Softwr

Maritime · head to head

Baltic Exchange vs Danaos

Baltic Exchange logo

Baltic Exchange

Maritime

Global shipping market benchmarks

From
$500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Danaos logo

Danaos

Maritime

Ship management suite covering purchasing, maintenance, crewing and safety in one database

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Baltic Exchange no pricing published on website, membership and data services require contacting the organization; Danaos sales, implementation and support are concentrated in Greece and Cyprus, so an owner elsewhere gets a thinner local bench and has to rely on remote support across time zones.
  • They diverge on capability: Baltic Exchange covers Freight indices, Danaos covers Planned maintenance.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baltic Exchange and Danaos actually diverge.

Attributes where Baltic Exchange and Danaos differ
AttributeBaltic ExchangeDanaos
Starting price$500/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, ApiWindows, Web, On-premise
Founded1744Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Maritime).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Baltic Exchange

  • Freight indices
  • Market assessments
  • Forward curves
  • Historical data
  • API
  • Data feeds
  • Trading platforms
  • Web support

Only in Danaos

  • Planned maintenance
  • Purchasing
  • Inventory
  • Crewing
  • Safety and quality
  • Dry-docking
  • Budgeting
  • Ship to shore replication

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Baltic Exchange

  • Shipping market freight data and indicesnot Danaos
  • Freight derivatives tradingnot Danaos
  • Vessel investment decision makingnot Danaos
  • Dry bulk and tanker rate assessmentsnot Danaos
  • Container freight market analysisnot Danaos

Danaos

  • A Greek or Cypriot owner replacing a mix of legacy planned maintenance and purchasing systems with one databasenot Baltic Exchange
  • A third-party ship manager that must report vessel operating expenditure to multiple owners in a consistent structurenot Baltic Exchange
  • An owner whose procurement and maintenance data never reconcile because they sit in separate productsnot Baltic Exchange
  • A fleet needing full function on board when the satellite link is slow or intermittentnot Baltic Exchange

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Baltic Exchange

  • No pricing published on website, membership and data services require contacting the organization
  • Custom pricing based on organization type and data needs

Danaos

  • Sales, implementation and support are concentrated in Greece and Cyprus, so an owner elsewhere gets a thinner local bench and has to rely on remote support across time zones.
  • The suite is configuration-heavy, and a superintendent generally cannot change a maintenance form or approval route without vendor involvement, which turns small changes into chargeable requests.
  • The architecture is traditional, with vessel-side installations replicating to shore, so the browser experience trails newer cloud entrants and IT carries software to maintain on every ship.
  • Public documentation and product information are sparse, so a buyer cannot evaluate the product independently and is dependent on vendor demonstrations and reference calls.
  • Because everything shares one database, partial adoption gives away most of the benefit and replacing a single module later means unpicking the whole suite rather than swapping a component.

Pricing, plan by plan

Baltic Exchange

$500/month
  • Data Services$1500/month
    • Freight indices
    • Market assessments
    • Historical data

Danaos

On request
  • WAVES$undefined/year
    • Quoted by fleet size and modules licensed
    • Vessel installations and shore server scoped separately
    • Implementation, data migration and training charged as services

Which should you pick?

Choose Baltic Exchange if

  • You need freight indices.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want market assessments.
Baltic Exchange review

Choose Danaos if

  • You need planned maintenance.
  • You work on Windows, Web, On-premise.
  • You also want purchasing.
Danaos review

Questions people ask

Is Baltic Exchange or Danaos better?
Neither clearly leads. Baltic Exchange starts at $500/month and Danaos at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baltic Exchange or Danaos?
Baltic Exchange starts at $500/month and Danaos at On request.
Does Baltic Exchange or Danaos run on more platforms?
Baltic Exchange runs on Web, Api. Danaos runs on Windows, Web, On-premise.
What is Baltic Exchange best used for?
Baltic Exchange is most often used for shipping market freight data and indices, freight derivatives trading, vessel investment decision making, dry bulk and tanker rate assessments. Of those, shipping market freight data and indices and freight derivatives trading are not what Danaos is typically brought in for.
What can Baltic Exchange do that Danaos cannot?
Baltic Exchange covers Freight indices, Market assessments, Forward curves, Historical data. Danaos covers Planned maintenance, Purchasing, Inventory, Crewing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baltic Exchange: How much does Baltic Exchange membership cost?

Baltic Exchange does not publish pricing on their website. Membership and data service pricing is customized and requires direct contact with the organization.

Source
Danaos: Is this the same company as the listed shipowner Danaos Corporation?

No. Danaos Management Consultants is the software business and a separate entity, although the names are shared and both are based in Piraeus.

Baltic Exchange: What services does Baltic Exchange provide?

Baltic Exchange provides shipping market data services including daily published indices (200+), freight derivatives trading facilities, member fixtures database, and analytical tools for shipping professionals.

Source
Danaos: Does it run on board with poor connectivity?

Yes. Vessels run local installations that replicate to shore, which is a deliberate design choice for constrained satellite links.

Danaos: Can I license only the planned maintenance module?

Technically yes, but the value comes from the shared database linking maintenance, purchasing and budgets, so partial adoption is uncommon.

Danaos: Is pricing published?

No. Everything is quoted by fleet size and by the modules licensed.

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