FlightDeck vs Skyby
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FlightDeck
This app provides real-time flight tracking with AI-generated insights, offering context beyond raw data. It highlights notable aircraft, weather conditions, and airport details, with customizable alerts and emergency detection.
- Real-time flight tracking map
- AI-generated flight briefs
- Notable aircraft spotting
- Weather intelligence overlays
- Detailed airport information
- Customizable flight alerts
- Emergency squawk detection
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FlightDeck is the flight tracker that shows you what pilots are saying, live. PILOT MESSAGES (ACARS) Read the messages pilots and their airline send each other, decoded live: diversions, medical emergencies, maintenance problems, and the odd joke. Search any flight and day. TRACK YOUR FLIGHT Follow your flight on your Lock Screen: clearance, pushback, takeoff and landing runways, and the plane flying in that becomes yours. 3D MODE The 3D flight tracking you've seen all over social media. Real planes in their airline's paint, gear and all. Nothing else comes close. REPLAY Go back to any flight from the last 30 days and watch it fly again. ALERTS Write an alert in plain English, or draw one on the map. Get notified about emergency squawks and military and government aircraft. ALSO INCLUDED Weather radar, turbulence and pilot reports, D-ATIS, METARs, plain-English NOTAMs, FAA ground stops and delays, active runways, gates, TSA wait times, and approach charts. SUBSCRIPTION FlightDeck requires a weekly or yearly subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. It renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel it anytime in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.tryflightdeck.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.tryflightdeck.com/terms
Skyby
Identify aircraft flying overhead in real-time, including airlines, aircraft types, and flight details. Log your sightings and set custom alerts for planes you're interested in. Explore a wider range of features with an optional Pro subscription.
- Live aircraft identification
- Airline and flight details
- Hands-free operation
- Automatic logbook
- Customizable flight alerts
- Pro version with enhanced features
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Look up. Skyby tells you what's flying over. Hands-free. Airliners, private jets, helicopters, even the occasional blimp. Skyby shows the plane right above you: airline, aircraft type, altitude, and for airline flights, where it's coming from and going. Leave it running on a desk or windowsill as a quiet radar for your patch of sky, or pull it out on a walk and see what's overhead right now. Set an alert for the planes you love, and Skyby chimes when one flies over. A380 and 747-8 alerts are free. Every catch lands in your logbook automatically. Available across North America, Europe, and much of Asia and the Pacific, with more on the way. SKYBY PRO Aircraft photos, custom alerts for any airline, type, flight, or tail, special livery alerts, a 90-day logbook with search and stats, and a bigger radius. Works on iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Duo. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
FlightDeck and Skyby both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of Skyby's written reviews are positive against 19% of FlightDeck's. Skyby also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ads (none vs shown). FlightDeck's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 12) and chart position (#23 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. FlightDeck sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Skyby sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for FlightDeck against 4.6 for Skyby. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FlightDeck has 1.5K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 19% of FlightDeck's written reviews are positive against 86% of Skyby's.
FlightDeck ships an update every 4 days, Skyby weekly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | FlightDeck | Skyby |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.5K ratings) | 4.6 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.7% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #23 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 163 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Attracts | StoryForward |
Customer experience
FlightDeck
Skyby
In-app purchases
FlightDeck
- FlightDeck Pro$6.997 Days
- FlightDeck Pro$12.997 Days
- FlightDeck Pro$19.991 Month
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- FlightDeck Pro$49.991 Year
- FlightDeck Pro3 Days trial$49.991 Year
- FlightDeck Pro3 Days trial$69.991 Year
Skyby
- Skyby Pro$2.991 Month
- Skyby Pro Annual$19.991 Year
- Skyby Founder Lifetime$19.99
- Skyby Pro Lifetime$49.99








