Comparison

Dive Kit vs Time to Surface

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

Head to head
About

Dive Kit

This app offers advanced decompression planning for technical divers, including trimix and CCR dives. It also provides a suite of free tools for gas analysis, consumption, and dive preparation. Users can store certifications and access dive signals offline.

Highlights
  • Decompression planning (Bühlmann ZH-L16C)
  • Trimix, CCR, and Nitrox support
  • Gradient factors and contingency planning
  • Free dive tools (Best Mix, Gas Specs)
  • Offline functionality
  • Certification wallet
  • Dive signal library
Features
Read full description

Dive Kit is a decompression planner for technical divers, and a set of dive tools for every diver. The Deco Planner covers open-circuit, nitrox, trimix and CCR dives on Bühlmann ZH-L16C with gradient factors. It is the only paid tool: a one-time lifetime purchase or a subscription. The other eleven tools are free, with no ads and no account. Large text for direct sun and large buttons for wet hands. Works offline. Deco Planner - Multi-level profiles, with stops between levels when the plan needs them and gas switches where the PPO₂ allows - Gradient factors, last stop, ascent rates, oxygen breaks, stop rounding (1 min, 30 s or 1 s) and PPO₂ limits per gas, all set per plan - Contingency tabs: deeper, longer, lost gas, or your own. Each shows the change in run time, TTS and CNS against the base plan - Modifiers: working and deco SRMV and a delay at depth, on the base plan or on one contingency - CCR: setpoint schedules by depth, diluent switches, dilout, and open-circuit bailout from the end of the profile, after any level, at a run time or on ascent - Gas per cylinder: remaining pressure at each stop, a reserve per cylinder, ascent pressure, and what happens when a cylinder runs dry - Warnings with the number and the limit: PPO₂, END, gas density, CNS, OTU, hypoxia, reserve - Repetitive dives, with tissue loading carried over the surface interval - Plan variants, overlaid on one graph - Share by QR code or link; anyone can open a shared plan without paying. Export the table or a slate as PDF, image or text, ready to print How the engine was checked Dive Kit's engine is an independent implementation of ZH-L16C, written from the published papers. It was cross-checked on 33 dive profiles. The method and the differences found are published at divekit.app/docs/engine/how-it-works/. Agreement shows the math matches. It does not show a plan is safe. Free Tools - Best Mix: nitrox and trimix by MOD, helium by END, with narcotic and density limits - Gas Specs: EAD, PPO₂, END and gas density, with warnings at your limits - Gas Usage: multi-level consumption, turn pressure, thirds to sixths - SAC/SRMV: your breathing rate from a real dive - Buoyancy: weighting from suit, body, gear and water, with lift and overweighting checks - Blend Planner: partial-pressure and continuous blending with real-gas corrections and expected analyzer readings - Mix Result: what a top-up or a decant gives you - Checklists: your own pre-dive routines and rebreather presets, with timers that keep running when you close the app - Cylinders, Converter, Dive Signals: 90+ illustrated, searchable signals and 35+ cylinder specifications Learning Tutorials on gas physics, decompression theory and trimix, and help on key results. Certification Wallet 25+ agencies and 190+ certifications. Add photos of your cards and show one full screen at the dive centre. Your profile holds your dive insurance details. Options - Offline, on phones and tablets - Eight languages: English, German, Turkish, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Simplified Chinese, Korean - Five styles, each in light and dark, and a choice of two app icons - Automatic backup to your own iCloud Drive or Google Drive, if you turn it on No account. Your data stays on your device unless you share a plan or turn on backup. Analytics and crash reports can be turned off in Settings. Warning and Disclaimer Dive Kit is a reference and planning aid for trained divers, and that covers all its tools. It is not a dive computer and not a substitute for training. The deco planner is for divers trained in decompression diving, and gas blending is for trained blenders. Results can be wrong, so check every result against a second source. Dive Kit is provided as is, and you use it at your own risk. Warning and disclaimer: https://divekit.app/safety/ Terms of Use: https://divekit.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://divekit.app/privacy-policy/ Apple EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Time to Surface

This technical dive planner calculates staged decompression for dives up to 56 meters. It supports multiple bottom gases and one deco bottle, offering detailed gas planning, runtime tracking, and contingency solutions. The app also accounts for repetitive dives and provides a printable wetnote layout.

Highlights
  • Staged decompression planning (15-56m)
  • Support for six bottom gases and one deco gas
  • Twin cylinder configuration
  • Bühlmann ZH-L16C model with adjustable gradient factors
  • Adjustable ppO2 and descent rates
  • Repetitive dive planning
  • Contingency scenario calculations
Features
Read full description

Staged decompression from 15 to 51 m (56 with a warning), on six bottom gases with one deco bottle. Runtime, stops, minimum gas and both cylinder fills, before you kit up — then your team signs it. Planning is free, with no account and no limit. WHAT IT PLANS • Six bottom gases: EAN32, triox 30/30, EAN28, air, 21/35 and 18/45, in a twinset of your choice • One decompression gas — EAN50 or oxygen — in an AL80, AL50 or AL40 • EAN50 at 21 m even when the first stop is shallower, on by default • A swim to the drop-off before the deep segments, on back gas or the deco bottle • A second deep segment, deeper or shallower than the first • Bühlmann ZH-L16C, gradient factors set per plan, 20/85 by default • ppO2 1.2 bar working by default, set per plan; 1.6 at a stop — stricter than the usual 1.4 • Descent 20 m/min; ascent 9 m/min to the first stop, 6 between stops, 1 over the last 6 m, all adjustable. Stops every 3 m, the last at 6 m • Metric or imperial THE GAS PLAN Back-gas fill and turn pressure on thirds, halves or all usable, on the ten-bar grid. Minimum gas: two divers sharing back gas to the first deco gas at 3 m/min. Fill: bottom phase with descent, plus minimum gas. Deco bottle fill and reserve from the solved schedule. CNS. If gas or CNS cannot carry the bottom time asked for, it plans the longest that fits and names the limit. THE DIVE, MINUTE BY MINUTE Each leg shows the runtime it starts and ends at. A wetnote page — schedule, gas checkpoints, on-the-fly adjustments — to copy by hand. On the fly: 5 minutes more or less, 3 m deeper or shallower, each re-solved, with the change in deco minutes and gas per cylinder. PRAGMATIC DECOMPRESSION Off by default, chosen per plan. On, each 21–9 m stop gets one time, and the 6 m stop is the longer of their sum and what the model needs: simpler to run, not more conservative. BRIEFS AND DIVE SITES A brief keeps a dive — site, depth and bottom time — free, unlimited, in your own iCloud. Sites: Dive log's known list (OpenStreetMap and reviewed submissions); add your own and submit them for review. Your divers, their SCR and your sites are shared through iCloud with every Diver.Today app. DIVES BEFORE THIS ONE Up to three earlier dives, each with its surface interval. Nitrogen and helium carry over; CNS decays at a 90-minute half-time. No published table covers repetitive deco dives; your earlier profiles run through the same model. SIGNED TEAM PLANS A plan is one brief on one date with a dive lead and divers — your buddies or names you type — frozen with every figure it printed. Each diver signs by finger on your iPhone; skip anyone not there and come back to them. Send it as a picture or a one-page PDF. Plans are free and unlimited, with the app's watermark and store line. YOUR DIVE CENTER'S BRAND The Diver.Today App Family subscription puts your logo, name, two lines and color on every plan you send, without the watermark, and your color, picture and logo across the app. $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year, each with a week free, or $49.99 once for life (US prices). It covers every Diver.Today app. WHAT IT DOES NOT PLAN Rebreathers. Cave or wreck penetration. Hypoxic mixes and their travel gas. Altitude — sea level only. OTU. More than one decompression gas, a stated limit of this release. IT REFUSES RATHER THAN WARNS A gas past its oxygen limit or a surface interval under an hour gets no numbers rather than numbers with a caution. YOUR DIVE COMPUTER OWNS THE DIVE This is pre-dive arithmetic. It passes no verdict on a dive and replaces neither training, your computer nor your judgment in the water. The planner works offline. No ads, analytics or tracking. Briefs, plans, divers and sites sync through your own iCloud; nothing about you is sent to us, and a dive site only if you submit it. iPhone, iOS 17 or later. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://diver.today/timetosurface-site/privacy.html

Screenshots

Dive Kit4 screens
Time to Surface4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Time to Surface at free against Dive Kit's freemium. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Dive Kit sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Time to Surface sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Dive Kit against 5.0 for Time to Surface. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dive Kit ships an update every 4 days, Time to Surface every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Dive Kit versus Time to Surface: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDive KitTime to Surface
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size128 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRONNY MAJANIRUSTAM ISMAILOV

Customer experience

Dive Kit

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Time to Surface

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Dive Kit

Subscriptions1
  • Skuba Tools Pro Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
One-time2
  • Tip$0.99
  • Decompression Planner$24.99
3 purchases

Time to Surface

Subscriptions2
  • Diver.Today, monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Diver.Today, yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Diver.Today, for life$49.99

Questions

Is Dive Kit free?
Dive Kit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Time to Surface free?
Time to Surface is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dive Kit or Time to Surface?
Dive Kit and Time to Surface are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Dive Kit or Time to Surface have ads?
Neither Dive Kit nor Time to Surface shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dive Kit or Time to Surface?
Dive Kit ships an update every 4 days, and Time to Surface every 3 days. Most recently, Dive Kit was updated on November 6, 2026 and Time to Surface on October 31, 2026.

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