Status.Flights vs Contrail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Status.Flights
This app provides live airport departure and arrival information for thousands of flights globally. It offers detailed flight status, route maps, aircraft details, and airport weather. Users can track trips, receive alerts, and explore airport activity.
- Live airport departure and arrival boards
- Real-time flight status and alerts
- Aircraft progress and route map
- Gate and terminal information
- Airport weather and on-time performance
- Offline flight access
- Airspace visualization
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Status.Flights is a real-time flight tracker and arrivals board designed for clarity. Get instant flight status updates across 300+ airports, monitor gate changes, and plan your trips with precision. Built for travelers who need clarity and aviation enthusiasts who want depth, Status.Flights shows you what’s happening at the airport right now—and lets you explore every detail behind each flight. –––––––––––––– LIVE AIRPORT DEPARTURES & ARRIVALS • Real-time airport departure and arrival boards • Clear status indicators: On Time, Delayed, Boarding, En Route, Landed • Gate and terminal information with improved display delay • Continuously refreshed flight data –––––––––––––– FULL FLIGHT DETAIL • NEW: High-resolution Satellite View for all flight maps • NEW: Recent Plan History to see the aircraft's last several legs • NEW: Historical turnaround times to predict delays • Aircraft type, airline data, and expanded fleet models • Airport weather and local conditions –––––––––––––– TRACK YOUR TRIPS • Create and monitor multi-leg itineraries • NEW: Full trip support for guests (no login required) • Share flights or entire trips with a single link • Receive alerts for delays, gate changes, and departures –––––––––––––– EXPLORE AIRPORT ACTIVITY • NEW: Guests can now favorite airports for quick access • Browse live activity across 300+ airports worldwide • Discover routes and airline networks in real time –––––––––––––– FOCUS MODE & AIRSPACE • Full-screen flight countdown with boarding urgency indicators • Screen stays awake when timing matters most • Aviation-inspired airspace visualization to see traffic patterns around major hubs –––––––––––––– DESIGNED FOR TRAVEL • Save flights for offline access • Sync favorite airports across your devices • Simple. Clear. Built for the way people actually track flights. Enjoy a focused, ad-free experience with a one-time in-app purchase.
Contrail
Instantly see all aircraft in the sky on a real-time map. Get detailed flight information, track flights you care about, and view airport departure and arrival boards. Discover notable aircraft and log your own flight history.
- Live aircraft map
- Detailed flight information
- Flight tracking and alerts
- Airport departure/arrival boards
- Personal flight logbook
- Notable aircraft discovery
- Fleet filtering
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Hear a plane? Know where to look. Find aircraft nearby, follow a journey and keep the sky a glance away. Start free, with no account and no ads. WATCH THE SKY Watch the Sky shows an aircraft near your saved place, its distance, direction and how high to look. No need to open the app just to find out what is overhead. Watch aircraft near home, or see your next saved flight with its gate and departure time. On iPhone, choose a rectangular widget or a compact line to check the sky with a glance. Sky widgets are free. Readings update periodically; open Contrail for live tracking. Lock Screen widgets are available on iPhone. EXPLORE CONTRAIL Live map & trails Follow aircraft across the map. Filter by airline, aircraft type or flight phase, and explore their recent tracks. Flight details See available routes, altitude, speed, aircraft photos and registration. Check the age of the latest position. My Flights Save a flight by number and date. Follow its status, gate, delays and the aircraft operating the inbound journey. Search & airport boards Find flights, registrations and airports. Browse available arrivals, departures, gates and local airport times. Passport Keep past journeys, maps and travel statistics. Import and export CSV from Flighty, Flightradar24 and OpenFlights. iCloud logbook sync is available on iOS. Weather & airspace Explore airport weather, METAR observations, aurora forecasts and glider activity. Pro adds selected weather and airspace layers. CONTRAIL PRO (OPTIONAL) Contrail Pro adds alerts, watchlists and more ways to explore. Check current plans, prices and any eligible trial in the app. Flight alerts: Choose notifications for detected gate changes, delays, departures, arrivals and baggage updates. Live Activities · iOS: Keep one journey on your Lock Screen and, on supported iPhones, in the Dynamic Island. Discover & watchlists: Explore military, government and other notable aircraft. Get alerts when activity is detected for aircraft you follow. Flight Cinema: Replay supported past flights in 3D. Explore the timeline and camera views; some routes are reconstructed or incomplete. Specialist map layers: Explore SIGMET hazards, UK military airspace, holding patterns, activity corridors and the gliders-only filter. Watch the Sky, basic tracking, Passport CSV import/export and emergency-squawk alerts remain free. A sky widget and a Pro Live Activity serve different purposes. Coverage, timetables and aircraft details depend on the available data. Contrail is for exploration, not flight navigation. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://contrail-app.netlify.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Contrail at none against Status.Flights's shown. Contrail also leads on ratings volume (10 vs 3). Status.Flights's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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. Status.Flights sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Contrail sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Status.Flights holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 10 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Status.Flights | Contrail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.6 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 10 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 4 days |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joshua Lee | Jacob Lassen |
Customer experience
Status.Flights
Contrail
In-app purchases
Status.Flights
- Remove Ads$2.99
Contrail
- Contrail Pro Weekly3 Days trial$1.997 Days
- Contrail Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- Contrail Pro Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Buy me a coffee$1.99
- Keep the servers running$4.99
- I love this app$11.99
Questions
Is Status.Flights free?
Is Contrail free?
Which has better reviews, Status.Flights or Contrail?
Do Status.Flights or Contrail have ads?
Which is updated more often, Status.Flights or Contrail?
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