Free boating licence apps
“Free” means something different in every app – from genuinely free to a free taster behind a paywall. Here is what you actually get without paying.
Genuinely and permanently free are the apps Sportbootführerschein Binnen and Sportbootführerschein See 2023 by Matthias Wimmer: full official question catalogue, no ads, no in-app purchases, no tracking. At Bootspruefung.de all official exam questions are free, while convenience features cost. SBF-Fragen, Sailbyte, SBF Binnen by Ralf Goritz and Boatpass show only part for free.
The apps compared
| App | Rating | Price | Licences | Offline | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boatpass our app Boatpass | 5.0 ★ 10 reviews 10+ | €0 / €7.99–16.98 one-off | SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), UBI, SRC, LRC | Yes | Android |
| Bootspruefung.de Bootspruefung.de | 4.9 ★ 8,880 reviews 100.000+ | Questions free, Pro paid | SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), Lake Constance licence, UBI, SRC, LRC, FKN (pyrotechnics) | Partly | Android · iOS |
| Sailbyte Sailbyte | n/a 3.000+ | €4.79 / month per app | SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), SKS a separate app per licence | Partly | Android |
| SBF Binnen Ralf Goritz | 4.8 ★ 567 reviews 10.000+ | Free version + full version via in-app purchase | SBF Binnen (inland) a separate app per licence | Yes | Android · iOS |
| SBF-Fragen Delius Klasing Verlag | 4.7 ★ 647 reviews | Limited free + in-app purchase per licence | SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), SKS, Lake Constance licence, UBI, SRC, LRC, FKN (pyrotechnics) | Yes | Android · iOS |
| Sportbootführerschein Binnen Matthias Wimmer | 4.9 ★ 772 reviews 100.000+ | Free | SBF Binnen (inland) a separate app per licence | Yes | Android |
| Sportbootführerschein See 2023 Matthias Wimmer | 4.8 ★ 703 reviews 100.000+ | Free | SBF See (coastal) a separate app per licence | Yes | Android |
All compared apps with their actual pricing model – sorted alphabetically.
- Rating
- 5.0 ★ · 10 reviews · 10+
- Price
- €0 / €7.99–16.98 one-off
- Licences
- SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), UBI, SRC, LRC
- Offline
- Yes
- Platforms
- Android
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ · 8,880 reviews · 100.000+
- Price
- Questions free, Pro paid
- Licences
- SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), Lake Constance licence, UBI, SRC, LRC, FKN (pyrotechnics)
- Offline
- Partly
- Platforms
- Android · iOS
- Rating
- n/a · 3.000+
- Price
- €4.79 / month per app
- Licences
- SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), SKS · a separate app per licence
- Offline
- Partly
- Platforms
- Android
- Rating
- 4.8 ★ · 567 reviews · 10.000+
- Price
- Free version + full version via in-app purchase
- Licences
- SBF Binnen (inland) · a separate app per licence
- Offline
- Yes
- Platforms
- Android · iOS
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ · 647 reviews
- Price
- Limited free + in-app purchase per licence
- Licences
- SBF See (coastal), SBF Binnen (inland), SKS, Lake Constance licence, UBI, SRC, LRC, FKN (pyrotechnics)
- Offline
- Yes
- Platforms
- Android · iOS
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ · 772 reviews · 100.000+
- Price
- Free
- Licences
- SBF Binnen (inland) · a separate app per licence
- Offline
- Yes
- Platforms
- Android
- Rating
- 4.8 ★ · 703 reviews · 100.000+
- Price
- Free
- Licences
- SBF See (coastal) · a separate app per licence
- Offline
- Yes
- Platforms
- Android
Data as of 21 July 2026. Sources: Play Store listings and vendor websites.
What “free” means in each app
The official question catalogue is public and free to access, among others via elwis.de. No app holds an exclusive right to it. Everywhere, what you pay for is the presentation.
That leads to an uncomfortable but honest recommendation: if you are taking exactly one licence, studying with discipline and do not need explanations, take one of the free Wimmer apps. Paying only starts to make sense when you combine several catalogues, want explanations for the answers, or want to practise under real exam conditions.
The apps in detail
Boatpass
Covers five licences – SBF See, SBF Binnen, UBI, SRC and LRC – in a single app. Each catalogue unlocks via one-off purchase, no subscription. Includes exam simulation, mistake training and per-category progress. New to the market and accordingly few ratings.
Best suited for: Anyone taking several licences who does not want a subscription.
Bootspruefung.de
The market leader: on sale since 2013, over 900,000 customers by its own account, and the broadest licence coverage here. All official exam questions are free to use; theory texts, full offline use and PDF downloads sit behind Pro. Progress syncs with the website course.
Best suited for: Anyone wanting the widest licence coverage plus a companion online course.
Sailbyte
Three separate apps for SBF See, SBF Binnen and SKS with an adaptive study plan, flashcards and AI feedback. Premium is a monthly subscription – one per licence. SBF See and Binnen work offline, SKS needs a connection. Answer explanations are announced as coming.
Best suited for: Anyone taking exactly one licence who accepts a subscription.
SBF Binnen
The most carefully built learning mechanic in this field: classic Leitner boxes either automatic or manual, plus a dedicated mode for questions you are unsure about. Includes a textbook explaining every question, multiple-choice tips, all exam knots and a progress statistic. Runs entirely without an internet connection.
Best suited for: Anyone who wants to understand SBF Binnen rather than memorise it.
SBF-Fragen
From publisher Delius Klasing, with a spaced-repetition box, exam simulation on original papers, offline learning and cloud sync across devices. Neat touch: if you already hold a licence, you only get the questions you still need. The free version shows only a subset of the catalogue.
Best suited for: Anyone who already holds a licence and only needs the remaining questions.
Sportbootführerschein Binnen
Completely free, no ads, no user tracking, no extra permissions. The full official catalogue – base, inland and sailing supplement questions – on a spaced-repetition principle: every question must be answered correctly five times. No explanations, no frills.
Best suited for: Anyone who only needs SBF Binnen and wants to spend nothing.
Sportbootführerschein See 2023
The coastal counterpart to the same developer’s inland app: entirely free, ad-free, no in-app purchases. Contains the official SBF See question catalogue on the same repetition principle. It does not cover navigation tasks or chartwork.
Best suited for: Anyone who only needs SBF See and does not want to pay.
Free boating licence apps for Android
The two permanently free apps by Matthias Wimmer exist only for Android – and they are the real reason this page exists. Both have over 100,000 downloads, 4.9 ★ (Binnen, 772 ratings) and 4.8 ★ (See, 703 ratings) respectively, contain the full official catalogue, and are funded by nothing at all: no ads, no in-app purchases, no user tracking.
What you do not get there: explanations for the answers, the navigation tasks for SBF See, and the radio certificates UBI, SRC and LRC. For any of those you need one of the paid apps.
Bootspruefung.de is the second way to get far without paying: all official exam questions are free to use, across seven licences. Only theory texts, offline use and PDF downloads cost money.
Free boating licence apps for iPhone and iPad
On iPhone there is no app offering the full catalogue permanently for free. You get furthest with Bootspruefung.de, because the official exam questions stay free there.
SBF-Fragen from publisher Delius Klasing shows a subset of the catalogue and practice papers for free; the full questions are bought per licence via in-app purchase.
The free Wimmer apps, Sailbyte and Boatpass are not available in the App Store.
What Boatpass does – and what it does not
Transparency note: Boatpass is our own app. That is precisely why we list the prices, features and ratings of the alternatives in full – including where they beat us. The figures come from the public Play Store listings and the vendors’ own websites.
Try Boatpass
Start for free, sample every catalogue, then unlock each licence with a single payment – no subscription.
▶ Boatpass on Google Play