Comparison

SOTA Goat vs HAM

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

Head to head
About

SOTA Goat

This app serves as a comprehensive assistant for the Summits On The Air amateur radio program. It offers an offline summit database, real-time spotting and alerts from SOTAwatch, and an integrated compass for navigation to activation zones. It's designed to help users plan and complete their radio activations effectively.

Highlights
  • Offline summit database
  • SOTAwatch spotting and alerts
  • Push notifications for activations
  • Integrated compass for activation zones
  • Summit tracking
  • Export summits to KML/GPX
Features
Read full description

SOTA Goat is the all-in-one summit database and spotting application for participants of the Summits On The Air amateur radio program. It was designed from the ground up as an invaluable tool for summit activators – as necessary as your transceiver and power supply! SOTA Goat provides all the tools to aid in planning and completing your activation. Mountain Goats and Shack Sloths alike will appreciate the comprehensive summit database and search features, as well as the ability to view and share summit activations and signal reports over SOTAwatch. This is a universal app that is available for all devices that support iOS 11+, including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. OFFLINE SUMMIT DATABASE: • Every summit in the SOTA database is available offline: search, browse, and view a map • Download updates to the database to get the latest new associations • Star your favorite summits for easy access • Export summits to KML and GPX files for use in other applications or GPS devices SOTAWATCH3 SPOTS AND ALERTS: • View, add, and modify spots and alerts from SOTAwatch3 • Enable push notifications to be alerted of every new activation. Granular filtering ensures you only see the alerts you desire SUMMIT TRACKER: • Reach the summit with an integrated compass that lets you know when you're within the activation zone. With the help of SOTA Goat, you're on your way to become a Shack Sloth or a Mountain Goat in no time! Baaaaaah!

About

HAM

This utility app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for amateur radio operators, including band conditions, DX-Cluster monitoring, and a logbook. It features direct radio integration for tuning and automatic logging, along with various calculations and resource information.

Highlights
  • DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter activity monitoring
  • Bandplan, Glossar, and AWG resource information
  • Built-in radio integration for direct tuning
  • Fully featured logbook with QSO editing
  • LOTW and QRZ.com log submission
  • Calculations for Ohm's law, VSWR, and antennas
  • CW Encoder and Decoder
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The ultimate utility App for every HAM-Radio Operator HAM-Toolbox provides a variety of useful Tools to help you operating your HAM-Radio. The Tools are ranging from activity monitoring Tools like DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter, to Tools helping you with resource information like Bandplan, Glossar, AWG and many more Tools. HAM-Toolbox also has a built-in radio integration, so that you can directly tune to spots from the DX-Cluster and other tools. During logging, the appropriate fields for the frequency and mode will be automatically filled. With a one-time purchase you gain access to all of the following Tools on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. · TOOLS: + Band Conditions + POTA + DX-Cluster + PSK-Reporter + Reverse Beacon Network + Call-Lookup + Locator + Beacons (especially NCDXF) + Repeater + DTMF Generator + CW Encoder and Decoder + Frequency List + QSL Card Designer (design, preview, print and export your own QSL cards) · LOGBOOK: HAM-Toolbox comes with a fully featured Logbook. + Inspect and edit your existing QSOs + Easy-to-use logging interface + Maintenance (Data completion from QRZ.com, Duplicates finder, Mass change) + LOTW and QRZ.com log submission + Integrated Call-Lookup with possibility to update QSO + Worked/Needed statistics for CQ-Zones, ITU-Zones and DXCCs + Map with worked grid locators representation + iCloud-Sync with multiple devices (compatible with SDR-Control and SmartSDR) · Radio-Integration: + Frequency and Mode + Logbook integration + Direct tuning from various Tools like DXCluster, POTA, Frequency List + Supports all major Brands and Radios via Network or USB + YAESU: FT-710, FT-991, FT-DX10, FT-DX100 + Icom: IC-705, IC-7300mk2, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-7760, IC-9700, IC-R8600, + Kenwood: TS-890, TS-990 + Elecraft: K4 + HamLib · CALCULATIONS: + Ohm's law + VSWR + Dipole-Antenna + Groundplane-Antenna + HB9CV-Antenna + Helix-Antenna + dB Conversion + Wavelength · RESOURCES: + Bandplan + Glossar + Morse + AWG + CTCSS-Codes + Formulas + Q-Codes + Abbreviations + Constants Find out more here: https://ham-toolbox.com Read the Manual: https://go-to.me/hamtoolbox-manual

Screenshots

SOTA Goat4 screens
HAM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SOTA Goat at $4.99 against HAM's $14.99. SOTA Goat also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (80% vs 69%). HAM's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and chart position (#195 vs unranked). On 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

SOTA Goat costs $4.99 and HAM $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SOTA Goat holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of SOTA Goat's written reviews are positive against 69% of HAM's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SOTA Goat ships an update every 4 months, HAM monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
SOTA Goat versus HAM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSOTA GoatHAM
Price$4.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.5 (32 ratings) — better4.0 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews80.4% of reviews — better69.2% of reviews
Number of ratings32 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#195 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB83 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRockwell SchrockMarcus Roskosch

Customer experience

SOTA Goat

All ratings32 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive80.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative15.7%

HAM

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.7%
Negative23.1%

In-app purchases

None

SOTA Goat

No in-app purchases

None

HAM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SOTA Goat free?
SOTA Goat costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is HAM free?
HAM costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SOTA Goat or HAM?
SOTA Goat is rated higher. SOTA Goat averages 4.5 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while HAM averages 4.0 from 7 ratings.
Do SOTA Goat or HAM have ads?
Neither SOTA Goat nor HAM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SOTA Goat or HAM?
SOTA Goat ships an update every 4 months, and HAM monthly. Most recently, SOTA Goat was updated on November 1, 2026 and HAM on October 24, 2026.

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