Comparison

Swim.com vs Open Water Swim

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

Head to head
About

Swim.com

Automatically record and track your swimming workouts with advanced statistics. Compete with friends and other swimmers on global leaderboards, and access thousands of customizable swim workouts.

Highlights
  • Automatic swim recording with Apple Watch
  • Advanced swim statistics
  • Stroke type and count detection
  • Drill Mode for kick tracking
  • Global leaderboards and friend competition
  • Thousands of customizable swim workouts
Features
Read full description

SWIM.COM IS THE ESSENTIAL APP FOR SWIMMERS! Record your swims automatically with your Apple Watch and track your progress with advanced swim stats. Compete on leaderboards, connect with friends and choose a swim workout to challenge yourself. THE BEST SWIM TRACKING APP FOR THE APPLE WATCH. Use the Swim.com app on your Apple Watch to record your swim workouts automatically; no button-pressing required. Detect stroke type, stroke count with the most accurate swimming app available. You can even track kick and other drills with Drill Mode! Swim.com, uses HealthKit to export your Swim.com activities into the Health app and to read swim activity data from other apps such as Apple's Workout app. COMPETE WITH YOURSELF OR WITH THOUSANDS OF POOLS AND CLUBS WORLDWIDE. Motivate yourself by competing with friends in a club or against other swimmers just like you on our global leaderboards. See how you compare to other swimmers at your local club and aim to be the lane leader. SMART WORKOUTS FOR EVERY SWIMMER. Download the app, and get access to thousands of smart swimming workouts for free. Customize and edit workouts using our new workout editor to craft the perfect swim. You can even add your own workouts and share them with our community! Have an issue? ** CONTACT US AT SUPPORT@SWIM.COM **

About

Open Water Swim

Track, analyze, and relive your open water swims with GPS-accurate data. Discover curated routes, share your progress with friends, and log your swim history.

Highlights
  • GPS-accurate swim tracking
  • Curated swim route discovery
  • Official event tracking
  • Swim history and performance analysis
  • Social feed for group swims
  • One-tap sharing of swim summaries
Features
Read full description

Open Water Swim — Built by Open Water Swimmers, for Open Water Swimmers Whether you’re training for a triathlon, swimming with friends, or just chasing your next ocean high — Open Water Swim helps you track, analyze, and relive every stroke with confidence. Designed exclusively for Apple Watch and iPhone, this is the premier app made specifically for the open water swimming community — tested and trusted by real open water swimmers. • Explore Curated Swims Looking for a new route? Explore a hand-picked directory of curated swims around the world. Review entry and exit advice, check for local hazards, and find the perfect spot for your next open water adventure. • Track with Precision Get real-time, GPS-accurate data on your swim: distance, pace, duration, heart rate, and energy burned. • Swim Official Events Participating in a partnered race? Open Water Swim is the official tracker for select global events. Just swim the course, and our tech will automatically tag and verify your official completion. • See Where You Swam Relive your favorite swims on stunning satellite or topographic maps — complete with heart rate graphs and detailed performance insights. • Swim Social Automatically detect group swims and see your friends’ sessions in a community feed that brings the joy of open water right to your pocket. • One-Tap Sharing Send beautifully designed, data-rich swim summaries to your friends and training partners — it’s simple, visual, and highly satisfying. • Your Complete Swim Log Keep a beautiful history of all your swims, track your monthly progress, and analyze your long-term trends. Noticed something off with a route? Send your swim log straight to our team for review with a single tap. Whether you’re a weekend warrior, competitive athlete, or ocean-loving soul — Open Water Swim is your ultimate companion in the water. We handle the tracking. You focus on the swim. Download now and dive in.

Screenshots

Swim.com4 screens
Open Water Swim4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Swim.com at none against Open Water Swim's 2. Swim.com also leads on ratings volume (1.1K vs 34) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). Open Water Swim's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and review sentiment (50% vs 41%). On price, rating, ads 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. Open Water Swim sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Swim.com asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Swim.com against 4.3 for Open Water Swim. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Swim.com has 1.1K ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of Swim.com's written reviews are positive against 50% of Open Water Swim's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Swim.com ships an update monthly, Open Water Swim every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Swim.com versus Open Water Swim: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwim.comOpen Water Swim
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (1.1K ratings) — better4.3 (34 ratings)
Positive reviews41.4% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K — better34
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size175 MB39 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperSpiraledgeIntrit LLC

Customer experience

Swim.com

All ratings1,102 ratings
Positive83.7%
Neutral5.4%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews367 reviews
Positive41.4%
Neutral17.7%
Negative40.9%

Open Water Swim

All ratings34 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

Swim.com

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashing or freezing during workouts
  • Inconsistent lap/distance tracking
  • Sync issues between app and Apple Watch
  • Inability to properly log or edit workouts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved Strava integration
  • Better workout scheduling and notification features
  • Ability to track kick sets and drills
  • More comprehensive data analysis and visualization
  • Seamless sync with Apple Health app

Open Water Swim

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Swim.com

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Open Water Swim

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription1 Month trial$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Swim.com free?
Swim.com is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Water Swim free?
Open Water Swim is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Swim.com or Open Water Swim?
Swim.com is rated higher. Swim.com averages 4.4 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Open Water Swim averages 4.3 from 34 ratings.
Do Swim.com or Open Water Swim have ads?
Neither Swim.com nor Open Water Swim shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swim.com or Open Water Swim?
Swim.com ships an update monthly, and Open Water Swim every 10 days. Most recently, Swim.com was updated on November 1, 2026 and Open Water Swim on November 7, 2026.

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