Comparison

X vs AirFMC

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Realistic flight model
  • Interactive 3D cockpits
  • Detailed 3D airports
  • Free tutorials
  • Massive multiplayer
  • System failure simulation
  • Emergency scenarios
Features
Read full description

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.

About

AirFMC

Enhance your flight simulator experience with a portable, wireless CDU interface. Control your flight management system from your tablet, freeing up your main screen for scenic views. Supports a wide range of popular aircraft and FMC systems for X-Plane and MSFS 2020.

Highlights
  • Wireless CDU control
  • Portable tablet interface
  • Frees up main simulator screen
  • Supports X-Plane and MSFS 2020
  • Wide aircraft compatibility
Features
Read full description

Designed to integrate with the X-Plane flight simulator, AirFMC provides an interface layer to your favourite flight management system and allows you to have a remote, portable and beautiful CDU, leaving your screen free for enjoying the scenic routes. Flying with an FMC is good but have you ever thought how annoying it is to have to look for the small keys on a virtual cockpit and click on them with a mouse to get something done? What if you could now do it wirelessly with your fingertips using an iPad's big screen? And what if you could use just one App for all your favourite planes? AirFMC does just this; brings the CDU of your favourite planes to the tip of your fingers. In its current release we are proud to support the following list of planes and FMC systems: For X-Plane: - The x737 Boeing 737-800 from EADT using x737FMC - The UFMC from Javier Cortes - The CRJ-200 from Javier Rollon - The Boeing 777 Worldliner by FlightFactor - The Boeing 757 Professional by FlightFactor - The X-FMC freeware project and all the planes in which it runs - The QPAC A320 v2 - The Boeing 767 from VMAX - The A320NEO from JAR Design - The Boeing 737 Classifc from IXEG / X-Aviation - The Boeing 737-800 modified by Zibo - The Airbus A350 XWB Advanced from FlightFactor - The Airbus A319, A321 and A340 from ToLiss - The A330 from JAR Design - The MD80 from Rotate - The Boeing 737-700 and 737-900 Ultimate - The A320 from Flight Factor - The Hot Start CL650 - And lastly the X-Plane airliner FMC shipped with default planes FOr MSFS 2020: - PMDG 737 NG3 Family of Planes Please note, AirFMC is not an FMC in its own right. It does not have "intelligence" so to say, it does not manage routes nor flight performance parameters. At least, not yet! What it does is, it connects to planes that already have these systems and provides an interface surface to their CDUs. AirFMC works in conjunction with X-Plane and MSF2020 (on selected planes) through the use of a plugin which must be installed in the flight simulator and it requires a TCP/IP network connecting this app to a flight simulator.

Screenshots

X4 screens
AirFMC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: X at Free against AirFMC's $19.99. X also leads on ratings volume (25K vs 15) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). AirFMC's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and review sentiment (78% vs 58%). On rating, ads and iOS requirement 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

X is free to download; AirFMC costs $19.99 up front. X sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. AirFMC asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AirFMC holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: X has 25K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of X's written reviews are positive against 78% of AirFMC's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

X ships an update fortnightly, AirFMC every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
X versus AirFMC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXAirFMC
PriceFree — better$19.99
Rating4.0 (25K ratings)4.2 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.2% of reviews77.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings25K — better15
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.0 GB18 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperLaminar ResearchJoao Cabral

Customer experience

X

All ratings24,532 ratings
Positive74.7%
Neutral7.2%
Negative18.1%
Written reviews2,661 reviews
Positive58.2%
Neutral14.4%
Negative27.4%

AirFMC

All ratings15 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive77.6%
Neutral2.0%
Negative20.4%

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

AirFMC

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

11 purchases

X

Subscriptions2
  • X-Plane Mobile Basic$4.991 Month
  • X-Plane Mobile Professional$5.991 Month
One-time9
  • Piper SuperCub$0.99
  • Baron B58$1.99
  • Sikorsky S76$2.99
Show 6 more
  • 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
None

AirFMC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is X free?
X is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AirFMC free?
AirFMC costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, X or AirFMC?
AirFMC is rated higher. X averages 4.0 out of 5 from 25K ratings, while AirFMC averages 4.2 from 15 ratings.
Do X or AirFMC have ads?
Neither X nor AirFMC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, X or AirFMC?
X ships an update fortnightly, and AirFMC every 6 weeks. Most recently, X was updated on October 26, 2026 and AirFMC on October 19, 2026.

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