Comparison

WeatherCameras.live vs Thunder Buddy Weather

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

Head to head
About

WeatherCameras.live

Watch live coastal storm cameras from South Carolina and Florida. View ocean conditions, tide times, and weather data. Built for storm season with historical storm data and a regional wind map.

Highlights
  • Live coastal camera streams
  • Real-time weather and tide data
  • Regional wind map
  • Historical storm data
  • Picture-in-Picture mode
  • Live stream health status
Features
Read full description

Watch the coast live, right now. WeatherCameras.LIVE streams cameras from the South Carolina Grand Strand and Florida's Gulf coast, 24 hours a day. No account, no signup — open the app and you're looking at the ocean. WHAT YOU'RE WATCHING • Pier 14 — Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mounted on the pier itself, out over the Atlantic, with nothing between the lens and open water. • Dock Holidays Marina — North Myrtle Beach. A protected-water view for when you need to know what the harbor is doing. • Salinity — Cedar Key, Florida. Dock Street on the Nature Coast, one of the most surge-exposed stretches of the Gulf. CONDITIONS AT A GLANCE Every camera carries live data from NOAA and Open-Meteo: • Water temperature • Next high and low tide • Sunrise and sunset • Air temperature, wind speed and sky conditions • Live viewer count and real-time stream status REGIONAL WIND MAP A full Eastern U.S. and Atlantic wind map, so you can see a system before it reaches the sand. BUILT FOR STORM SEASON These aren't decorative beach cams. Our cameras have streamed through Florence, Michael, Dorian, Ian, Idalia and Helene. Each camera includes a written history of the storms watched from that exact vantage point — what came ashore, when, and what it did. The Cedar Key camera has its own story. It lived at 83 West on Dock Street until Helene's surge took the building in September 2024. It came back at Salinity, up the street, looking out over the same water. FEATURES • Picture-in-Picture — keep the ocean on screen while you use other apps • Full-screen playback • Live stream health, so you always know whether a feed is up • Fast native video — no browser, no buffering wall Free to use. No account required. Camera feeds are proprietary content owned by WeatherCameras.LIVE. Broadcast and news use requires licensing — details on the support page.

About

Thunder Buddy Weather

Monitor weather alerts for important locations and contacts 24/7. Receive real-time notifications for severe weather and easily check on your contacts' safety with one-tap messages.

Highlights
  • 24/7 weather monitoring for saved locations
  • Real-time severe weather alerts
  • Live radar with animated storms
  • One-tap safety check messages
  • Push notification responses
  • Customizable alert sensitivity
Features
Read full description

Where’s your Thunder Buddy? When the forecast turns serious, you think about people: Mom at home, a friend across town, family along the coast. Thunder Buddy brings their weather and yours together, so you can follow changing conditions and check in with the people you care about. WEATHER FOR YOUR PEOPLE See conditions around your Buddies’ shared locations alongside your own forecast. Organize family and friends into Circles, and keep favorite places close—from home and work to a loved one’s neighborhood. BUDDIES ON ANY PHONE Your people don’t all carry the same phone. Invite family and friends with a link, and connect as Buddies whichever phone they use. PUT YOUR PEOPLE ON THE RADAR Explore animated radar with saved places, Buddies, and weather-warning areas on the same map. Focus on a Circle or a location, open an alert for details, and follow hurricane information when storms are active. CHECK IN WHEN WEATHER CHANGES Receive National Weather Service alert notifications for monitored places and Buddy locations. An active warning leads your Today screen and appears on your Lock Screen, with the time left and who has checked in. Send a personal check-in and see their reply. Everyday forecasts help you stay connected between storms, too. SHARING IS YOUR CHOICE For each Buddy, you answer one question: what can they see? Nothing, the weather at a saved place, or where you are, for as long as you choose. One Privacy screen shows everything anyone can see, and lets you pause it all. Allowing the app to use your location never shares it with anyone. Saved places work with location off. Updates while the app is closed are optional and a separate choice; your phone controls their timing, and a shared location may show the last available update. A shared saved place does not confirm that someone is physically there. HURRICANE MODE When a tropical storm or hurricane is active, follow its official forecast cone and track on the map, and work through a household prep checklist. The cone shows the probable track of the storm’s center, not the size of the storm. YOUR WEATHER, ACROSS APPLE DEVICES • iPhone and iPad: a redesigned Home, Buddy weather, Circles, radar, alerts, and hourly and daily forecasts. • Widgets: place weather, Buddy weather, check-ins, and radar at a glance, refreshed when a warning or check-in arrives. • Messages: an animated Bolty sticker pack, and stickers you can add to a check-in. • Apple Watch: favorite places and Buddies, weather, and supported check-ins on your wrist. • Apple TV: a household weather dashboard with radar, Buddy and place forecasts, a ten-day outlook, and sign-in using your phone. START WITH YOUR INNER CIRCLE New Thunder Buddy Free accounts include two saved places and weather monitoring for two Buddies, plus your current-location weather, check-ins, radar, widgets and Lock Screen warnings. Existing accounts keep their previous allowance. An optional Thunder Buddy Premium subscription adds: • Look after them for me: automatic check-ins for a Buddy during a warning for sudden severe weather, with one text message if they don’t answer. • Your places and Buddies shown against a hurricane’s forecast cone. • Places saved just for a trip, and a forecast sent before a plan. • Unlimited places and Buddies, and alerts by text. Subscription options and pricing are shown in the app. Built for U.S. weather coverage. Weather alerts depend on available source data, connectivity, notification permissions, and the freshness of the monitored location. Thunder Buddy is not an emergency service or a substitute for official warnings and evacuation instructions. Never rely on a single source for emergency alerts. Privacy Policy: https://thunder-buddy.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

WeatherCameras.live3 screens
Thunder Buddy Weather4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: WeatherCameras.live at none against Thunder Buddy Weather's 2. Thunder Buddy Weather's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and iOS requirement 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. Thunder Buddy Weather sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. WeatherCameras.live 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 WeatherCameras.live against 5.0 for Thunder Buddy Weather. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
WeatherCameras.live versus Thunder Buddy Weather: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWeatherCameras.liveThunder Buddy Weather
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequency—Monthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.416.4
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCramer SnuggsThunder Buddy

Customer experience

WeatherCameras.live

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

Thunder Buddy Weather

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

WeatherCameras.live

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Thunder Buddy Weather

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Premium Annual$14.991 Year

Questions

Is WeatherCameras.live free?
WeatherCameras.live is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thunder Buddy Weather free?
Thunder Buddy Weather is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, WeatherCameras.live or Thunder Buddy Weather?
WeatherCameras.live and Thunder Buddy Weather are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do WeatherCameras.live or Thunder Buddy Weather have ads?
Neither WeatherCameras.live nor Thunder Buddy Weather shows ads.

Other comparisons