Comparison

Maptech iPlot vs Coastal Explorer

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

Head to head
About

Maptech iPlot

This app provides real-time nautical chart plotting with NOAA charts, allowing users to plan routes, set marks, and navigate seamlessly. It offers offline functionality after initial chart downloads and includes features for vessel location and route steering.

Highlights
  • Real-time NOAA nautical chart plotting
  • Offline chart operation
  • Route planning and mark creation
  • Fast chart quilting engine
  • Vessel location and anchor alarm
  • Route steering display
Features
Read full description

Maptech iPlot - Real Time Chart Plotting App The Maptech iPlot app is simple to use chart plotter app that utilizes many of the same routing functions that Maptech uses in their digital software. The iPlot uses the same NOAA nautical charts you are familiar with from Maptech chart plotting programs such as Offshore Navigator, Chart Navigator Pro, Sea Ray Navigator and i3 Navigator. Plan routes, place marks, and easily zoom and scale charts with your fingers. The iPlot features a smooth and fast chart quilting engine that makes going from one chart to the other seamless. Once the app and charts are downloaded no data connection is required for operating the iPlot app. The Maptech iPlot App purchase includes all US small scale planning charts which can be downloaded from the Chart Download page within the app. To accurately navigate with the Maptech iPlot App you will need to purchase a region of charts for your area of interest. These chart regions can be download from within the app itself from the Chart Download page at an additional cost of $9.99 each. All charts are updated every January and neither the app or the charts require a subscription fee nor will they ever expire. Features include: Uses NOAA Raster Charts (RNCs) Full US Chart Coverage available Lightning fast chart quilting engine Unlimited custom routes and marks creation Index of all routes and marks Place Mark at vessel function for MOB or an anchor alarm Instant waypoint with a touch of the finger Full route list of all waypoints showing instant DTW, BTW and ETA to each Full mark list showing instant DTW, BTW and ETA to each Reverse route function Easy method for inputting your already created routes Unique route steering by highway display page Adjustable waypoint arrival time Easy to read data windows for COG, SOG, HDG, BTW, RTW, XTE Easy locate vessel button Orientations include heads up, north up, look ahead Choose bearings True or Magnetic Import/Export from Offshore Navigator Maptech facilities WIFI AIS targets Chart Regions: Region 02 - Block Island, RI to the Canadian Border Region 03 - New York to Nantucket and Cape May, NJ Region 04 - Chesapeake and Delaware Bays Region 06 - Norfolk, VA to Florida including the ICW Region 07 - Florida East Coast and the Keys Region 08 - Florida West Coast and the Keys Region 10 - Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Region 12 - Southern California: Point Arena to the Mexican Border Region 13 - Lake Michigan Region 14 - San Francisco to Cape Flattery Region 15 - Pacific Northwest: Puget Sound to the Canadian Border Region 17 - Mobile, AL to the Mexican Border Region 22 - Lake Superior and Lake Huron (U.S. Waters) Region 24 - Lake Erie (U.S. Waters) Region 26 - Lake Ontario (U.S. Waters) Region 30 - Southeast Alaska Region 32 - South Central Alaska: Yakutat to Kodiak Region 34 - Alaska: The Aleutians and Bristol Bay Region 36 - Alaska: Norton Sound to Beaufort Sea Region 40 - Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Territories If your iPad was purchased with the ability to subscribe to a data plan from your provider, it already has a built in GPS and does not require a Wi-Fi or external GPS to navigate with the iPlot app. You can tell this easily by looking at the top display bar to see if you have the indicator bars for cell strength, if you do then you have a GPS built in. If not, your iPad does not have a built in GPS and you will need to turn on location services and Wi-Fi capability to receive your location to navigate with the iPlot app. However, if you plan on using this outside of urban areas where there is no location services network, you will lose the ability to track your position. It is highly recommended that if you plan on using the Maptech iPlot for real time navigation and your unit is one without a GPS that you use it with an external plug in or bluetooth GPS. We recommend the Bad Elf GPSs. We also recommend Snow Lizard Products iPad cases which have optional Bad Elf GPS receivers built in.

About

Coastal Explorer

Plan and log your cruises with detailed nautical charts and weather forecasts. Enhance your experience with a subscription for offline access, real-time navigation, and integration with marine electronics.

Highlights
  • View NOAA and USACE nautical charts
  • Create routes and waypoints
  • Cloud synchronization
  • ActiveCaptain points of interest
  • US Coast Pilot information
  • Marine weather forecasts
  • Tide and current predictions
Features
Read full description

Coastal Explorer™ is a sophisticated, full-featured, easy-to-use cruise planning and logging tool designed specifically for the pleasure boater. And it becomes a complete navigation system with the purchase of a chart subscription. The free Coastal Explorer app provides these great planning features: * View NOAA and USACE nautical charts for the US in vector format * Create routes, waypoints, boundaries, and other navigation objects * Cloud-synchronization of your navigation objects * ActiveCaptain points of interest * US Coast Pilot information * Marine weather forecasts and observations for the US * Tide and current predictions for the US Purchasing a chart subscription turns Coastal Explorer into a complete navigation system that includes: * Downloadable charts, tide and current predictions, Coast Pilot, and ActiveCaptain places for offline use * Interfacing with compatible networked marine electronics devices, including GPS, compass, depth sounder, anemometer, AIS, autopilot, and more * Customizable instrument panels * Route following with cross-track error, distance and time to go, estimated time of arrival, etc * Track and event recording * Integrated blogging Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. See our Terms of Service at https://www.rosepoint.com/legal/terms_of_service.

Screenshots

Coastal Explorer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Maptech iPlot at 58% against Coastal Explorer's 11%. Maptech iPlot also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Coastal Explorer's advantage is price (Free vs $39.99) and rating (2.8 vs 2.1). On ratings volume, 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

Coastal Explorer is free to download; Maptech iPlot costs $39.99 up front. Maptech iPlot sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Coastal Explorer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Coastal Explorer holds the better App Store score, 2.8 against 2.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 16 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of Maptech iPlot's written reviews are positive against 11% of Coastal Explorer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Maptech iPlot ships an update every 5 months, Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Maptech iPlot versus Coastal Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMaptech iPlotCoastal Explorer
Price$39.99Free — better
Rating2.1 (7 ratings)2.8 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.3% of reviews — better11.1% of reviews
Number of ratings716 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size353 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNautical Solutions InternationRose Point Navigation Systems, Inc

Customer experience

Maptech iPlot

All ratings7 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative71.4%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive58.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative33.3%

Coastal Explorer

All ratings16 ratings
Positive43.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative56.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative88.9%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Maptech iPlot

One-time10
  • Region 99 2015Free
  • Region 99 2017Free
  • Region 99 2018, Size: 292MBsFree
Show 7 more
  • Region 99 2019, Size: 292MBsFree
  • Region 8 2014, Size: 195MBs$9.99
  • Region 2 2015$9.99
  • Region 4 2015$9.99
  • Region 7 2015$9.99
  • Region 8 2015$9.99
  • Region 3 2015$9.99
2 purchases

Coastal Explorer

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$19.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Maptech iPlot free?
Maptech iPlot costs $39.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Coastal Explorer free?
Coastal Explorer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Maptech iPlot or Coastal Explorer?
Coastal Explorer is rated higher. Maptech iPlot averages 2.1 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Coastal Explorer averages 2.8 from 16 ratings.
Do Maptech iPlot or Coastal Explorer have ads?
Neither Maptech iPlot nor Coastal Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Maptech iPlot or Coastal Explorer?
Maptech iPlot ships an update every 5 months, and Coastal Explorer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Maptech iPlot was updated on November 1, 2026 and Coastal Explorer on November 2, 2026.

Other comparisons