Comparison

Status.Flights vs Contrail

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Live aircraft map
  • Detailed flight information
  • Flight tracking and alerts
  • Airport departure/arrival boards
  • Personal flight logbook
  • Notable aircraft discovery
  • Fleet filtering
Features
Read full description

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

Status.Flights4 screens
Contrail4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Status.Flights versus Contrail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStatus.FlightsContrail
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.6 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings310 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoshua LeeJacob Lassen

Customer experience

Status.Flights

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Contrail

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Status.Flights

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99
6 purchases

Contrail

Subscriptions3
  • Contrail Pro Weekly3 Days trial$1.997 Days
  • Contrail Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Contrail Pro Yearly3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time3
  • Buy me a coffee$1.99
  • Keep the servers running$4.99
  • I love this app$11.99

Questions

Is Status.Flights free?
Status.Flights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Contrail free?
Contrail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Status.Flights or Contrail?
Status.Flights is rated higher. Status.Flights averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Contrail averages 4.6 from 10 ratings.
Do Status.Flights or Contrail have ads?
Status.Flights shows ads; Contrail does not.
Which is updated more often, Status.Flights or Contrail?
Status.Flights ships an update every 4 days, and Contrail every 4 days. Most recently, Status.Flights was updated on September 30, 2026 and Contrail on October 18, 2026.

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