Drone Buddy vs ST FLY
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
Read full descriptionHide 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
ST FLY
Control your drone in real-time via WiFi. View live camera feeds and operate flight controls directly from your phone. Capture photos and record videos from your aerial perspective.
- Real-time WiFi connection to UAV
- Display live drone camera feed
- Control aircraft direction and throttle
- Shoot photos
- Record video
Read full descriptionHide full description
This APP Through the real-time connection with the uav through WIFI, the pictures taken by the uav will be displayed, and the phone will control the direction of the aircraft throttle, shoot the pictures of the uav and record the video
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ST FLY at 100% against Drone Buddy's 55%. ST FLY also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15). Drone Buddy's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (8.4K vs 1). On price, ads 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. Drone Buddy sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. ST FLY asks for nothing beyond the download.
Drone Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Buddy has 8.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Drone Buddy's written reviews are positive against 100% of ST FLY's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Drone Buddy ships an update every 10 days, ST FLY every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drone Buddy | ST FLY |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (8.4K ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8.4K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 6 weeks |
| 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 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 151 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kirway LLC | 介甲 张 |
Customer experience
Drone Buddy
ST FLY
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
ST FLY
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- 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
ST FLY
No in-app purchases
