Comparison

SeaBase vs OceanPulse

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

Head to head
About

SeaBase

This offline-first sailing companion provides essential tools for life on the water. It includes an anchor alarm, nautical charts, GPS navigation, tide information, and a logbook, all functioning without a cellular signal. Enjoy a comprehensive suite of features with a single, one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • Offline nautical charts
  • Anchor alarm with drift detection
  • GPS navigation and route planning
  • Offline tide predictions
  • Harbor and anchorage finder
  • Auto-tracking logbook
  • Reference guides and emergency tools
Features
Read full description

Less apps. More sailing. Seabase is the offline-first sailing companion. Anchor alarm, offline nautical charts, GPS navigation, tides, and a logbook — every tool you need on the water, all working without a signal. No accounts. No ads. PAY ONCE Seabase is a paid app — a single one-time purchase, and it's yours forever. No subscription, nothing auto-renews, no in-app purchases, no ads. Every offline chart region offered is included with unlimited downloads. You pay once and get the whole app. ANCHOR ALARM Drop a virtual anchor and Seabase watches your position with phase-based drift detection — scope warnings, drift alerts, and critical alarms with sound and vibration. A sliding-window filter rides out GPS noise instead of waking you for it. Arm it after the fact with "Already Anchored" mode, pause and resume on the fly, and control the whole watch from your wrist. Replay any past anchor session on a scrubbable radar track. Built to wake you before your boat does. OFFLINE CHARTS Download nautical chart regions to your phone with OpenSeaMap seamarks built in. A global base layer keeps you covered when you sail past your downloaded zone. NOAA depth overlays for US waters when online. GPS NAVIGATION Long-press the chart to plan a route — built-in land detection flags legs that cross land. Live navigation gives you bearing, distance, ETA, cross-track error, and remaining distance with heading-up auto-rotation. Save routes and replay them. A dedicated GPS Navigator adds a radar HUD plus point-to-point go-to. APPLE WATCH Native watchOS companion — speed, heading, anchor radar, and a navigation arrow on your wrist. Arm, disarm, pause, and resume the anchor alarm from the watch. Start and stop trip recording remotely. Mirrors your iPhone's dark/light theme. TIDES 3,500+ tide stations worldwide, completely offline. NOAA-accurate harmonic prediction from a bundled database — no API call, no signal needed. A clear "now" hero card with a trend chart and high/low times. NEARBY PLACES An offline harbor and anchorage finder covering 25 cruising regions worldwide — marinas, fuel docks, pump-outs, ramps, and more — with a searchable list and an offline map view. Hand off any place straight to the GPS Navigator. LOGBOOK Auto-tracking trip recorder with idle detection, photos, notes, and a speed graph. Shareable trip cards with a route preview. CSV export. Sail Recap turns any recorded trip into a shareable highlight video. REFERENCE Knots with animations · COLREGS rules · NATO phonetic alphabet · Safety-equipment guide (US, EU, AU, UK) · VHF MAYDAY / PAN PAN / SÉCURITÉ guide · IALA buoyage. EMERGENCY Always-dark emergency screen so it works at night. Heave-to guide, quick-reference distress procedures, MOB tracker, and rescue contacts. PRIVACY Your trips, photos, and routes never leave your phone, and your GPS position is never sent anywhere. The only network calls are to map/chart tile hosts for first-time region downloads. No accounts, no analytics, no tracking. LICENSE Recreational use only. Not a substitute for professional navigation equipment, official charts, or sailing certifications. You are responsible for your safety on the water. Built by sailors. Yeoman Ventures LLC, California. www.seabase.app · gosailing@seabase.app

About

OceanPulse

This marine navigation app transforms your device into a chartplotter. Access NOAA nautical charts, plan routes, track voyages, and view tides, currents, and weather, even offline.

Highlights
  • NOAA nautical charts
  • Offline chart downloads
  • Route planning and navigation
  • Tide and current predictions
  • Marine weather forecasts
  • Voyage track recording
  • Marina and anchorage details
Features
Read full description

OceanPulse turns your iPhone and iPad into a full marine chartplotter. Navigate with real NOAA nautical charts, plan routes, record your voyages, and check tides, currents, and marine weather — even miles offshore with no cell signal. Whether you sail, fish, cruise, or paddle, OceanPulse puts everything you need on the water in one beautifully simple app. REAL NAUTICAL CHARTS • Detailed NOAA vector charts with buoys, beacons, lights, wrecks, landmarks, and depth soundings • Tap anything on the chart for a plain-English description of every nautical object under your finger • Depth shading plus a safety-depth layer that hatches water shallower than your chosen depth in red • Bridge clearance labels, light sectors, and depths in feet, meters, or fathoms • Light, dark, and auto themes with road or satellite land overlays OFFLINE CHARTS • Download any region — frame it on the chart and see the exact size before you commit • Downloads continue in the background and resume automatically if interrupted • Update badges tell you when newer charts are available • Only-offline mode shows exactly where you have coverage — no surprises offshore ROUTE PLANNING & NAVIGATION • Tap to drop waypoints, drag to fine-tune — legs redraw live and everything autosaves • Total distance, per-leg distance and bearing, ETA, and estimated fuel burn from your boat's cruise speed • Navigate a route with live distance, bearing, and ETA to the next waypoint — reverse direction anytime TIDES & CURRENTS • Worldwide tide and current predictions computed on your device — no internet required • Interactive tide graphs with highs, lows, slack water, and sun and moon times • Station icons on the chart show rising or falling conditions at a glance, up to 100 years ahead MARINE WEATHER • Wind speed, direction, and gusts, swell height, period, and direction, temperature, clouds, and precipitation • Detailed 3-hourly forecast grid plus a week-ahead outlook for any point you tap on the chart TRACK RECORDING • Record your voyage with live speed, distance, and time — pause and resume anytime • Live Activity keeps your stats on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Review speed graphs and stats for every saved track, then share as a photo or GPX file MARINAS & ANCHORAGES • Marina and anchorage details powered by Waterway Guides: fuel, dockside depth, VHF channel, holding, and wind protection • The Nearby view surfaces marinas, anchorages, and tide stations within 10 nautical miles of your boat WAYPOINTS, GPX & SYNC • Drop custom markers with names, notes, colors, and icons — or enter exact coordinates in DD, DDM, or DMS • Import and export GPX waypoints, routes, and tracks to and from any other app or chartplotter • iCloud sync keeps your waypoints, routes, tracks, and boat profile up to date on all your devices BUILT FOR THE HELM • GPS follow and course-up modes with a projected course line, plus live speed and heading readouts • Caliper tool measures distance and bearing between any two points on the chart • One search for places, marinas, anchorages, tide stations, and your own waypoints, routes, and tracks • Snap a photo of your boat and OceanPulse estimates its specs to set up your vessel profile in seconds Perfect for sailing, fishing, powerboating, coastal cruising, kayaking, and offshore passages — from your home harbor to waters you've never explored. Read the EULA at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SeaBase4 screens
OceanPulse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SeaBase at none against OceanPulse's 1. SeaBase also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (16.6 vs 26.0). 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. OceanPulse sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $49.99 per year. SeaBase 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 SeaBase against 5.0 for OceanPulse. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SeaBase ships an update every 6 days, OceanPulse every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SeaBase versus OceanPulse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSeaBaseOceanPulse
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB109 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYeoman Ventures LLCOceanPulse LLC

Customer experience

SeaBase

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

OceanPulse

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

SeaBase

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

OceanPulse

Subscriptions1
  • OceanPulse Pro7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is SeaBase free?
SeaBase is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is OceanPulse free?
OceanPulse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SeaBase or OceanPulse?
SeaBase and OceanPulse are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do SeaBase or OceanPulse have ads?
Neither SeaBase nor OceanPulse shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SeaBase or OceanPulse?
SeaBase ships an update every 6 days, and OceanPulse every 3 weeks. Most recently, SeaBase was updated on October 31, 2026 and OceanPulse on November 5, 2026.

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