PilotBound vs ATM Academy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PilotBound
This app provides a personalized roadmap for aspiring pilots, guiding them from the initial decision to fly through to passing their checkride. It tracks flight hours and costs against a custom plan, offering CFI guidance at each step. Users can log flights, monitor progress, and understand their real expenses.
- Personalized flight training roadmap
- Cost projection and tracking
- Flight hour logging
- Progress monitoring against requirements
- CFI guidance on training steps
- Per-aircraft and per-certificate costing
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Flight training costs more than the quote. PilotBound tells you what yours will actually cost, priced on the rates your own school publishes, and tracks every dollar against it until checkride day. PRICED ON YOUR SCHOOL, NOT AN AVERAGE • Search 1,713 flight schools and pick where you train • 535 publish enough for us to price your certificate on their real rates • Every figure says where it came from and when it was read • Where a school publishes nothing, we say so and use a national median WHAT YOUR CERTIFICATE WILL COST • A full projection to checkride, not an hourly rate times the legal minimum • Built on the hours examiners actually report, not 40 hours • Sharpens with every flight you log until it is your number • One projection per certificate: Private, Instrument, Commercial, CFI, CFII, ATP • Per aircraft, so a 152 and a Cirrus never hide inside one average CAN YOU AFFORD IT • Track savings, loans and scholarships against what is still ahead • See whether your funding covers the finish, and for how long • Set a budget and get told before you cross it, not after YOUR PLAN, START TO CHECKRIDE • A step by step roadmap from "I want to fly" to checkride passed • Discovery flight, school, medical, student certificate, ground school, gear • First solo, first cross country, the written, the checkride • Plain CFI guidance on each step: what to do, what to skip, what to watch EVERY HOUR, EVERY FIELD • PIC, dual, solo, cross country, night, instrument, approaches, landings, holds • Every Part 61 and Part 141 requirement, completed and remaining • Milestones detected as you fly: first solo, first cross country, first night • Costs pre-filled from your aircraft and instructor rates Built by a CFI for the years before anyone hands you a plan. Your training data stays private. By downloading PilotBound, you agree to the Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.
ATM Academy
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ATM Academy is an educational aviation app designed to help students, aviation enthusiasts, and future air traffic controllers learn the fundamentals of Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Air Traffic Control (ATC). The app combines structured lessons, quizzes, radar-style simulation, and operational concepts into an interactive learning experience. Topics include: • Air traffic control basics • Flight phases and procedures • ATC phraseology • Separation and conflict awareness • Tower, approach, and en-route operations • Runway safety • Radar simulation exercises • Future ATM automation concepts Features: • Beginner to advanced ATM lessons • Interactive quiz system • Radar-style training simulation • Scenario-based learning • Clean dark aviation-inspired interface • Multilingual support This app is for educational and training purposes only. It is not connected to real-world aviation systems and must not be used for operational air traffic control.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: ATM Academy at every 5 days against PilotBound's every 3 weeks. ATM Academy also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PilotBound ships an update every 3 weeks, ATM Academy every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PilotBound | ATM Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FlightXplorer LLC | YANTAO ZHAO |
In-app purchases
PilotBound
No in-app purchases
ATM Academy
No in-app purchases









