Comparing marina software
A Dockwa alternative for lake marinas.
Dockwa is a well-known name, and for good reason: it connects marinas with a large network of boaters looking for a place to stay. If your marina lives on visiting boaters, that network matters. If your marina lives on long-term tenants and a pontoon fleet, here’s how Field Guide Marina is different, in plain terms.
Where Dockwa shines.
We’d rather tell you straight. Dockwa says it works with nearly 4,000 marinas and reaches over 500,000 boaters who use it to find slips, fuel and service. Its tools center on reservations for visiting boaters, digital contracts, the fuel dock, the ship store and dry storage. For a marina that fills transient slips from boaters passing through, that network is hard to match.
Where Field Guide Marina fits better.
We built Field Guide Marina for lake and inland marinas whose business runs on the same tenants coming back year after year and a fleet of pontoons for rent:
- Seasonal and yearly leases that remind, renew and collect on their own
- A tenant portal where tenants renew, upload insurance and see their balance
- Pontoon and boat rentals booked online, any hour
- A website we design, build and host, included in every package
- One published price per package, setup included
Side by side.
From each company’s own website, checked October 20, 2026. Products change, so ask each company for a current quote.
| What we compared | Dockwa | Field Guide Marina |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | Reservations for visiting boaters, and a boater network | Long-term tenants, renewals and boat rentals at lake and inland marinas |
| Boat and pontoon rentals | No boat rental product listed on its site | Online booking, fleet calendar, holiday and busy-day pricing, extras |
| Lease renewals | Digital contracts and signing | Reminders at 60, 30, 14 and 7 days, online renewal and payment, the new lease written for you |
| Tenant portal | Not described on its site | Renew, pay, upload insurance, download the lease and statement, send requests |
| Your marina website | Not offered on its site | Designed, built and hosted by us, included |
| Fuel dock and ship store | Point of sale and fuel management | Not included |
| Published prices | By module, starting at: Transient $169, Captains & Contracts $180, Spaces $180, Point of Sale $249, Fuel Management $199 a month, billed annually, plus add-ons | Slips from $249, Boat Rentals from $199, both from $399 a month, setup from $1,500 |
| Fees to boaters | None, per its pricing page | None |
Questions owners ask
- Can we keep a Dockwa listing and still use Field Guide Marina?
- Dockwa lists a free Leads plan for marinas. Field Guide Marina doesn’t connect to Dockwa, so visiting-boater bookings made there would be handled separately from your slips and tenants.
- We don’t have a fuel dock point of sale. Is that a problem?
- Field Guide Marina doesn’t run a fuel dock or ship store register. If that’s central to your marina, tell us on the call and we’ll be honest about whether we’re the right fit.
- How hard is moving over?
- We bring your slips, tenants, leases and boat rental bookings over for you from a spreadsheet or an export, with tenant emails switched off until you’re ready.
See the difference on a working lake marina.
Thirty minutes, built around your slips, your tenants and your fleet.