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ForeFlight
ForeFlight: Comprehensive flight planning and pilot briefing app
FlightAware
Global flight tracking and aviation data platform
As of 30 August 2026, FlightAware is free to use. FlightAware is the world's most trusted real-time flight tracking and data platform. Softwr lists it under Aviation. FlightAware is launched in 2005, available on Web, iOS, Android.
Overview
What FlightAware does
FlightAware is the world's most trusted real-time flight tracking and data platform. It provides flight status, delays, cancellations, airport information, and aviation analytics. Used by airlines, airports, and millions of aviation enthusiasts worldwide for comprehensive flight information and operational insights.
What people use it 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
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of FlightAware
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- FlightAwarevsGarmin Pilot
Garmin Pilot: All-in-one flight planning and navigation app
- FlightAwarevsSkyDemon
SkyDemon: VFR flight planning for European pilots
- FlightAwarevsAMOS
AMOS: Aviation maintenance and engineering management software
Pricing
What FlightAware costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Flight tracking
- Basic info
- Mobile app
- Email alerts
Subscription
$9.99 /mo
- Ad-free
- Premium tracking
- Weather maps
- Aircraft info
Capabilities
Features
Real-time tracking
Flight status
Airport info
Delay tracking
Weather data
APIs
Integration with APIs
Third-party apps
Integration with Third-party apps
Airlines
Integration with Airlines
Airports
Integration with Airports
Weather services
Integration with Weather services
Data encryption
Data encryption security feature
Privacy protection
Privacy protection security feature
Behind it
Who makes FlightAware
- Company
- FlightAware
- Based in
- Houston, TX
Keep looking
Where to go from FlightAware
- FlightAware alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- FlightAware pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- FlightAware badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Aviation softwareThe full category
- Best Aviation softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Aviation software for
Compare FlightAware with
- Flighty
- Garmin Pilot
- ForeFlight
- SkyDemon
- AMOS
- Flightradar24
- ARINC Direct
- CloudAhoy
- FltPlan Go
- CAE Flight Training
- DJI FlightHub 2
- PFPX Flight Planning
- SITA Airport Management
- SkyVector
- SpaceX Starlink Aviation
- WingX Pro
- FlightSafety International Training
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Other Aviation software
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From $9.99/mo8 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for FlightAware, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on FlightAware
FlightAware alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
FlightAware pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare FlightAware
Put it head to head with anything we hold
FlightAware badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Aviation software alternatives
Subscription flight tracking for iOS with predictive delay alerts
Per user per month or one-time purchase
Real-time flight operations and dispatch platform
