TL;DR: Use PredictWind if you sail offshore, race, or need departure planning. Use Windy if you want a beautiful free forecast for daily wind sport. Use both? Most pros do. Add a live-alarm app on top of either one if you don’t want to keep checking.
If you’ve ever asked “PredictWind or Windy?” on a sailing forum, you’ve gotten 30 different answers in 5 minutes. Here’s the actual difference, separated from religion.
Quick verdict
| Use case | Pick |
|---|---|
| Offshore passage planning | PredictWind |
| Race forecasts (regatta, world tour) | PredictWind |
| Daily kitesurf / windsurf check | Windy |
| Drone flight planning | Windy |
| Hyper-local thermal forecast | Windy (compare ECMWF + GFS) |
| Free, global, beautiful map | Windy |
| Set-and-forget alarm at your spot | Neither — use WindUp |
Forecast models
Windy aggregates the major public models: ECMWF, GFS, ICON, NEMS, AROME. You pick one and compare. The data is what every weather agency on the planet has access to.
PredictWind runs proprietary models on top of those: PWG (PredictWind GFS), PWE (PredictWind ECMWF), 1 km hyper-local. They’ve tuned the post-processing for offshore conditions over 15 years. For ocean sailing, that tuning matters.
For coastal kitesurfing or sailing on a lake? You probably won’t notice the difference unless conditions are weird.
Round 1: Tie for daily use, PredictWind wins offshore.
Visualization
Windy is famous for the animated map. It’s gorgeous. Pan to any point on Earth, layer pressure / temperature / waves / clouds. Hard to beat.
PredictWind is practical — table-first, GRIB-first, designed for someone planning a passage on a chart plotter. Less wow, more depth.
Round 2: Windy wins on UX, PredictWind on professional depth.
Pricing
Windy free tier covers 95% of recreational use. Windy Premium ($24/yr) unlocks 1 km forecasts and ad-free.
PredictWind has a free tier but the powerful stuff is paid. Standard $190/yr, Professional $330/yr, with offshore packages going higher. Yes, that’s a serious bill.
Round 3: Windy in a landslide for casual users; PredictWind earns its price for pros.
Live wind data
Both Windy and PredictWind show forecasts, not live readings. You can favorite spots and get periodic forecast updates, but neither will ring you when wind actually hits your threshold.
That’s where the third app comes in. WindUp watches live wind stations 24/7 and rings you the moment your spot is on — even when your phone is on Do Not Disturb. It’s free. Pair it with whichever forecast app you prefer.
See: WindUp vs Windy · WindUp vs PredictWind
So who wins?
There’s no winner — they solve different problems. The honest stack for most riders:
- Windy for the free forecast map and model-comparison.
- WindUp for the live alarm at your spot. (Free, no subscription.)
- PredictWind if and only if you’re going offshore or racing seriously.
If you’re picking one: Windy.
If you’re picking the right tool for the job: all three, in their lanes.
FAQ
Most-asked questions when sailors compare these two — short answers above. The pattern: PredictWind is overkill for daily riding, perfect for offshore. Windy is enough for daily, missing the alarm.
