NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS vs Seapilot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
This app provides digital nautical charts and navigation tools for safe boating. It offers offline chart downloads, real-time AIS tracking, and community-shared points of interest. Plan and share your routes with ease.
- Digital nautical charts
- Offline chart downloads
- Real-time AIS tracking
- Community points of interest
- Auto-routing
- GPX file export
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Enhance your navigation experience with a seamless navigation solution that provides up-to-date digital nautical charts, comprehensive harbour information, and a full suite of navigation features. The charts can be downloaded for offline use and offer exceptional compatibility with the NV Charts paper charts with a similar chart design. All currently valid editions of the NV Verlag / NV Charts nautical charts or inland charts | North Sea | Baltic Sea | Netherlands | Wadden Sea | Ijsselmeer | Sweden | Denmark | Germany | Norway | France | USA | Caribbean | Bahamas areas are compatible with the NV Charts App. Enjoy the best of both worlds - paper and digital: A perfect match is our popular combination package of high-quality digital charts and cleverly designed paper charts. Alternatively, you can also purchase digital nautical charts directly via the app with a convenient annual subscription that renews automatically. The integrated update service keeps the charts up to date. If it is not yet clear where the journey should go or no offline charts are activated, free online charts can be displayed for all NV Charts chart areas, even without a currently valid chart licence. Detailed and relevant information is essential for navigating safely on the water. With the NV Charts App, you are part of the BoatView community yourself. You can mark harbours, anchorages and navigation warnings on the digital nautical chart and also add pictures of interesting places that go beyond navigation, such as restaurants or popular attractions, and share them with the community. Others can respond directly with comments. The continuously edited content can be downloaded directly to be available offline. To make all the information easily accessible, the app offers a search function. You can explore the surroundings and search directly for place names as well as anchorages, harbours, ramps, waypoints, cranes, fuel stations or tide stations. The app also offers fast and flexible auto-routing, allowing you to navigate directly to your destination and edit a route manually. Navigation on board is even more fun together! You can share your tracks with friends or use the data outside the app and export it as a GPX file. You can easily share your favourite harbours and anchorages from the app via a link and coordinate your trip planning even better with everyone. The AIS function in the NV Charts App allows you to keep an eye on AIS signals in real time. A WiFi AIS receiver can be connected to the NV Charts App for this purpose. The AIS Class A and B targets and aids to navigation (ATON), as well as MOB AIS SART transponder emergency transmitters, are displayed, and the traffic situation can be better assessed. The NV Charts App can be installed and synchronized on multiple devices. NV Charts App - Features: + Search function + Autorouting for all distances and regions + Velocity Made Good (VMG) + Community Layer / Points of Interest(POI) + Free online boating charts preview for planning + In App Purchases of digital offline charts + Community Layer / Points of Interest(POI) + Reads all NV Chart chart areas + Easy download of the maps + Always the latest data + Seamless zoom and panning functions + Tide Forecast + Online weather + AIS Wifi Support + AIS Sart Beacon + AIS CPA function + Night mode + Anchor alarm + Position with GPS + Intuitive route planning + Course markings, markings, bearing ruler + Port information + Display of instruments + Synchronizing devices + Live Position Sharing + Social sharing of routes, tracks, positions Note: Continued use of GPS in the background can significantly reduce battery life.
Seapilot
Navigate like a professional with this marine navigation app. It offers vectorized chart data, AIS, and weather forecasts, bringing merchant shipping technology to your mobile device. Plan trips, track your vessel, and access advanced navigation tools.
- Vectorized S-57 chart data
- Automatic Identification System (AIS)
- Built-in weather forecasts
- Positioning and background positioning via GPS
- Man Overboard function
- Premium features like Weather Routing
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Professional marine navigation used to require an expensive GPS plotter. Now, same technology used in merchant shipping is available for the iPad and iPhone. Seapilot lets you navigate like a pro with vectorized S-57 chart data from National Maritime Administrations. This is the first navigation app to feature Automatic Identification System (AIS) and built in weather forecasts, when within a mobile network. Charts and features available as In-App Purchase. Use it to navigate, to plan tomorrow’s boat trip or reminisce about yesterday’s. (PS. Even works in your sofa at home.) Seapilot features: • Free trial period of included functionallity • Professional navigation based on merchant shipping standards for ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) • S-57 chart data (In-App Purchase) and AIS data from National Maritime Administrations • Developed by True Heading, leaders in marine navigation and communication at sea, with cutting-edge AIS and VHF know-how Functions: Δ Positioning and background positioning via GPS (Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life) Δ Visualization of S-57 chart data from National Maritime Administrations Δ Autonomous navigation - charts (In-App-purchase) downloaded to the device Δ Option of tracking your own boat on the chart Δ Displays position, course and speed Δ Adjustable own speed and course vector Δ Man Overboard function Δ Display settings for day, dawn/dusk and night Δ Past track Δ Plotting/marking objects Δ Electronic bearing and range marker from own vessel Δ True Motion and adjustable North Up / Head Up chart orientation Δ Chart object search Δ AIS target search Δ Setting of safety contour (2, 3, 6, 10 and 15 meters) Δ World chart for rough overview/orientation Δ Facebook integration; share position with friends or all users, list friends, show friends or all users on chart, post on was Premium: Δ Routes Δ Weather Routing Δ Weather Forecast, High quality 5-day Coastal Weather Forecasts. Δ AIS data from National Maritime Administrations via Internet (3G or WLAN) Δ Course and speed vector for AIS targets Δ NMEA-0183 interface for connecting external GPS/AIS via WIFI Δ Import/Export to GPX-file == Auto-renewable subscriptions in Seapilot == • Seapilot Premium, Annual Subscription: $39.99 • Swedish Charts with automatic updates, Annual Subscription: $8.99 Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Privacy Policy https://seapilot.com/privacy End User License Agreement https://seapilot.com/eula/ ==== Requirements: iOS 7.0 or later, iPad or iPhone with GPS. (External GPS unit can be used for other models.) Based on 140 years of experience, Seapilot has been developed by True Heading (www.trueheading.se/us) – experts at AIS, VHF, marine navigation and communication at sea. • True Heading is a leader in AIS products with over 40 years of navigation experience. – An authority on professional navigation. Contact: Your input is essential in helping us further develop Seapilot. Feel free to contact us at info@seapilot.com. For the latest info, like Seapilot on www.facebook.com/seapilot.se
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS at 4.5 against Seapilot's 2.8. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (54% vs 38%). Seapilot's advantage is iOS requirement (9.3 vs 16.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year and Seapilot sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS has 115 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS's written reviews are positive against 38% of Seapilot's.
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS ships an update every 3 weeks, Seapilot every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS | Seapilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (115 ratings) — better | 2.8 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.2% of reviews — better | 38.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 115 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 78 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NV Chart Group GmbH | Seapilot |
Customer experience
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
Seapilot
In-app purchases
NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS
- Baltic Sea and Kattegat$49.991 Year
- Norway$49.991 Year
- Netherlands$49.991 Year
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- Mediterranean West$49.991 Year
- Mediterranean East$49.991 Year
- France Atlantik$49.991 Year
- Cuba$49.991 Year
- Croatia$49.991 Year
- Caribbean and Bermuda$49.991 Year
- Atlantic Islands$49.991 Year
- Florida and Bahamas$49.991 Year
- German Inland Waters$49.991 Year
- UK South$49.991 Year
- Northsea$49.991 Year
Seapilot
- Swedish charts with automatic updates$8.991 Year
- East Canadian charts$14.491 Year
- West Canadian$14.491 Year
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- Spanish charts with automatic updates$17.491 Year
- Finnish charts$19.491 Year
- Dutch charts$19.491 Year
- Irish charts$19.491 Year
- British charts$19.491 Year
- German charts$23.491 Year
- Croatian charts with automatic updates$26.491 Year
- Portuguese charts with automatic updates$26.491 Year
- Greek charts with automatic updates$34.991 Year
- Premium$39.991 Year
- French charts$50.991 Year
- US EastFree
- US WestFree
- US-Great Lakes. One year subscription.$11.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- US-West. One year subscription.$13.99
Questions
Is NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS free?
Is Seapilot free?
Which has better reviews, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or Seapilot?
Do NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or Seapilot have ads?
Which is updated more often, NV Charts GPS Navigation AIS or Seapilot?
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