Aviation & Aerospace · head to head
FlightAware vs NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
FlightAware
Aviation & Aerospace
Global flight tracking and aviation data platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
Aviation & Aerospace
Airline flight planning and optimization
- From
- $50000/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only FlightAware has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: FlightAware flightAware Global is sold per aircraft tail, with discounts applied only when multiple aircraft are tracked; NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning nAVBLUE product URLs now redirect to skywise.com, where the vendor states Skywise was born from the merger of NAVBLUE solutions and Skywise Digital solutions as an Airbus digital services company
- They diverge on capability: FlightAware covers Real-time tracking, NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning covers Route optimization.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which FlightAware and NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning actually diverge.
| Attribute | FlightAware | NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $50000/year |
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Ios, Android | Web, Windows |
| Founded | 2005 | 2016 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Aviation & Aerospace).
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 FlightAware
- Real-time tracking
- Flight status
- Airport info
- Delay tracking
- Weather data
- APIs
- Third-party apps
- Airlines
Only in NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- Route optimization
- Fuel calculation
- Weather integration
- Performance data
- ATC coordination
- Airline OCC
- NOTAMs
- Crew systems
Both cover
- Weather services
- Data encryption
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
FlightAware
- Tracking a business aviation fleet by tail number with taxi and ground alertsnot NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- Blocking or selectively sharing an aircraft's flight legs for privacynot NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- Pulling live and historical flight positions and tracks into an application over a REST APInot NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- Predicting arrival times with Foresight for airline and airport operationsnot NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- Airline flight planning and operations controlnot FlightAware
- Flight operations engineering and aeronautical data managementnot FlightAware
- Fleet performance and technical operations monitoringnot FlightAware
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
FlightAware
- FlightAware Global is sold per aircraft tail, with discounts applied only when multiple aircraft are tracked
- Global satellite tracking through Aireon space-based ADS-B requires the Platinum plan at $295 per month or $3,540 per year
- Secure flight sharing, flight leg unblocking and access management start at the Gold plan at $168 per month, not the $60 per month Silver plan
- AeroAPI Standard carries a $100 monthly minimum and AeroAPI Premium a $1,000 monthly minimum regardless of usage
- Historical flight data and flight alerting are excluded from the free AeroAPI Personal tier
- AeroAPI Personal is rate limited to 10 result sets per minute against 5 per second on Standard
- AeroAPI billing is metered per result set, for example $0.050 per result set for flight search, where one result set is 15 records
- AeroAPI volume discounts begin only above $1,000 of monthly usage
- Firehose, Foresight and FBO Toolbox carry no published price on the commercial products page
NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
- NAVBLUE product URLs now redirect to skywise.com, where the vendor states Skywise was born from the merger of NAVBLUE solutions and Skywise Digital solutions as an Airbus digital services company
- No price, tier or minimum is published for any Skywise or former NAVBLUE product
Pricing, plan by plan
FlightAware
Free- FreeFree
- Flight tracking
- Basic info
- Mobile app
- Subscription$9.99/month
- Ad-free
- Premium tracking
- Weather maps
NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning
$50000/year- N-Flight Planning$50000/year
- Route optimization
- Fuel planning
- Weather integration
- Enterprise$100000/year
- Everything included
- Multi-fleet
- Custom optimization
Which should you pick?
Choose FlightAware if
- You need real-time tracking.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want flight status.
Choose NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning if
- You need route optimization.
- You work on Web, Windows.
- You also want fuel calculation.
Questions people ask
- Is FlightAware or NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning better?
- Neither clearly leads. FlightAware starts at Free and NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning at $50000/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, FlightAware or NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning?
- FlightAware has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for FlightAware and $50000/year for NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning.
- Does FlightAware or NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning run on more platforms?
- FlightAware runs on Web, Ios, Android. NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning runs on Web, Windows.
- Can I use FlightAware for free?
- Yes. FlightAware has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning starts at $50000/year.
- What is FlightAware best used for?
- FlightAware is most often used for tracking a business aviation fleet by tail number with taxi and ground alerts, blocking or selectively sharing an aircraft's flight legs for privacy, pulling live and historical flight positions and tracks into an application over a rest api, predicting arrival times with foresight for airline and airport operations. Of those, tracking a business aviation fleet by tail number with taxi and ground alerts and blocking or selectively sharing an aircraft's flight legs for privacy are not what NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning is typically brought in for.
- What can FlightAware do that NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning cannot?
- FlightAware covers Real-time tracking, Flight status, Airport info, Delay tracking. NAVBLUE N-Flight Planning covers Route optimization, Fuel calculation, Weather integration, Performance data. Both handle Weather services, Data encryption, Web support.