Comparison

PilotDeck vs Tracker VHF

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

Head to head
About

PilotDeck

Access decoded aeronautical weather, including METARs, TAFs, and civil forecasts. Get live NOTAMs and a comprehensive route briefing for any airport worldwide. Includes cognitive pre-flight checks and aviation training tools.

Highlights
  • Decoded METAR and TAF
  • Hour-by-hour forecasts
  • Live NOTAMs
  • Full route briefing
  • Smart push alerts
  • Cognitive pre-flight checks
  • Aviation training games
Features
Read full description

PilotDeck puts real aeronautical weather in your pocket — decoded METAR and TAF, minute-by-minute rain where you are, live NOTAMs, aviation news and a full route briefing for any ICAO airport in the world. Built by a pilot, for pilots, in a clean flight-deck (FMS) style. WEATHER — FREE, FOREVER • Live METAR and TAF, decoded into plain language • Hour-by-hour forecast: temperature, wind, gusts, precipitation, pressure • 7-day outlook with wind, UV and precipitation charts • Add unlimited airports to your watchlist • Runway wind component and crosswind advisories • Everything cached for offline reading in the cockpit WEATHER WHERE YOU ARE — NEW IN 2.0 Not just airports — the weather at your exact position. A minute-by-minute nowcast tells you when rain starts and stops, a live ticker keeps wind, thunderstorm risk, fog and heat in view, and a 12-hour outlook shows the trend. AVIATION NEWS — NEW IN 2.0 Twelve trusted sources in one feed, refreshed around the clock. Incidents and regulation changes are categorised and can alert you the moment they land. Bookmark anything to read offline, or keep the news widget on your Home Screen. SMART PUSH ALERTS — THE FEATURE PILOTDECK WAS BUILT ON Follow any airport and PilotDeck watches it for you. The moment a new METAR or TAF is issued — a wind shift, a drop to IFR — an instant push reaches you, even with the app closed. ROUTE BRIEFING — YOUR WHOLE FLIGHT ON ONE SCREEN Stop gathering the picture from five places. One tap builds a complete departure–destination–alternate brief: • Hazards flagged first (density altitude, hot day, low visibility) • Live NOTAMs, sorted so the critical ones are on top • Distances, times and decoded weather for every field • A TAF timeline that shows the trend — VFR now, IFR in two hours • A plain-English verdict: GOOD TO GO / CAUTION / NOT RECOMMENDED See every country you overfly, re-route around any airspace in a few taps with the extra distance shown instantly, and watch the leg on a 3D globe. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Live airport weather with a colour-coded wind compass, your Daily Check streak and the latest aviation news — without opening the app. DAILY CHECK — A PRE-FLIGHT FOR YOUR BRAIN Every pilot checks the weather. PilotDeck also checks you. A two-minute cognitive pre-flight measures reaction, memory and decision-making, then gives you a FIT index for today. Includes an IMSAFE self-check and a 30-day trend history. PILOT GUIDE — NEW IN 2.0 An illustrated, interactive guide to every part of the app — short visual lessons instead of a manual. Like all in-app reference, it is provided in the six ICAO languages: English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. TRAINING AND TOOLS • Holding Entry — direct, parallel and teardrop entries, Trainer and Time Attack • Scan & Catch — METAR scanning speed drill • Crosswind Crunch — crosswind practice with a scientific debrief • Needle Chase — ILS/LOC tracking under changing weather • Aviation quizzes with detailed explanations • Flight-planning tools: wind/drift, top-of-descent and more PILOTDECK PRO Unlock everything with a PilotDeck PRO subscription: • Unlimited training games (the free plan includes a few plays per day) • Full quiz question banks and longer quiz sessions • Daily Check history and IMSAFE self-check Weather, route briefing, NOTAMs and news are always free and are never limited by PRO. Subscription options: • Monthly — €4.99 • Annual — €39.99 (best value) Both plans start with a 7-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends; your account is charged within 24 hours prior to the end of that period. Manage or cancel in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited on purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ In partnership with DataFly Systems LLC.

About

Tracker VHF

Features
Read full description

TrackerX turns VHF telemetry bearings into location estimates — on a map, in the field, in seconds. Stand on a high point, get your signal, point your phone along the antenna bearing, and record. Move to your next position and record again. TrackerX draws each bearing on satellite imagery, triangulates the intersection, and shows the estimated location with a quality rating and error polygon. WORK THE WAY CREWS WORK - Subjects with frequencies, colors, notes, and known locations - Organize subjects into groups and switch between areas or cohorts like flipping receiver lists - Tap any bearing line to adjust the heading or mark signal confidence (solid / dashed / dotted) - Date filters to work today's fixes or review history SHARE FIXES BETWEEN TRACKERS Send any bearing as a readable text message. The other tracker imports it in two taps and it lands under the right subject — two people on two ridges triangulate together, no accounts, no data plan required to plot. PLAYS WELL WITH YOUR NAV APP Copy any estimated or known location as UTM to the clipboard and paste it into your navigation app for the walk-in. Satellite, hybrid, and standard map layers. MOVEMENT HISTORY Update a subject's location from your GPS position; previous locations stay visible as a faded trail. DATA IN, DATA STAYS Import subjects from a simple CSV or directly from a raw Fulcrum export. Everything lives on your device — no accounts, no cloud, nothing collected.

Screenshots

PilotDeck4 screens
Tracker VHF3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tracker VHF at none against PilotDeck's 2. PilotDeck's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.4). On price, ads 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. PilotDeck sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Tracker VHF asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
PilotDeck versus Tracker VHF: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPilotDeckTracker VHF
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.4
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFlight Service SIAPlaya Environmental

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PilotDeck

Subscriptions2
  • PilotDeck PRO (Monthly)7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • PilotDeck PRO (Annual)7 Days trial$44.991 Year
None

Tracker VHF

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PilotDeck free?
PilotDeck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tracker VHF free?
Tracker VHF is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do PilotDeck or Tracker VHF have ads?
Neither PilotDeck nor Tracker VHF shows ads.

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