Comparison

Earthmate vs Helitab Flight Planner

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

Head to head
About

Earthmate

Connect your satellite communicator to your mobile device for text messaging, navigation, and trip planning. Access offline maps, track your location, and share your adventures globally. Stay connected and safe on any outdoor expedition.

Highlights
  • Send/receive text messages
  • Offline topographic maps
  • Waypoint and route navigation
  • Tracking and location sharing
  • Trip logging and planning
  • Cloud storage for trips
  • Control inReach device features
Read full description

Pair your inReach® satellite communication device with the Earthmate® app to get all the features you need to send and receive text messages, navigate and stay connected during your outdoor adventures. It’s perfect for planning, tracking and sharing your trip anywhere around the globe. This Garmin application lets you access¹: • Unlimited topographic maps that you can cache on your device and store for offline use, including topographic maps and quad sheets • Aerial imagery • Hybrid maps • Waypoints and route navigation • Tracking and location sharing • High-detail GPS trip logging • Unlimited cloud storage of routes, waypoints and tracks • Online trip planning • Control and access all the features of your inReach device from the app: send 2-way custom or preset text and email messages, trigger an SOS from anywhere in the world, track your location and more By pairing your mobile device (via Bluetooth® technology) with inReach, the Earthmate app turns your mobile device into a true satellite communication, GPS navigation and safety tool. To access the 100% global Iridium® satellite network for live tracking and messaging – including SOS capabilities – from the Earthmate app, an inReach device with active satellite subscription is required. You can plan your adventures from your account on the Garmin Explore™ website, wirelessly sync them to your smartphone or tablet, and then save all your trip data and maps with unlimited cloud storage. With the use of the LiveTrack™ feature, loved ones can follow your location in real time² and see data such as distance, time and elevation. Learn more about inReach devices and technology at www.garmin.com/inreach. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Don't forget to stop tracking. ¹Access varies by model. ²When used with your compatible smartphone and the Earthmate® app or when used with your compatible inReach-enabled Garmin device.

About

Helitab Flight Planner

Features
Read full description

The Airbus Helicopters Helitab/Flight Planner application is an All-In-One Mission Planning Solution for Electronic Flight Bag. This user-friendly mobile application for tablets is designed to ease pilot workload and help for decisions. Helitab/Flight Planner gathers a large kind of environment and map data for an effective moving map display, available before as well as during the flight. Such data including maps, elevation, navigation database or TAF/METARs/SIGMETs data are available over the entire world through a secured cloud-based web portal. Helitab/Flight Planner enables the creation of navigation routes including detailed instructions such as hover, landing or SAR patterns actions, configuration change, time or speed constraints... Created routes are displayed through the moving map and vertical profile. A weather forecast over the area can be downloaded and applied to the navigation and displayed over the map. Helitab/Flight Planner embeds weight & balance and performance computations models in accordance with Airbus Helicopters Flight Manual. Based on such models, the application displays over the navigation waypoints the planned W&B and available performance. Helitab/Flight Planner allows the planned mission to be shared through various flight documents or to the onboard FMS using a physical or wireless media. Once in flight, Helitab/Flight Planner users can retrieve the actual GPS location from on-board equipment to accurately feed the moving map and record the flight trace. Dedicated in-flight functions allows users to find a nearby landing site, mark a position or display updated navigation data to the next waypoint. Helitab/Flight Planner requires a subscription. Support is available at support.flightplanner.ah@airbus.com

Screenshots

Earthmate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Earthmate at monthly against Helitab Flight Planner's every 5 months. Helitab Flight Planner's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earthmate ships an update monthly, Helitab Flight Planner every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Earthmate versus Helitab Flight Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarthmateHelitab Flight Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.7 (272 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews21.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings272 — better—
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size92 MB825 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperGarminAIRBUS HELICOPTERS

Bugs and requests

Earthmate

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Invisible text fields
  • Disappearing waypoints and tracks
  • Inability to send preset messages from app
  • Incorrect wind speed display
  • Broken map downloads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Apple Watch integration
  • Customizable preset messages
  • Improved map detail and customization
  • Seamless sync between app and device
  • Frequent message check intervals

Helitab Flight Planner

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Earthmate

No in-app purchases

None

Helitab Flight Planner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Earthmate free?
Earthmate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Helitab Flight Planner free?
Helitab Flight Planner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Earthmate or Helitab Flight Planner have ads?
Neither Earthmate nor Helitab Flight Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Earthmate or Helitab Flight Planner?
Earthmate ships an update monthly, and Helitab Flight Planner every 5 months. Most recently, Earthmate was updated on October 19, 2026 and Helitab Flight Planner on September 22, 2026.

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