Comparison

Overflight vs MODE 1090

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

Head to head
About

Overflight

Visualize live aircraft in your visible sky with a radar-style scope. Get details like flight number, altitude, and type. Upgrade for spoken traffic alerts and route information.

Highlights
  • Radar-style scope of visible sky
  • Live aircraft details (flight number, altitude, type)
  • Military and special-interest traffic highlighting
  • Spoken traffic and inbound alerts (Pro)
  • Live routes, origin, and destination (Pro)
  • Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV
Features
Read full description

Look up! Overflight names the aircraft flying over you right now: airline, flight number, and type, with a live readout of altitude, speed, and track, and a radar scope of everything else in your sky. Around it, a radar-style scope plots the whole visible sky. Swipe to bring any other aircraft into focus, or just watch the one overhead. When the sky is quiet, a calm idle state waits for the next arrival. FREE • One aircraft always in focus, chosen from what you can actually see rather than a flat radius • Airline, flight number, and aircraft type, with altitude, vertical speed, ground speed, track, bearing, and distance • A live radar scope of the whole visible sky, north-up or heading-up • Military and special-interest traffic highlighted the moment it enters your sky • An aircraft declaring an emergency jumps straight into focus, flagged EMERGENCY • Helicopters and general aviation name their operator when it's one worth naming: police, fire, medevac, NASA • Tap the aircraft type to read about the airframe on Wikipedia, without leaving the app • Overhead, Near, Normal, and Far reach presets to tune how much sky you see • A universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV OVERFLIGHT PRO • Live routes, origin to destination, for every aircraft: airports spelled out by name • Spoken traffic: each aircraft called out aloud as it comes into focus, hands-free ("Traffic, two o'clock, twelve miles, southbound, a heavy Boeing 777, United flight 12, Denver to Tokyo"). • Notable inbound alerts: a pre-warning and a "look northwest" cue when interesting traffic is approaching • Indefinite always-on for an unattended ambient display when connected to a charger Your first aircraft's route and your first notable-inbound alert are free, so you can see what Pro does before deciding. The yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. There's a monthly plan too, or unlock everything once with a lifetime purchase. Powered by worldwide, community-run ADS-B data. No account, no sign-up. Your location is used only to find the aircraft above you. Not every aircraft broadcasts its position (some military flights fly dark), so the sky you see is the sky that's broadcasting. Overflight Pro is a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase; the price is shown in the app before you buy. A subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and you can manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://dgrlabs.co/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MODE 1090

Features
Read full description

Know what's flying overhead. Track aircraft live, point your iPhone at the sky and turn real sightings into your own aircraft collection. Start with live radar, scanning and collecting for free. No account needed to get started. YOUR SKY, LIVE • See nearby aircraft on a clear radar with altitude, speed and aircraft photos when available. • Explore the interactive flight map, browse the list of nearby aircraft and watch aircraft arriving at or departing from an airport. • Switch between aircraft silhouettes, ATC data blocks and a minimal radar view. SCAN IT. COLLECT IT. • Point your iPhone at an aircraft to find out what you're looking at. No photo upload needed. • Collect real sightings across aircraft types, airlines and registrations. Add notes and revisit your scan history. • See your collected aircraft on the map, complete daily missions, earn XP, level up and unlock achievements. • Share the hobby with friends and compare your progress. GET CLOSER WITH MODE 1090 PRO • Rotate, zoom and explore available 3D aircraft models and liveries. • Search live aircraft worldwide by callsign, registration or ICAO code, then follow a flight on the map. • Discover flight routes when available, save more aircraft favorites and revisit flight history. • Keep airport spotting in view with Live Activities on supported iPhones, where available. • Enjoy radar without the inactivity pause, spoken aviation callouts in English, custom radar colors and app icons. • Export your sighting notes for use beyond the app. ON YOUR PHONE, TABLET AND WRIST Enjoy spotting on iPhone and iPad, with a live radar on Apple Watch. With an optional account, you can sync your collection for free between iPhone and iPad. You can also export your collection data. No ads. Camera images stay on your device. Flight coverage, routes and model availability vary. MODE 1090 is for plane spotting and observation, not navigation or flight operations. MODE 1090 Pro is an optional subscription. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Privacy: https://mode1090.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: https://mode1090.com/support

Screenshots

Overflight4 screens
MODE 10904 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: MODE 1090 at 5 against Overflight's 3. MODE 1090 also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, 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. Overflight sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and MODE 1090 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Overflight ships an update every 5 days, MODE 1090 weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Overflight versus MODE 1090: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOverflightMODE 1090
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (20 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings20 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB201 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDGR LabsAlexander Stolte

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Overflight

Subscriptions2
  • Overflight Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Overflight Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Overflight Pro Lifetime$69.99
2 purchases

MODE 1090

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Annually$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Overflight free?
Overflight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MODE 1090 free?
MODE 1090 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Overflight or MODE 1090 have ads?
Neither Overflight nor MODE 1090 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Overflight or MODE 1090?
Overflight ships an update every 5 days, and MODE 1090 weekly. Most recently, Overflight was updated on October 7, 2026 and MODE 1090 on October 16, 2026.

Other comparisons