Drone Buddy vs Drone Scanner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
Drone Scanner
Transform your device into a drone scanner to track nearby flights in real-time. View detailed flight information, including pilot data and location history, on an interactive map. The app is updated to comply with current EU and US regulations.
- Real-time drone tracking
- Detailed drone information
- Interactive flight map
- Support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi broadcasts
- Flying zone highlighting
- Data export functionality
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The world's first drone Remote ID scanner made by Dronetag. _____ READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING! Limited access to features on some phones is caused by manufacturers’ restrictions. All iOS phones, for example, prohibit app access to Wi-Fi, so only Bluetooth data transmission will work (if and only the drone has an active Remote ID over Bluetooth). It is not a flaw of our app; we cannot fix this, and we don’t deserve negative reviews for these issues. _____ Transform your phone or tablet into a drone scanner and track all the nearby flights over Direct / Broadcast Remote ID standards. Browse real-time data about drones on a detailed map highlighting specific flying space zones. Download Drone Scanner for free and discover what drones fly above your head. Favourite features: - Discover more about drones flying nearby in real-time - Examine detailed information broadcasted by drones via Bluetooth 4, Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi Beacon, and Wi-Fi NAN - Browse a detailed map with your location and all nearby aircraft - Check available data about drones, including real-time height, direction, pilot identification, pilot position, operation description, and location history - Various flying zones marked and highlighted on the map - Easy export of collected data - Continuously updated to reflect the latest EU & US regulations All these features you find in Drone Scanner – a free app for tracking drones. The app is developed by Dronetag, manufacturing devices for remote drone identification. How it works: Anyone can quickly identify what drones are flying in the sky nearby. Direct Remote ID is a feature that transmits live flight data via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to the surrounding area. Drone manufacturers use various technologies to build an identification feature in new drones. Older drone pilots use add-on devices, enabling them to become digitally visible. With hardware on your smartphone, Drone Scanner can receive and read broadcasted data.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Drone Buddy at 4.7 against Drone Scanner's 1.9. Drone Buddy also leads on review sentiment (55% vs 16%) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months). Drone Scanner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Drone Buddy sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Drone Scanner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Drone Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Buddy has 8.4K ratings behind it against 147, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Drone Buddy's written reviews are positive against 16% of Drone Scanner's.
Drone Buddy ships an update every 10 days, Drone Scanner every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drone Buddy | Drone Scanner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (8.4K ratings) — better | 1.9 (147 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.8% of reviews — better | 15.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8.4K — better | 147 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kirway LLC | Dronetag |
Customer experience
Drone Buddy
Drone Scanner
User reviews
Drone Buddy
From 8.4K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Drone Scanner
From 147 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works as advertised
- 🚀 Great app for Android
- 💡 Excellent Remote ID scanner
Room to improve
- 🐛 Does not work on iOS
- 🐛 Unable to detect drones
- 🔒 Privacy concerns
- 🔒 Collects personal 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
Drone Scanner
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes on launch
- Unable to locate drones in proximity
- Inaccurate location tracking
Requested features
3 requests- Add support for WiFi-based Remote ID
- Add support for more drone models
- Allow changing units from metric to imperial
In-app purchases
Drone Buddy
- Upgrade to Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
- Unlock Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- Drone Buddy Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
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- 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
- Unlock Pro Access Lifetime$79.99
- Unlock Pro Lifetime$99.99
Drone Scanner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Drone Buddy free?
Is Drone Scanner free?
Which has better reviews, Drone Buddy or Drone Scanner?
Do Drone Buddy or Drone Scanner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drone Buddy or Drone Scanner?
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