Navily vs Anchor Basic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Navily
This app serves as a comprehensive mobile cruising guide for boaters. It offers a vast database of marinas and anchorages, user-generated reviews and photos, and seamless berth booking across Europe. Connect with other users and marinas through in-app chat and receive real-time warnings.
- 35,000+ marinas and anchorages
- 350,000+ community photos and comments
- Easy berth booking in 700+ European marinas
- In-app chat with users and marinas
- Real-time anchorage warnings
- Emergency SOS feature
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With over 1.2 million boaters worldwide, Navily is the all-in-one boating and sailing app to discover safe anchorages, book marinas with ease, and cruise with confidence. Whether you're planning a day trip, a sailing holiday, a coastal cruise, or an offshore adventure, Navily gives you everything you need in one place. Trusted by sailors, cruisers, and recreational boaters around the world, Navily helps you plan routes, discover the best marinas and anchorages, and make every journey easier. Explore more than 35,000 marinas and anchorages backed by 500,000+ trusted reviews and photos from the Navily community and our marina partners. Why choose Navily? - A growing community with over 1.2 million boaters worldwide - 35,000+ marinas and anchorages - 500,000+ reviews and photos - 700+ bookable marinas - Smart route planning and distance calculations - Navily Protection Scores to find the best anchorages - Live chat with nearby boaters - Real-time anchorage alerts - Emergency SOS feature- ask the community for help! Plan smarter boating routes. Spend less time searching and more time sailing. Compare nearby marinas and anchorages, calculate distances, filter results to match your preferences, discover the best locations to anchor with Navily Weather Protection Scores, and build routes with automatic itinerary planning. Whether you're cruising the Mediterranean or exploring the Caribbean, Navily helps you make better decisions before you leave the dock Sail with confidence. - Access over 500,000 community reviews and photos to find the perfect stop, including: - Depth and seabed information - Wind and swell protection - Marina facilities and services - Local tips from experienced boaters - Real photos from fellow sailors - Every review is automatically translated, allowing you to benefit from the knowledge of our international boating community. - Stay connected through community chat, receive real-time anchorage alerts, and access essential services both ashore and at sea. When you're off the grid, Offline Mode keeps important information available whenever you need it. Unlock even more with Navily Premium. Upgrade to Navily Premium and enjoy: - View a 72-hour anchorage protection score before you drop anchor - Filters the map to your preferences and boat requirements - AI-powered summaries of all community comments - Offline-mode, no internet needed. Navily is also available in French, Spanish, German and Italian. Want to help us improve Navily? Find us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and share your stories with us, we are passionate about what we do! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/navilyApp Twitter: https://twitter.com/navilyapp Instagram: http://instagram.com/navilyapp Blog : http://blog.navily.com/ Website : https://www.navily.com/ Privacy policy : https://www.navily.com/privacy Terms of Use : https://www.navily.com/cgu
Anchor Basic
This app provides a reliable anchor alarm for boats, offering drift warnings and low battery alerts. Users can pause the alarm and resume monitoring later, or set the anchor by current location, bearing, and distance. It also allows remote monitoring of other users' Anchor Plus alarms.
- Drift warning alerts
- Low battery alarms
- Pause and resume alarm function
- Set anchor by location, bearing, or distance
- Remote monitoring of Anchor Plus alarms
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A fully functional anchor alarm designed for iPhone & iPad. - Simple and reliable with user selectable units, drift warning and low battery alarms. - Pause the alarm and take your device with you; simply continue drift monitoring when you return. - Set the anchor at the current location or a bearing & distance to the anchor. - Use Anchor Basic to remotely monitor Anchor Plus. Go ashore for dinner and monitor your friends Anchor Plus alarm using Anchor Basic. - If you like this version, try Anchor Plus with a host of additional features
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Navily at Free against Anchor Basic's $0.99. Navily also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.5) and review sentiment (94% vs 67%). Anchor Basic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On ads, device support 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
Navily is free to download; Anchor Basic costs $0.99 up front. Navily sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.49 per year. Anchor Basic asks for nothing beyond the download.
Navily holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Navily has 832 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Navily's written reviews are positive against 67% of Anchor Basic's.
Navily ships an update fortnightly, Anchor Basic every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Navily | Anchor Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (832 ratings) — better | 3.5 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 93.6% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 832 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #186 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 242 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Navigation Family | Roy Cadman |
Customer experience
Navily
Anchor Basic
Bugs and requests
Navily
Reported bugs
3 issues- Booking cancellations not working
- Spinning icon issue with past bookings
- Difficulty accessing messages from map view
Requested features
5 requests- Offline map downloads
- Improved route planning tools
- Live chat with other users
- Customizable notifications
- Better integration with navigation apps
Anchor Basic
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Navily
- Navily Premium$9.491 Year
- Navily Premium$18.491 Year
- Navily Premium$24.991 Year
- Navily Premium 30 days$17.99
Anchor Basic
No in-app purchases








