Comparison

MetService Marine vs LuckGrib

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

Head to head
About

MetService Marine

Access New Zealand marine weather forecasts, including tides, severe weather alerts, and detailed rainfall predictions. Customize your experience with a saved home location and personalized background images.

Highlights
  • Recreational and Coastal marine forecasts
  • Severe weather information
  • Tides
  • 7.5 minute Rain Radar
  • 3 day rainfall forecast imagery
  • Surface pressure maps
  • User selected default location
Features
Read full description

MetService New Zealand marine forecasts are now available in a handy smartphone app. The app is free of charge. Features include: - Recreational and Coastal marine forecasts - Severe weather information - Tides - 7.5 minute Rain Radar - 3 day rainfall forecast imagery with wind barbs - Surface pressure maps - User selected default location which is saved as the Home screen - Ability to change out background image with your favourite fishing spot The app does not include surf and beach forecasts or marine maps that are not included in the list above. The app is developed for smartphones and is not supported for tablets. Full terms and conditions regarding the purchase and use of MetService mobile applications are available here: www.metservice.com/about/application-terms. Requires iOS 7 or later.

About

LuckGrib

This app provides advanced weather data visualization, downloading, and routing for sailors and weather enthusiasts. It offers access to a wide range of global and high-resolution weather and ocean models, with features for optimizing routes and analyzing complex weather parameters. Remote access via satellite is also supported.

Highlights
  • GRIB file reader, viewer, and downloader
  • Advanced weather routing and route analysis
  • Satellite data access
  • High-resolution global and regional weather models
  • Ocean current models
  • Detailed weather parameter analysis
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

LuckGrib is a fully featured, easy to use, fast GRIB reader, viewer, downloader and weather router. Remote access to weather data via satellite. Advanced weather routing capabilities, for sailors, is available. Weather forecast data, packaged as GRIB files, can be downloaded directly from the LuckGrib server cluster. Downloads are available via: a direct high speed internet connection, or through the Iridium GO! as well as through the RedPort Optimizer. For sailors, LuckGrib offers a best-in-class, complete solution: industry leading visualization and ease of use, highly optimized weather data downloads via satellite, along with industry leading optimized weather routing and route analysis. Inshore sailors may not require satellite downloads, but will benefit from the rest of the system. LuckGrib is unique among apps that were originally designed for sailors, in that the weather analysis tools are powerful enough to attract attention from meteorologitsts. For sailors, meteorologists, and all weather enthusiasts, LuckGrib offers access to a wide range of high resolutions models, a number of global models, weather data at the surface, 850mb, 500mb and 250mb levels, parameters ranging from simple things such as wind, pressure and temperature, to more advanced quantities such as simulated radar, standard deviations, precipitable water, lightning, vertical vorticity, helicity and more. LuckGrib is a thoroughly modern and advanced GRIB viewer. LuckGrib provides access to many weather and ocean models, including global models such as GFS and ECMWF along with many high resolution models, which vary according to the region you are interested in. In the USA, there is the HRRR, NAM, NBM and many others. In Europe there is Icon-EU, Arpège, Arome, the Danish DINI and others. There are several ocean current models, such as the global RTOFS and Mercator Ocean, along with regional higher resolution models such as OFS, NCOM, CMEMS and others. The LuckGrib weather routing system is an industry leading, high quality, robust, high performance and comprehensive system. The LuckGrib isochronal Weather Routing solver has many unique features, such as being able to respect constraints (points that must be left to port or starboard,) deal with routes which require you to heave-to, outstanding visualization and interactivity features, and much more. LuckGrib comes with a 14 day free trial, or free access to reduced resolution downloads (LuckGrib Lite) for users who do not require access to the most accurate data. If you are interested in studying weather and gaining access to detailed weather forecasts, download the app and give it a try. Downloading data via satellite requires the Offshore Data in-app purchase. Access to the isochronal weather routing system requires an in-app purchase. Note that LuckGrib does not use a subscription pricing model - after the free trial, when you decide to purchase the app, there will be a one time charge, not an ongoing subscription. For more details, please visit the support website. * for details on the offshore data system: https://offshore.luckgrib.com * for details on weather routing: https://routing.luckgrib.com * for details on weather models: https://luckgrib.com/models * the privacy policy: https://luckgrib.com/privacy * terms of use: https://luckgrib.com/terms-of-use * end user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MetService Marine4 screens
LuckGrib4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MetService Marine at none against LuckGrib's 6. MetService Marine also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.4). LuckGrib's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 12 months). On price and device support 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. LuckGrib sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. MetService Marine asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LuckGrib holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LuckGrib has 343 ratings behind it against 50, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of MetService Marine's written reviews are positive against 93% of LuckGrib's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MetService Marine ships an update every 12 months, LuckGrib every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
MetService Marine versus LuckGrib: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMetService MarineLuckGrib
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (50 ratings)4.9 (343 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.6% of reviews92.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings50343 — better
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#179 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.4
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB173 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMetServiceCraig McPheeters

Customer experience

MetService Marine

All ratings48 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral4.2%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive71.6%
Neutral10.4%
Negative17.9%

LuckGrib

All ratings338 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive92.7%
Neutral2.4%
Negative4.8%

User reviews

MetService Marine

From 50 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Accurate weather reporting
  • 👍 Useful for planning activities
  • 👍 Good for marine/boating
  • 👍 Provides tide information
  • 👍 Good for coastal visits

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Slow to load
  • 🐛 App fails to load
  • 🐛 Locks up on devices
  • 🐛 Latest version not working
  • 🐛 Missing locations (Gisborne, Far North)

LuckGrib

From 343 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent weather forecasting and routing
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 💡 Wide range of weather models and data sources
  • 🚢 Tailored for sailors and offshore navigation
  • 💰 One-time purchase, no subscription fees

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with GRIB file downloads
  • ⚠️ Steep learning curve for some features
  • 🔍 Lack of support for some boat types (e.g., catamarans)

Bugs and requests

MetService Marine

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App fails to load on iPhone
  • App is slow to load
  • App locks up on iPad
  • Latest version not working
  • Cannot change location after initial setup
Show 5 more
  • Pressure chart jumps in stages
  • App reads clipboard data
  • Advertisements are a safety issue
  • Advertisements delay forecast loading
  • Tides are hours out

Requested features

13 requests
  • Tide chart on home page
  • Tide times for Three Kings Islands
  • Map able to be enlarged
  • Include Far North coverage
  • More content needed
Show 8 more
  • Map view
  • Ratings out of ten
  • Live cam links
  • Live reports
  • More localized content
  • Details on forecast update times
  • Specify tide setting for landing page
  • Add Wharariki location

LuckGrib

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Reported issues with 'no wind data for start time'
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes

Requested features

3 requests
  • Integration with boat instruments and data logging
  • More advanced routing options and customization
  • Improved support for regional weather models

In-app purchases

None

MetService Marine

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

LuckGrib

One-time6
  • 14-day TrialFree
  • 14 day trial of Offshore DataFree
  • 14 day Weather Routing trialFree
Show 3 more
  • LuckGrib weather data access$29.99
  • Premium Offshore Data access$59.99
  • Weather Routing access$59.99

Questions

Is MetService Marine free?
MetService Marine is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LuckGrib free?
LuckGrib is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MetService Marine or LuckGrib?
LuckGrib is rated higher. MetService Marine averages 4.6 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while LuckGrib averages 4.9 from 343 ratings.
Do MetService Marine or LuckGrib have ads?
MetService Marine shows ads; LuckGrib does not.
Which is updated more often, MetService Marine or LuckGrib?
MetService Marine ships an update every 12 months, and LuckGrib every 2 months. Most recently, MetService Marine was updated on October 23, 2026 and LuckGrib on October 24, 2026.

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