Contrail vs ADSB Tracker Live
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Contrail
Track aircraft in real-time with live maps, flight details, and airport information. Save flights, explore past journeys, and access weather data. Optional Pro features include alerts and specialized map layers.
- Live flight map and trails
- Detailed flight information
- My Flights tracking
- Airport search and boards
- Past journey statistics (Passport)
- Weather and airspace data
- Flight alerts and watchlists
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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
ADSB Tracker Live
Track live air traffic worldwide with real-time aircraft data. See callsigns, types, altitude, speed, and more. Includes military aircraft and emergency squawks, with customizable filters and notifications.
- Live worldwide flight map
- Detailed aircraft information
- Military aircraft tracking
- Emergency squawk alerts
- Customizable filters
- Tail number tracking and notifications
- Aircraft type silhouettes
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Plane spotting, live. ADSB Tracker Live shows every aircraft in the sky above you in real time — built for plane spotters and aviation enthusiasts. See live air traffic worldwide using the same unfiltered ADS-B data the spotting community trusts. No subscription required to start. No commercial-flight-only censorship. Just the sky, live. WATCH EVERY AIRCRAFT - Live worldwide map, updated every 2 seconds - See callsign, tail number, aircraft type, altitude, speed, heading, and vertical speed for any plane on screen - 130+ airlines decoded — see "Delta 2547" instead of "DAL2547" - 160+ aircraft types — "Boeing 737-800" instead of just "B738" - Pinch-to-zoom from continent view down to airport detail SEE WHAT OTHER APPS HIDE - Military aircraft highlighting — uncensored. See KC-135 tankers, C-17 transports, F-22 fighters - Emergency squawks (7500 hijack, 7600 lost-comm, 7700 emergency) flash on the map - VFR traffic (squawk 1200) on uncontrolled approaches - Track specific tail numbers and get notified when they appear nearby - Filter by aircraft type, operator, altitude band, or squawk code BUILT FOR PILOTS AND SPOTTERS - 25 aircraft-type silhouettes — a Cessna doesn't look like a 747 anymore - Adjustable altitude color bands (10 bands in Pro) - Save filter presets like "Military within 50nm" or "Heavies over 30k" - Native dark mode, iPad split view, and Apple Vision Pro support WORKS OUT OF THE BOX No SDR receiver required. No server to set up. Just install and watch. ONE WEEK OF PRO, FREE Every Pro feature unlocked for your first 7 days — no purchase, no signup. After that, keep Pro with a small subscription, or stay on the free tier with the live radar. Data sourced from open community feeds (adsb.fi, airplanes.live, adsb.lol). For entertainment and educational use only. Not for navigation, traffic avoidance, or operational flight use. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
Contrail and ADSB Tracker Live both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Contrail's written reviews are positive against 75% of ADSB Tracker Live's. ADSB Tracker Live's advantage is ratings volume (185 vs 10) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Contrail sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and ADSB Tracker Live sells 2 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 — 4.7 for Contrail against 4.8 for ADSB Tracker Live. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ADSB Tracker Live has 185 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Contrail's written reviews are positive against 75% of ADSB Tracker Live's.
Contrail ships an update every 5 days, ADSB Tracker Live every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 9, 2026.
| Parameter | Contrail | ADSB Tracker Live |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (10 ratings) | 4.8 (185 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 185 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob Lassen | Vikorus, LLC |
Customer experience
Contrail
ADSB Tracker Live
In-app purchases
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
ADSB Tracker Live
- Monthly$2.991 Month
- Annual3 Days trial$7.991 Year
Questions
Is Contrail free?
Is ADSB Tracker Live free?
Which has better reviews, Contrail or ADSB Tracker Live?
Do Contrail or ADSB Tracker Live have ads?
Which is updated more often, Contrail or ADSB Tracker Live?
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