Comparison

Yonder vs Contrail

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

Head to head
About

Yonder

Explore the skies with a live 3D flight tracker and radar. See aircraft positions on a detailed satellite map, view flight information, and discover planes overhead. Includes airport data and Apple Watch integration.

Highlights
  • Live 3D flight tracking
  • Compass-based radar
  • Flight search by callsign/registration
  • 3D airport maps and data
  • Find aircraft overhead
  • Apple Watch integration
Features
Read full description

Meet Yonder, the flight tracker built by pilots. Explore live aircraft, airport departures and arrivals, and the stories behind the flights. FOLLOW FLIGHTS IN 3D Watch aircraft on an interactive map. Open a flight for its callsign, aircraft type, altitude, speed, registration and available route details. Follow aircraft in 3D and explore satellite scenery and mountain terrain with Premium. EXPLORE AIRPORTS Browse departure and arrival boards with a globe showing flight destinations. Discover airport information, runway layouts, weather and frequencies. UNDERSTAND THE EVENTS Premium brings together noteworthy aviation reports, including TCAS advisories and ACARS messages, with available aircraft context and event replays. Reports may be preliminary; causes and outcomes are not always confirmed. DISCOVER WHAT'S OVERHEAD Find nearby aircraft, search flights and airports, and explore aircraft types. Includes an Apple Watch companion. Some features require an optional Premium subscription. Coverage and data availability vary. Yonder is for information and exploration, not operational navigation. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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

Yonder4 screens
Contrail4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Contrail at 4.7 against Yonder's 3.0. Contrail also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). Yonder's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Yonder sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month 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

Contrail holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Contrail has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Yonder ships an update every 8 months, Contrail every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Yonder versus Contrail: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYonderContrail
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)4.7 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRadical SlothJacob Lassen

Customer experience

Yonder

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Contrail

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Yonder

Subscriptions2
  • PlanesFYI Monthly$4.991 Month
  • PlanesFYI Premium - Annual$34.991 Year
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 Yonder free?
Yonder 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, Yonder or Contrail?
Contrail is rated higher. Yonder averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Contrail averages 4.7 from 10 ratings.
Do Yonder or Contrail have ads?
Neither Yonder nor Contrail shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Yonder or Contrail?
Yonder ships an update every 8 months, and Contrail every 5 days. Most recently, Yonder was updated on November 7, 2026 and Contrail on November 5, 2026.

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