Comparison

VesselSpot vs Flight

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

Head to head
About

VesselSpot

Features
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See what's on the water, live. VesselSpot tracks ships, ferries, and boats in real time on a beautiful, map-first display powered by live AIS - built to be fast, honest, and genuinely useful. LIVE, REAL-TIME TRACKING Vessels move on the map as they broadcast, so what you see is happening now. - Smooth, interactive map - pan to any coastline, harbor, bay, or shipping lane - Vessels color-coded by type: cargo, tanker, passenger, fishing, tug - Tap any vessel for its name, type, speed, course, heading, and destination - Trails show where a tracked boat has been REAL VESSEL PHOTOS Many vessels show an actual photo on their details page - including the full Washington State Ferries fleet, Kitsap Transit fast ferries, the Victoria Clipper, fireboats, Coast Guard cutters, and more. YOUR FLEET, ALWAYS THERE - Save the vessels you care about and watch them on the map - See clear LIVE or OFFLINE status at a glance - Your fleet keeps each boat's last-known position even when it sails out of range - tap to jump straight to it - Pull to refresh, remove with a tap FIND ANY VESSEL - Search by name, MMSI, or IMO - Recent searches at your fingertips SIMPLE AND HONEST No account required. No ads. Start free, and every feature is included when you upgrade to Pro. Built for boaters, ferry riders, ship spotters, harbor watchers, and anyone tracking a loved one's ship or just curious about what's out on the water. Live AIS coverage follows shore-based receivers, so it is strongest along coasts, harbors, bays, and shipping lanes. Not to be used for navigation. VesselSpot is for informational and situational-awareness purposes only. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Flight

Features
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Flight: Info turns your iPhone or iPad into a live board of the aircraft flying over your head right now. Prop it on a desk, mount it on a wall, or glance at it on the couch when something loud goes by. EVERY FLIGHT OVERHEAD See commercial flights, cargo, bizjets, helicopters, and general aviation within a radius you choose, refreshed as often as every 5 seconds. Each row shows callsign, route, airline, aircraft type, altitude, speed, distance, and bearing. FIVE DISPLAYS IN ONE Solari: a split-flap departure board with real flipping cells. Amber LED: a glowing dot-matrix panel. Terminal: green phosphor CRT, scanlines included. Midnight: ice blue on deep navy. Paper: a quiet daylight timetable. RADAR SCOPE A sweeping radar shows every aircraft at its true bearing and distance, with heading lines. Tap a blip for full details. FOLLOW A FLIGHT Star a callsign, registration, or hex code and it pins to the top of the board whenever it is in range. WATCH ANY SKY Use your location, or set a fixed point and watch the traffic over your home airport, a favorite fix, or the other side of the world. No GPS required. MADE FOR WALLS Keep-awake mode, a brightness dimmer, and a spotlight layout that cycles one big flight card at a time, plus a demo mode with simulated traffic. No account. No subscription. No API keys. Live data comes from free community ADS-B networks.

Screenshots

VesselSpot4 screens
Flight4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Flight at none against VesselSpot's 2. VesselSpot's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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. VesselSpot sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Flight asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VesselSpot ships an update weekly, Flight every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
VesselSpot versus Flight: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVesselSpotFlight
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVikorus, LLCAlchemaize

In-app purchases

2 purchases

VesselSpot

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annual$14.991 Year
None

Flight

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VesselSpot free?
VesselSpot is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Flight free?
Flight is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VesselSpot or Flight have ads?
Neither VesselSpot nor Flight shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VesselSpot or Flight?
VesselSpot ships an update weekly, and Flight every 3 months. Most recently, VesselSpot was updated on October 16, 2026 and Flight on October 24, 2026.

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