FreeFlight Mini vs HolyStone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FreeFlight Mini
Control Parrot Minidrones with your smartphone or tablet. Features intuitive piloting, easy connectivity, and advanced flight modes for acrobatic maneuvers. Capture photos and videos in real-time for an immersive FPV experience.
- Intuitive piloting interface
- Easy drone detection and connection
- Real-time HD video saving and transmission
- FPV racing pilot modes
- One-touch acrobatics and flips
- Customizable flight parameters
- Photo capture
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FREEFLIGHT MINI The official dedicated app for Parrot Minidrones*. PILOT YOUR DRONE VIA YOUR SMARTPHONE OR TABLET Download FreeFlight Mini free of charge in order to pilot Parrot Minidrones. INTUITIVE PILOTING FreeFlight Mini’s easy-to-use interface makes piloting simple, even for beginner pilots. The app connects to your Minidrone via Bluetooth Low Energy or Wi-Fi. EASY CONNECTIVITY The FreeFlight Mini App automatically detects which Parrot Minidrone you are using. Simply turn on your drone, activate Bluetooth on your smartphone/tablet and open the application. Select your drone from the list that appears on the screen. Your drone will then connect and you are ready for take-off! If you’re using Mambo FPV, activate wifi on your iDevice and connect to your drone in the app. List of drones compatible with this application: Parrot Mambo, Parrot Swing, Parrot Minidrones Airborne Night and Cargo, Hydrofoil*, and Rolling Spider. *For Hydrofoil: place the Airborne Minidrone into the Hydrofoil structure, select Hydrofoil mode in settings, and start sailing across the water. Parrot MAMBO FPV NEW FEATURES The application will instantly recognize the FPV camera that you have connected to your Parrot Mambo. You can now save and transmit HD video content in real time! To completely immerse yourself in the FPV experience, simply place your iDevice in your Parrot Cockpit Glasses 2. You’ll see exactly what your drone sees and discover new, thrilling sensations thanks to this innovative function. Become a FPV racing pilot using the three new pilot modes. Start with the Easy mode, which will keep your drone’s position in the air even after the controls have been released. Then, move on to Drift mode. This mode deactivates the horizontal stabilization, thus allowing for sharps turns and more complex maneuvers. Last but not least, push your piloting skills to the limit and try the new Racing mode. You’ll have complete control of the drone with no stabilization assistance. The possibilities are endless! ACROBATICS, FLIPS & TURNS From the home screen of the FreeFlight Mini app, you can easily access your settings for piloting, photos, and the "Parrot Cloud.” You can also customize flight parameters, including: altitude, speed and piloting mode (accelerometer, joypad). FreeFlight Mini app also includes fun features like one-touch flip: - Experience loops, barrel rolls, and high speed 180-degree turns with Parrot Swing - Front/back/side flips with Parrot Mambo, Airborne Minidrones, Rolling Spider and Hydrofoil* *Only when it’s removed from the Hydrofoil structure and in flight mode Parrot Minidrones are ultra-compact drones with impressive agility. They can fly both indoors and outdoors with great speed and stability. PHOTOS All Parrot Minidrones can take dronies of you and your friends. You can also store images from your drone races taken by Parrot Swing in plane mode. CUSTOMIZE YOUR FLYPAD SETTINGS The new Parrot Flypad allows you to pilot your Minidrone with extra-precision and control. There are two ways to connect the controller to the Minidrone: - Automatically and directly, without the use of a smartphone. This mode offers an increased flight range of up to 200 feet - Through your smartphone or tablet. This connection mode allows you to monitor your flight status on your device’s screen, and simultaneously pilot the Minidrone using the controller You can customize your Flypad controls to suit your piloting preferences through the use of the FreeFlight Mini app. Turn on your Parrot Flypad and select it in the “controller” section of the app. From there, you can modify the button mapping and check battery life. When you start piloting, enjoy the optimized display of flight information (flight time and drone battery percentage) on your smartphone. *To pilot Parrot Minidrone Jumping Night, Race, or Sumo, you need to download the FreeFlight Jumping app.
HolyStone
Control your drone with your mobile device. Experience real-time FPV video, multiple control methods including gravity sensing and voice commands, and capture photos and videos directly from the app.
- WiFi real-time image transmission
- Gravity sensing control
- Trajectory control
- Voice command control
- Hand photography and video recording
- Manual photography and video recording
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A drone controls the app. The main features are as follows: 1. WiFi real-time image transmission 2. Real time manual control, gravity sensing control, trajectory control, voice command control 3. Hand photography and video recording, manual photography and video recording
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: FreeFlight Mini at 3.7 against HolyStone's 3.5. FreeFlight Mini also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (513 vs 111). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
FreeFlight Mini holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 513 and 111 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of FreeFlight Mini's written reviews are positive against 30% of HolyStone's.
FreeFlight Mini ships an update every 5 weeks, HolyStone every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FreeFlight Mini | HolyStone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (513 ratings) — better | 3.5 (111 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 34.2% of reviews — better | 29.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 513 — better | 111 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 141 MB | 104 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parrot SA | HOLY STONE TECHNOLOGY Co.,Ltd. |
Customer experience
FreeFlight Mini
HolyStone
User reviews
FreeFlight Mini
From 513 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Works well on iPhone
- 👍 Fun and enjoyable
- 🚀 Very nice and enjoyable for 10-year-olds
- 👍 More reliable than a McLaren
- 🚀 Camera works well
Room to improve
- 🐛 Broken app sign-up/login
- 👎 Built-in obsolescence
- 👎 Difficult to control
- 🔋 Short battery life
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
HolyStone
From 111 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun drone to use
- 👍 Good camera quality
- 👍 Impressed by drone quality
- 👍 Easy to use interface
- 👍 Easy connection with app and drone
Room to improve
- 😞 App doesn't work
- 😞 Drone won't pair
- 😞 App freezes
- 😞 Drone flies away unexpectedly
- 😞 Connection issues
Bugs and requests
FreeFlight Mini
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to transfer photos
- Bluetooth connectivity issues
- Drone firmware update problems
- Drone goes out of control during flight
Requested features
4 requests- Automatic orientation adjustment for left-handed users
- Ability to change control mode
- Improved camera functionality
- Emergency stop button
HolyStone
Reported bugs
16 issues- App freezes
- Drone won't pair with controller
- Home button causes drone to fly erratically
- Cannot log back into account
- Videos turn screen white
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- Cannot connect to Wi-Fi (security warning)
- Videos and pictures are excessively large files
- App steals information
- Drone flies away on its own
- App disconnects from drone
- App doesn't show recorded videos
- App requires location permission
- App claims to be for email
- Drone blades not spinning
- Drone flies in random direction
- App crashes iPhone when viewing media
Requested features
5 requests- Update app to fix bugs
- Provide better customer support
- Fix video file size issue
- Improve drone control responsiveness
- Fix account creation issues
In-app purchases
FreeFlight Mini
No in-app purchases
HolyStone
No in-app purchases









