Pro - Pay As You Go (auto-renewing)$19.991 Month
- Gold7 Days trial$21.991 Month
- Plus$44.991 Year
- Plus7 Days trial$44.991 Year
- Pro7 Days trial$119.991 Year
- Gold$179.991 Year
Pilot Charts
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SailFlow free?
Is Pilot Charts free?
Which has better reviews, SailFlow or Pilot Charts?
Do SailFlow or Pilot Charts have ads?
Which is updated more often, SailFlow or Pilot Charts?
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