I started using QRZ but recently started using WRL. Do some of you fellow hams see yourselves moving away from QRZ and more toward WRL? What’s the benefit of using/visitng both?
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You can export your WRL QSOs to QRZ with a click once you have it configured. Have your cake and eat it too!
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Long-term, I want to use WRL as my go-to app for logging, contesting, and confirming. As it is now, I log everything in WRL but still export to N3FJP and then to LOTW and QRZ. Serious contesting (not that I do that much), is done by N1MM.
But there are lots of plans here and it will be interesting to see them play out!
I can see a lot of us moving away from QRZ and more toward WRL, and honestly I hope WRL eventually replaces QRZ for the whole “everyone looks you up here” role.
I’m a “newer old ham.” When my Elmers first showed me QRZ about five years ago, I couldn’t stop laughing, not to be mean, but because it already looked old and antiquated back then and it hasn’t really changed since. That’s exactly why I believe WRL is the future. I put my money where my mouth is and bought a lifetime membership because they’re actually pushing ham radio forward instead of standing still.
I used to pay for QRZ too. I cancelled it and stopped logging there. Same story with LoTW. I know it matters to a lot of people, but the onboarding is ridiculous in 2026. Waiting on a postcard in the mail just to activate an account feels like a time capsule.
I’ve used other logging programs as well, and some of them are genuinely good. But WRL is the first one that feels like a true one stop shop, and it keeps improving constantly. And when something does break, which is usually just growing pains, I get answers fast and it actually feels like users are part of the fix, not yelling into the void.
So yeah, my vote is WRL long term. The momentum is real, and I’d rather support the platform that’s building the future.
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It is amazing (and somewhat embarrassing) that the interface on most amateur radio sites look like it’s still 1994 when I thought CompuServe, Netscape, and my 486DX2 were so cool.
It is 2026, and WRL is taking us into the future!
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I still send my logs from WRL to QRZ and LoTW because, at least for now, they are still the standard that most folks go by and they have the awards that many hams strive for. I too hope that someday I can say the same for WRL.
Of the big 4 (I include eQSL in that list) WRL is the only one with a great User Interface and is extremely receptive to user suggestions and bug reports. As others have mentioned, the other three are still stagnating in the 80s and 90s.
I think your reply sums up my experience. I have been a ham about a year. QRZ felt …well… old. Like Craig’s List of amateur radio. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate something like that exist but it seems out dated. Seeing WRL the first time made me realize that this is what modern amateur radio logging and community platform should look like. Again, I think the folks that put together QRZ deserve a lot of our thanks, but WRL really took it to the next level.
I guess I was wondering if others saw it as the next platform or if some folks just couldn’t turn the page and will stick with QRZ. On another note, I really don’t see the need for multiple platforms either.
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Yeah, QRZ is pretty ingrained into most of us for many reasons: logging, awards, confirmations, forums, the swapmeet, and lookups. It does all of those well and won’t be replaced any time soon.
But, WRL can have it’s place too and can be the next generation of QRZ/LOTW and even mainstay programs like N1MM and N3FJP.
I enter and maintain all my logs in WRL. Much smoother interface for logging and the multiple logbooks with cabrillo for contests, and for special events that need logs to submit makes it a natural choice. For now QRZ and LOTW have the track record for archival logging, lookups, confirmations and awards so I continue to upload to them also. I like having multiple copies of everything in multiple locations. Easy to synch them every few days, and the level of historical entries in QRZ makes for easy callsign lookups, and to see if a dx entity has been confirmed.
So far, I love everything about WRL, particularly their responsiveness to the community. The improvements in a short time have been incredible, but there is still a ways to go to completely replace QRZ and LOTW, but I have no doubt they will get there!
I am a relatively new ham also. I utilize WRL as my preferred front end for all my logging and have the QRZ integration enabled. I use QRZ to ensure that the contact information is corrected (grid, state, county, etc) with the other person’s record and then export to LOTW.
I value the LOTW and QRZ platforms for what they are but use and support/sugguest WRL to everyone and utilize it for my clubs GOTA station on Field Day.
I believe that the WRL application will become the best default front end to the legacy integrations.
73
Rodney
AE5TX
WRL is my only logging/input point, and it constantly pushes to QRZ, then I also manually sync QRZ with LOTW, and LOTW with ClubLog. Admittedly QRZ is still my first stop for looking up an operator, usually because other tools I use offer that lookup by default, but I look forward to a day where WRL is first stop for the world’s call book lookups.
The benefit to having all the systems in sync, for me, is to collect confirmations from an operator who might only use one of those systems. I’m chasing some of the awards/certificates with QRZ and ARRL and especially with DX I’ve seen a few that will only confirm LOTW or ClubLog, so I like having a presence in each place so the confirmations will trickle back to the others. Now that WRL recognizes QRZ and LOTW confirmations, I may change the structure of how the systems sync to each other, but still want all of them to be in sync as much as possible.
I use WRL and have them exported to QRZ. and absolutely love the new feature of cross referencing confirmed contacts from QRZ and LOTW. I went from 9 confirmed states to 24. Lotw is from the 1930’s and I seldom even upload there. Haven’t tried any others, but i doubt i will. I love WRL its so easy and updated.
73 de KE9DSK
Wait! What? When did this happen? How does it happen? I’ve got a bunch that need to be confirmed in WRL.
its in the qso manager. Last tab. Recheck confirmation. Click it and wait. Super easy.
I checked the box at the top of each page and it errored out; do I have to check just ONE page at a time to be checked?
Where do you find info about new release info such as this?