Boat Fleet Management Software Pricing: How Vendors Charge, What They Publish and What It Really Costs
By Anthony Spanu · Founder of Captain Crews · Published October 15, 2026
Boat fleet management software pricing comes down to one question before any number: what does the vendor count? Some charge per boat, some by length, some per user, some a flat monthly fee, and some only quote on request. The same headline price can therefore mean a small bill for one operator and a large one for another, depending on how many hulls you run and how many people need to log in. This guide walks through the five pricing models you will meet, with public prices checked on each vendor's own site on 14 October 2026, works through four sample fleets, lists the costs that rarely appear on a pricing page, and sets out what Captain Crews charges. Captain Crews publishes this guide and its own prices, so read it knowing who wrote it, and confirm every figure with the vendor before you sign.
Why boat software prices are hard to compare
Pricing pages rarely measure the same thing. One bills each hull, the next bills each foot of length, a third bills each person with a login, and a fourth shows no price at all. Several show a bare "$" without naming the currency, few say whether tax is included, and several offer a discount for paying a year up front. Before you compare two numbers, turn each offer into a monthly cost for your own operation: your boats, their length, and the people who actually need access.
- The billing unit: boat, foot or metre, user, flat fee, or quote.
- What is included: boats, users, storage, modules.
- Currency and tax: which dollar, euro, VAT or sales tax.
- Billing cycle: monthly, annual, annual discount, minimum term.
- One-off costs: setup, data migration, training.
- The next step up: what one more boat or one more user costs.
Model 1: per boat
Per-boat pricing is a widespread model among yacht-focused tools: each hull carries its own subscription, and users are often unlimited. It is easy to read and predictable while the fleet stays the same size. It gets expensive on a fleet of small craft, because every tender and every rental RIB adds a line to the bill. Published example: Yachtwave lists three plans per boat per month. Personal is $0 for up to 3 boats and 5 crew; Pro is $39 and Ultimate $49, with unlimited boats and crew; the Operations tier is custom-priced. There is a 15-day free trial, and annual billing promises savings of "up to 17%" (yachtwave.com, checked 14 October 2026).
- Works well for: a few boats with many people who need to log in.
- Check: whether tenders and spare units count as boats.
- Ask: what happens to the bill when a boat is sold or laid up mid-year.
Model 2: by length, per foot or per metre
Some vendors tie the price to the size of the boat, on the reasoning that a bigger yacht has more systems, tasks and paperwork to track. They do it either with length bands or with a rate per foot or per metre. Plan M8 publishes a Small Boat plan at €29 a month, "+ VAT, if applicable", for boats of 15 m or less with up to 3 users, and a Larger Yacht plan for 16 m and over, shown at €42 a month for 16 m with up to 5 users; a length slider gives the exact price above that, and the page promises "pay per meter". Initial setup is included and fleets are priced on demand (planm8.io, checked 14 October 2026). Manage My Vessel charges its single-vessel modules $0.56 to $2.60 per foot per month, which for a 60-foot yacht comes to about $34 to $156 a month depending on the module (managemyvessel.com, checked 14 October 2026).
- Works well for: one or a few large, professionally crewed yachts.
- Check: which length is used (overall or hull) and how it is rounded.
- Ask: the fleet price, which public pages often leave out.
Model 3: per user
Per-user pricing charges for each person with an account, and the number of boats matters little or not at all. You will find it in workshop and team software: it favours companies that look after many boats with a small staff, and penalises operations where the whole crew needs a login. The definition of a user is where the real price hides. Does an owner who only views their boat count? Does someone who only clocks in pay the same as a technician? A published hybrid example: Yacht Logic Pro's monthly and annual plans include up to 3 users, with extra users at $25 a month each, no setup fees and unlimited boats and clients; its annual plan claims a 25% saving over monthly pricing (yachtlogicpro.com, checked 14 October 2026). Captain Crews also prices per user, as set out below.
- Works well for: many boats, a team of a few people.
- Check: who counts as a user (owners, read-only accounts, seasonal staff).
- Ask: whether accounts that use a single feature cost less.
Model 4: flat rate and tiered bundles
A flat rate promises a price that depends neither on boat size nor on headcount. YMS360 lists three plans at $300, $500 and $650 a month and states that it does not charge by vessel size, number of users or devices; its page does not say how many vessels a plan covers, so that is the first thing to ask (yms360.com, checked 14 October 2026). Tiered bundles include a set number of boats and users, and you move up a tier when you outgrow it. Quartermaster, priced in US dollars, offers Owner at $2.99 a month (1 yacht, 2 users), Captain at $5.99 (3 yachts, 5 users) and Fleet at $29.99 (20 yachts, 50 users); beyond 20 yachts you contact the company (quartermaster.me, checked 14 October 2026). Marina software tiers by capacity in the same way: SharperMMS lists Essential from $399 a month for up to 150 slips and 5 users, Partner from $699 with no cap, and no per-slip or per-booking fees (sharpermms.com, checked 14 October 2026).
- Works well for: a stable fleet sitting well inside its tier.
- Check: the jump to the next tier, and what happens past the top one.
- Ask: how many boats a flat plan covers when the page does not say.
Model 5: quote only
Some vendors publish no figures at all. Floatist says it works on an annual licence priced on the number of boats, their type and the features you need (floatist.com, checked 14 October 2026). Deep Blue states that it has no per-user pricing and unlimited seats; importing data you prepare yourself is included with the licence, while assisted data migration is quoted separately (deepblue.app, checked 14 October 2026). A quote is not more expensive by nature, but it is harder to compare. Get it in writing, line by line, on the same basis as the public offers: your boat count, your team and a three-year horizon.
- Have each item priced separately: licence, setup, data migration, training, support.
- Ask for the minimum term and the cancellation terms.
- Ask how the price moves if the fleet grows by 20%.
Four fleets, four bills: why the unit matters most
Here is what three published models cost for four fictional fleets, at the listed monthly price, before any discount, each in its own currency and without conversion. Per boat: Yachtwave Pro at $39 per boat. Tiered: Quartermaster Fleet at $29.99. Per user: Captain Crews on the Company plan, with clock-in-only staff on the Time tracking only rate. This compares billing units, not features, which differ from one tool to the next: it only shows which model weighs least for which shape of fleet.
- 5 boats, 2 people: $195 per boat; $29.99 tiered (past the 3-yacht tier); €24 or $24 excl. tax per user.
- 15 boats, 6 people, 2 of whom only clock in: $585; $29.99; €58 or $58 excl. tax.
- 40 boats, 12 people, 4 of whom only clock in: $1,560; on request (more than 20 yachts); €116 or $116 excl. tax.
- One 40 m yacht whose 14 crew all need full access: $39 per boat; €168 or $168 excl. tax per user. Here per-boat pricing clearly wins.
The costs that are not on the pricing page
The monthly fee is only part of the bill, and the biggest gaps between two offers often sit in the fine print or nowhere at all. Among the vendors checked on 14 October 2026 the range is wide: setup included at Plan M8 and no setup fees at Yacht Logic Pro; one-time fees for onboard deployment at YMS360, with no amount shown; assisted data migration quoted separately at Deep Blue. SharperMMS contradicts itself: its FAQ mentions a one-time $3,000 fee for setup and data migration, while its plan list says setup and migration are included. When that happens, get the answer in writing.
- Setup and data migration: included, flat fee, or billed by the hour.
- Annual billing: a discount ("up to 17%" at Yachtwave, 25% at Yacht Logic Pro) in exchange for a year's commitment.
- Caps: components, tasks and storage at Plan M8; yachts, users and storage at Quartermaster.
- Tax and currency: a "+ VAT" or dollar price changes the total depending on where you are.
- Future increases: what happens after a launch offer or at renewal.
- Leaving: the format and frequency of the data export on the day you move on.
What Captain Crews costs
Captain Crews charges per user per month, excluding tax, with the same amounts in euros and US dollars. There are three plans: Time tracking only at €5 or $5, Owner at €9 or $9 and Company at €12 or $12. These are launch prices: a company that subscribes before 1 January 2027 keeps its price for life. For new subscriptions from 2027, our pricing page lists €14.99 and €19.99 for the last two plans; Time tracking only stays at €5. There is no self-service sign-up and no online payment: our team opens the account, and you request the 30-day trial from the pricing or contact page. Above 25 users, we quote.
- On the Company plan, staff who only clock in are billed at the Time tracking only rate (€5 or $5).
- On the Company plan, client owners you invite pay nothing, as stated on our pricing page.
- Included in the price: supplier invoice reading, AI-suggested photo sorting, and an AI assistant with 50 questions per month per company.
- Admins export the company's data as a ZIP file: one full export a month, and any single boat or employee whenever needed.
- What the price does not cover, because Captain Crews does not do it: customer bookings and payments, customer invoicing, parts inventory, crew hours of rest, offline use.
How to pick the right pricing model
The right model is the one that matches the shape of your operation. A service or management company that looks after many boats with a small team will usually pay less per user. An owner running one or two large yachts with the whole crew logged in will usually pay less per boat or by length. A stable fleet close to a tier limit can do well on a bundle. Whatever the model, work out the cost over three years rather than one month, and trial the tool on your real boats before you commit.
- Count your boats, their length, and the people who truly need access.
- Separate people who work in the software from those who only view or clock in.
- Work out the three-year cost under each model, setup included.
- Model growth: 20% more boats or users.
- During the trial, run one real job end to end, from the phone to the final report.
Frequently asked questions
How much does boat fleet management software cost?+
Prices published on 14 October 2026 run from $0 to $49 per boat per month at Yachtwave, from €29 a month plus VAT for boats of 15 m or less at Plan M8, $0.56 to $2.60 per foot per month at Manage My Vessel, $300 to $650 a month flat at YMS360, and €5 to €12 per user per month excluding tax at Captain Crews. Floatist and Deep Blue quote on request. The total depends mostly on how the billing unit applies to your fleet.
Is per-boat or per-user pricing cheaper?+
It depends on the ratio of boats to people who log in. Many boats and a small team: per-user pricing usually costs less. One or two large boats with a big crew, all logged in: per-boat or length-based pricing usually wins. Run the numbers with your own fleet over three years, setup costs included.
Why don't some yacht management software vendors publish prices?+
Their offers depend on several factors a simple price list does not capture. Floatist, for example, says its annual licence depends on the number of boats, their type and the features you choose, and Deep Blue quotes assisted data migration separately. A quote is not necessarily more expensive: ask for it in writing, line by line, on the same basis as the published offers.
Are listed prices excluding tax?+
Not always, and several pages do not say. Plan M8 writes "+ VAT, if applicable", Captain Crews prices exclude tax, and several vendors show a "$" amount without naming the currency or mentioning tax. Before comparing, ask each vendor for the currency, how VAT or sales tax applies where you are, and the total you will actually be billed.
Will Captain Crews' price go up?+
Not for a company that subscribes before 1 January 2027: launch pricing is kept for life. New subscriptions from 2027 move to the prices shown on our pricing page, for example €19.99 per user per month excluding tax on the Company plan instead of €12 today. Time tracking only stays at €5.
Is there free boat fleet management software?+
A few free options exist, with limits. Yachtwave lists a Personal plan at $0 per boat per month for up to 3 boats and 5 crew (checked 14 October 2026). Other vendors offer a trial instead, of 14, 15 or 30 days depending on the tool. Our guide to free boat management software covers what those options include and where they stop.
Go further
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