Comparison

Lights Out Sailing vs Pathfinder Sailing

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

Head to head
About

Lights Out Sailing

Enhance your sailing experience with real-time data and race tools. Capture onboard footage, track speed and heading, and perfect your race starts with precise metrics. Customize your interface and sync with other devices for a connected sailing adventure.

Highlights
  • Onboard footage capture
  • Real-time speedometer and compass
  • Distance to line metrics
  • Customizable race layouts
  • Fleet synchronization
  • Onboard camera sharing
Features
Read full description

Lights Out - Your Ultimate Sailing Companion Join sailors worldwide who trust Lights Out Sailing to enhance their time on the water. Whether you’re competing in world championships or enjoying a weekend cruise, Lights Out Sailing provides real-time data and cutting-edge tools to elevate your sailing experience. FEATURES YOU CAN RELY ON Maximize your performance with powerful tools and onboard footage features: - Onboard Footage: Capture every moment and save footage directly to your camera roll. - Speedometer & Compass: Get real-time speed over ground and magnetic heading. - Pings & Distance to Line: Perfect your race starts with precise distance-to-line metrics. - Custom Layouts: Personalize your interface in two different race modes. SYNC WITH CHANNELS Effortlessly connect with other devices to share and synchronize start timers with your fleet, ensuring everyone is in sync for the perfect start. Enjoy sharing your synced onboard cams to as soon as you hit the dock to see all sides of the action. BUILT FOR SAILORS We're constantly pushing new features and updates based on feedback from sailors around the world. Lights Out is built by sailors, for sailors, to bring us into a new era of connected instruments.

About

Pathfinder Sailing

Features
Read full description

The Pathfinder Sailing App for the iPhone and Apple Watch is the Ultimate App for Sailboat Racing. This app helps you get better starts, hit the wind shifts, and sail faster. Racing screens provide input on your starts, boat speed, wind shift management, and current trends—right on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Race replay and analysis allow you to view your race and performance details and compare your boat track over a Google map with other boats in your fleet using the Pathfinder app. Live Map shows your boat's location and track over several different map backgrounds, including NOAA charts where available. The Marks & Courses screen allows you to create marks, import gpx files for marks and courses, and drop marks on the Live Map. You can then navigate to them via the Navigate screen or Live Map. You can also select a free and provided NOAA current GRIB or a paid GRIB from another service such as Tidetech or Mercator. Two plans are offered: - Pathfinder Plus Plan with sailing instrument integration - Pathfinder Basic plan, which uses your iPhone's GPS Post-race virtual replay provides metrics analysis to improve your sailing performance. You must purchase a monthly or annual subscription to access this content and all race screens within the app after the 14-day free trial period. App features: - Race Timer with audible output to time your starts more effectively. Supports custom time countdown. - Start screens to nail your starts by precisely pinging your start line and tracking the Distance Below Line and your required Speed to Start. - Speed screen to compare your actual performance to polar target speeds and wind angles to get up to speed faster (Plus Plan) - Compare your real-time performance to your polars for real-time feedback on speed and wind angles (Plus Plan) - Visualize wind shift trends to understand the oscillations and better predict shifts (Plus Plan) - Understand the impact of tidal current on your boat and whether you are sailing into a different current with Live Map and NOAA current GRIB (all plans) - Record your races and replay them - Track your performance metrics after the race - Export race logs in JSON or Expedition format for offline analysis Free trial - If you subscribe to the Pathfinder Sailing app, your first 14 days are free. A paid subscription is required beyond the free trial period to access the content. You will be billed for the monthly or annual subscription at the end of the trial. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the subscription period. By using this app, you agree to the Pathfinder Sailing Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy at pathfindersailing.com EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms and Conditions: https://pathfindersailing.com/termsandconditions/ Privacy Policy: https://pathfindersailing.com/privacy/

Screenshots

Lights Out Sailing4 screens
Pathfinder Sailing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Pathfinder Sailing at 3 against Lights Out Sailing's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Lights Out Sailing sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $13.49 per month and Pathfinder Sailing sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lights Out Sailing ships an update every 5 weeks, Pathfinder Sailing every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Lights Out Sailing versus Pathfinder Sailing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLights Out SailingPathfinder Sailing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWhitServe LLCPathfinder Sailing LLC

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Lights Out Sailing

Subscriptions2
  • Lights Out Sailing3 Days trial$13.491 Month
  • Lights Out Sailing7 Days trial$98.991 Year
3 purchases

Pathfinder Sailing

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Basic Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription1 Month trial$190.001 Year

Questions

Is Lights Out Sailing free?
Lights Out Sailing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pathfinder Sailing free?
Pathfinder Sailing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Lights Out Sailing or Pathfinder Sailing have ads?
Neither Lights Out Sailing nor Pathfinder Sailing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lights Out Sailing or Pathfinder Sailing?
Lights Out Sailing ships an update every 5 weeks, and Pathfinder Sailing every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lights Out Sailing was updated on October 24, 2026 and Pathfinder Sailing on October 27, 2026.

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