Flight tracker apps compared: Flightradar24, FlightAware, ADS-B Exchange and more

“Which app do you use?” – hardly any question is heard more often at the fence. One swears by Flightradar24, the next has FlightAware open, and the bizjet fan in the background scrolls through ADS-B Exchange. They all show colorful aircraft symbols on a map, and yet the services differ considerably: in data sources, filtering, subscription model and what you as a spotter actually get out of them. This comparison sorts out the most important flight tracking services and shows which one fits which question.

The short answer

For a normal spotting day at the airport, one all-rounder like Flightradar24 or FlightAware is enough. Both reliably show arrivals, departures, registrations and schedules. As soon as you hunt specifically for military, government or business aircraft, an unfiltered service like ADS-B Exchange is worth having as a second map. And if you run your own receiver, several providers give you an upgraded account for free.

Important to know: the services are not radar installations. They mainly evaluate ADS-B signals that aircraft transmit themselves, and supplement them with multilateration (MLAT), satellite reception and other sources. How this works technically is explained in detail in the guide Flight tracking for spotters. Here the question is: which service does what better?

The services in profile

Flightradar24: the best-known all-rounder

Flightradar24 started in 2006 as a project by two Swedish aviation fans and is now operated by Flightradar24 AB in Stockholm. Since 2009, volunteers have been able to contribute with their own receivers. As data sources, the service uses, besides ADS-B, MLAT, satellite ADS-B, radar and FAA data from North America, and FLARM data, which makes mainly gliders and light aircraft visible.

The model is freemium: the live map and flight details are free, extras come with the Silver, Gold and Business subscriptions. According to Flightradar24, flight history goes back 90 days on Silver and 365 days on Gold, and Business covers even longer periods. Gold adds weather layers, aeronautical charts and extended Mode S data, among other things. Also practical for spotters is the airport view with arrivals, departures and ground movements – how far back you can look depends on the subscription as well.

FlightAware: strong in flight status and the feeder program

FlightAware started in 2005 in Houston and has belonged to Collins Aerospace, a company of the RTX group, since November 2021. Besides a large network of ADS-B ground stations, FlightAware incorporates data from air traffic control in over 50 countries, satellite ADS-B and datalink sources. That makes the service especially strong in flight status, delays and planning data.

The feeder program is interesting for spotters: if you run your own receiver with the free software PiAware, you get an Enterprise account. FlightAware lists eight months of flight history, unlimited flight alerts, registrations for airline flights, ATC callsigns and ad-free full-screen maps. The service offers paid subscriptions with history depths of three, five or eight months.

ADS-B Exchange: the unfiltered map

ADS-B Exchange was founded in 2016 by an aviation enthusiast as a hobby project. The service sees itself as a platform that shows flight movements without censorship or targeted filtering – explicitly including military traffic. That is exactly why it is popular with spotters who want to keep an eye on tankers, transporters or government aircraft.

Since January 2023, ADS-B Exchange has belonged to the aviation data provider JETNET. Alongside it there are now community maps like adsb.lol, which say they provide unfiltered, openly licensed data, use the tar1090 web interface and collect reception data from community feeders. For spotters that means: if you are looking for unfiltered data, you now have several places to go.

AirNav Radar (formerly RadarBox)

Behind AirNav Radar, formerly known as RadarBox, stands AirNav Systems from Tampa, Florida, with a development site in Lisbon. The company was founded in 2001 and operates its own ADS-B network with volunteers in more than 190 countries. Besides ground and satellite ADS-B, AirNav lists data from EUROCONTROL, the FAA and MLAT as sources. Interesting for spotters: fleet tracking, airport view and movement statistics.

Plane Finder

Plane Finder is operated by Pinkfroot Ltd. from Southampton and has been on the market since 2009. The service is known for the 3D and augmented reality views in its apps: you hold your phone up to the sky and see which aircraft is flying there. In addition there is its own receiver network, MLAT, an FAA feed for North America and a playback function for past flights.

OpenSky Network

OpenSky is a special case: a nonprofit association based in Burgdorf, Switzerland, which emerged from a research project started in 2012 by armasuisse and the universities of Kaiserslautern and Oxford. The data is freely available to universities and authorities for research. For a quick look at the fence OpenSky is less convenient, but for data fans with programming skills it is an exciting source.

The comparison at a glance

Service	Operator and location	Strength for spotters	Filtering	Feeder perk
Flightradar24	Flightradar24 AB, Stockholm	Intuitive map, airport view, broad data base incl. FLARM	Respects blocking lists, military partly hidden	Business subscription for active feeders
FlightAware	Collins Aerospace, Houston	Flight status, delays, alerts, air traffic control data	Respects blocking lists	Enterprise account via PiAware
ADS-B Exchange	JETNET (since 2023)	Military, government and bizjet traffic	By its own account no targeted filtering	Feeder Hub for participants
AirNav Radar	AirNav Systems, Tampa	Fleet tracking, statistics, many data sources	Commercial service	Own network of volunteer feeders
Plane Finder	Pinkfroot Ltd., Southampton	3D and AR view, flight playback	Commercial service	Data sharing via its own client software
OpenSky Network	Association, Burgdorf (CH)	Raw data for research and analysis	Research-oriented	Own receiver kits available

The information on subscriptions and feeder benefits changes regularly. Before taking out a subscription, always check the provider’s current overview – this article is current as of October 2026.

What spotters really care about

Commuters want to know whether their flight is on time. Spotters have different questions. These criteria help you evaluate a service:

• Search by registration and type: Can you search and filter specifically for a registration or an aircraft type? For hunting a special livery this is crucial.
• Airport view: Does the service show arrivals and departures with registration and type? That way you see at a glance whether a Boeing 747-8 or an Airbus A380 is expected today.
• History: How far back can you look? With a longer history you can see which routes an aircraft flies regularly.
• Handling of blocked flights: Are military, government and private flights shown, anonymized or hidden?
• Alerts: Does the service notify you when a specific aircraft takes off or lands?
• Battery and data usage: At the spot, what counts is how heavily the app drains the phone. A power bank belongs in your camera bag anyway.

Which service for which spotter?

How to use two services cleverly together

Many experienced spotters work with a fixed combination. This is what your routine on a spotting day could look like:

At large hubs like Frankfurt Airport or Munich Airport this routine is especially helpful. At the Zeppelinheim viewing platform or the Munich Airport visitors’ hill, Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 777-300ER often land in quick succession – with the map you know when to raise the camera. The same applies to observation deck B in Zurich and the spotters’ hill in Vienna.

Becoming a feeder: the path to premium without a subscription

Probably the best tip for heavy users: build your own ADS-B receiver. FlightAware puts the hardware for a Raspberry Pi with a USB receiver and antenna at around 100 US dollars, or about 80 euros. For that you get not only your own live map of your surroundings but, with several services, an upgraded account. Many feeders supply several networks at once with one station. How the build works is shown in the guide Building your own ADS-B receiver.

Common mistakes when comparing the services

• Trusting only one map. If an aircraft is missing, it is often due to filtering or coverage, not the aircraft.
• Taking out a subscription before you know what you need. Many spotters need only the live map and registration search – and those are free.
• Taking estimated positions seriously. Some services keep extending the route when reception is missing. That shows where the aircraft should be, not where it is.
• Misreading emergency codes. A flight with squawk 7700 is no reason to drive to the airport. What the codes mean is explained in the article on squawk 7500, 7600 and 7700.
• Sacrificing safety for timing. No landing justifies blocking access roads or entering restricted areas. What is allowed, you can read under Is plane spotting legal?

If you are still looking for more tools for your everyday spotting, the overview Plane spotting apps compared helps. Beginners will find the basics in the guide Plane spotting for beginners, and when the light suits your photo is shown in the article on the sun position at the photo spot.

Conclusion

Flightradar24, FlightAware, ADS-B Exchange and the rest draw on similar raw data but set different priorities. The all-rounders score with schedules, airport views and mature apps, ADS-B Exchange and community maps with data as unfiltered as possible, AirNav Radar and Plane Finder with extras of their own, OpenSky with raw data for research. For most spotters, a combination of an all-rounder and an unfiltered second map is the best solution – and if you run your own receiver, you often get the premium features for free.