Comparison

VatView vs X

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VatView

Track air traffic controllers and flight information on the VATSIM network. View active ATC stations, frequencies, and ATIS messages. Explore an interactive map showing pilots and controllers, or search for airport-specific flight data.

Highlights
  • Interactive VATSIM map
  • Live METAR weather data
  • Filterable pilot and ATC lists
  • Airport-specific flight information
  • Enroute and FSS control areas
  • ATC bookings
Features
Read full description

VatView is a mobile app that allows flight simulation enthusiasts to track ATC presence and flight information on the VATSIM network. VatView aims to be your ultimate VATSIM companion! It provides easy access to active VATSIM terminal area ATC stations and frequencies and exposes the ATIS message easily. It also shows enroute ATC, including marking land, oceanic, UIR and FSS VATSIM controlled areas on the map. VatView features three main views: - a map displaying all pilots and air traffic controllers currently connected to the VATSIM network. - A filterable and searchable list page - displaying a detailed list of all connected pilots and ATC. - An airport search page - which concentrates all connected ATC, active flights and prefiled flight plans for a specific airport. VATSIM (short for the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network) is a completely free online platform that allows Flight simulator enthusiasts connect and fly virtually on one shared virtual aviation eco system. It simulates Air Traffic Control (ATC) with full voice and network connection between virtual pilots flight on flight simulator software and virtual air traffic controllers using software for providing ATC services. It is as real as it gets. It supports Microsoft's Flight simulator (MSFS, FSX and FS9), P3D and X-Plane. For more information visit https://www.vatsim.net. Features: - An Interactive map displaying VATSIM pilots and ATC - Detailed aircraft and terminal ATC station Icons - Enroute and FSS control areas - Live METAR (weather) data for any airport - ATC Bookings - Always up to date FIR boundaries synced with VATSpy's data project - Detailed flight information - Filterable and searchable list screen - An easy way to get all relevant terminal area stations with the relevant ATIS message * The app uses the storage permission to cache large airspace data it needs to display on the map. Disclaimer: The author is not affiliated with the VATSIM Organization in any way (other than being an enthusiastic user and member of the community)

About

X

This app displays your X-Plane simulator flight data on a map in real-time. Connect your device to the same network to view speeds, altitudes, and flight plans from Simbrief.

Highlights
  • Real-time flight data display
  • Connects to X-Plane 11/12
  • View speeds and altitudes
  • Download Simbrief flight plans
  • Automatic network discovery
Features
Read full description

iPhone and iPad app to run in parallel with your X-Plane simulator (it supports both X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12). Make sure your device is connected to the same network as the machine where X-Plane is running and the app will automatically find it and will link to it. Once linked, your flight data will start arriving to the app and therefore displayed in the map. On the Menu you can see flight information like your speeds and altitudes. You can also connect and download your current flight plan from Simbrief to get some extra flight information like arrival, destination, flight time, distance traveled, etc. Enjoy!

Screenshots

VatView4 screens
X3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: X at 100% against VatView's 25%. X also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). VatView's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VatView ships an update weekly, X every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 4 level
VatView versus X: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVatViewX
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews โ€” better
Update frequencyWeekly โ€” betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.114.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size54 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOren GevaXavier Ramos Oliver

Customer experience

VatView

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative25.0%

X

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

VatView

No in-app purchases

None

X

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VatView free?
VatView is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is X free?
X is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VatView or X have ads?
VatView shows ads; X does not.
Which is updated more often, VatView or X?
VatView ships an update weekly, and X every 5 weeks. Most recently, VatView was updated on June 5, 2026 and X on September 8, 2026.

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