SEE IT ON A REAL SPOT
Ready for the decision?
Today's scores are free on every location page — per sport, per ability, from the seabed up.
COMPARE
How 4Shorcompares.
Surfline, Windy, Windguru and Windfinder are all good at what they do. Here's a fair look at where each one wins — and where a physics-grounded, per-sport score fits.
The short version: Surfline owns live surf cams, Windy owns weather-model visualisation, and Windguru/Windfinder own quick wind tables. 4Shor is the only one that models the wave physics at each individual spot — on its own high-resolution seabed map of the European coastline — and turns it into a 0–100 score for each sport and ability level. The others hand you data to judge; 4Shor hands you the decision, grounded in that physics.
Feature comparison
 | Surfline | Windy | Windguru | Windfinder | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Multi-sport riders who want a decision | Surfers | Weather-model readers | Windsurf & kite (tables) | Wind sports |
| Sports scored | 10 — surf, wind & flat-water | Surfing | Any (raw data) | Wind sports (raw) | Wind sports (raw) |
| Per-sport, per-ability score | Yes — 0–100, beginner → expert | No | No | No | No |
| Nearshore wave physics | Yes — modelled per spot | Swell model + local knowledge | Open-ocean swell | Open-ocean swell | Open-ocean swell |
| Data foundation | Own high-res Europe seabed map + ECMWF / national NWP | LOLA swell model + cams | Multi-model (ECMWF / GFS / ICON) | GFS / ICON / AROME | GFS / ECMWF + Superforecast |
| Live cams | No | Yes — hundreds of spots | No | No | No |
| Coverage | Europe — 2,500+ spots | Global | Global | Global (spots) | Global (spots) |
| Free tier | Today free on web; 3-day forecast free in the app | Limited free; paid premium | Generous free; paid premium | Free; paid Pro | Free; paid Plus |
Competitor features change — check each app for its current offering. Comparison reflects our reading as of 2026.
Reading the table
Every tool here is genuinely good — they're built for different jobs. Surfline is unbeatable for a surfer who wants to watch a spot live. Windy is the best way to read the weather models yourself. Windguru and Windfinder are the wind community's trusted, fast forecast tables.
What only 4Shor does: model how swell and wind actually behave over the seabed in the last stretch to shore — refraction, shoaling, breaking — then score that per sport and per ability. The score is the output of real nearshore physics on real, high-resolution bathymetry, which is why it can be trusted as a decision rather than a rating. See the full method or the glossary for the terms.
Prefer the long read? We go deeper in our roundup of the best water-sports forecast apps.
FAQ
Common comparison questions
Is 4Shor a good Surfline alternative?
For surfing, Surfline leads on live cams and global spot coverage. 4Shor is the stronger pick if you ride more than one sport or want a per-ability call rather than a cam — it scores 10 sports at 4 ability levels across 2,500+ European spots. Many people use both: Surfline to watch it live, 4Shor to decide where to go.
What is the best forecast app if I do more than one water sport?
4Shor is built for exactly that. Instead of raw wind/swell numbers you read yourself, it gives one 0–100 score per sport (surf, kite, wing, windsurf, SUP, swim and more) and per ability, from the same modelled conditions — so you can compare a surf day and a kite day on the same scale.
How is 4Shor different from Windy or Windguru?
Windy and Windguru are excellent at showing you the raw weather and wind — but they leave the judgement to you, from open-ocean data. 4Shor models the wave that actually breaks at each spot on its own high-resolution European seabed map, then turns that physics into a per-sport, per-ability score. The score is the output of the physics, not a rating on top of raw numbers.
Does 4Shor have live cams?
Not yet. For live cams, Surfline is the leader. 4Shor focuses on modelled, forward-looking scores (up to 8 days in the app) rather than showing current conditions on camera.
Which of these forecast apps cover Europe best?
4Shor is Europe-first, with 2,500+ modelled coastal locations and its own nearshore bathymetry for the European coastline. Surfline, Windy, Windguru and Windfinder are global, so they also cover Europe — but without per-sport, per-ability scoring or nearshore wave modelling at the spot.