VesselFinder vs OceanFishMap
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-time vessel tracking
- Vessel movement history
- Predicted routes and ETAs
- Comprehensive vessel particulars
- Port call details
- My Fleet for favorite vessels
- Weather overlays
Read full descriptionHide 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
OceanFishMap
This app provides fishing boats with oceanographic data and expert recommendations to optimize fishing operations. It allows users to record and share catch information, view vessel positions on a map, and send emergency messages.
- Oceanographic data updates
- Expert fishing recommendations
- Offline data viewing
- Vessel position on map
- Catch reporting and sharing
- Emergency messaging
Read full descriptionHide full description
OceanBytes provides fishing boats Oceanographic data including fishing recommendations created by expert Oceanographers that helps the boats save time and fuel. The app also allows the boats to record and share catch information in addition to the ability to send SOS and emergency messages. With OceanBytes you can: Get daily updates of Sea Surface Temperature, Plankton, Sea Surface Height Anomaly and Surface Currents. Get updated Fishing Recommendations twice a week. Download and View the data offline. See your vessel position on the map to find good fishing locations near you. View course and distance to a location from your vessel. Create fish catch reports for different species and share it. Send different types of emergency messages. Make your fishing operations more efficient with OceanBytes. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: OceanFishMap at 5.0 against VesselFinder's 4.1. OceanFishMap also leads on ads (none vs shown). VesselFinder's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (232 vs 1). On price, update cadence, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. OceanFishMap sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $100.00 per month. VesselFinder asks for nothing beyond the download.
OceanFishMap holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: VesselFinder has 232 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
VesselFinder ships an update fortnightly, OceanFishMap every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VesselFinder | OceanFishMap |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (232 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 28.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 232 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #197 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 128 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AstraPaging Ltd. | OceanBytes Holding LLC |
Customer experience
VesselFinder
OceanFishMap
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
OceanFishMap
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
VesselFinder
No in-app purchases
OceanFishMap
- Coastal7 Days trial$100.001 Month
- Coastal + AIS$149.001 Month
- Pro7 Days trial$200.001 Month
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Pro + AIS$249.001 Month








