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DUATS vs Prepar3D Professional

DUATS logo

DUATS

Software

FAA Direct User Access Terminal System for flight briefings

From
$9.95/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Prepar3D Professional logo

Prepar3D Professional

Software

Professional flight simulation platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Prepar3D Professional has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DUATS service has been discontinued as of May 2018; Prepar3D Professional the Personal licence at $59.95 is restricted to home use, personal training and K-12 classrooms, so any business, military or university use requires the Professional licence at $350.00
  • They diverge on capability: DUATS covers Flight briefings, Prepar3D Professional covers Flight physics.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DUATS and Prepar3D Professional actually diverge.

Attributes where DUATS and Prepar3D Professional differ
AttributeDUATSPrepar3D Professional
Starting price$9.95/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWindows
Founded19902008

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 DUATS

  • Flight briefings
  • Weather data
  • Flight planning
  • Flight filing
  • NOTAMs
  • FAA systems
  • Weather services
  • Chart databases

Only in Prepar3D Professional

  • Flight physics
  • Aircraft systems
  • Scenery
  • ATC
  • Training
  • Add-ons
  • VR
  • Hardware

What people use each for

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

DUATS

  • Flight briefingnot Prepar3D Professional
  • Flight planningnot Prepar3D Professional
  • Flight filingnot Prepar3D Professional
  • Weather briefingnot Prepar3D Professional

Prepar3D Professional

  • Running procedural and flight training in a commercial or military simulation facilitynot DUATS
  • Building multi-channel visual systems across several synchronised displaysnot DUATS
  • Developing custom aircraft, scenery and scenarios against the Prepar3D SDKnot DUATS
  • Delivering STEM and K-12 classroom flight simulation on the Personal licencenot DUATS

Where each one falls short

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

DUATS

  • Service has been discontinued as of May 2018
  • No longer available for flight planning or briefing

Prepar3D Professional

  • The Personal licence at $59.95 is restricted to home use, personal training and K-12 classrooms, so any business, military or university use requires the Professional licence at $350.00
  • Weapons and sensors, AI behaviors in scenarios, DIS and CIGI packet support, the SimOperator instructor station and multi-channel concurrent operation are confined to Professional Plus at $2,750.00
  • The Personal licence requires an internet connection during use, while only Professional and above run in disconnected environments
  • Developer subscriptions at $9.95 and $50.00 per month watermark the image and are forbidden from delivering training

Pricing, plan by plan

DUATS

$9.95/month
  • Basic$9.95/month
    • Flight briefings
    • Weather data
    • Flight planning
  • Premium$29.95/month
    • All Basic features
    • Advanced weather
    • Priority briefings

Prepar3D Professional

Free
  • EnthusiastFree
    • Basic simulator
    • Limited aircraft
    • Scenery
  • Professional$199/month
    • Full platform
    • All aircraft
    • Training tools

Which should you pick?

Choose DUATS if

  • You need flight briefings.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want weather data.
DUATS review

Choose Prepar3D Professional if

  • You need flight physics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want aircraft systems.
Prepar3D Professional review

Questions people ask

Is DUATS or Prepar3D Professional better?
Neither clearly leads. DUATS starts at $9.95/month and Prepar3D Professional at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DUATS or Prepar3D Professional?
Prepar3D Professional has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $9.95/month for DUATS and Free for Prepar3D Professional.
Does DUATS or Prepar3D Professional run on more platforms?
DUATS runs on Web, Ios, Android. Prepar3D Professional runs on Windows.
Can I use Prepar3D Professional for free?
Yes. Prepar3D Professional has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DUATS starts at $9.95/month.
What is DUATS best used for?
DUATS is most often used for flight briefing, flight planning, flight filing, weather briefing. Of those, flight briefing and flight planning are not what Prepar3D Professional is typically brought in for.
What can DUATS do that Prepar3D Professional cannot?
DUATS covers Flight briefings, Weather data, Flight planning, Flight filing. Prepar3D Professional covers Flight physics, Aircraft systems, Scenery, ATC.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DUATS: Is DUATS still available?

No. The FAA discontinued the Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS II) on May 16, 2018.

Source
DUATS: Did DUATS cost money?

No. DUATS was free to all registered U.S. pilots and student pilots holding a current medical certificate.

Source
DUATS: What replaced DUATS?

Pilots now access internet-based weather, aeronautical information, and flight plan filing through the FAA flight service website at no charge.

Source
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