X vs Airplane Lander
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
X
Experience a highly realistic flight simulator with accurate physics and detailed 3D cockpits. Explore numerous airports and terrain, with options to expand scenery and aircraft through subscription and in-app purchases.
- Realistic flight model
- Interactive 3D cockpits
- Detailed 3D airports
- Free tutorials
- Massive multiplayer
- System failure simulation
- Emergency scenarios
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The most realistic aircraft. The world at your fingertips. It’s not a game, it’s a flight simulator. ▶ "Highly recommended." — Mel Martin, Engadget ◀ ▶ Featured by Apple in "Best New Games" ◀ ▶ Over 1 million downloads! ◀ Come experience why real pilots fly X-Plane. It starts with the flight model—the same flight model used in our FAA-certified desktop simulator—that’s complete enough to model the flex in your wings & the tilt in your landing gear. Add to that our desktop-quality aircraft with multiple liveries and interactive 3-D cockpits—so detailed you can do a full startup procedure using the hundreds of buttons, knobs, & switches in the cockpit. With working gauges, flight displays, & more, these cockpits are as realistic as those in our full desktop sim. But aircraft are no good without a place to fly them. That's why each of our 5 ▸free◂ regions features detailed terrain, lifelike city buildings, & 3D airports—complete with terminal buildings, jetways, hangars, & more. Want more? Subscribe to unlock global scenery, and get access to over 37,000 airports, with more than 11,500 airports featuring 3D terminals, hangars, & more. ▶ FEATURES √ 9 ▸free◂ tutorials, teaching the basics of takeoffs & landings, traffic patterns, helicopters, & more √ Massive multiplayer with thousands of other pilots and controllers in a single shared world (Professional subscribers only; non-subscribers can get free trial flights for a limited time) √ Fully interactive cockpits on many aircraft, wired to real systems models, with working gauges, displays, buttons, & switches √ Full startup procedures supported on many aircraft (optionally start any aircraft from cold & dark) √ More than 50 systems modeled, each of which can be failed on command √ Emergency scenarios √ Combat missions ▶ AIRCRAFT The app includes 2 aircraft (plus 5 scenery regions) for free. In addition, the following aircraft are available as in-app purchases: • ▸Free!◂ Cessna 172SP w/ 4 liveries • ▸Free!◂ Cirrus Vision SF50 w/ 5 liveries • Cirrus SR22 w/ 3 liveries • Cessna Citation X w/ 3 liveries • Airbus A320 Airliner w/ 3 liveries • Airbus A330-300 Airliner w/ 3 liveries • Boeing B737-800 Airliner w/ 3 liveries • Boeing B777-200ER Airliner w/ 3 liveries • Boeing B747-400 Jumbo Jet w/ 3 liveries • Bombardier CRJ200 Regional Jet w/ 3 liveries • Douglas DC-3 Airliner w/ 3 liveries • McDonnell Douglas MD-80 w/ 3 liveries • A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”) Fighter • F-22 Raptor Fighter • F-4 Phantom II Fighter • Beechcraft Baron B58 • Beechcraft King Air C90B • Piper PA-18 Super Cub • Piaggio P.180 Avanti • Sikorsky S76 Helicopter ▶ SCENERY 5 scenery regions are ▸free◂ for everyone! • Oahu, Hawaii • Grand Canyon • Seattle/Tacoma, Washington • Juneau, Alaska • Innsbruck, Austria Global scenery is available by purchasing a monthly or yearly subscription. ▶ MULTIPLAYER Come join tens of thousands of other pilots and controllers in a single, shared world! Try the Fly-In of the Day to meet up with hundreds of other pilots, or explore the MMO world for more chance encounters. Massive multiplayer is in early access—we wanted to get it in your hands as soon as possible—so we’re going to continue adding new features & improvements over the coming months. Terms of Service available at: https://www.x-plane.com/x-plane-mobile-terms-of-service/ Download X-Plane now to experience aviation like never before.
Airplane Lander
Build a global airline by connecting cities with routes. Earn cash as planes land, then reinvest to expand your fleet and reach. Optimize routes and boost earnings by watching optional ads.
- Connect cities with routes
- Expand to a global carrier
- Earn cash from landings
- Upgrade fleet and prices
- Manage destination limits
- Optional ad optimization
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Expand your airline in Airplane Lander! In Airplane Lander, you connect routes between cities to expand your reach. Start out with local routes in California and build up to being a global carrier. To connect two airports, draw a line between them with your finger. Don't worry if you're not a perfect artist—your planes will always take a direct route. Routes are only one-way. So drag the reverse route if you want planes to go back and forth. Each airport has a destination limit. This is the number of routes that can start from that airport. There is no limit on inbound routes, so you can direct as many as you like to a single airport. As your planes land, you'll earn cash. Spend money on increasing your destination limit, raising prices, and upgrading your fleet to travel further and faster. You can also watch ads to optimize your routes or get an earnings boost—but it's not a requirement. The full game is accessible for free. Live your airline dream right now in Airplane Lander!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Airplane Lander at none against X's 11. Airplane Lander also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). X's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (58% vs 24%). On price, rating, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. X sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Airplane Lander asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for X against 4.1 for Airplane Lander. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: X has 25K ratings behind it against 829, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 58% of X's written reviews are positive against 24% of Airplane Lander's.
X ships an update fortnightly, Airplane Lander every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | X | Airplane Lander |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (25K ratings) | 4.1 (829 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.2% of reviews — better | 24.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 25K — better | 829 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.0 GB | 187 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Laminar Research | Backpack Games |
Customer experience
X
Airplane Lander
User reviews
X
From 25K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Realistic flight physics
- 👍 Highly interactive cockpits
- 🤠 Great for flight enthusiasts
- 💡 Potential to be used for flight training
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive planes and subscription
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches in some planes
- 🌍 Limited free global scenery
- 🎮 Challenging controls for beginners
Airplane Lander
From 829 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 😍 Enjoyable graphics
- 🚀 Fun and addictive gameplay
- 👍 Great potential
Room to improve
- 🐛 Geographical inaccuracies in city locations
- 🔋 Excessive ads interrupting gameplay
- 🐛 Bugs causing progression issues
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
Bugs and requests
X
Reported bugs
3 issues- Altitude hold issues in the MD-80
- Inconsistent cockpit quality across different planes
- Unexpected plane behavior during takeoff and landing
Requested features
5 requests- More free planes, especially commercial airliners
- Larger free flight area and more airports
- Improved autopilot and flight planning features
- Addition of ground services like pushback and jetways
- More realistic weather, lighting, and environmental effects
Airplane Lander
Reported bugs
3 issues- Incorrect city names
- Quests asking to buy planes already owned
- Game resetting progress on reopen
Requested features
4 requests- Offline earnings option
- Ability to save progress
- Instructions and tutorial
- Option to play without ads
In-app purchases
X
- X-Plane Mobile Basic$4.991 Month
- X-Plane Mobile Professional$5.991 Month
- Piper SuperCub$0.99
- Baron B58$1.99
- Sikorsky S76$2.99
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- McDonnell Douglas MD-80$4.99
- Airbus A320$4.99
- F-22 Raptor$4.99
- Boeing 777-200ER$4.99
- Boeing 747-400$4.99
- Boeing B737-800$4.99
Airplane Lander
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is X free?
Is Airplane Lander free?
Which has better reviews, X or Airplane Lander?
Do X or Airplane Lander have ads?
Which is updated more often, X or Airplane Lander?
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