Comparison

SwellSnap vs Bluewater Forecast

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

Head to head
About

SwellSnap

This app provides comprehensive boating and fishing data, consolidating essential information into a single, personalized platform. Designed by experienced boaters, it offers enhanced details and a tailored user experience for maritime activities.

Highlights
  • Boating information
  • Fishing information
  • Charts and analytics
  • Personalized touch
  • Multi-function design
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

SwellSnap is a multi-function app designed by boaters for boaters. SwellSnap provides all of the boating and fishing information you are used to in one convenient place but with more information and a more personalized touch. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Bluewater Forecast

This marine weather app provides detailed forecasts for coastal areas, including wave height, wind, tides, and sea surface temperature. It offers a map-first interface with customizable layers and a one-screen dashboard for saved locations. An optional subscription unlocks advanced features like inshore topography and fishing hotspots.

Highlights
  • Map-based marine weather forecasts
  • Wave height, period, and direction
  • Wind and gusts
  • Tides, water levels, and currents
  • Radar and cloud imagery
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Saved spots with push alerts
Features
Read full description

Bluewater Forecast is a map-first marine weather app for inshore and offshore anglers, surfers, sailors, divers and boaters. It puts the forecast on a chart and covers the next five days for 45 locations on the US Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Hawaii coasts. Turn on the layers you need and they render over your coastline. WHAT YOU GET (FREE) • Buoys — NOAA NDBC stations nationwide: wave height, period, wind, water and air temperature, pressure, updated every 10 minutes • Waves — height, period and direction from GFS-Wave, hour by hour to five days, with the swell trains split out • Wind & gusts — NOAA HRRR 3 km for the first two days, the NWS National Blend to day five, drawn as streamlines • Tides, water levels and currents — NOAA CO-OPS predictions, observed water level against the tide (surge shows as the gap), and tidal current stations • Radar and clouds — NOAA MRMS quality-controlled radar (non-precipitation echoes removed) and GOES-East imagery, plus forecast cloud and precipitation fields when the clock is moved forward • Sea surface temperature (NASA MUR), NWS marine alerts, NOAA artificial reefs, the NOAA nautical chart • A one-screen dashboard for your spot: conditions, tide, sun and moon, a five-day meteogram, the nearest buoys • Saved spots, and push alerts when a spot's wind, swell and tide line up BLUEWATER PRO • Inshore Topo — bottom structure for creeks, passes and flats from NOAA topobathy lidar and sonar surveys, rendered at about 3 m: 1 ft contours in the shallows, relief shading for holes and ledges, intertidal flats marked, and a 3D mode that tilts the chart over the surveyed bottom. Covers the 45 dashboard locations. • Temperature breaks — labelled isotherms from NASA MUR sea surface temperature, in °F • Fishing hotspots — a composite that scores where temperature breaks, colour changes, current edges, eddy edges and bathymetric slope coincide • Ocean currents and eddies — Copernicus Marine forecast currents as flowing particles, with sea-height rings that trace the eddy edges • Chlorophyll — NASA PACE ocean colour, the boundary between blue and green water DESIGNED FOR THE WATER A dark, high-contrast chart built to be read in sunlight. Forecast fields are prepared on our servers ahead of time, so most views load in about a second, and the last forecast for a saved spot stays on screen while a weak connection catches up. ONE CLOCK Move the time from now to five days out and every forecast layer follows — wind, waves, clouds, currents, tides. Observation layers fade when the clock leaves the present rather than presenting old data as a forecast. FREE TO USE The forecast, buoys, radar, charts and map are free. Bluewater Pro is an optional subscription managed on our website; sign in with a Pro account here and its layers unlock. Bluewater Forecast is an independent app, not affiliated with NOAA, NASA or Copernicus. It is a planning tool — never for navigation or safety-of-life decisions. Inshore Topo depths are relative to NAVD88 (about mid tide), survey dates vary by area, and conditions at sea change faster than any forecast.

Screenshots

SwellSnap4 screens
Bluewater Forecast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bluewater Forecast at none against SwellSnap's 1. Bluewater Forecast also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). SwellSnap's advantage is chart position (#199 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. SwellSnap sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $8.99 per month. Bluewater Forecast asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for SwellSnap against 5.0 for Bluewater Forecast. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SwellSnap ships an update fortnightly, Bluewater Forecast every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SwellSnap versus Bluewater Forecast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwellSnapBluewater Forecast
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Number of ratings33
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#199 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCole WhitmoreCORY LANE BROWN

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SwellSnap

Subscriptions1
  • SwellSnap Premium14 Days trial$8.991 Month
None

Bluewater Forecast

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SwellSnap free?
SwellSnap is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bluewater Forecast free?
Bluewater Forecast is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SwellSnap or Bluewater Forecast?
SwellSnap and Bluewater Forecast are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do SwellSnap or Bluewater Forecast have ads?
Neither SwellSnap nor Bluewater Forecast shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SwellSnap or Bluewater Forecast?
SwellSnap ships an update fortnightly, and Bluewater Forecast every 4 days. Most recently, SwellSnap was updated on October 25, 2026 and Bluewater Forecast on October 26, 2026.

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