Comparison

Dockwa vs Defrost Rides

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

Head to head
About

Dockwa

Easily book slips and moorings at marinas nationwide. Discover new locations, view amenities, and manage reservations directly from your device. Boaters use it for free, enjoying a streamlined booking process.

Highlights
  • Reserve slips and moorings
  • Discover new marinas
  • View marina amenities and photos
  • Manage reservations
  • Add boat and payment information
  • Compare rates and services
  • Read marina reviews
Features
Read full description

Spend more time boating, less time booking. Dockwa is the best way to reserve slips or moorings at marinas, yacht clubs, and boatyards all over the country. For Life On The Water! (TM) Discover new marinas, view marina amenities and photos, and request and manage marina reservations right from your iPhone or iPad. There are no additional costs to boaters who use Dockwa – all marina prices and policies on the Dockwa platform reflect those set by the marina for all reservations. Say goodbye to webforms, phone tag, and uncertainty about your itinerary. Download Dockwa today and experience the future of boating! More about why Dockwa is awesome: For Boaters: • Reserve slips and moorings at hundreds of marinas and yacht clubs throughout the East Coast, the Bahamas, Caribbean, Great Lakes and West Coast, with new locations coming aboard daily. • Dockwa is FREE for boaters: Free app, free account, no booking fees, and no price mark-up. • Add your boat (or multiple boats) and credit card to your Dockwa account so you never need cash on hand. With Dockwa your information is encrypted, and you can say goodbye to reciting your boat specs or payment information over the phone of VHF! • Submit your reservation request through Dockwa for faster confirmation directly from the marina staff, with no middleman. Talk about smooth sailing. • Compare rates, amenities, and services, and get quotes in-app, and reserve last-minute or months in advance. • See marina reviews and recommendations from your fellow boaters For Marinas, Yacht Clubs and Boatyards: • Join the future of boating: Dockwa provides back-end marina management software at no cost. Schedule your demo today at dockwa.com/signup • Enable new and existing customers to quickly reserve your transient slips and moorings without manual entry or phone • Hands-down the best technology in the industry, with new features Questions? Comments? Glowing praise? Hit us up: thecrew@dockwa.com Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/Dockwa Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/getdockwa Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/dockwa Explore Dockwa: https://dockwa.com

About

Defrost Rides

This app connects college students for shared rides to campus. See available rides, offer your empty seats, and coordinate trips with friends or classmates. It simplifies carpooling within your school community.

Highlights
  • Find rides to and from college
  • Offer empty seats on your trips
  • Live feed of available rides
  • Coordinate rides with friends
  • Group creation for clubs/teams
  • Real-time ride tracking on map
  • In-app chat for ride coordination
Features
Read full description

Give a ride. Get a ride. Defrost is the free ride app for college students. See who's driving where at your school, hop in with one tap, or share your empty seats on a trip you're already making. No invite needed: pick your school and you're in. HOW IT WORKS • Pick your school. That's it, you're in • Happening today: a live feed of who's driving where and who needs a ride, friends first • Tap I'm in to grab a seat, or I'll drive to pick someone up • Where are you going: one field, with Now, Tonight, and Friday • I'm driving: share your seats in a few taps, one time or every week • Watch your ride arrive on the map with the time and the car to look for • Chat with the people on your ride and say thanks afterward FRIENDS FIRST Add friends by username. Their rides show up at the top, and you can post rides only your friends can see. Start a circle for your class, club or crew so the people you ride with most are one tap away. YOUR GROUPS Already ride with a group of friends, a club or a team? Keep a private group with its own chat and invite link, and switch between your school and your groups anytime. WITH YOUR FRIENDS You and your friends decide who drives. Defrost helps you find each other. For people 18 and older. Photography credits and licenses: https://wayfound-store-pages.vercel.app/credits.html

Screenshots

Dockwa4 screens
Defrost Rides4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Defrost Rides at every 2 days against Dockwa's every 3 weeks. Defrost Rides also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). Dockwa's advantage is ratings volume (34K vs 3). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Dockwa against 5.0 for Defrost Rides. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dockwa has 34K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dockwa ships an update every 3 weeks, Defrost Rides every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Dockwa versus Defrost Rides: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDockwaDefrost Rides
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (34K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings34K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size210 MB67 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDockwa, Inc.BENJAMIN PETER DAVENPORT

Customer experience

Dockwa

All ratings33,857 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews175 reviews
Positive74.9%
Neutral7.4%
Negative17.7%

Defrost Rides

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Dockwa

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Issues with accepting terms and conditions
  • Reservation cancellation and editing problems

Requested features

4 requests
  • Calendar integration for reservations
  • Filters for specific marina amenities
  • Real-time availability updates
  • Group reservation management

Defrost Rides

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Dockwa

No in-app purchases

None

Defrost Rides

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dockwa free?
Dockwa is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Defrost Rides free?
Defrost Rides is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dockwa or Defrost Rides?
Defrost Rides is rated higher. Dockwa averages 4.9 out of 5 from 34K ratings, while Defrost Rides averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Dockwa or Defrost Rides have ads?
Neither Dockwa nor Defrost Rides shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dockwa or Defrost Rides?
Dockwa ships an update every 3 weeks, and Defrost Rides every 2 days. Most recently, Dockwa was updated on November 1, 2026 and Defrost Rides on October 31, 2026.

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