Vessly vs YachtWave and seven other boat apps
We compared the apps feature by feature from their public pricing pages, product pages, store listings and support articles. Where Vessly lacks something, the table says so.
We make Vessly, so read this as a maker's comparison with sources you can check yourself. YachtWave pricing and plan names come from yachtwave.com/pricing.
Vessly and YachtWave, line by line
Badges show the lowest plan that includes the feature. A dash means the app does not have it today.
85Features compared
Only in Vessly
Only in YachtWave
In both
| Feature | Vessly | YachtWave | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat and equipmentBoat profile and specifications | Free | Personal | |
| Boat and equipmentHIN check and manufacturer lookup | Free | Personal | YachtWave covers US boats only. Vessly suggests the HIN format and includes the USCG manufacturer directory. |
| Boat and equipmentEngine and equipment records | Free | Personal | |
| Boat and equipmentBuilt-in engine and equipment catalogue with maintenance schedule | Free | Pro | Vessly has the catalogue structure in place, but the server does not hold model data yet. |
| Boat and equipmentMultiple boats | FreeFree 3Pro 10Fleet 50 boats | PersonalPersonal 3Pro Unlimited boats | |
| Tasks and maintenance planMaintenance tasks and recurring plans | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planDue by engine hours | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planCalendar view | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planPriority, filters and search | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planTasks for all boats in one list | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planPhotos and documents on tasks | Free | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planTask notifications | Free | Personal | YachtWave sends push, SMS and e-mail. Vessly sends push only. |
| Tasks and maintenance planAssign a task to a person | Fleet | Personal | |
| Tasks and maintenance planAttach a checklist to a task | Free | Ultimate | |
| Tasks and maintenance planShare a task by web link without sign-in | Personal | ||
| Tasks and maintenance planTask comments and custom task states | Ultimate | ||
| Service historyPermanent service history | Free | Personal | |
| Service historyPhotos, receipts and cost on a record | Free | Personal | |
| Service historySearch, filter and sort | Free | Personal | |
| Fault ticketsFault tickets with photos | Ultimate | In YachtWave this needs a $49 per boat per month plan. | |
| Fault ticketsCreate a task from a ticket | Free | Ultimate | |
| Fault ticketsOwner request portal and ticket triage | Ultimate | ||
| Fault ticketsTicket alerts (e-mail/SMS) and web sharing | Ultimate | ||
| ChecklistsDeparture, arrival and safety checklists | Free | Personal | |
| ChecklistsTemplate library | Free | Personal | YachtWave has more than 30 templates. Vessly has winterizing and spring commissioning among others. |
| ChecklistsCreate your own template | Free | Personal | |
| ChecklistsArchive of completed checklists | Free | Personal | Vessly can also copy a checklist for the new season. |
| ChecklistsAssign steps to people, fill in together live | Personal | ||
| ChecklistsShare a checklist on the web | Personal | ||
| ChecklistsAdvanced step states (OK / Watch / Attention) | Ultimate | ||
| InventoryInventory with photos and documents | Free | Personal | |
| InventoryLow-stock alert | Free | Personal | Vessly flags low spares in the list; it does not send a notification. |
| InventoryPart number and storage location | Free | Personal | |
| InventorySupplier link | Personal | ||
| InventoryProvisions tracking with expiry dates | Ultimate | ||
| ExpensesExpense records | Free | Pro | In YachtWave this needs a $39 per boat per month plan. |
| ExpensesTake and attach receipt photos | Free | Pro | |
| ExpensesExpense analytics and yearly summary | Pro | Pro | |
| ExpensesAI receipt reading (auto-fill amount and date) | Pro | ||
| ExpensesApproval flow (Draft → Approved → Paid) | Pro | ||
| ExpensesMultiple currencies | Pro | Vessly uses one currency, chosen in Settings. | |
| ExpensesCost by system and by voyage | Pro | ||
| CruisingLogbook | Free | Pro | |
| CruisingFuel log | Free | YachtWave's site does not list a separate fuel log. | |
| CruisingRoute and waypoints on a map | Pro | ||
| CruisingWeather and 14-day marine forecast | Pro | In Vessly the weather is typed into the voyage entry by hand. | |
| CruisingPassenger list | Pro | ||
| CruisingAutomatic voyage recording | In preparation | ||
| ReadingsManual readings (engine hours, tanks, gauges) | Free | Personal | Vessly also shows readings on a small chart. |
| ReadingsReadings trigger hour-based maintenance | Free | Personal | |
| ReadingsAutomatic readings with the YachtLINK device | Ultimate · In preparation | Also needs a $249 device. | |
| AI MechanicAI Mechanic fault assistant | FreeFree 15Pro 30 messages / month | PersonalUnlimited | Vessly has a monthly message allowance: 15 on Free, 30 on Pro. YachtWave says unlimited. |
| AI MechanicAdvanced diagnosis based on manufacturer manuals | Pro | ||
| Crew and fleetCrew invitations | FleetFleet Unlimited crew | PersonalPersonal 5Pro Unlimited crew | |
| Crew and fleetRole per person | Fleet | Personal | Vessly roles: Owner, Manager, Crew, Viewer. |
| Crew and fleetHide amounts from crew | Fleet | Pro | |
| Crew and fleetFleet panel | Fleet | Pro | |
| Crew and fleetCrew documents and certificates | Personal | ||
| Crew and fleetBulk assignment and fleet-wide search | Pro | ||
| Crew and fleetNotifications routed by role | Ultimate | ||
| Reports, export and backupReady-made reports | Pro | Pro | |
| Reports, export and backupBuild your own report | Pro | ||
| Reports, export and backupCSV export | Free | Pro | Always free in Vessly. |
| Reports, export and backupPrintable full service history | Free | Personal | YachtWave also gives a share link. |
| Reports, export and backupBoat CV PDF for a sale | Pro | ||
| Reports, export and backupCSV import | Personal | ||
| Reports, export and backupBackup file export, import and restore | Free | ||
| Reports, export and backupCloud backup to your own Google Drive | Pro | YachtWave keeps data on its own servers and backs up daily. | |
| Reports, export and backupJourney: the boat's history on one timeline | Free | ||
| Documents and notesDocument archive | Free | Personal | |
| Documents and notesExpiry alerts | Free | Personal | |
| Documents and notesScan with the camera to PDF | Free | Personal | |
| Documents and notesNotes and password/code storage | Free | Personal | |
| Documents and notesContacts directory | Free | Personal | |
| Documents and notesShare a note on the web | Personal | ||
| Audit and regulationOfficial logbook (signed, immutable, with position) | Operations | ||
| Audit and regulationChange history (before and after values) | Ultimate | ||
| PlatformAndroid app | Free | Personal | |
| PlatformiOS app | In preparation | Personal | Vessly's App Store listing is being prepared. |
| PlatformWeb app | Personal | ||
| PlatformWorks offline | Free | Personal | YachtWave is read-only offline. Vessly lets you add records offline too. |
| PlatformUse without an account | Free | YachtWave requires sign-in (SMS or e-mail code). | |
| PlatformLanguages (including Turkish) | FreeFree 13 languages | PersonalPersonal 14 languages | |
| PlatformDeveloper API | Ultimate | ||
| PlatformShipyard-branded app | Ultimate | Requires at least 10 boats. |
Comparison as of 2026-10-28 · YachtWave data from yachtwave.com.
Prices side by side
Vessly charges once a year for Pro and per boat per month for Fleet. YachtWave charges per boat per month on every paid plan.
Vessly
- FreeFree · Up to 3 boats
- Pro$29.99 (3 boats) · $49.99 (5 boats) · $99.99 (10 boats) per year
- FleetFrom $8.99 per month · $8.99 per boat
Crew joins free; only the fleet owner pays. 14-day free trial.
YachtWave
- PersonalFree
- Pro$39.00 per boat per month
- Ultimate$49.00 per boat per month
- OperationsCustom pricing
YachtWave prices as of 2026-10-28, from yachtwave.com/pricing.
Example: recording expenses for one boat is free in Vessly; expense analytics is in Pro at $29.99 per year for up to three boats. In YachtWave this needs a $39 per boat per month plan.
Vessly and seven competitors on the features that matter most
Thirteen core features across eight apps. Half-filled means partial; a question mark means we could not verify it.
| Feature | Vessly | YachtWave | Boat Butler | Boating Suite | TheBoatApp | BoatMatey | Plan M8 | Vessel Vanguard | Nauticare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance log (date, cost, photo or receipt) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| Automatic reminders by engine hours | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Calendar or seasonal reminders | 10 | ||||||||
| Expense tracking with yearly summary | 11 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 14 | ||||
| One-tap PDF service history for a sale | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | ||||
| Receipt and invoice archive | 20 | ||||||||
| Works offline | 21 | 22 | |||||||
| Manual engine-hour entry | 23 | ||||||||
| Winterizing and seasonal checklist templates | 24 | ||||||||
| Multiple boats | 25 | 26 | |||||||
| Document archive (registration, insurance, manuals) | |||||||||
| AI features (diagnosis, task generation, OCR) | 27 | ||||||||
| Platform coverage (iOS + Android + web) | 28 | 29 | 30 |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
- Unclear
Notes
- YachtWave: photos and documents in the free tier; the claimed single-attachment limit could not be verified.
- Boat Butler: service history and receipt upload exist, but execution is weak (rating 3.0/5).
- Boating Suite: maintenance log exists; receipt photos not clearly supported, photos verified only on voyage entries.
- TheBoatApp: Maintenance and Costs modules only on paid plans (Essentials €19/year and up).
- YachtWave: not documented in official sources; live engine data needs a separate subscription and hardware adapter.
- Boat Butler: its main selling point, verified; execution and traction are very weak.
- Boating Suite: engine hours are recorded but hour-based reminders are not documented.
- TheBoatApp: usage threshold (hours/litres) and advance notice verified by an official support article; hours entered manually.
- Vessel Vanguard: OEM maintenance schedules with e-mail/SMS alerts; hour-based triggering not explicit on the official site.
- Boat Butler: custom maintenance schedules can be set for non-engine needs; no winterizing checklist.
- YachtWave: expense tracking exists but not in the free tier; needs Personal+ at $9 per boat per month.
- Boat Butler: payment tracking exists; no yearly summary shown in official sources.
- Boating Suite: categorised expenses, date-range reports and TCO; $59.99/year.
- Nauticare: finance dashboard and categories only on Standard (€69/month) and above.
- YachtWave: users explicitly ask for PDF/Word export on the App Store (developer-answered review).
- Boating Suite: PDF export not documented; older review mentions CSV only and complains photos cannot be included.
- TheBoatApp: a general print-ready PDF report exists, but not productised for a sale.
- Plan M8: tailored PDF reports for buyers and surveyors, but in a corporate setup, not an individual sales flow.
- Vessel Vanguard: PDF export exists but is work-order and team oriented; no sales scenario.
- YachtWave: receipt-scanning expense tracking sits behind Personal+ ($9/month); general photos and documents are free.
- TheBoatApp: offline-first architecture, but no mobile offline on the free plan (Essentials and up).
- Nauticare: offline (Nauticare Local) only on the custom-priced Superyacht plan.
- Boating Suite: in Logbook/Fuel Log; complaints about multi-engine reporting errors.
- TheBoatApp: ready winterising templates in the community library.
- TheBoatApp: one boat on the free plan; multi-boat on Essentials.
- Plan M8: every additional boat is a separate subscription.
- YachtWave: AI Mechanic (patent pending); basic version free.
- Boat Butler: iOS and Android, no web; almost no presence on Android.
- Boating Suite: Apple ecosystem only; no Android or web.
- Vessel Vanguard: three platforms, but accounts cannot be created from the app (common complaint).
Sources: official websites, App Store and Google Play listings and support articles of each product, verified 2026-07-31. Company names are used for identification only; no logos.
Not included: YachtWave's business and hardware products
YachtWave also sells products for boat builders and dealers. They are a different product class, so they are left out of the tables above:
- Delivery Platform: a builder-branded app for the build, hand-over and after-sales of a new boat.
- Selection Manager: buyers pick options and approve drawings on the web while the boat is built.
- DealerLINK: dealers follow production and report faults for the boats they sell.
- Telematics: fuel efficiency, propeller and warranty analytics for builders.
- YachtLINK: a hardware device that reads engine, tank, battery and GPS data from the NMEA 2000 network; needs its own subscription.
Vessly competes with the Personal, Pro and Ultimate plans. The counts above do not include these products.
Looking for a YachtWave alternative? We wrote a page about what is the same, what is different and what is missing.
Comparison questions
Where is my data, and can I export it?
Your data lives on your phone. You can export a full backup file and PDF or CSV reports at any time, on the Free plan too. Pro adds automatic backup to your own cloud account.
How is Vessly different from YachtWave?
Vessly puts maintenance, expenses, fuel log and PDF/CSV export in the free plan, works fully offline and does not require an account. YachtWave has more features for larger operations such as official logbooks and web sharing. See the comparison page for the full list.
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Three boats free · works offline · no account needed