Comparison

Aqua Map Boating vs Wavve Boating

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

Head to head
About

Aqua Map Boating

This marine navigation app provides official, weekly updated nautical charts for offline use. It offers features like route planning, GPS track recording, tide and current predictions, and anchor alarms. Advanced subscriptions unlock marine forecasts, NMEA instrument connectivity, and local data for enhanced safety and navigation.

Highlights
  • Official NOAA nautical charts
  • Offline map downloads
  • GPS track recording
  • Tide and current predictions
  • Anchor alarm
  • NMEA instrument connectivity
  • AIS with collision detection
Features
Read full description

Free 14-day trial for all subscriptions   Aqua Map offers weekly updated OFFICIAL NAUTICAL CHARTS (NOAA) for marine navigation. Purchase a chart subscription for the area of your interest, download the map areas for offline use, and connect your onboard instruments for a complete experience. ● BASIC FEATURES - Switch between manual and auto route planning modes - Record your GPS tracks - Store and share your navigation data (markers, routes, and recorded tracks) - Display tides and currents predictions and simulations - Increase your safety with Anchor Alarm - Enable Live Sharing to interact with the Aqua Map community - Display points of interest from the "ActiveCaptain" and "Waterway Guide" communities ● EXPERT SUBSCRIPTION Note: this subscription does not include charts; it must be paired with a chart subscription. - Marine forecasts (wind, waves, currents, gusts, salinity, sea surface temperature + weather information for any point on the map) - Overlay satellite images on the charts - Advanced AnchorLink with anchorage mirroring and email/telegram notifications for greater peace of mind while anchored, even if you are away from the boat - Connect your NMEA instruments via WiFi (autopilot, depth sounder, wind sensor, compass, GPS) and use their data on the app - AIS with automatic collision detection - Route Explorer for real-time information on all elements along your route ● MASTER SUBSCRIPTION FOR THE BEST NAVIGATION EXPERIENCE Note: this subscription does not include charts; it must be paired with a chart subscription. - All features of the EXPERT subscription are included in the MASTER subscription. + LOCAL DATA: > US: Army Corps of Engineers surveys for safe navigation in shallow waters > US: LNMs and "List of Lights" navaids from the Coast Guard. > Canada: NAVWARNs from the Coast Guard. > Denmark: Warnings and Notices from the DMA > France: Warnings, Notices and Regulations from the PING > Italy: Ordinanze from the Italian Coast Guard > Portugal: Navigational Warnings from the IHPT for Portugal and islands > Western Australia: temporary Notices from the Transport WA   ● PURCHASE OPTIONS To access the charts, you need to purchase a chart subscription for the area of interest. Optionally, you can add the Expert subscription or the Master subscription to unlock extra navigation features and additional data. Subscription payments will be made through your account (Apple ID). The annual subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before expiration. You can manage your subscription and disable automatic renewal in the account settings section after purchase. Terms of use: https://www.aquamap.app/terms-and-conditions Privacy policy: https://www.aquamap.app/privacy-policy

About

Wavve Boating

This navigation app provides detailed nautical charts, tide predictions, and weather forecasts for boaters. It features a user-friendly GPS interface, community-shared points of interest, and the ability to track friends on the water.

Highlights
  • Seamless marine GPS navigation
  • Customizable nautical charts
  • Community boating points of interest
  • Tide and water level tracking
  • Seven-day weather forecasts
  • Friend location sharing (Fleets)
Features
Read full description

Ever have a stressful day navigating on the water? Wanted to know more about the conditions you are about to head into? Are you looking for exciting places to explore, the best place to refuel, or just trying to meet up with a friend? Wavve Boating takes a new spin on traditional boating navigation by bringing detailed nautical charts, tide predictions, weather forecasts, and more in one easy-to-use tool. Join a fast-growing community of boaters building a network of marine knowledge that everyone can enjoy. With Wavve Boating you get: - Simple and Seamless Marine GPS Navigation - Put away overcrowded and complex charts and apps. Wavve Boating's GPS focuses on important and relevant information so that navigating is as easy as staying in the blue and avoiding the red. - Custom Nautical Charts - View and change Wavve Boating's nautical charts based on your unique boating needs and preferences. Set your draft and Wavve Boating redraws the nautical charts to fit your boat. Nautical charts are available for the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. You can view a map of our coverage on our website. - Community Boating - Just like at the dock or on the water, we all help each other in Wavve Boating. Share expert knowledge of the local waterways by adding shared points of interest to the map. The community can vote on pins, making sure they are all valid and valuable. Not quite ready to share a great find? No problem, you can keep your points of interest private as well. - Tides - Track changes in water height in tidal regions and along rivers and lakes with the tides function. View a body of water in North America, and the app will update to reflect the current water levels. View predicted water heights up to 18 hours in advance and track the next tidal variances. - Weather - Check the weather, including a complete seven-day forecast, across all of North America. Easily view the temperature, wind speed, and wave height as you move around the map. The local daily forecasts are color-coded to show if it is dangerous to go boating, using guidelines from the Coast Guard's small vessel advisory. - Fleets of Friends - See who is on the water and where they are by adding friends to your fleet. Share your locations with members of your fleet to make meeting up a breeze. Want to keep your best fishing hole a secret, even from your boating buds? Easily hide your location to boat under the radar. - So Long Chart Plotters - Marine navigation is more than concentrating on a cluttered chart plotter. Get your head out of the cabin and enjoy the journey. Stop buying marine charts piece by piece for your chart plotter. Wavve Boating has integrated all the marine charts into one map for your boating GPS needs. Subscription Pricing and Terms Wavve Boating is free to download, and all customers are welcome to a free 14 day trial period. Should you choose to continue to use the Wavve Boating app after the free trial, we offer two auto-renewing subscription options, monthly ($11.99/month) or yearly ($69.99/year). Wavve Boating needs you! We've built the platform, but it is boaters that will build our Wavver community. Share your knowledge, share your time, and save a prop or two in the process. MORE INFORMATION Want to learn more about Wavve Boating’s marine navigation aid? Still deciding if this is the right boat GPS app for you to replace your chart plotter? Looking for an alternative to Navionics, Embark, Garmin Active Captain or other? Head to our website to learn more. TERMS OF SERVICE https://wavveboating.com/terms-of-service/ PRIVACY POLICY https://wavveboating.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Aqua Map Boating4 screens
Wavve Boating4 screens

Verdict

The call

Aqua Map Boating and Wavve Boating both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 65% of Aqua Map Boating's written reviews are positive against 52% of Wavve Boating's. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Aqua Map Boating sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and Wavve Boating sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Aqua Map Boating against 4.7 for Wavve Boating. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 6.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Aqua Map Boating's written reviews are positive against 52% of Wavve Boating's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aqua Map Boating ships an update weekly, Wavve Boating every 6 days. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 10 level
Aqua Map Boating versus Wavve Boating: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAqua Map BoatingWavve Boating
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (14K ratings)4.7 (6.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.9% of reviews — better51.7% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better6.7K
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#73#27 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size176 MB201 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGEC s.r.l.Wavve Boating INC

Customer experience

Aqua Map Boating

All ratings13,854 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews299 reviews
Positive64.9%
Neutral9.0%
Negative26.1%

Wavve Boating

All ratings6,646 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.8%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews240 reviews
Positive51.7%
Neutral5.8%
Negative42.5%

User reviews

Aqua Map Boating

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent navigation tool
  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
  • 🗺️ Detailed and accurate charts
  • 💡 Helpful features like AIS, weather, and fuel prices
  • 🤝 Responsive and helpful customer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with map downloads and disappearing charts
  • 🔍 Lack of intuitive route planning functionality
  • 🔍 Slow map loading and tracking issues in certain areas
  • 💰 Subscription model with additional costs for map downloads

Wavve Boating

From 6.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate navigation
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 💡 Helpful features like weather and wave data
  • 🚢 Great for new and experienced boaters
  • 🤝 Good customer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate depth charts
  • 🚫 Limited coverage for certain areas
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🔒 Forced to sign up before trying
  • 🤯 Confusing login/account issues

Bugs and requests

Aqua Map Boating

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent GPS tracking and positioning
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved route planning and optimization
  • Offline map caching and seamless downloads
  • Tidal and wind data overlays
  • Sync capabilities across devices

Wavve Boating

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when accessing depth data
  • Logged out unexpectedly, unable to log back in
  • Subscription charges despite cancellation

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more inland lake and river coverage
  • Improve auto-routing capabilities
  • Allow editing of saved routes
  • Integrate with more boat displays
  • Add social features to share trips with friends

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Aqua Map Boating

Subscriptions8
  • US - Nautical & Lakes charts14 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Canada - nautical charts14 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • US & Canada - nautical charts14 Days trial$14.991 Year
Show 5 more
  • Caribbean South Nautical chart14 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Bermuda - nautical charts14 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Aqua Map Expert14 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Aqua Map Master14 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Bahamas - Explorer Charts14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • US & Canada - Nautical chart$49.99
  • Bahamas - Explorer Chartbooks$139.99
5 purchases

Wavve Boating

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Subscription (No Data)$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$11.991 Month
  • Best Value - Wavve Boating14 Days trial$69.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Subscription (No Data)14 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Best Value - Wavve Boating1 Month trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Aqua Map Boating free?
Aqua Map Boating is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wavve Boating free?
Wavve Boating is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aqua Map Boating or Wavve Boating?
Wavve Boating is rated higher. Aqua Map Boating averages 4.7 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Wavve Boating averages 4.7 from 6.7K ratings.
Do Aqua Map Boating or Wavve Boating have ads?
Neither Aqua Map Boating nor Wavve Boating shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aqua Map Boating or Wavve Boating?
Aqua Map Boating ships an update weekly, and Wavve Boating every 6 days. Most recently, Aqua Map Boating was updated on November 11, 2026 and Wavve Boating on November 11, 2026.
Which is more popular, Aqua Map Boating or Wavve Boating?
Aqua Map Boating currently peaks at #73 in the App Store charts, and Wavve Boating at #27. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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