FastSeas
FastSeas and PredictWind, Side by Side
3 November 2026
PredictWind is the best-known weather routing service for sailors, and many people who find FastSeas are deciding between the two. This page sets out what each one includes and what it costs, from each one's published plans as of November 2026, so you can choose for the passages you sail. PredictWind's details come from its own pricing page and help centre, linked where we use them. If anything here has gone out of date, tell us at support and we'll correct it.
At a Glance
| FastSeas | PredictWind | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Weather routing and departure planning, 5 of each a month, with currents and waves; point forecasts with tides, unlimited | Forecasts from 11 models, GRIB viewer, daily briefing; no routing (pricing) |
| Cheapest plan with weather routing | Premium: $75 a year, or $15 a month | Standard: $249 a year (pricing) |
| Ocean currents in routing | Every route, on every plan, free included (the RTOFS ocean model) | Professional: $499 a year ("Ocean & Tidal Currents"); Standard has "High-res Tidal Currents" (pricing) |
| Short-term options | 1-month pass $19, 3-month pass $45, 1-year pass $99, none renewing; or a $15 monthly subscription | Standard $49 a month or $99 for 3 months; Professional $99 a month or $249 for 3 months. Monthly in the app stores only (help) |
| Trial | No trial: the free plan's 5 routes a month | 7 days on Basic, Standard and Professional; a three-month money-back guarantee (pricing) |
| Weather models | GFS (16 days) and ECMWF (15 days), both four times a day | 11, including ECMWF, GFS and UKMO, and three of its own built from other centres' forecasts: PWG (from GFS), PWE (from ECMWF) and PWAi (pricing, models) |
| Waves | In every route: a sea state from Smooth to Severe at each position, a sea state limit, and the speed a head sea takes off | "Wind, Wave and more" on every plan (pricing) |
| Routing offshore, without internet | Email a request from Iridium GO!, Sailmail, Winlink or any email; or from a Garmin inReach, Zoleo, Spot or Bivy Stick. A reply comes back in seconds (Premium) | The Offshore App over Iridium GO!, on Standard or Professional; a routing file is about 20 kB (help, Iridium GO!) |
| Where it runs | Web browser, iPhone and iPad, Android | Web, iOS and Android apps, and the Offshore App on PC and Mac (help) |
What Routing Costs
To route at all, FastSeas Premium is $75 a year and PredictWind Standard is $249. To route with ocean currents, FastSeas includes them on every plan, the free one too, and PredictWind includes them on Professional, at $499 a year.
For a single passage, FastSeas sells passes that don't renew: $19 for a month, $45 for three months, and $99 for a year. PredictWind sells 3- and 12-month plans on its website and in its apps, and monthly plans in the app stores only (help).
| Routing for | FastSeas Premium | PredictWind Standard | PredictWind Professional (adds ocean currents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | $19 pass, or $15 a month subscribed | $49 (app stores) | $99 (app stores) |
| 3 months | $45 pass | $99 | $249 |
| 12 months | $75 subscribed, or a $99 pass | $249 | $499 |
PredictWind's prices are from its pricing page and Google Play, in US dollars, as of November 2026.
FastSeas also has a free plan with routing in it: 5 routes and 5 departure plans a month, with the same weather, currents, waves and limits as Premium. Premium makes them unlimited and adds routing by satellite email and inReach.
Weather Models
PredictWind offers more models: 11 on its pricing page, including high-resolution regional models and three it calls its own. Those three are built on other centres' forecasts (help):
- PWG starts from GFS's initial conditions, and PWE from ECMWF's. Each runs them through CSIRO's CCAM model at a higher resolution, down to 1 km in some areas for the first 36 hours (help).
- PWAi is an AI model that combines the forecasts of ECMWF, its AI model AIFS, FengWu and GraphCast.
The initial conditions are the hard part of a forecast: the picture of the whole atmosphere that NOAA and ECMWF build, several times a day on their supercomputers, from the world's satellite, balloon, aircraft and ship observations. PWG and PWE don't build their own. They take GFS's and ECMWF's, and add resolution.
FastSeas routes with those two sources themselves, GFS from NOAA and ECMWF from the European Centre, refreshed four times a day. You can run the same route on each and compare. Where they agree you can plan on it, and where they don't you've found the part of the forecast to watch.
Currents and Tides
Every FastSeas route includes ocean currents from the RTOFS ocean model, on every plan. A current changes your speed over the ground and the wind your boat feels, and FastSeas allows for both. FastSeas routing does not yet include tidal streams. The point forecast gives tide heights and the times of high and low water, from the FES2022 global tide model.
PredictWind's Standard plan includes "High-res Tidal Currents", and Professional adds ocean currents (pricing).
Waves and Sea State
FastSeas routes allow for the sea. Each position along a route has the sea's height, period and the direction it meets the boat, and a sea state from Smooth to Severe that counts steepness and wind against current, not height alone. Set a sea state limit and the route keeps out of anything worse, or waits for it to ease. A safety floor keeps it clear of breaking seas large enough to capsize a boat of your length beam-on. Routes also allow for the speed a head sea takes off.
PredictWind includes waves on every plan, and its pricing page lists "Boat Motion Data" on Professional (pricing).
Offshore, Without Internet
With Starlink you can use either service as you would ashore. Without it:
- FastSeas answers a routing or departure planning request sent by email, from Iridium GO!, Sailmail, Winlink or any email service. The reply, a GPX route with the forecast at each waypoint, comes back within seconds. From a Garmin inReach, Zoleo, Spot or Bivy Stick, the reply is a short message. This is part of Premium. The commands are in Using FastSeas by satellite email.
- PredictWind's Offshore App downloads forecasts and routes over an Iridium GO!, on Standard or Professional. A routing file is about 20 kB, much smaller than a GRIB file (help).
Which One
Choose PredictWind if you want many models, higher-resolution runs of GFS and ECMWF in some areas, tidal currents in your routing, and are happy to pay for them. Choose FastSeas if you want routing with ocean currents and waves on two good global models for a fraction of the price, a free plan to try it on real passages, passes that don't renew, or routing by email and inReach from any satellite device.
Both can be tried without paying: PredictWind has a 7-day trial, and FastSeas has its free plan. Run the same passage in each and see which you would rather sail by.
Open FastSeas and plan a route, or read how FastSeas routes.