BlitzortungLive vs Thunderly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BlitzortungLive
Monitor lightning strikes in near real-time on a map. Receive push alerts for detected strikes in a customizable area. Supports multiple languages and displays historical strike data.
- Live lightning strike display
- Historical strike visualization
- Customizable push alerts
- Multi-language support
- Real-time map view
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BlitzortungLive is an Application for monitoring Lightning-Strikes at nearly realtime. BlitzortungLive can be used for watching and monitoring Thunderstorms. The Lightning-Strikes are displayed nearly in realtime on the Map. Features: - Live display of Lightning-Strikes - older Strikes are displayed as colored dots on the Map - Push Alarm if Lightning-Strikes are detected in a customizable area. - Language support for English, German, French, Spain and Russian The App Blitzortung-Live is an additional service to the main project Blitzortung.org (http://www.blitzortung.org). For general questions about Blitzortung.org and for ordering the necessary hardware if you want to be a part of the Network, visit the Link. Please consider the appropriate documentation, FAQs and instructions before contacting. Also, the discussion board is a good place for all questions and they will be quickly answered there. A lot of questions have already been answered there.
Thunderly
Visualize real-time lightning strikes globally on an interactive map. Explore weather data like clouds and precipitation, and measure distances to storms. You can even simulate lightning flashes with your camera.
- Real-time global lightning map
- Accurate day/night cycle
- Real-time clouds and precipitation layers
- Lightning history layer (last hour)
- Zoomable map detail
- Storm distance measurement
- Simulated lightning flashes
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Do you love storms as we do? Then you’ll love our app. At photorealistic globe you can see real time lightning all around the world. Besides accurate day and night cycle, globe contains real time clouds, precipitation and lightning history layer for last hour. For better resolution you can zoom into map detail. If you zoom really closely to your location, you can use start-stop feature to measure your distance from nearby storm. When no storm is close enough, feel free to “stream” lightnings via your camera flash from opposite side of the world to your living room. ...and one more thing: If you try hard enough we are pretty sure that you’ll find switch for real time aurora. Not as cool as lightning, but also kind of amazing!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Thunderly at none against BlitzortungLive's shown. Thunderly also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). BlitzortungLive's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 58%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, 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.
BlitzortungLive holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 664 and 2.6K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of BlitzortungLive's written reviews are positive against 58% of Thunderly's.
BlitzortungLive ships an update every 5 months, Thunderly every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 26, 2026.
| Parameter | BlitzortungLive | Thunderly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (664 ratings) — better | 4.3 (2.6K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.3% of reviews — better | 57.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 664 | 2.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 113 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Marco Bauer | Jan Plesek |
Customer experience
BlitzortungLive
Thunderly
User reviews
BlitzortungLive
From 664 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Real-time lightning tracking
- 📍 Accurate location of strikes
- 🔔 Useful alerts and notifications
- 🌐 Global coverage
- 🆓 Free app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Inconsistent detection of strikes
- 🗺️ Outdated or inaccurate map data
- 🔍 Lack of detailed strike information
- 💰 Intrusive advertising
Thunderly
From 2.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌟 Awesome app
- 🌩️ Great for tracking storms
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics
- 🔊 Realistic sound effects
- 🌍 Global coverage
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔌 App not working/functional
- 🕰️ App no longer updated
- 🔇 Sound/vibration issues
- 📱 Compatibility problems on older devices
Bugs and requests
BlitzortungLive
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes on startup
- Delayed or missing strike notifications
- Inaccurate location of strikes
- Issues with map updates
Requested features
5 requests- Customizable alert radius
- Historical lightning data
- Weather radar integration
- Ability to report missing strikes
- Option to remove ads
Thunderly
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Globe not rendering properly
- Lightning data not updating in real-time
- Incorrect lightning strike detection
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to track past lightning strikes
- Implement distance/location-based alerts
- Include weather data and radar
- Add support for landscape mode and iPad
- Provide more customization options
In-app purchases
BlitzortungLive
No in-app purchases
Thunderly
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BlitzortungLive free?
Is Thunderly free?
Which has better reviews, BlitzortungLive or Thunderly?
Do BlitzortungLive or Thunderly have ads?
Which is updated more often, BlitzortungLive or Thunderly?
Other comparisons
