# Garmin Pilot vs COA Planner

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: COA Planner at none against Garmin Pilot's 10. COA Planner also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). Garmin Pilot's advantage is chart position (#54 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Garmin Pilot sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. COA Planner asks for nothing beyond the download.

Garmin Pilot ships an update fortnightly, COA Planner every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Garmin Pilot | COA Planner |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-pilot/id340917615/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **4.2K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 41.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 6 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | **#54** | — |
| Size | 676 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.0** | 26.2 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Garmin DCI](https://appshunter.io/developer/309920282) | [Yormen Gerrits](https://appshunter.io/developer/1870678313) |

## What reviewers say

### Garmin Pilot

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/garmin-pilot/id340917615)

**Currently charting:** #54 Top Grossing · Weather, #166 Top Free · Weather (US App Store)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Africa Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Pilot Asia Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Australia Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Canada Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Europe Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Latin American Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| U.S. Standard | $109.99 | one-time |
| Garmin Pilot Latin America Premium | $184.99 | one-time |
| Garmin Pilot U.S. Premium | $209.99 | one-time |
| Worldwide Premium | $599.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- Ability to mark up and annotate charts
- Vertical navigation view
- Cabin altitude/hypoxia warning
- Apple Watch app
- Passenger app for flight following


### COA Planner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/coa-planner/id6760268350)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Garmin Pilot free?

Garmin Pilot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is COA Planner free?

COA Planner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Garmin Pilot or COA Planner have ads?

Neither Garmin Pilot nor COA Planner shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Garmin Pilot or COA Planner?

Garmin Pilot ships an update fortnightly, and COA Planner every 6 days. Most recently, Garmin Pilot was updated on November 6, 2026 and COA Planner on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*