Comparison

VesselFinder vs AIS Live

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

Head to head
About

VesselFinder

Track ships and monitor maritime traffic globally in real-time. Access detailed vessel information, movement history, and predicted routes. Ideal for maritime professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Highlights
  • Real-time vessel tracking
  • Vessel movement history
  • Predicted routes and ETAs
  • Comprehensive vessel particulars
  • Port call details
  • My Fleet for favorite vessels
  • Weather overlays
Features
Read full description

VesselFinder is the world’s most popular and trusted vessel tracking and marine traffic app, delivering real-time information on ship positions and movements worldwide. Using a powerful network of satellites, roaming and terrestrial AIS receivers, VesselFinder provides accurate and up-to-date insight into global maritime activity. Designed for maritime professionals, shipping enthusiasts, and anyone interested in live ship tracking, VesselFinder offers a fast, intuitive, and reliable way to explore vessel traffic across the globe. VesselFinder key features: • Real-time tracking of over 300,000 vessels daily using global AIS data • Vessel movement history with track visualization • Predicted routes and ETAs to next port • Comprehensive vessel particulars, including technical specifications, and cargo capacity information • Contact details for the owning company, manager, ISM manager, and more • Port Calls per vessel, showing arrival times and duration of stay • Port Calls per port, with detailed lists of expected vessels, arrivals, departures, and ships currently in port • My Fleet – save and monitor favorite vessels, synchronized with your VesselFinder account • My Views – save preferred map views for fast and easy navigation • Ship Photos contributed by the VesselFinder user community • Multiple map styles: Simple, Detailed, Dark, Satellite, and Nautical • Weather overlays, including wind, waves, and temperature • See your location feature for instant orientation • Distance measurement tool for route and range estimation Vessel visibility depends on AIS signal availability, with near-shore coverage consistent with the data provided on VesselFinder.com. If a vessel is outside our terrestrial AIS coverage area, its last reported position will be displayed and updated as soon as new data is received. Extended real-time coverage via satellite and roaming AIS sources is available through a subscription. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, the completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. Connect with VesselFinder • Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vesselfinder • Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/vesselfinder

About

AIS Live

Monitor the real-time location of your assets with this GPS tracking application. Access historical playback and modify asset information directly from your account.

Highlights
  • Real-time asset tracking
  • Historical playback
  • Asset information modification
  • GPS tracking account login
  • View asset location
Features
Read full description

‎AIS GPS tracker allows clients to log into their gps tracking account, modify their asset information and view the real time location of their asset, including historical playback.

Screenshots

VesselFinder4 screens
AIS Live4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AIS Live at 86% against VesselFinder's 28%. AIS Live also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and ads (none vs shown). VesselFinder's advantage is ratings volume (280 vs 1). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AIS Live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: VesselFinder has 280 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of VesselFinder's written reviews are positive against 86% of AIS Live's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VesselFinder ships an update fortnightly, AIS Live monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
VesselFinder versus AIS Live: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVesselFinderAIS Live
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (280 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews28.2% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings280 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstraPaging Ltd.Automotive Integration

Customer experience

VesselFinder

All ratings232 ratings
Positive78.4%
Neutral2.2%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive28.2%
Neutral6.4%
Negative65.5%

AIS Live

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

VesselFinder

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App freezes on splash screen and won't load
  • Crashes when attempting to zoom on map
  • Black screen display on certain devices
  • App won't open or opens after long delays
  • Crashes on iOS 11 and newer versions
Show 10 more
  • Incompatible with iPhone X and newer models
  • Data not updating for days or weeks
  • Crashes when searching for vessels
  • Freezing issues after recent updates
  • Map not displaying on iPad
  • App crashes in low power mode
  • Vessel information not loading correctly
  • Inconsistent performance across iOS versions
  • App becomes unstable after working briefly
  • Zoom functionality broken in multiple versions

Requested features

13 requests
  • Real-time GPS tracking instead of delayed AIS data
  • Distance measurement tool restoration
  • German language support
  • Destination and departure information display
  • Ability to remove ads without expensive pro version
Show 8 more
  • Better search functionality in free version
  • Vessel departure time information
  • Improved map zoom functionality
  • Live results in search function
  • Picture display before clicking on vessel
  • Better map background/quality
  • Local time display instead of UTC only
  • Ability to delete incorrect vessel photos from profile

AIS Live

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

VesselFinder

No in-app purchases

None

AIS Live

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VesselFinder free?
VesselFinder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AIS Live free?
AIS Live is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VesselFinder or AIS Live?
AIS Live is rated higher. VesselFinder averages 4.2 out of 5 from 280 ratings, while AIS Live averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do VesselFinder or AIS Live have ads?
VesselFinder shows ads; AIS Live does not.
Which is updated more often, VesselFinder or AIS Live?
VesselFinder ships an update fortnightly, and AIS Live monthly. Most recently, VesselFinder was updated on November 1, 2026 and AIS Live on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons