That is a huge question... So a Huge Comparison wall of text is Incoming. But hey, at least it is better than "Oh mah gawd __ is obviously better!" without anything else? And there is a TL;DR.
To open: I was a part of the first wave of WoWS CBT (Prior to the buy-your-way-in) and had been a part of the Closed Alphas for WoT and WoWP. I played until SO came out in November of last year and have been playing SO more than WoWS since then other the odd WoWS match now and again or the the occasional "Lets do Warships to get an event ship" sort of thing (ARP Haruna, Kirishima, etc.). Since then, I now have 1,355.2 Hours in SO. So I've a bit of experience playing both games for some time, and am familiar with the business practices/trends that WG has shown since Tanks came out.

Anyways, enough of that. on with the Comparison Wall.
Overview:
Economy(some premium talk):
Gameplay
Ship Roles:
Drawbacks:
TL;DR IF/Then's

Both games have their target audience and a player CAN enjoy both. There isn't a reason to be mutually exclusive to just one. Both are arcade games while Warships has less mechanics but a slower gameplay that some find a bit more realistic. Which if it was a simulator it would be... but it is an arcade game (You might travel 5 minutes before firing your guns. And on certain maps if you are a slow BB, you could go as much as 10 minutes if they went east/clockwise and you had gone west/counterclockwise.) Warships also tends to hold your hand and is more noob-friendly. Steel Ocean is faster paced with ranges, shell travel times, and ship speeds scaled to match the gameplay speed but having around the same reloading times as Warships. You should see combat somewhere within in the first 2-3 minutes in most cases. Steel Ocean has more mechanics and is a game of skill where your hand is guided for the first couple tiers but otherwise it can be painful to those who do not wish to learn actual mechanics. (The Devs have worked recently to reduce the gap and reduce seal-clubbing between T1-5. And it has worked quite well I think.) WoWS would be an arcade game with sim-esque movement speeds and traverse rates. SO would be an arcade game with sim-esque mechanics.

WG in general has an economic setup that will try and convince you to open your wallet often.(Good luck playing above T7 without premium. Or prepare for clubbing low tiers to pay for higher tiers). Steel Ocean's economy is one that doesn't require a wallet. You can play top tier matches without losing silver in most cases and therefore can play whatever tier you enjoy playing versus "Can't play Yamato because you would go broke" or "I need to play a few tier 5-7 matches to pay for one T10 match." of WoWS. And SO premiums are usually on par with their tier and while perhaps being better than the default ship at [particular ship-role/task], there are usually trade offs, or weaknesses. The recently added Prem Yamato Final, T9 has quite a bit more AA, but reduced anti-ship capabilities compared to the normal Yamato due to that AA taking the place of some secondaries.) Or the Ise BBV which is a Battleship-Carrier. You are losing some of your primary and secondary guns for flight-deck space, and also losing the armor those guns provide and revealing that squishy flight deck. But gaining access to planes. An example of "Time to open your wallet!". If you get a premium in Warships you will down the line likely need to spend $$ to convert that ships XP to free XP or if not 'needed' will be coerced because "oo I see 100k XP on this ship!" . Steel Ocean Elite Non-Premium ships (Fully researched) or premiums provide "Quick Training" that funnels the XP you'd normally gain towards leveling your commanders (Commanders which can be used freely on any ship you own vs the "Gotta retrain!" system of Warships.) And Elited ships, or premiums provide bonus free XP (With premiums providing a bit more, and increased silver gains in the normal 'prem ship' manner)

If the two were cars Warships would be an Automatic and Steel Ocean(SO) would be manual. Warships takes care of effectively everything except for the pulling of the trigger. And even then the actual aiming is more you point your guns at an enemy ship and pull the trigger while saying a prayer to the RNG-Gods that your shells go where you aimed them. Which might happen, or the shells go over, under, to the left, and right and nowhere near where you aimed. Torpedoes have an assisted aim that shows "Fire here, and if they do not change course they will hit.", CV's are click on a target and they'll guide themselves in(Optional manual TB aim for more hits per salvo of course). As a BB your secondaries can and will kill DD's that you might not even have known existed until the "You got a kill" pops up and you look around. And AA is effectively a game of Dungeons and Dragons with dice rolls going off every second to see "Target dies, or doesn't". You lose engines, steering, a gun, and a torpedo system at the same time? Hit one button and repair party fixes everything instantly!
There are more than enough demonstration videos of someone setting their aim at a particular place on an unmoving ship in the training room. Setting firing to spacebar, and firing salvo after salvo into the ship. And showing just how random the shell 'patterns' can be. one salvo might cause 6k damage with only a single shell hitting. The next salvo might have 4 shells hitting for damage, but only causing 4k total (1k per shell). And somehow Warships still expects to be an esport with that much RNG...

Steel Ocean: You have significantly more control of your ship and how it performs. You see an aiming reticle that shows where your shells will be hitting (There is of course dispersion, but you get to see the area they'll land.) and as you fire your guns at an area as a BB/CA your crews are calibrating your guns and providing more accurate, precise fire. Your secondaries are manual meaning if you are accurate, they can be devastating to a DD that gets close, if you aren't... well.. hopefully with practice you do better! :P. AA is devastating and since planes have actual health bars and fuel limitations even a DD can swipe them from the sky in a very short time. But as a CV player I find the challenge highly entertaining and makes hitting an enemy significantly more rewarding. Ammo and torps is limited and you can run out of ammo in a longer match, or if you are torp spamming. TORPS are also seen the moment they are launched versus "You have a second or two to dodge" like warships. So if you get hit by torps you were probably tunnel visioning and not paying attention, or were ambushed, because longer range torps are usually quite easy to dodge. I'd call Steel Ocean a game that might occur of World of Tanks, Navyfield and Battlestations games got together and made a game (Without the "P2W" of WoT/NF)

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/profiles/76561198066676103/recommended/390670

Both games have merit and are worth giving a shot. Do not listen to the fan-boys of Wargaming. In my opinion WoWS is really only doing as well as they are because they could leech the money and fans from their previous games. And afford to silence their competitor with strong-arm tactics/Fan-Boys.

If you want a slower paced game that doesn't require much out of you? Warships.
If you want a game that challenges you and where skill matters? Steel Ocean.
If you want a game that looks 'pretty' instead of mechanics? Warships. Though Steel Ocean does have some graphical aspects that beat out Warships.. Anti-Aliasing for Warships basically doesn't exist by default, while Steel Ocean's AA works just fine. And 'pretty' can be worked with time (Engine upgrade in the future)
If you like playing with an empty wallet? WarGaming

Thanks, for your time!

[h1]What are the differences between WoWS and SO? [/h1] That is a huge question... So a Huge Comparison wall of text is Incoming. But hey, at least it is better than "Oh mah gawd __ is obviously better!" without anything else? And there is a TL;DR. To open: I was a part of the first wave of WoWS CBT (Prior to the buy-your-way-in) and had been a part of the Closed Alphas for WoT and WoWP. I played until SO came out in November of last year and have been playing SO more than WoWS since then other the odd WoWS match now and again or the the occasional "Lets do Warships to get an event ship" sort of thing (ARP Haruna, Kirishima, etc.). Since then, I now have 1,355.2 Hours in SO. So I've a bit of experience playing both games for some time, and am familiar with the business practices/trends that WG has shown since Tanks came out. Anyways, enough of that. on with the Comparison Wall. Overview: Economy(some premium talk): Gameplay Ship Roles: Drawbacks: TL;DR IF/Then's Both games have their target audience and a player CAN enjoy both. There isn't a reason to be mutually exclusive to just one. Both are arcade games while Warships has less mechanics but a slower gameplay that some find a bit more realistic. Which if it was a simulator it would be... but it is an arcade game (You might travel 5 minutes before firing your guns. And on certain maps if you are a slow BB, you could go as much as 10 minutes if they went east/clockwise and you had gone west/counterclockwise.) Warships also tends to hold your hand and is more noob-friendly. Steel Ocean is faster paced with ranges, shell travel times, and ship speeds scaled to match the gameplay speed but having around the same reloading times as Warships. You should see combat somewhere within in the first 2-3 minutes in most cases. Steel Ocean has more mechanics and is a game of skill where your hand is guided for the first couple tiers but otherwise it can be painful to those who do not wish to learn actual mechanics. (The Devs have worked recently to reduce the gap and reduce seal-clubbing between T1-5. And it has worked quite well I think.) WoWS would be an arcade game with sim-esque movement speeds and traverse rates. SO would be an arcade game with sim-esque mechanics. [h1]Economy:[/h1] WG in general has an economic setup that will try and convince you to open your wallet often.(Good luck playing above T7 without premium. Or prepare for clubbing low tiers to pay for higher tiers). Steel Ocean's economy is one that doesn't require a wallet. You can play top tier matches without losing silver in most cases and therefore can play whatever tier you enjoy playing versus "Can't play Yamato because you would go broke" or "I need to play a few tier 5-7 matches to pay for one T10 match." of WoWS. And SO premiums are usually on par with their tier and while perhaps being better than the default ship at [particular ship-role/task], there are usually trade offs, or weaknesses. The recently added Prem Yamato Final, T9 has quite a bit more AA, but reduced anti-ship capabilities compared to the normal Yamato due to that AA taking the place of some secondaries.) Or the Ise BBV which is a Battleship-Carrier. You are losing some of your primary and secondary guns for flight-deck space, and also losing the armor those guns provide and revealing that squishy flight deck. But gaining access to planes. An example of "Time to open your wallet!". If you get a premium in Warships you will down the line likely need to spend $$ to convert that ships XP to free XP or if not 'needed' will be coerced because "oo I see 100k XP on this ship!" . Steel Ocean Elite Non-Premium ships (Fully researched) or premiums provide "Quick Training" that funnels the XP you'd normally gain towards leveling your commanders (Commanders which can be used freely on any ship you own vs the "Gotta retrain!" system of Warships.) And Elited ships, or premiums provide bonus free XP (With premiums providing a bit more, and increased silver gains in the normal 'prem ship' manner) [h1]Gameplay[/h1] If the two were cars Warships would be an Automatic and Steel Ocean(SO) would be manual. Warships takes care of effectively everything except for the pulling of the trigger. And even then the actual aiming is more you point your guns at an enemy ship and pull the trigger while saying a prayer to the RNG-Gods that your shells go where you aimed them. Which might happen, or the shells go over, under, to the left, and right and nowhere near where you aimed. Torpedoes have an assisted aim that shows "Fire here, and if they do not change course they will hit.", CV's are click on a target and they'll guide themselves in(Optional manual TB aim for more hits per salvo of course). As a BB your secondaries can and will kill DD's that you might not even have known existed until the "You got a kill" pops up and you look around. And AA is effectively a game of Dungeons and Dragons with dice rolls going off every second to see "Target dies, or doesn't". You lose engines, steering, a gun, and a torpedo system at the same time? Hit one button and repair party fixes everything instantly! There are more than enough demonstration videos of someone setting their aim at a particular place on an unmoving ship in the training room. Setting firing to spacebar, and firing salvo after salvo into the ship. And showing just how random the shell 'patterns' can be. one salvo might cause 6k damage with only a single shell hitting. The next salvo might have 4 shells hitting for damage, but only causing 4k total (1k per shell). And somehow Warships still expects to be an esport with that much RNG... Steel Ocean: You have significantly more control of your ship and how it performs. You see an aiming reticle that shows where your shells will be hitting (There is of course dispersion, but you get to see the area they'll land.) and as you fire your guns at an area as a BB/CA your crews are calibrating your guns and providing more accurate, precise fire. Your secondaries are manual meaning if you are accurate, they can be devastating to a DD that gets close, if you aren't... well.. hopefully with practice you do better! :P. AA is devastating and since planes have actual health bars and fuel limitations even a DD can swipe them from the sky in a very short time. But as a CV player I find the challenge highly entertaining and makes hitting an enemy significantly more rewarding. Ammo and torps is limited and you can run out of ammo in a longer match, or if you are torp spamming. TORPS are also seen the moment they are launched versus "You have a second or two to dodge" like warships. So if you get hit by torps you were probably tunnel visioning and not paying attention, or were ambushed, because longer range torps are usually quite easy to dodge. I'd call Steel Ocean a game that might occur of World of Tanks, Navyfield and Battlestations games got together and made a game (Without the "P2W" of WoT/NF) [h1]Ship Roles and Drawbacks.[/h1] http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/profiles/76561198066676103/recommended/390670 [h1]TL;DR[/h1] Both games have merit and are worth giving a shot. Do not listen to the fan-boys of Wargaming. In my opinion WoWS is really only doing as well as they are because they could leech the money and fans from their previous games. And afford to silence their competitor with strong-arm tactics/Fan-Boys. If you want a slower paced game that doesn't require much out of you? Warships. If you want a game that challenges you and where skill matters? Steel Ocean. If you want a game that looks 'pretty' instead of mechanics? Warships. Though Steel Ocean does have some graphical aspects that beat out Warships.. Anti-Aliasing for Warships basically doesn't exist by default, while Steel Ocean's AA works just fine. And 'pretty' can be worked with time (Engine upgrade in the future) If you like playing with an empty wallet? WarGaming Thanks, for your time!