Comparison

WatchMate vs Anchor Basic

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

Head to head
About

WatchMate

This app provides remote control and situational awareness for your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder. View AIS targets, manage alarms, and control transponder settings directly from your mobile device.

Highlights
  • View AIS targets
  • Manage collision prevention alarms
  • Control Anchor Watch alarm
  • View GPS position, course, and speed
  • Remote control transponder settings
  • Configure vessel AIS static data
  • Perform firmware upgrades
Read full description

The WatchMate App connects with your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder to place remote control functionality and situational awareness in the palm of your hand on your iPhone or on your iPad. The WatchMate App becomes the user interface for configuring and remote control of your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder, especially where it does not have its own display such as the Vesper Marine XB-8000. - View AIS Targets received by your Vesper Marine AIS Transponder. - Setup and manage collision prevention alarm profiles. - Manage your MOB alarms. - Control and view your Anchor Watch alarm. - View your AIS Transponder's own GPS Position, Course and Speed. - Check the operational status of your AIS Transponder. - Remote control of your AIS Transponder settings. - Switch easily between Silent Mode and Normal Transmitting mode. - Configure your Vessel's AIS Static data. (MMSI, Call Sign, Vessel Type, Vessel Size) - Perform firmware upgrades. Connects to your WatchMate device's WIFI access point or by being on the same wifi network. - Supports Vesper Marine XB-8000 AIS Transponder. - Supports Vesper Marine WatchMate Vision®. The complex nature of our innovative WatchMate App makes coding mishaps difficult to eliminate despite the superhuman efforts of our developers so please remember Vesper Marine does not warrant that this product is error-free. As the adventurous user it's your job to exercise common sense and the best navigational judgement you can muster. Although we think the WatchMate App is awesome nothing beats using all your human senses, so best you still rely on these at least as much as you rely on the WatchMate App for making navigational safety decisions. Our advice is; even with the WatchMate App it’s still a clever idea to maintain a permanent watch and use more than one aid for navigation.

About

Anchor Basic

This app provides a reliable anchor alarm for boats, offering drift warnings and low battery alerts. Users can pause the alarm and resume monitoring later, or set the anchor by current location, bearing, and distance. It also allows remote monitoring of other users' Anchor Plus alarms.

Highlights
  • Drift warning alerts
  • Low battery alarms
  • Pause and resume alarm function
  • Set anchor by location, bearing, or distance
  • Remote monitoring of Anchor Plus alarms
Features
Read full description

A fully functional anchor alarm designed for iPhone & iPad.  - Simple and reliable with user selectable units, drift warning and low battery alarms.  - Pause the alarm and take your device with you; simply continue drift monitoring when you return.  - Set the anchor at the current location or a bearing & distance to the anchor. - Use Anchor Basic to remotely monitor Anchor Plus. Go ashore for dinner and monitor your friends Anchor Plus alarm using Anchor Basic. - If you like this version, try Anchor Plus with a host of additional features

Screenshots

WatchMate4 screens
Anchor Basic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: WatchMate at Free against Anchor Basic's $0.99. WatchMate also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Anchor Basic's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 44%). 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

WatchMate is free to download; Anchor Basic costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.5 for WatchMate against 3.5 for Anchor Basic. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 17 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of WatchMate's written reviews are positive against 67% of Anchor Basic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
WatchMate versus Anchor Basic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWatchMateAnchor Basic
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating3.5 (11 ratings)3.5 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews44.4% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1117 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGarmin New Zealand LtdRoy Cadman

Customer experience

WatchMate

All ratings11 ratings
Positive45.5%
Neutral27.3%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive44.4%
Neutral22.2%
Negative33.3%

Anchor Basic

All ratings17 ratings
Positive58.8%
Neutral5.9%
Negative35.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

WatchMate

No in-app purchases

None

Anchor Basic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WatchMate free?
WatchMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Anchor Basic free?
Anchor Basic costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, WatchMate or Anchor Basic?
WatchMate and Anchor Basic are both rated 3.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 11 and 17 ratings respectively.
Do WatchMate or Anchor Basic have ads?
Neither WatchMate nor Anchor Basic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WatchMate or Anchor Basic?
WatchMate ships an update every 2 months, and Anchor Basic every 2 months. Most recently, WatchMate was updated on June 1, 2026 and Anchor Basic on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons