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Maritime · head to head

Harbour Assist vs Helm Operations

Harbour Assist logo

Harbour Assist

Maritime

Marina, harbour and boatyard management software for United Kingdom and European operators

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Helm Operations logo

Helm Operations

Maritime

Dispatch, maintenance, compliance and crewing software built for tug, barge and workboat fleets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Harbour Assist no pricing is published, and the mandatory setup and data migration fee means the first-year cost is materially above the recurring subscription, which is easy to miss when budgeting.; Helm Operations the product is built for workboat and towage operations, so a deep-sea owner running bulkers or tankers gets no chartering, voyage accounting or cargo handling and should not shortlist it.
  • They diverge on capability: Harbour Assist covers Berth and mooring management, Helm Operations covers Dispatch.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Harbour Assist and Helm Operations actually diverge.

Attributes where Harbour Assist and Helm Operations differ
AttributeHarbour AssistHelm Operations

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Harbour Assist

  • Berth and mooring management
  • Contracts and licences
  • Recurring invoicing
  • Boatyard work orders
  • Team tasking
  • Online reservations

Only in Helm Operations

  • Dispatch
  • Job billing
  • Planned maintenance
  • Compliance and safety
  • Crew scheduling
  • Vessel applications

Both cover

  • Customer portal
  • Reporting

What people use each for

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

Harbour Assist

  • A trust port managing several hundred moorings with annual licence renewals and arrears chasingnot Helm Operations
  • A sailing club combining membership, berthing and bar accounts under one customer recordnot Helm Operations
  • A boatyard scheduling lifts and winter storage alongside berth contractsnot Helm Operations
  • A harbour office cutting phone traffic by moving invoice payment and service requests to a customer portalnot Helm Operations

Helm Operations

  • A harbour towage company that dispatches dozens of jobs a day and wants invoices generated from the dispatch recordnot Harbour Assist
  • A barge operator tracking maintenance and certificates across assets that rarely visit the same port twicenot Harbour Assist
  • A ferry or passenger vessel fleet that must evidence drills, audits and crew certification to a regulatornot Harbour Assist
  • An offshore support operator replacing a mixture of spreadsheets, whiteboards and an accounting packagenot Harbour Assist

Where each one falls short

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

Harbour Assist

  • No pricing is published, and the mandatory setup and data migration fee means the first-year cost is materially above the recurring subscription, which is easy to miss when budgeting.
  • The vendor explicitly does not discount, so a small harbour has no negotiating room even when the entry point is a stretch for its budget.
  • Ownership by ClearCourse, a private-equity-backed consolidator of vertical software, brings the pricing and roadmap risks that come with that model, and buyers should ask about uplift terms before committing.
  • It is built for United Kingdom and Irish harbour practice, so an operator elsewhere gets a system full of concepts that do not match local regulation.
  • There is no marketplace or booking demand attached, so unlike Dockwa it fills no berths for you; visitor income still depends on your own marketing.

Helm Operations

  • The product is built for workboat and towage operations, so a deep-sea owner running bulkers or tankers gets no chartering, voyage accounting or cargo handling and should not shortlist it.
  • Modules are licensed separately, so the figure quoted for dispatch alone is not the figure a fleet ends up paying once maintenance, compliance and crewing are included.
  • There is no financial ledger, so job costs and payroll still post into a separate accounting system, and maintaining that interface is an ongoing task for the customer.
  • Vessel applications sync rather than run fully offline indefinitely, so boats operating with poor connectivity see a lag between what the crew recorded and what the dispatcher can see.
  • The company does not disclose its ownership publicly and is comparatively small, which leaves a fleet that standardises on Helm carrying concentration risk it cannot fully assess.

Pricing, plan by plan

Harbour Assist

On request
  • Harbour Assist$undefined/month
    • Quoted by size and complexity of the operation
    • Directory listings place the entry point near GBP 400 per month
    • Mandatory setup and installation fee covering customisation, data migration and training

Helm Operations

On request
  • Helm platform$undefined/year
    • Quoted by fleet size and modules taken
    • Maintenance, Compliance, Logistics, Personnel and Portal licensed separately
    • Implementation and data migration quoted as services

Which should you pick?

Choose Harbour Assist if

  • You need berth and mooring management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want contracts and licences.
Harbour Assist review

Choose Helm Operations if

  • You need dispatch.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want job billing.
Helm Operations review

Questions people ask

Is Harbour Assist or Helm Operations better?
Neither clearly leads. Harbour Assist starts at On request and Helm Operations at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Harbour Assist or Helm Operations?
Harbour Assist starts at On request and Helm Operations at On request.
Does Harbour Assist or Helm Operations run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Harbour Assist best used for?
Harbour Assist is most often used for a trust port managing several hundred moorings with annual licence renewals and arrears chasing, a sailing club combining membership, berthing and bar accounts under one customer record, a boatyard scheduling lifts and winter storage alongside berth contracts, a harbour office cutting phone traffic by moving invoice payment and service requests to a customer portal. Of those, a trust port managing several hundred moorings with annual licence renewals and arrears chasing and a sailing club combining membership, berthing and bar accounts under one customer record are not what Helm Operations is typically brought in for.
What can Harbour Assist do that Helm Operations cannot?
Harbour Assist covers Berth and mooring management, Contracts and licences, Recurring invoicing, Boatyard work orders. Helm Operations covers Dispatch, Job billing, Planned maintenance, Compliance and safety. Both handle Customer portal, Reporting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Harbour Assist: How much does Harbour Assist cost?

It is quoted by size and complexity. Directory listings put the entry point near 400 pounds a month, and every client also pays a setup fee for customisation, migration and training.

Helm Operations: Does Helm handle chartering or voyage accounting?

No. It models dispatched jobs, not voyages, and has no commercial chartering capability.

Harbour Assist: Does it bring visitor bookings?

No. It takes online visitor reservations through your own website but has no consumer marketplace, so demand generation remains your responsibility.

Helm Operations: Will it work for a deep-sea fleet?

Poorly. The functional design assumes short repeated jobs on tugs, barges and workboats.

Harbour Assist: Who owns it?

ClearCourse, a private-equity-backed group that acquires vertical software businesses in the United Kingdom.

Helm Operations: Does it include accounting?

No. It produces invoices and job costs and passes them to a separate accounting system.

Harbour Assist: Does it handle swinging moorings and drying berths?

Yes, and that is one of the reasons British harbours choose it over marina software designed around American pontoon dockage.

Helm Operations: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by fleet size and by which of the five modules are licensed.

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