Dive logbook software: desktop, web or phone?

Three places a logbook can live

On a desktop. A program on your laptop is the old model, and it still suits one job well: downloading from a dive computer over a cable or a dongle, then checking profiles on a big screen. The cost is that the log sits on one machine, so a backup is your job.

In a browser. A web app needs nothing installed and opens on whatever you have in front of you, a work laptop included. It has to keep working without a signal, or it fails on the boat; that is the thing to test.

On your phone. You are on the phone when you step off the boat, with the dive fresh in your head. A logbook there gets filled in on the spot instead of three weeks later.

Many people end up with two: a place to download and review, and a place to log and look back.

What three well-known programs say about themselves

Subsurface presents itself as free and open source. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, with Subsurface-mobile for iOS and Android. It lists dive computers from about 40 makers that it can download from, by USB, Bluetooth or Bluetooth LE, and its iPhone app downloads from many Bluetooth LE dive computers. It also lists a decompression planner (Bühlmann or VPM-B) on desktop, and an open-circuit planner reached the iPhone app in 2025.

Checked 22 October 2026 · Source: subsurface-divelog.org · Subsurface supported dive computers · Subsurface user manual · App Store: Subsurface-mobile

MacDive's App Store page describes a logbook for macOS with an iPhone app that can be used as a standalone dive log and also works together with MacDive for macOS. It says the iPhone app downloads dives directly from various Smart Bluetooth devices.

Checked 25 October 2026 · Source: App Store: MacDive

Shearwater's page says Shearwater Cloud is available for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. Its help section says dives can be added to the app from Shearwater dive computers only, and that Shearwater dives can be exported as XML or UDDF files.

Checked 25 October 2026 · Source: Shearwater: Shearwater Cloud

Where Loggerfish fits

Loggerfish is a logbook for the browser and the iPhone, in English, German, Spanish, French and Polish. It keeps the log on your device, so it works offline, and syncs between devices with a free account. Every dive exports as Excel, UDDF or a full backup, free on every plan. It imports SSI spreadsheets, Garmin .fit files, Subsurface logs, UDDF and any spreadsheet, with a preview before anything is saved. Logging, import, export and sync are free; air consumption over time, seasons, dive-site maps and your year against the last are part of Pro, the optional paid plan.

What it does not do: on iPhone it downloads over Bluetooth from two dive computers only, the Mares Sirius and the Shearwater Peregrine TX, and every other dive computer comes in as a file. It has no Android app yet, it is not open source, and it is not a dive computer or a decompression planner.

Choosing by how you dive

• You download from your computer after every trip and want to plan on a laptop. A desktop program with direct download is built for that. Check that your dive computer is on its list first.
• You dive with a Shearwater. Shearwater Cloud is made by the maker of the computer. Export to UDDF keeps the way out open; the Shearwater export guide shows the steps, and the switch page shows the way into Loggerfish.
• You log on the phone and want one log everywhere. A web or phone logbook with offline use and sync fits. Compare it against the PADI app or Subsurface on the points that matter to you.
• You have years in another program. Whatever you choose, test the way out before you rely on it. The eight questions in our dive log app guide start there.

A test that works for any software

Export your whole log, open the file in a spreadsheet, and count the dives. If the count is right and the depths, times and gases are there, you can leave whenever you want. Do this once a season, whichever software you use.