Comparison

Drone Buddy vs PL GPS

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

PL GPS

Control your drone's direction and throttle in real-time. View live camera feeds from the UAV and capture photos or record videos directly from your phone.

Highlights
  • Real-time UAV connection via WiFi
  • Live drone camera feed display
  • Direction and throttle control
  • Photo capture
  • Video recording
Features
Read full description

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

Drone Buddy4 screens
PL GPS2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drone Buddy at 55% against PL GPS's 0%. Drone Buddy also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.3) and ratings volume (8.4K vs 4). PL GPS's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drone Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Buddy has 8.4K ratings behind it against 4, 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 0% of PL GPS's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drone Buddy ships an update weekly, PL GPS every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Drone Buddy versus PL GPS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrone BuddyPL GPS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (8.4K ratings) — better2.3 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews54.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8.4K — better4
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS1512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB167 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperKirway LLC介甲 张

Customer experience

Drone Buddy

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

PL GPS

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

PL GPS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

PL GPS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drone Buddy free?
Drone Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PL GPS free?
PL GPS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drone Buddy or PL GPS?
Drone Buddy is rated higher. Drone Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 8.4K ratings, while PL GPS averages 2.3 from 4 ratings.
Do Drone Buddy or PL GPS have ads?
Neither Drone Buddy nor PL GPS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drone Buddy or PL GPS?
Drone Buddy ships an update weekly, and PL GPS every 2 weeks. Most recently, Drone Buddy was updated on November 6, 2026 and PL GPS on October 30, 2026.

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