Yonder vs Contrail
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Live 3D flight tracking
- Compass-based radar
- Flight search by callsign/registration
- 3D airport maps and data
- Find aircraft overhead
- Apple Watch integration
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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/
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 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
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.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Yonder | Contrail |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 4.7 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 10 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 141 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Radical Sloth | Jacob Lassen |
Customer experience
Yonder
Contrail
In-app purchases
Yonder
- PlanesFYI Monthly$4.991 Month
- PlanesFYI Premium - Annual$34.991 Year
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 Yonder free?
Is Contrail free?
Which has better reviews, Yonder or Contrail?
Do Yonder or Contrail have ads?
Which is updated more often, Yonder or Contrail?
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