Comparison

Skyby vs Airplanes.live

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

Head to head
About

Skyby

Identify aircraft flying overhead in real-time, including airlines, aircraft types, and flight details. Log your sightings and set custom alerts for planes you're interested in. Explore a wider range of features with an optional Pro subscription.

Highlights
  • Live aircraft identification
  • Airline and flight details
  • Hands-free operation
  • Automatic logbook
  • Customizable flight alerts
  • Pro version with enhanced features
Features
Read full description

Look up. Skyby tells you what's flying over. Hands-free. Airliners, private jets, helicopters, even the occasional blimp. Skyby shows the plane right above you: airline, aircraft type, altitude, and for airline flights, where it's coming from and going. Leave it running on a desk or windowsill as a quiet radar for your patch of sky, or pull it out on a walk and see what's overhead right now. Set an alert for the planes you love, and Skyby chimes when one flies over. A380 and 747-8 alerts are free. Every catch lands in your logbook automatically. Available across North America, Europe, and much of Asia and the Pacific, with more on the way. SKYBY PRO Aircraft photos, custom alerts for any airline, type, flight, or tail, special livery alerts, a 90-day logbook with search and stats, and a bigger radius. Works on iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Duo. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Airplanes.live

Track live aircraft in the sky, including airliners, general aviation, helicopters, and military traffic. View detailed flight information, weather overlays, and a radar-scope view with convergence alerts. Offers a Pro version with advanced features for a fee.

Highlights
  • Live aircraft tracking
  • Detailed flight information
  • Weather radar overlay
  • ATC scope mode
  • Convergence alerts
  • Search by callsign/registration
Features
Read full description

See every aircraft in the sky — unfiltered. Airplanes.live is a live flight tracker powered by the community-run airplanes.live receiver network. Unlike other trackers, it shows you everything the network sees: airliners, general aviation, helicopters, and the military and privacy-flagged traffic that other apps remove. THE MAP • Live aircraft colored by altitude, with type-specific silhouettes • Tap any aircraft for photos, route, altitude, speed, and registered owner • Flight trails, search by callsign / registration / hex • Light and dark maps, all served from our own infrastructure WEATHER • Live NOAA/NWS radar overlay, animated or latest-frame • See the weather traffic is flying around, in real time ATC SCOPE MODE • A radar-scope view with data blocks — callsign, flight level, speed, type • Convergence alerts between converging aircraft • Emergency squawk (7500/7600/7700) highlighting PRO • Weather radar, advanced filters, unlimited watchlist, and alerts • Feed data to airplanes.live? Pro is free for feeders. Aircraft positions come from publicly broadcast ADS-B signals received by a volunteer community. For informational and educational use — not for navigation, separation, or safety-of-life purposes. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://airplanes.hughesit.us/terms Privacy Policy: https://airplanes.hughesit.us/privacy

Screenshots

Skyby4 screens
Airplanes.live4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Skyby at 86% against Airplanes.live's 50%. Skyby also leads on update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (12 vs 2). Airplanes.live's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Skyby sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Airplanes.live sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Airplanes.live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Skyby has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of Skyby's written reviews are positive against 50% of Airplanes.live's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Skyby ships an update weekly, Airplanes.live fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Skyby versus Airplanes.live: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkybyAirplanes.live
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (12 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStoryForwardBlake Hughes

Customer experience

Skyby

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Airplanes.live

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Skyby

Subscriptions2
  • Skyby Pro$2.991 Month
  • Skyby Pro Annual$19.991 Year
One-time2
  • Skyby Founder Lifetime$19.99
  • Skyby Pro Lifetime$49.99
2 purchases

Airplanes.live

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Skyby free?
Skyby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Airplanes.live free?
Airplanes.live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Skyby or Airplanes.live?
Airplanes.live is rated higher. Skyby averages 4.6 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Airplanes.live averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Skyby or Airplanes.live have ads?
Neither Skyby nor Airplanes.live shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Skyby or Airplanes.live?
Skyby ships an update weekly, and Airplanes.live fortnightly. Most recently, Skyby was updated on November 5, 2026 and Airplanes.live on November 6, 2026.

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