Alternatives to OpenCPN
A free, open-source chartplotter and marine GPS navigation program for laptops and onboard computers. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
OpenCPN
A free, open-source chartplotter and marine GPS navigation program for laptops and onboard computers.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as OpenCPN.
iNavX
A marine chartplotter app for iPhone and iPad with charts from many providers, AIS and GRIB weather.
iNavX is a phone and tablet chartplotter supporting more than 25 chart providers, AIS and GRIB weather, with commercial charts bought separately and not open source.
Seapilot
Marine navigation app with digital nautical charts, AIS, routes and weather routing.
Seapilot is a mobile marine app with AIS, NMEA support and GRIB weather routing, but most navigation features require Premium and it is closed source.
Aqua Map
A marine navigation app for boaters that shows NOAA, USACE and CMOR charts with offline use.
Aqua Map is a mobile app using NOAA, USACE and CMOR charts offline with an anchor alarm, with coverage centred on US waters and the Bahamas.
Argo
A marine navigation and trip planning app with nautical charts, autorouting and a boaters' community.
Argo offers nautical charts, trip planning and crowdsourced marina reviews on mobile and web, with autorouting in paid plans and no open-source code.
Savvy Navvy
A boat navigation app with marine charts, tides and weather, pitched as Google Maps for boats.
Savvy Navvy is a simple phone app that plans routes around wind, tide and current, but is not a replacement for certified onboard equipment.
Also worth comparing
These listings name OpenCPN as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
OpenPlotter
A Raspberry Pi and Debian-based toolkit that turns a small computer into a boat navigation system.
OpenCPN is the open-source chartplotter OpenPlotter bundles, running on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android without the preconfigured Raspberry Pi system and instrument integration.
Orca
A marine navigation app for planning trips with charts, routing and weather, with optional boat hardware.
OpenCPN is a free, open-source chartplotter for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android with plugins, but its desktop-style interface suits phones less well.
qtVlm
Navigation and weather routing software for sailing boats, with a GRIB viewer and chart support.
OpenCPN is a free, open-source chartplotter for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android with a plugin catalog, instead of qtVlm's paid mobile versions and chart packs.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
OpenSeaMap
Free community nautical chart built on OpenStreetMap, with seamarks, harbours and depth data.
Signal K
An open marine data standard and local server that connects a boat's instruments and sensors.
Windy
An interactive animated weather map with wind, waves and radar forecasts from several forecast models.
