PilotCalc vs PilotBox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PilotCalc
This utility app helps pilots log flight details and calculate various time durations. It offers a free version with core features and optional in-app purchases for enhanced customization and additional calculators.
- Flight log for basic flight information
- Automatic calculation of block, airborne, duty, and tech log times
- Departure countdown with customizable alerts
- Time calculator for hours and minutes
- Decimal time calculator
- Basic arithmetic calculator
- Customizable keyboard colors
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PilotCalc is a utility comprising a mini Flight Log and Time Calculator. The basic functionality of the Time Calculator and the Flight Log is free with no ads, but there are two one-off in-app purchases available to extend the usefulness of the app and to customise its appearance. The Flight Log is designed to enable pilots to log basic flight information and a few notes for a series of flights. It automatically calculates the associated block, airborne, duty and tech log times. If scheduled times are entered before flight, it also provides a countdown to departure. The Flight Log can be used in UTC or system time. Buying the Flight Log Preferences in-app purchase allows for customisation of the Flight Log. This customisation includes: - Tailoring the departure countdown, including adding and removing alert times, changing associated colours and the option to enable audio and/or background notifications for each countdown alert. - Displaying elapsed times in hours and minutes or in decimals. - Changing the default periods used for calculating the Duty Start and Duty End times. - Changing the tech log calculation to use block times instead of airborne times. The Time Calculator is designed to add up logbook entries with minimal keystrokes, but can be used for any hours and minutes calculations, including those involving elapsed time within a 24 hour period (useful for those duty time sums at the end of a long night). There are no practical limits to the number of hours that can be added, but time calculations resulting in negative time values are not supported. All calculations are held in a rolling tape for reference. The free version of PilotCalc offers three different calculator keyboard colour options and includes the hours and minutes time calculator. Opting to pay for the Calculator Preferences in-app purchase unlocks eight additional keyboard colours and two additional calculators - a decimal time calculator and a basic arithmetic calculator. With the Calculator Preferences enabled, hours and minutes calculations and decimal calculations are automatically converted when switching between the two time calculators. The app was developed to work well on the relatively small screen of an iPhone but scales effectively to the larger iPad screens. This version does not allow synchronisation between devices. Please visit www.coldaridcode.com for more information or follow us @coldaridcode for the latest news. If you find PilotCalc useful we would really appreciate a review on the App Store!
PilotBox
This aviation utility app provides pilots with automated weather reports, significant weather charts, and essential flight calculation tools. It offers features like fuel uplift calculation, temperature altitude corrections, and a coordinates converter, accessible on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
- Automated Weather (METAR & TAF)
- Significant Weather Charts
- Fuel Uplift Calculator
- Temperature Altitude Corrections
- iPhone Widgets
- Watch App
- Coordinates Converter
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Pilot Weather and Tools perfect for Airline Pilots - Fully Automated Weather (METAR & TAF) - Significant Weather Charts - Fuel Uplift Calculator - Temperature Altitude Corrections - iPhone Widgets - Watch App - Useful Aviation Tools - Coordinates Converter Find out more: https://pilotbox.app Payments and Subscriptions: Subscription payments will be charged to your Apple Account once you confirm your purchase. Subscription automatically renews at the end of your current subscription period, unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours prior to end of the current period. Terms of Service: https://pilotbox.app/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://pilotbox.app/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: PilotBox at 26 against PilotCalc's 8. PilotCalc's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. PilotCalc sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and PilotBox sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for PilotCalc against 4.9 for PilotBox. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 26 respectively.
PilotCalc ships an update every 2 weeks, PilotBox every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PilotCalc | PilotBox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (8 ratings) | 4.9 (26 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 26 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 170 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ian Longshaw | Aero Notion Limited |
Customer experience
PilotCalc
PilotBox
In-app purchases
PilotCalc
- Calculator Colour Pack One$0.49
- Calculator Colour Pack Two$0.49
- Countdown Preferences$0.99
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- Calculator Preferences$1.99
- Flight Log Preferences$1.99
PilotBox
- Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription$24.991 Year
Questions
Is PilotCalc free?
Is PilotBox free?
Which has better reviews, PilotCalc or PilotBox?
Do PilotCalc or PilotBox have ads?
Which is updated more often, PilotCalc or PilotBox?
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