Comparison

Drone Buddy vs NAV Drone

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

Head to head
About

Drone Buddy

This app provides drone pilots with essential flight data, including weather radar, wind maps, and no-fly zone information. It helps users plan safe flights, discover new flying locations, and stay updated on drone news. An optional subscription offers advanced features.

Highlights
  • Weather radar and wind maps
  • No-fly zone data
  • Best flying window forecasts
  • Crowd-sourced flying spot discovery
  • Drone news updates
  • Drone flying hub for jobs and business
Features
Read full description

Don’t waste a trip. Check wind, weather, and airspace before you take off — then find nearby flying sites shared by other pilots. Trusted by over 1 million pilots. 4.7 stars from 8.4K App Store ratings. WHAT YOU GET • Go / no-go — a clear fly check for your pin from weather, TFRs, and U.S. Class B/C/D/E • Wind and weather — live wind, gusts, rain radar, and visibility so you know if it’s actually flyable • Best flying windows — the calmest daylight slots, scored for wind, rain, cloud, visibility, and daylight • No-fly reference maps — global airports, U.S. Class B/C/D/E, US / UK / Canada national parks, TFRs, stadium events, and FAA UAS restricted areas. Adjust airport circle range for your certification. These are planning tools, not official clearance, and not a LAANC filing. • Where to fly — crowd-sourced sites with photos and notes from other pilots • Flying Hub — save favorite spots; businesses can post jobs, inspections, surveys, and training • Drone news — regulations, gear, and industry updates DRONE BUDDY PRO Check any pin first: go / no-go on a searched site, hourly wind, calm flying windows for 10 days, and TFR alerts on the pin you care about. 3-day free trial on the annual plan, then the yearly price shown in-app. Cancel anytime in Apple ID settings. Also available as a 3-month plan or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions auto-renew unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the period ends. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Manage or cancel in Account Settings. Please cross-check local laws and airspace before every flight. Drone Buddy is not affiliated with the FAA and does not replace B4UFLY or an FAA-listed LAANC app. Maps and community sites can be incomplete — you are responsible for a legal, safe flight. Privacy: https://dronebuddy.io/privacy Terms: https://dronebuddy.io/terms Support: sayhi@dronebuddy.io Web: https://dronebuddy.io

About

NAV Drone

This app helps drone pilots in Canada fly safely and legally. It provides airspace information, allows flight planning, and automates authorization requests for controlled airspace.

Highlights
  • Airspace information
  • Flight planning
  • Flight authorization
  • Controlled airspace guidance
  • Automatic authorization responses
Read full description

Fly your drone safely and legally in Canada’s controlled airspace using NAV Drone, a mobile app from NAV CANADA. Review important guidelines, discover where you can fly, schedule flights, and receive automatic authorization responses from NAV CANADA when you’re approved to fly — all from your mobile device. KEY FEATURES • Airspace information – Provides drone pilots with information on classification, restrictions, and NOTAMs. • Flight planning – Provides capabilities to schedule and plan flights in controlled airspace. • Flight authorization – Automates authorization responses to fly in controlled airspace.

Screenshots

Drone Buddy4 screens
NAV Drone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NAV Drone at none against Drone Buddy's 10. Drone Buddy's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (8.4K vs 25). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Drone Buddy sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. NAV Drone asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Drone Buddy against 4.6 for NAV Drone. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Buddy has 8.4K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 55% of Drone Buddy's written reviews are positive against 51% of NAV Drone's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drone Buddy ships an update weekly, NAV Drone every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Drone Buddy versus NAV Drone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrone BuddyNAV Drone
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (8.4K ratings) — better4.6 (25 ratings)
Positive reviews54.8% of reviews — better50.9% of reviews
Number of ratings8.4K — better25
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS1515.0
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB356 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKirway LLCNAV Canada

Customer experience

Drone Buddy

All ratings8,419 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews241 reviews
Positive54.8%
Neutral10.0%
Negative35.3%

NAV Drone

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive50.9%
Neutral10.0%
Negative39.1%

User reviews

Drone Buddy

From 8.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Unique and outstanding design
  • 👍 Correct and reliable data
  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 👍 Helpful for drone flying

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Missing vital data and information
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🌍 Not accurate for non-US regions

NAV Drone

From 25 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast flight authorization approval process
  • 👍 Well-designed interface for beginners
  • 📍 Helpful for compliance with airspace regulations
  • ✅ Excellent customer support response times
  • 🎯 Clear flight restriction information

Room to improve

  • 🔐 Constant forced logout requiring repeated login
  • 🗺️ Difficult map drawing and zone boundary adjustment
  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and instability
  • ❌ Inaccurate drone weight/model restrictions
  • 🔄 Inconsistent airspace restriction information

Bugs and requests

Drone Buddy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Map crashes after populating airports
  • Profile settings not saving
  • Inconsistent wind speed data

Requested features

4 requests
  • Color-coded wind speed indicators
  • Ability to report and verify no-fly zones
  • Integration with air traffic control
  • Metric units support

NAV Drone

Reported bugs

21 issues
  • App logs out constantly, sometimes mid-session
  • Pilot license documents not saving/persisting
  • Login credentials not retained between sessions
  • App crashes during launch and landing functions
  • Cannot save new flight areas
Show 16 more
  • Map defaults to wrong location despite location permissions
  • Flight area scaling incorrectly after adjustment
  • Validation errors preventing flight submission
  • Unable to load login information
  • Cannot select operation category
  • Fails to pull user preferences and drone data
  • Bad gateway errors after updates
  • Inconsistent airspace restriction status for same location
  • Map display too small on larger phones
  • Difficulty zooming and expanding map areas
  • Drone selection dropdown extremely slow to load
  • Unable to register standard profile
  • Cannot adjust map while setting flight limits
  • Cumbersome altitude adjustment interface
  • Dangerous goods field not defaulting to 'no'
  • Withdraw flight button too close to accept button

Requested features

17 requests
  • Biometric login (Face ID/fingerprint authentication)
  • Remember email address on login screen
  • Save default drone and flight operation preferences
  • Numeric keypad for altitude and distance input instead of sliders
  • Built-in NOTAM advisory information
Show 12 more
  • Automatic notifications for approaching aircraft
  • Notification when requested flight time expires
  • Support for uploading KML files for flight planning
  • Ability to enter flight location coordinates directly
  • Add provincial parks and local restrictions to map
  • Auto-fill support for 2FA authentication codes
  • Save favorite locations with custom names
  • Edit existing flight permits after submission
  • Multi-drone selection for single operation
  • Longer approval windows for regular flying locations
  • Conflict detection visible without account login
  • Update drone model database (DJI Air 3S, Mini 4K, etc.)

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Drone Buddy

Subscriptions8
  • Upgrade to Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Drone Buddy Pro 3 months$12.993 Months
  • Unlock Drone Buddy Pro$17.996 Months
  • Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly3 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
  • Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Yearly3 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time2
  • Unlock Pro Access Lifetime$79.99
  • Unlock Pro Lifetime$99.99
None

NAV Drone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drone Buddy free?
Drone Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is NAV Drone free?
NAV Drone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drone Buddy or NAV Drone?
Drone Buddy is rated higher. Drone Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 8.4K ratings, while NAV Drone averages 4.6 from 25 ratings.
Do Drone Buddy or NAV Drone have ads?
Neither Drone Buddy nor NAV Drone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drone Buddy or NAV Drone?
Drone Buddy ships an update weekly, and NAV Drone every 4 months. Most recently, Drone Buddy was updated on November 6, 2026 and NAV Drone on November 3, 2026.

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