Sky vs Airmate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sky
This app provides a moving map display for aviation charts, enabling flight planning, route management, and calculation of flight parameters. It includes features like airspace warnings, terrain overlay, and a logbook function for automatic flight recording. Additional charts and weather data may require separate purchases.
- Moving map display on aviation charts
- Flight planning and route management
- Distance, flight time, and fuel calculations
- Airspace and terrain warnings
- Automatic logbook and track recording
- Approach and airport chart display
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Sky-Map is a Moving Map navigation and flight planning system. Like the Sky-Map Versions for other platforms it contains the following functionality: - Moving Map: Displays the actual position on digital aviation charts, like ICAO chart from DFS (Maps not included) - Fast move and zoom of the map - Flightplanning: Flights can be planned direct on the map or using the waypoint database. - Routes can be saved, loaded or modified - Calculation of distances, flighttimes, wind influence, fuelconsumption - Automatic display of approach/airport charts (if AIP is installed) - Airspace warnings - Terrain overlay and altitude warning - "Direct to" function - "Nearest Airports" function - AIP Browser: displays of approach/airport charts as well as text information (if AIP is installed) - PCMet Browser: Quick access to weather information (additional costs for pc_met access apply) - Displays precipitation radar and GAFOR directly on the map (additional costs for pc_met access apply) - Logbook function: automatic logging of Starttime/Position, Landingtime/Position und Flighttime - Checklist function - Infopanels (configurable) for Speed, Altitude, Distance, Time aso.. - Logbook and track recording in Background when in motion Please note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life The software contains an worldwide basemap (not for navigation), additional charts from the Flight Planner/Sky-Map selection have to be installed.
Airmate
This app provides pilots with comprehensive flight planning tools, including weather forecasts, airport data, and navigation charts. It enhances situational awareness with a moving map, traffic displays, and terrain elevation views. Pilots can also file flight plans and record their flights.
- Flight planning and weather forecasts
- Airport data and aviation maps
- Moving map with aircraft location
- Traffic and terrain elevation display
- Flight plan filing and management
- Flight recording and replay
- ADS-B traffic and weather reception
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Airmate is a free and easy to use flight planning and weather app for pilots, improving situational awareness and providing instant access to airport data and aviation maps, up to date weather and NOTAMs, traffic around. IFR and VFR airport plates are freely available in US (FAA charts), Europe, and more than 200 other countries. Many of them are georeferenced and could be overlaid on the aviation chart. A powerful Plate Manager allows to download in advance all airport plates in a country, they could be easily printed and viewed. During the flight, the moving map will display the aircraft location along the route, show airports and aeronautical data details and traffic around, warn you if your planned route is crossing restricted areas. A profile view is available to display terrain elevation, crossed areas and forecasted weather across the route. Airmate can also display a backup aircraft attitude indicator and flight parameters in an EFIS-like view. In the whole world, Synthetic Vision displaying in the EFIS-like view the ups and downs of rolling terrain ahead is available. In selected countries, Airmate can display scenery if this option is purchased. Airmate includes a worldwide aeronautical database updated free of charge with airports, navigation beacons, waypoints, airways, obstacles, regulated and restricted areas. Topographic maps and elevation data for most countries may be downloaded free of charge, as well as additional aviation map overlays such US Sectionals. A procedure database provide details of departure (SID), arrival (STAR) and instrument approaches in the USA, and you could add those procedures to your planned flight route (the procedure database includes all US airports, we are workding to add airports in other countries). Once loaded, the procedure path is displayed on the aeronautical map, including curved paths and racetracks. When coupled with a supported external ADS-B received, Airmate will display nearby traffic on the moving map, and receive FIS-B weather and NOTAM during the flight. To improve safety, Airmate can display neighbouring traffic received over mobile network. Such traffic include commercial airlines and transponder-equiped aircrafts, FLARM gliders, aircrafts whose pilots are using Airmate and other users using other safety broadcasting equipment. Airmate is able to transmit the flight plan data to supported avionics such Dynon SkyView. Thanks to the Auto Route feature, you could search and select the best route for your flight, and then file your VFR or IFR flight plan. Once filed, your flight plan could easily be managed, delayed or cancelled. Airmate will also record your flights and allow to replay them later or export the flight path in gpx format, you could take pictures from the app during flights. Pilot log entries are automatically computed from flown flights. A Satellite map display mode in flight planning or replay mode allows to familiarize with significant landmarks. Airmate will save planned and flown flights, user waypoints and user aircrafts in the cloud and sync them between your devices and Airmate web flight planning. Airmate brings numerous social features to the community. Pilots may leave ratings, tips and comments to share their experience with fellow pilots, and report fuel prices and landing fees. They could find friends, instructors, flight schools, aviation events and aircraft to rent near their home airport or any visited airport. Airmate may be connected to most flight simulators to keep flying skills sharp, and will manage also AHRS and simulated traffic data transmitted by the flight simulator. Planned flights and personal waypoints may be imported and exported. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Airmate at 4.5 against Sky's 3.0. Airmate also leads on ratings volume (545 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. Sky sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and Airmate sells 21 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Airmate holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Airmate has 545 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Sky's written reviews are positive against 75% of Airmate's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Sky ships an update monthly, Airmate every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sky | Airmate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.5 (545 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.7% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 545 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 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, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 220 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RS-Datentechnik | Myriel Aviation SA |
Customer experience
Sky
Airmate
In-app purchases
Sky
- ICAO Chart Austria 2020$49.99
- ICAO Chart France 2020$79.99
- ICAO Chart Poland 2020$79.99
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- ICAO Chart Germany 2024$99.00
- ICAO Karte Deutschland 2025$99.00
- ICAO Chart Germany 2023$99.99
- ICAO Chart Germany 2020$119.99
- ICAO Chart Great Britain 2020$119.99
- ICAO Chart Norway 2020$119.99
- ICAO Chart Sweden 2020$119.99
- ICAO Chart Germany 2021$119.99
- ICAO Karte Deutschland 2022$119.99
Airmate
- Airmate Premium$24.991 Year
- Photorealistic terrain display$47.991 Year
- Flight plan filing token$1.99
- Token for 1 year chart access$3.99
- Support Airmate development!$4.99
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Argentina Center VFR 2022$4.99
- Chile North VFR chart 2022$4.99
- Chile Santiago VFR chart 2022$4.99
- Argentina/Chile South VFR 2022$4.99
- Support Airmate development!$8.99
- Chart download token$8.99
- Italy North Avioportolano 2022$11.99
- Support Airmate development!$17.99
- Airmate Pro version$22.99
- Tunisia VFR Air Million 2024$24.99
- Skyguide Swiss VFR Airport Plates (with one year updates)$36.99
- Airmate Dispatcher$44.99
- Avioportolano VFR Airfield Plates for Italy (one year subscription)$46.99
- Airport Plates premium browser$54.99
- UAE 2023 Rogers Data$79.99
- UAE 2025 Rogers Data$89.99









