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Aviation · head to head

ARINC Direct vs Flighty

A

ARINC Direct

Aviation

Real-time flight operations and dispatch platform

From
$500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Flighty logo

Flighty

Aviation

Subscription flight tracking for iOS with predictive delay alerts

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ARINC Direct no free trial available to evaluate platform before purchase commitment; Flighty it is iOS-only, so a mixed-platform household or an Android user cannot use it at all.
  • They diverge on capability: ARINC Direct covers Real-time flight tracking, Flighty covers Delay prediction.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ARINC Direct and Flighty actually diverge.

Attributes where ARINC Direct and Flighty differ
AttributeARINC DirectFlighty
Starting price$500/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownPer user per month or one-time purchase
PlatformsWebiOS
Founded1982Unknown

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

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 ARINC Direct

  • Real-time flight tracking
  • Dispatch management
  • Crew coordination
  • Weather integration
  • Maintenance scheduling
  • ACARS systems
  • Jeppesen flight planning
  • ForeFlight

Only in Flighty

  • Delay prediction
  • Gate and baggage alerts
  • Auto flight import
  • Taxi and weather context
  • Trip statistics
  • Family sharing

What people use each for

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

ARINC Direct

  • Flight dispatchnot Flighty
  • Crew managementnot Flighty
  • Weather monitoringnot Flighty
  • Maintenance coordinationnot Flighty
  • Regulatory compliancenot Flighty

Flighty

  • A frequent business flyer who wants a delay warning before the gate agent announces itnot ARINC Direct
  • An iPhone user willing to pay for a single well-maintained app instead of a free ad-supported onenot ARINC Direct
  • A family wanting to see at a glance where a travelling relative currently isnot ARINC Direct
  • A traveller who wants automatic flight import from confirmation emails without manual entrynot ARINC Direct

Where each one falls short

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

ARINC Direct

  • No free trial available to evaluate platform before purchase commitment
  • Pricing structure lacks transparency with wide range of costs depending on user count
  • Requires specialized training for regulatory compliance workflows

Flighty

  • It is iOS-only, so a mixed-platform household or an Android user cannot use it at all.
  • The free tier tracks very few flights, so anyone who flies more than occasionally is pushed toward the subscription almost immediately.
  • Delay predictions are a probability model, not a guarantee, and can be wrong in either direction.
  • It depends on the same underlying ADS-B and airline feeds as free trackers, so the raw position data is not exclusive to Flighty.
  • A lifetime purchase is expensive relative to a year or two of the annual plan, so it only pays off for someone certain they will use it for years.

Pricing, plan by plan

ARINC Direct

$500/month

No published plan breakdown. See the ARINC Direct review.

Flighty

On request
  • Flighty Plus$9.99/month
    • Unlimited tracked flights
    • Delay prediction alerts
    • Gate, baggage and taxi data
  • Flighty Plus Annual$49/year
    • Same features billed yearly
  • Flighty Lifetime$299/one-time
    • One-time purchase, no renewal

Which should you pick?

Choose ARINC Direct if

  • You need real-time flight tracking.
  • You also want dispatch management.
ARINC Direct review

Choose Flighty if

  • You need delay prediction.
  • You work on iOS.
  • You also want gate and baggage alerts.
Flighty review

Questions people ask

Is ARINC Direct or Flighty better?
Neither clearly leads. ARINC Direct starts at $500/month and Flighty at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ARINC Direct or Flighty?
ARINC Direct starts at $500/month and Flighty at On request.
Does ARINC Direct or Flighty run on more platforms?
ARINC Direct runs on Web. Flighty runs on iOS.
What is ARINC Direct best used for?
ARINC Direct is most often used for flight dispatch, crew management, weather monitoring, maintenance coordination. Of those, flight dispatch and crew management are not what Flighty is typically brought in for.
What can ARINC Direct do that Flighty cannot?
ARINC Direct covers Real-time flight tracking, Dispatch management, Crew coordination, Weather integration. Flighty covers Delay prediction, Gate and baggage alerts, Auto flight import, Taxi and weather context.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ARINC Direct: What is ARINC Direct designed for?

ARINC Direct is flight operations software for business aviation operators managing private and corporate aircraft, with tools for scheduling, compliance, crew recordkeeping, maintenance planning, and regulatory documentation.

Source
Flighty: Is there an Android version?

No. Flighty has only ever shipped for iOS.

ARINC Direct: What key features does ARINC Direct provide?

Features include compliance management, labor cost reporting, logbook tracking, maintenance scheduling, automated diagnostics, AI-powered regulatory reporting, and real-time data monitoring with safety alerts.

Source
Flighty: Can I use it for free?

A limited free tier exists but tracks very few flights; regular use requires the Plus subscription or the lifetime purchase.

ARINC Direct: Does ARINC Direct offer a free trial?

No. ARINC Direct does not offer a free trial or free version. Organizations must commit to a paid plan to access the platform.

Source
Flighty: How is it different from Flightradar24 or FlightAware?

Those are free-first, cross-platform trackers with ads; Flighty is a paid iOS-only app that adds predictive delay alerts.

ARINC Direct: What is the pricing for ARINC Direct?

Pricing is subscription-based and varies significantly by organization size. A small business with one user might pay around $500/month, while a 50-user setup could cost approximately $5,000/month. Enterprise pricing for 100+ users can exceed $10,000/month.

Source
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