Put an Azimut and a Ferretti of a similar size side by side and the choice can look straightforward. Both are established Italian builders, both produce premium motor yachts and both have a strong presence on the pre-owned market.
In practice, the badge is only the start of the comparison.
The better yacht will usually come down to the specific model, layout, propulsion, specification, condition and, most importantly, how you intend to use it. A carefully maintained older Ferretti can be a better purchase than a newer Azimut with a weak service history — and the reverse is equally true.
If you are actively comparing the brands, start with the current Azimut yachts for sale and Ferretti yachts for sale, then compare the individual yachts rather than their reputations alone.
Azimut vs Ferretti: the main differences
Azimut | Ferretti | |
|---|---|---|
Range | Broad choice of flybridge, performance, crossover and larger yachts | Particularly strong flybridge offering, alongside INFYNITO |
Design | Often contemporary and more visually adventurous | Generally restrained, residential and comfort-focused |
Buyer choice | Suits buyers comparing different styles of motor yacht | Strong choice for buyers focused on premium cruising yachts |
Used purchase | Model, generation and condition matter most | Model, generation and condition matter most |
The word generation is important. A ten-year-old Azimut does not necessarily represent a modern Azimut, just as an older Ferretti should not be judged against the design and technology of its newest models.
When buying pre-owned, the year and generation can matter almost as much as the brand.
Design and onboard living: where they feel different
Azimut gives buyers several different interpretations of what a motor yacht can be. Its flybridge yachts, performance-oriented models and longer-range concepts cater for quite different owners.
Ferretti has traditionally been particularly strong in flybridge yachts, with an emphasis on comfortable Mediterranean cruising, generous living areas and practical movement between interior and exterior spaces.
But rather than asking, “Which brand has the nicer interior?”, ask questions you will still care about after a week aboard.
Where will six people eat when the weather turns windy? Can guests move between cabins and living areas without crossing working spaces? Is the galley practical for an owner-operator, or designed around crew? How easy is it to get from the bathing platform to the flybridge?
Those details often matter far more than the finish that impressed you during the first ten minutes of a viewing.
Performance and propulsion: compare models, not badges
It is easy to describe one builder as sportier or another as more economical, but that quickly becomes misleading.
Different models within the same brand can have completely different cruising briefs.
Compare the actual hull form, engine package, shaft or pod propulsion, cruising speed, range, stabilisation and engine-room access.
For pre-owned yachts, propulsion also needs to be considered alongside maintenance history. An IPS-equipped yacht may provide excellent manoeuvrability and packaging, but servicing matters. A shaft-drive yacht may appear mechanically simpler, but neglected running gear, bearings, seals or alignment can still lead to substantial costs.
The specification sheet tells you how the yacht was designed to perform.
The service records and pre-purchase yacht survey tell you much more about how that particular yacht is likely to perform for you.
Which Azimut and Ferretti models should you compare?
Start with how you will use the yacht, not the model number.
At around 50 feet, an Azimut Fly 50 and Ferretti 500 might appear on the same shopping list. Further up the range, buyers considering an Azimut Fly 68 may also investigate a Ferretti 670, while an Azimut Fly 72 and Ferretti 720 could both enter a similar search.
They are not exact equivalents — and that is precisely the point.
Before comparing models, establish:
Your comfortable purchase budget
Your realistic annual running budget
The number of guest cabins you genuinely need
Whether the yacht will be owner-operated or crewed
Your normal passage length and cruising style
Where the yacht will spend most of the year
Once those are clear, many seemingly comparable yachts stop being comparable at all.
The comparison most buyers miss: your “complexity budget”
Price, length and cabin numbers are easy to compare. One factor that receives far less attention is how much equipment you are actually taking responsibility for.
Consider two similarly priced 70-foot yachts.
One may have stabilisers, a hydraulic bathing platform, passerelle, tender garage, bow and stern thrusters, watermaker, multiple generators, sophisticated AV equipment, automated blinds and a more complex propulsion package.
The other may be more straightforward.
None of that equipment is inherently a disadvantage. Much of it can significantly improve life aboard. But every additional system also creates another inspection point, maintenance schedule and potential repair.
We think buyers should therefore consider a complexity budget alongside their financial budget.
An owner using a yacht mainly for weekends around Malta may value simplicity differently from somebody spending several months aboard with professional crew.
Instead of asking only:
“Which yacht gives me more equipment for the money?”
also ask:
“Which of this equipment will I use enough to justify maintaining it?”
That becomes particularly important when comparing an older, heavily optioned yacht with a newer but simpler example.
Azimut vs Ferretti on the pre-owned market
Once you move into the used market, condition can outweigh branding surprisingly quickly.
Look beyond engine hours. Check documented servicing, generator hours, stabilisers, navigation electronics, teak, upholstery, air-conditioning, hydraulics, tender systems and previous refit work.
VAT status and location can also affect the real acquisition cost.
A yacht advertised at a lower price is not necessarily better value. Deferred maintenance can turn an attractive purchase price into an expensive first year of ownership.
This is why we would rather see a yacht with a coherent maintenance history than simply the lowest engine hours.
Does Azimut or Ferretti hold its value better?
There is no useful blanket answer.
Residual value depends on the desirability of the individual model, age, condition, specification, maintenance history, engines, market supply and location.
Specification deserves particular attention. Highly personalised interiors or unusual layouts may suit the current owner perfectly but reduce the number of buyers interested when the yacht returns to market.
Conversely, a well-maintained yacht with a sensible Mediterranean specification, desirable layout and documented history can remain attractive even as it ages.
Buyers planning several years ahead should therefore think about future marketability at the point of purchase, rather than only when they eventually decide to sell.
Azimut or Ferretti: which should you buy?
Azimut deserves serious consideration if you value contemporary design and want a broad choice of yacht concepts, particularly if you are still deciding between conventional flybridge cruising and more performance- or crossover-oriented models.
Ferretti is particularly relevant if your search centres on premium flybridge yachts, practical Mediterranean cruising and comfortable layouts designed for spending extended periods aboard.
But we would not choose between two pre-owned yachts because one says Azimut and the other Ferretti.
Once you have narrowed the search to two or three candidates, compare their condition, specification, service history, survey findings and ownership requirements.
The yacht that best matches how you will actually use it — with the strongest history and condition — is usually the better yacht to own.
Browse our full selection of yachts for sale, including pre-owned Azimut yachts and Ferretti yachts, or contact UNICO Yachting if you would like us to source and compare suitable yachts on your behalf.
