Apps & Tech
Oceanic+ vs Diving Standard
Two dive-computer apps for Apple Watch, one paid and polished, one free and packed with tools. Here is an honest, feature-by-feature comparison to help you choose.
Oceanic+ is the more polished, established app; Diving Standard is free and does far more. Oceanic+, from the Oceanic dive brand, has the calmest, most refined underwater UI but charges a subscription and shows no sea conditions. Diving Standard is free, uses a transparent gradient-factor algorithm, and adds planning, a logbook, a tissue heatmap, customisable watch screens and live sea conditions. Choose Oceanic+ for pure polish; choose Diving Standard for value and breadth.
- Price
- Oceanic+: subscription · DS: free
- Sea conditions
- Only Diving Standard
- Algorithm
- Both Bühlmann ZH-L16C
- Best for polish
- Oceanic+
Oceanic+ created the Apple Watch dive-computer category and set a high bar for how calm and clear an app can feel underwater. Diving Standard arrived later with a different bet: do everything Oceanic+ does on a dive, add the planning, logging and conditions around it, and make it free. Here is how the two actually compare, fairly.
Feature by feature
| Oceanic+ | Diving Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid subscription | Free |
| Algorithm | Bühlmann ZH-L16C | Bühlmann ZH-L16C + gradient factors |
| Algorithm transparency | Limited | Tissue heatmap + visible GF |
| Depth limit | 40 m | Recreational (Ultra depth sensor) |
| Nitrox & CNS tracking | Nitrox | Nitrox + CNS clock + repetitive dives |
| Ascent-rate gauge | Yes | Yes (variable-rate) |
| Live sea conditions | No | Yes (tide, current, temp, UV, wind, viz) |
| Planning tools | Basic | NDL, nitrox, MOD, gas & SAC |
| Logbook & insights | Logbook | Logbook, SAC, insights, PDF export |
| Customisable watch screens | No | Yes |
| Courses & certification | No | Free illustrated courses |
Where Oceanic+ wins
Credit where it is due. Oceanic+ is made by a established dive-equipment brand, and it shows. The interface is beautifully restrained, the dive experience is calm and legible, and it has years of real-world use behind it. If you want a single, focused, deeply polished dive computer and the subscription does not bother you, it is an excellent choice, and that pedigree brings a reassurance that matters underwater.
Where Diving Standard wins
- Price. It is free. There is no subscription for the dive computer or the tools around it.
- It does more than the dive. Planning, a proper logbook with SAC and insights, illustrated courses and a social side all live in the same app.
- Live sea conditions. It tells you whether to get in, not just what happens once you are under, with tide, current, water temperature, UV, wind and visibility for the site.
- Transparency. Gradient factors are visible and a 16-tissue heatmap shows your loading, so you can see how conservative your dive really is.
- A watch you can shape. Customisable dive screens and a variable-rate ascent gauge let you set up the wrist exactly how you read best.
Full disclosure: Diving Standard is our app, so we are not neutral. We have kept every claim about Oceanic+ accurate and fair. The honest summary is that Oceanic+ is more polished and proven, and Diving Standard is free and does more.
Which should you choose?
If you value a single, ultra-refined dive computer above all else and are happy to pay a subscription, Oceanic+ is a genuinely lovely app. If you want the same core dive computer plus planning, logging, conditions and courses, for free, Diving Standard is the better-value, broader choice. The safest move is simple: Diving Standard is free, so you can try it on your next dive and decide for yourself.
Try the free alternative to Oceanic+
The same core dive computer, plus planning, logging, a tissue heatmap and live sea conditions, free on iPhone and Apple Watch. Download Diving Standard.
Get the Diving Standard appFrequently asked questions
Is Diving Standard a good alternative to Oceanic+?
Yes. Diving Standard offers the same core Apple Watch dive computer using the Bühlmann ZH-L16C algorithm, and adds planning tools, a logbook, a tissue heatmap, customisable watch screens and live sea conditions, for free. Oceanic+ remains more polished and longer-established, so the choice comes down to whether you prize refinement and brand pedigree or value and breadth.
Is Oceanic+ worth the subscription?
If you want the most refined, proven dive-computer app and a calm, focused interface underwater, many divers feel it is. If you would rather not pay a recurring fee, Diving Standard provides a comparable dive computer plus extra tools for free, so the subscription is worth it mainly for the polish and the established track record rather than for unique core features.
Do Oceanic+ and Diving Standard use the same algorithm?
Both use the Bühlmann ZH-L16C decompression model, the recreational and technical standard. Diving Standard exposes gradient factors and visualises tissue loading with a 16-compartment heatmap, giving you more visibility into how conservative your dive is.
Which app shows weather and sea conditions?
Diving Standard shows live sea conditions, tide, current, water temperature, UV, wind and visibility, for the site you are diving. Oceanic+ focuses on the dive itself and does not include conditions, so divers using it check a separate source before deciding whether to dive.