Surf Sessions vs BreakFinder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Surf Sessions
Effortlessly track your surfing sessions by automatically downloading buoy data for waves, wind, and tide. Integrate your workouts with the Health App to estimate calories burned and maintain a comprehensive fitness plan. Your data remains private and securely stored on your device.
- Automatic buoy data download
- Session recording and rating
- Calorie burn estimation
- Health App integration
- Private iCloud backup
- Secret spot protection
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Surf Session makes it really easy to track your surfing. Just setup surf spots with a parking location, enable auto-record, and every time you finish surfing your phone will automatically download some buoy data (waves, wind, and tide) and notify you to record it. You can even rate your session right from the notification. You can also integrate your surfing into an overall fitness plan. This app will estimate the calories you burned while surfing and then share your surfing workouts with the Health App. All of your data is stored on your phone and backed up in your private iCloud space. The developer cannot see your location or data. You secret spots will remain secret. Please provide feedback. I will do my best to fix bugs and improve this app.
BreakFinder
This app transforms your smartwatch into an automatic surf session tracker, logging wave count, speed, and distance. It also serves as a phone-based hub for surf logs, forecasts for over 9,200 spots worldwide, and a unique take-off spot compass.
- Automatic wave detection
- Cross-platform smartwatch compatibility
- Comprehensive surf log
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
- Take-off spot compass
- Global surf forecasts
- Offline functionality
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BreakFinder turns your smartwatch into a complete surf-session tracker — and your phone into a surf log, forecast hub, and spot finder. Free for every surfer. AUTOMATIC WAVE DETECTION No buttons. No guessing. A research-validated sensor-fusion algorithm detects every wave you ride and logs wave count, top speed, distance, ride time, GPS track, and heart rate. Choose from three sensitivity modes — White Water, Green Wave, or Performance — to match your style. WORKS ON THE WATCH YOU ALREADY OWN Apple Watch, Garmin, Wear OS, and Amazfit/Zepp. BreakFinder is the only surf tracker that works across all four platforms — with HarmonyOS and Suunto coming soon. Watch face, complications, and tiles included. YOUR FULL SURF LOG Every session syncs automatically to your phone — mapped, rated, and ready to replay. Wave count, top speed, distance, hours in the water, and recent-form stats at a glance. Your complete surf history, all in one place. AT A GLANCE — WIDGETS & COMPLICATIONS Add the Surf Forecast and Last Session widgets to your iPhone Home and Lock Screen, plus Apple Watch complications for swell score, tide, and your live wave count — your surf data without opening the app. TAKE-OFF SPOT COMPASS Lost in the lineup? The Take-Off Spot compass points straight back to where you caught your best waves. SURF FORECASTS FOR 9,200+ SPOTS Swell, wind, and tides for 9,200+ breaks in 140+ countries. 16-day forecasts. Save your home breaks as favorites and check conditions before you paddle out. DISCOVER BREAKS WORLDWIDE Explore the spot map to find waves near you or plan your next surf trip. Every break on Earth, mapped. OFFLINE & PRIVACY-FIRST Works offline on the water. No tracking, no ad cookies. Encrypted in transit (HTTPS). GDPR/DSGVO compliant. Delete your account anytime from inside the app. COMMUNITY & PROGRESSION Rank up, hit streaks, complete weekly quests. Follow the community feed and plan trips with your surf crew. In-app notifications keep you on top of buddy invites, comments, and swell alerts. PLATFORM-INDEPENDENT — YOUR SURF HISTORY IS YOURS, FOR LIFE Switch watch, switch brand, switch country — your surf history stays with you. Whatever hardware you ride next year, every wave you've ever caught travels with you, across platforms and across borders. One account for your watch, this app, and breakfinder.surf — always in sync, no lock-in. Full session analysis and detailed spot guides on the web. Built by surfers, for surfers. breakfinder.surf PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION BreakFinder Premium is available as an auto-renewable subscription, monthly or yearly. The price is shown in the app before you confirm. Payment is charged to your Apple Account and renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://breakfinder.surf/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Surf Sessions at none against BreakFinder's 3. Surf Sessions also leads on ratings volume (5 vs 1). BreakFinder's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and rating (4.0 vs 3.6). On price, ads, 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. BreakFinder sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Surf Sessions asks for nothing beyond the download.
BreakFinder holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Surf Sessions has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Surf Sessions ships an update every 2 months, BreakFinder every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Surf Sessions | BreakFinder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (5 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 27.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christopher Slade | Philipp Winkler |
Customer experience
Surf Sessions
BreakFinder
In-app purchases
Surf Sessions
No in-app purchases
BreakFinder
- BreakFinder Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
- BreakFinder Premium Yearly$34.991 Year
- BreakFinder Premium Lifetime$89.99
Questions
Is Surf Sessions free?
Is BreakFinder free?
Which has better reviews, Surf Sessions or BreakFinder?
Do Surf Sessions or BreakFinder have ads?
Which is updated more often, Surf Sessions or BreakFinder?
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