Cobia vs onWater
onWater charges for its AI chat and its depth maps, up to $89.99 a year. In Cobia the AI guide is free and unlimited, and so are the depth contours.
Android coming soon
Prices and features checked October 17, 2026. Sources at the bottom of the page.
onWater is one of the few fishing apps with an AI chat, but its Angler Intelligence Chat and photo based species, length and weight ID are onWater+ features, and Garmin depth maps and saltwater layers need onWater Pro at $89.99 a year. Cobia’s AI guide is free and unlimited, depth contours are free, and it is built saltwater first in South Florida with freshwater across the country.
$0 against $89.99 a year
Here is what onWater+ and onWater Pro puts behind the paywall, next to what you get in Cobia for nothing.
Cobia
$0every feature, today
- Daily briefing with a bite score and the reasoning
- Strike Zones, where fish should be on the map
- AI fishing guide, no message limit
- Depth contours and habitat layers
- Lure picks from the tackle you own
- Verified catches, crowns, Slams and leaderboards
- No paid tier that can see your pins
onWater+ and onWater Pro
$89.99a year for onWater Pro
- Angler Intelligence Chat, on onWater+
- Photo species, length and weight ID, on onWater+
- Offline maps, on onWater+
- Garmin depth maps, on Pro
- Saltwater layers, on Pro
onWater lists paid plans from $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year, up to onWater Pro at $89.99 a year. Checked October 17, 2026 on onWater’s own pricing page and App Store listing.
Cobia and onWater, feature by feature
Read off each app’s own pricing page, App Store listing and help center. Where we could not confirm a feature, the row is left out rather than guessed.
| Feature | Cobia | onWater |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free. Every feature, no subscription | Free tier. Paid plans from $49.99 to $89.99 a year |
| AI fishing guide you can talk to | Free and unlimited, grounded in live conditions and your tackle | Angler Intelligence Chat is onWater+ |
| Depth contours on the fishing map | Free. NOAA BlueTopo and CRM soundings | Pro only, Garmin depth maps |
| Tackle box built from a receipt | Free. Snap the receipt, every lure is added | Not listed |
| Species ID | Free. With your state size and bag limit on the same screen | Photo species ID is onWater+ |
Where Cobia pulls ahead of onWater
An AI guide you can actually talk to
Ask it anything. It reads your tide station, the wind, the water temperature, your catch history and your tackle box before it answers, with no credits and no cap.
Nothing to subscribe to
All twenty one features are free today. No trial timer, no credit card, no feature that used to be free and now is not.
A forecast map, free
Strike Zones shades the water in four tiers, fair, good, great and hot, by running live conditions, depth, habitat and real catch history through a model. Free today, and the one layer we may price later, so you would hear it here first.
The data others charge for
Depth contours from NOAA BlueTopo, FWC seagrass and oyster layers, named NOAA tide stations and water temperature from more than 6,400 stations, all free.
It knows what is in your box
Snap a tackle shop receipt and every lure is added. Recommendations come from what you own, not from what somebody is selling.
Leaderboards that mean something
Only catches shot live in the Cobia Camera rank. A three year old photo from another state cannot take your crown.
A game, not just a log
Crowns at every named water, a top ten for each of 605 species, weekly boards, and Slams you build for your own crew.
Your pin is not the product
No paid tier shows anyone more of your catch than a free account sees. Share an exact pin, a general area, or just the water, catch by catch.
Nobody pays to see where you fish
onWater’s free tier includes a journal and a community feed. The bigger difference is what the subscription holds: the AI chat and depth maps. In Cobia both are free.
- Three choices on every catch, exact location, general area, or water body only
- A point that cannot be reversed, made once on our server from a random seed
- The same view for everyone, because there is no paid tier to see more
- Under 18 accounts cannot share an exact pin at all
Where onWater is ahead
A comparison that only lists our strengths is an ad. So here is where we would point you at the other app.
- River and freshwater focus, where onWater has spent most of its effort.
- Garmin depth maps for Pro subscribers.
Cobia and onWater, answered
There is a free tier with a journal, regulations and a community feed. The Angler Intelligence Chat, photo ID and offline maps are onWater+, and Garmin depth maps and saltwater layers are onWater Pro, listed at $89.99 a year.
Cobia. Its AI fishing guide is free with no message limit, and it reads your location, the live conditions, your catch history and your tackle box before it answers. On onWater the AI chat is part of onWater+.
Yes. All twenty one features are free to use today, including the AI fishing guide, depth contours, habitat layers and Strike Zones, with no trial timer and no credit card. Strike Zones is the one layer that may be priced later, and no decision has been made.
Not yet. Cobia is on iPhone with iOS 17 or later, and an Android build is in development.
How Cobia stacks up against the rest
Cobia vs Fishbrain
The biggest fishing social network, with its forecasts, depth maps, lure picks and exact catch locations sold as Pro.
CompareCobia vs FishAngler
A free tier with ads, and its FINN AI, bite windows, depth maps and other anglers’ exact catch GPS on VIP.
CompareCobia vs Fishidy
A spot and map app whose depth contours, structure layers, hot spots and forecasts are Premium.
CompareCobia vs Fishing Points
A private logbook and forecast app that shows today free and everything further out on Premium.
CompareSources
Every claim about onWater on this page was checked on October 17, 2026. Prices change, so check the current price before you buy anything. onWater is a trademark of its owner and is named here only to identify the app being compared. Cobia is not affiliated with it.
Try it on your own water
Download Cobia, set your home water, and see whether tomorrow morning’s briefing beats what you are paying onWater for.
Android coming soon
iPhone, iOS 17 or later. Setup takes about a minute.