Comparison

ESA Instruments vs NMEAkit

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

Head to head
About

ESA Instruments

Features
Read full description

ESA Instruments is the new App from Astra Yacht that transform your iPhone/iPad in a full function marine display. Connect ESA Instruments to an Astra Yacht GAMP (http://www.astrayacht.com/wp/en/shop/multiplexer-gamp-nmea-0183-esa/) and you can visualize every information coming from the boat instruments. Moreover, if you haven't any electronic instruments on board, you can use ESA Instruments App combined with the Astra Yacht box EBI. EBI has an internal GPS at high speed, and it's able to receive wind data directly from the most popular wind sensors both wired and wireless, and it can be connected to 4 other NMEA 0183 sensors (such as speed-depth sensor, electronic compass, AIS, wind sensor). Data from various sensors can be displayed via Wi-Fi directly on Apple devices through the App ESA Instruments that, in addition to the visualization of data in a very light and flexible way, allows you to easily calibrate your sensors thanks to a user friendly settings procedure. With ESA Instruments you can visualize data in various format: - page with a single data ; - page with two data; - page with tree data; - page with four data; - page with analog wind indicator; - page with GPS data; - page with graphic wind history (5', 10', 20' or 60' time period). in every page you can select the data you want to display in a very simple way.

About

NMEAkit

This app calibrates wind, pitch, and roll data when used with a NMEAkit device. It offers a rotating mast option to compensate for mast orientation, making data available via NMEA2000 or NMEA0183 gateways.

Highlights
  • Calibrate wind, pitch, and roll
  • Rotating mast option
  • Compensate mast orientation
  • NMEA2000/0183 gateway compatibility
  • Works with NMEAkit device
Features
Read full description

This application works only with NMEAkit device. The app can calibrate Wind, Pitch and Roll from OpenWind and if the NMEAkit unit contains a compass, you can use the rotating mast option: Align the NMEA kit with the boat's heading, enable mast rotation and calibrate the mast 0° position. The rotation of the mast will be compensated and the information available in NMEA2000 of NMEA0183 gateway.

Screenshots

ESA Instruments4 screens
NMEAkit3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: NMEAkit at every 5 days against ESA Instruments's every 6 months. NMEAkit also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads, 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ESA Instruments ships an update every 6 months, NMEAkit every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 11, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ESA Instruments versus NMEAkit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterESA InstrumentsNMEAkit
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperASTRA Yacht srlMichael Liesenberg

In-app purchases

None

ESA Instruments

No in-app purchases

None

NMEAkit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ESA Instruments free?
ESA Instruments is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NMEAkit free?
NMEAkit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ESA Instruments or NMEAkit have ads?
Neither ESA Instruments nor NMEAkit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ESA Instruments or NMEAkit?
ESA Instruments ships an update every 6 months, and NMEAkit every 5 days. Most recently, ESA Instruments was updated on September 11, 2026 and NMEAkit on September 8, 2026.

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