Comparison

ForeFlight Mobile EFB vs Garmin Pilot

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ForeFlight Mobile EFB

This app simplifies flight planning, briefing, and filing for pilots. It offers interactive weather layers, detailed charts, and hazard awareness tools for enhanced situational awareness. Logbook features track flight hours and currency.

Highlights
  • Touch Planning on Map
  • Interactive Weather Layers
  • Geo-referenced Plates & Charts
  • Global Hazard Awareness
  • Digital Logbook
  • Synthetic Vision
Features
Read full description

Download for a 30-day free trial of our top subscription plan! Visit our website for more information on available plans and add-ons. ForeFlight is the leading flight app for VFR and IFR pilots everywhere, making flight planning and flying easier, safer, and more enjoyable. FLIGHT PLANNING, BRIEFING, & FILING Plan flights with Touch Planning on the Map or full-featured form-based Flights view. Tap out a route in seconds and quickly see if flights will be affected by weather or TFRs. Helpful Route, Altitude, and Procedure Advisors make planning easy and accurate. Generate a graphical preflight briefing and file your flight plan directly from the app. Print a professional-grade Navlog for inflight reference. WEATHER Interactive weather layers include animated radar, global satellite and winds aloft, global icing, turbulence, and surface analysis, graphical AIR/SIGMETs, flight category, visibility, and more. View decoded METARs, TAFs, and MOS forecasts. Thoughtfully organized Imagery view puts a full range of forecast tools at your fingertips. PLATES, CHARTS, & MAPS Both VFR and IFR operations are covered with all of the essentials required for planning and navigation: data-driven Aeronautical Maps, VFR Sectionals, High/Low Enroute charts, SIDs, STARs, approach and taxi charts, and terrain, satellite, and street map views. GEO-REFERENCED APPROACHES & TAXI CHARTS Plates and taxi charts enable the real time display of your GPS location on the chart. They can also be overlaid on the Maps view along with weather and hazards for the ultimate situational awareness. GLOBAL HAZARD AWARENESS TECHNOLOGY Plan and fly with more confidence in all conditions and terrain. Top-down-view Hazard Advisor map layer, Terrain Profile View, and 3D Synthetic Vision seamlessly integrate into the map display to depict a clear picture of terrain and obstacle hazards anywhere in the world. When paired with an AHRS source, Synthetic Vision provides a backup attitude display. LOGBOOK Logbook makes it easy to log and share flights, track hours, review currency, record certificates and ratings, receive electronic instructor endorsements, and create experience reports. Your data is automatically synced across all your devices and protected in secure cloud storage. ADDITIONAL FEATURES INCLUDE: Built-in documents catalog with FAR/AIM, charts supplements, and more Airport, FBO, and fuel price information for thousands of locations Dynamic data-driven Aeronautical Maps Weight & Balance Glide Advisor Automatic chart and data data updates Chart color inversion for better night flying experience Access to web planner

About

Garmin Pilot

This app offers comprehensive tools for general aviation and corporate pilots, including flight planning, interactive maps, weather briefings, and navigation. It streamlines pre-flight preparation, filing, inflight navigation, and post-flight logging with an intuitive interface.

Highlights
  • Pre-flight planning with aviation weather data
  • Interactive maps with track-up navigation
  • Flight plan filing via Leidos Flight Service or DUATS
  • En-route navigation with moving map and GPS panel
  • Electronic logbook with automatic GPS data generation
  • Real-time weather and traffic information (with compatible hardware)
Features
Read full description

*30 Days Free Trial on initial download!* Plan. File. Fly. Log. Garmin Pilot is the most comprehensive suite of tools for the iPad designed specifically for general aviation and corporate pilots. Flight planning, charts, interactive maps, weather briefing resources and navigation capabilities; it’s all included. The app’s intuitive interface mirrors those on the newest Garmin touchscreen avionics so you can go seamlessly from preflight to inflight. Plan Garmin Pilot’s powerful capabilities start with pre-flight planning, providing pilots with the most comprehensive aviation weather information to make better-informed flight decisions. Pilots can check NEXRAD radar, visible and infrared cloud imagery, METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, PIREPs, NOTAMs, winds and temperature aloft, TFRs and lightning data. With Garmin Pilot, data can be displayed over Garmin’s interactive maps that support track-up navigation, VFR sectional or an IFR low or high en-route chart to visualize the weather for your route. Add text-based weather widgets and use the exclusive NavTrack feature to view weather along the planned route. File With Garmin Pilot, users can easily enter a flight plan and interactively edit it on the map. Pre-loaded forms make it quick to save and reuse data for frequently flown routes. And when the flight plan is ready, Garmin Pilot makes it simple to file, amend or close the flight plan via Leidos Flight Service or DUATS. Fly Garmin Pilot provides full en-route navigation capability on its moving map. Pilots can also navigate with Garmin’s patented panel, a GPS-driven instrument pack with a graphical HSI directional display and indicators for groundspeed, altitude and vertical speed. After takeoff, pilots can continue to view real-time weather in the U.S. and traffic information by wirelessly connecting to Garmin’s GDL 50 series portable ADS-B Receiver (sold separately). Log Garmin Pilot includes a comprehensive electronic logbook that syncs with flyGarmin. The logbook automatically generates entries based upon GPS data collected during the flight, tracks currency, supports manual entries, endorsements and creates reports. Garmin Pilot U.S. Standard: - Rich, interactive maps support Track-Up navigation - Charts: VFR Sectionals, low and high IFR en-route, airport diagrams and approach procedures - Ability to view Jeppesen Terminal Charts (Jeppesen echart subscription required) - Weather Maps: Animated radar, Infrared and Visible Satellite, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, Lightning, TFRs and more! - Extensive text products: METARs, TAFs, Winds Aloft, PIREPs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, Area Forecasts and NOTAMs - AOPA Airport Directory - Weight and Balance - Checklists - Flight plan filing via Leidos Flight Services - Garmin patented navigation panel - Terrain and Obstacles - Smart Airspace - Fast Find predictive Waypoint Entry - Logbook - Optional VFR Premium: Synthetic Vision (SVX), Terrain and obstacle alerting, and Garmin SafeTaxi® - Optional IFR Premium: VFR Premium plus geo-referenced Garmin FliteCharts® Garmin Pilot has regional offerings for Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and Latin America. Features include: - Worldwide Jeppesen NavData - Rich, interactive maps support Track-Up navigation - Radar and Satellite imagery for Western Europe, U.S., Canada and Australia - Ability to view Jeppesen Terminal Charts (Jeppesen echart subscription required) - Worldwide METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, NOTAMs and winds aloft - VFR Flight Plan Filing - IFR autorouting and Flight plan filing in Europe - Terrain and Obstacles with alerting - Synthetic Vision (SVX) - Smart Airspace - Logbook - Optional VFR charts from DFS, IGN and NATS and IFR enroute charts from EuroControl - Optional Garmin FliteCharts® and SafeTaxi® diagrams available on a country-by-country basis *Note: Use of GPS running in the background may decrease battery life.* *Note: One subscription to Garmin Pilot may be used on three devices.*

Screenshots

ForeFlight Mobile EFB4 screens
Garmin Pilot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ForeFlight Mobile EFB at 68% against Garmin Pilot's 42%. ForeFlight Mobile EFB also leads on chart position (#14 vs #53). Garmin Pilot's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ForeFlight Mobile EFB sells 14 one-off in-app purchases and Garmin Pilot sells 18 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Garmin Pilot holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.2K and 4.1K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of ForeFlight Mobile EFB's written reviews are positive against 42% of Garmin Pilot's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ForeFlight Mobile EFB ships an update every 2 weeks, Garmin Pilot fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
ForeFlight Mobile EFB versus Garmin Pilot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForeFlight Mobile EFBGarmin Pilot
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (3.2K ratings)4.7 (4.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews — better41.8% of reviews
Number of ratings3.2K4.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#14 — better#53
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size587 MB633 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperForeFlightGarmin DCI

Customer experience

ForeFlight Mobile EFB

All ratings3,246 ratings
Positive83.7%
Neutral5.2%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews441 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral8.6%
Negative22.9%

Garmin Pilot

All ratings4,126 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews342 reviews
Positive41.8%
Neutral14.6%
Negative43.6%

User reviews

ForeFlight Mobile EFB

From 3.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent flight planning and navigation tool
  • 🔒 Enhances safety and situational awareness
  • 👍 Comprehensive and user-friendly features
  • 👍 Seamless integration with avionics
  • 👍 Responsive and helpful customer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
  • 🔋 High battery consumption on mobile devices
  • 🚫 Limited functionality for non-US/Canada users
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model for some users

Garmin Pilot

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent EFB app
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Garmin avionics
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 👍 Reliable and stable
  • 👍 Great features like engine monitoring and data recording

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Clunky and multi-step process to view plates
  • 🐛 Issues with NOTAM updates and database concierge
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and lockups
  • 🐛 Winds aloft data often inaccurate
  • 🐛 Lacks support for some aircraft models

Bugs and requests

ForeFlight Mobile EFB

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Weather data not updating correctly
  • Issues with syncing user waypoints and annotations
  • Incompatibility with certain iOS versions and device models

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to add multiple landing legs in a single flight plan
  • Improved map annotations and drawing tools
  • Customizable logbook and flight data export options
  • Better support for Apple Watch and other wearables
  • More comprehensive coverage of international airports and charts

Garmin Pilot

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when viewing weather data
  • Weight and balance profile import/export issues
  • Database concierge not working as expected
  • Inability to file VFR flight plans in some regions
  • Groundspeed and track data not working on certain devices

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to mark up and annotate charts
  • Vertical navigation view
  • Cabin altitude/hypoxia warning
  • Apple Watch app
  • Passenger app for flight following
Show 4 more
  • Google Maps integration with user waypoints
  • Ability to import GPX/CSV waypoints
  • Printable logbook reports
  • More detailed weather imagery and forecasts

In-app purchases

14 purchases

ForeFlight Mobile EFB

One-time14
  • Basic Plus US - 3 months$70.00
  • Starter LATAM - 1 Year$129.99
  • Starter US - 1 Year$129.99
Show 11 more
  • Starter CA - 1 Year$129.99
  • Starter EUR - 1 Year$129.99
  • Starter APAC - 1 Year$129.99
  • Starter ME & SA - 1 Year$129.99
  • Essential APAC - 1 Year$259.99
  • Essential ME & SA - 1 Year$259.99
  • Essential US - 1 Year$259.99
  • Essential CA - 1 Year$259.99
  • Premium LATAM$390.00
  • Premium ME & SA$390.00
  • Premium US - 1 Year2 variants$390.00
18 purchases

Garmin Pilot

One-time18
  • Canada Premium$74.99
  • Latin American Premium Upgrade$74.99
  • Europe Premium Upgrade$74.99
Show 15 more
  • U.S. Premium Upgrade$99.99
  • Africa Standard$109.99
  • Pilot Asia Standard$109.99
  • Australia Standard$109.99
  • Canada Standard$109.99
  • Europe Standard$109.99
  • Latin American Standard$109.99
  • U.S. Standard$109.99
  • Garmin Pilot Africa Premium$184.99
  • Garmin Pilot Canada Premium$184.99
  • Garmin Pilot Asia Premium$184.99
  • Garmin Pilot Europe Premium$184.99
  • Garmin Pilot Latin America Premium$184.99
  • Garmin Pilot U.S. Premium$209.99
  • Worldwide Premium$599.99

Questions

Is ForeFlight Mobile EFB free?
ForeFlight Mobile EFB is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Garmin Pilot free?
Garmin Pilot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ForeFlight Mobile EFB or Garmin Pilot?
Garmin Pilot is rated higher. ForeFlight Mobile EFB averages 4.4 out of 5 from 3.2K ratings, while Garmin Pilot averages 4.7 from 4.1K ratings.
Do ForeFlight Mobile EFB or Garmin Pilot have ads?
Neither ForeFlight Mobile EFB nor Garmin Pilot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ForeFlight Mobile EFB or Garmin Pilot?
ForeFlight Mobile EFB ships an update every 2 weeks, and Garmin Pilot fortnightly. Most recently, ForeFlight Mobile EFB was updated on September 23, 2026 and Garmin Pilot on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, ForeFlight Mobile EFB or Garmin Pilot?
ForeFlight Mobile EFB currently peaks at #14 in the App Store charts, and Garmin Pilot at #53. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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