Comparison

Airmate vs Sparky's E6B Lite

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

Head to head
About

Airmate

This app provides pilots with comprehensive flight planning tools, including weather forecasts, airport data, and navigation charts. It enhances situational awareness with a moving map, traffic displays, and terrain elevation views. Pilots can also file flight plans and record their flights.

Highlights
  • Flight planning and weather forecasts
  • Airport data and aviation maps
  • Moving map with aircraft location
  • Traffic and terrain elevation display
  • Flight plan filing and management
  • Flight recording and replay
  • ADS-B traffic and weather reception
Features
Read full description

Airmate is a free and easy to use flight planning and weather app for pilots, improving situational awareness and providing instant access to airport data and aviation maps, up to date weather and NOTAMs, traffic around. IFR and VFR airport plates are freely available in US (FAA charts), Europe, and more than 200 other countries. Many of them are georeferenced and could be overlaid on the aviation chart. A powerful Plate Manager allows to download in advance all airport plates in a country, they could be easily printed and viewed. During the flight, the moving map will display the aircraft location along the route, show airports and aeronautical data details and traffic around, warn you if your planned route is crossing restricted areas. A profile view is available to display terrain elevation, crossed areas and forecasted weather across the route. Airmate can also display a backup aircraft attitude indicator and flight parameters in an EFIS-like view. In the whole world, Synthetic Vision displaying in the EFIS-like view the ups and downs of rolling terrain ahead is available. In selected countries, Airmate can display scenery if this option is purchased. Airmate includes a worldwide aeronautical database updated free of charge with airports, navigation beacons, waypoints, airways, obstacles, regulated and restricted areas. Topographic maps and elevation data for most countries may be downloaded free of charge, as well as additional aviation map overlays such US Sectionals. A procedure database provide details of departure (SID), arrival (STAR) and instrument approaches in the USA, and you could add those procedures to your planned flight route (the procedure database includes all US airports, we are workding to add airports in other countries). Once loaded, the procedure path is displayed on the aeronautical map, including curved paths and racetracks. When coupled with a supported external ADS-B received, Airmate will display nearby traffic on the moving map, and receive FIS-B weather and NOTAM during the flight. To improve safety, Airmate can display neighbouring traffic received over mobile network. Such traffic include commercial airlines and transponder-equiped aircrafts, FLARM gliders, aircrafts whose pilots are using Airmate and other users using other safety broadcasting equipment. Airmate is able to transmit the flight plan data to supported avionics such Dynon SkyView. Thanks to the Auto Route feature, you could search and select the best route for your flight, and then file your VFR or IFR flight plan. Once filed, your flight plan could easily be managed, delayed or cancelled. Airmate will also record your flights and allow to replay them later or export the flight path in gpx format, you could take pictures from the app during flights. Pilot log entries are automatically computed from flown flights. A Satellite map display mode in flight planning or replay mode allows to familiarize with significant landmarks. Airmate will save planned and flown flights, user waypoints and user aircrafts in the cloud and sync them between your devices and Airmate web flight planning. Airmate brings numerous social features to the community. Pilots may leave ratings, tips and comments to share their experience with fellow pilots, and report fuel prices and landing fees. They could find friends, instructors, flight schools, aviation events and aircraft to rent near their home airport or any visited airport. Airmate may be connected to most flight simulators to keep flying skills sharp, and will manage also AHRS and simulated traffic data transmitted by the flight simulator. Planned flights and personal waypoints may be imported and exported. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Sparky's E6B Lite

This app simulates a mechanical E6B flight computer, offering tools for calculations, practice, and learning flight computations. It features a slide rule for multiplication, division, and fuel calculations, along with wind vector analysis for flight headings.

Highlights
  • E6B flight computer emulation
  • Multiplication and division calculations
  • Fuel consumption and time/speed/distance calculations
  • Unit conversions (distance, volume, weight)
  • Airspeed, altitude, and Mach number calculations
  • Wind vector computer for headings and correction angles
Features
Read full description

Sparky's E6B emulates a mechanical E6B Flight Computer. The app can be used to perform calculations, or to practice and learn how to use a mechanical E6B. The E6B is an analog computer invented in the 1930's by Lt. Philip Dalton, USN for purposes of training and flight calculations. The "slide rule" or "front" side includes a circular log-log scale that can be used for multiplication, division, fuel consumption and time/speed/distance calculations. There are also various conversions available, such as nautical-miles/statute-miles/kilometers, fuel and oil volume and weight. The windows on the front are used for airspeed, various forms of "altitude' and mach number calculations. The "wind" side is a vector computer used to determine flight headings, wind correction angle etc. We have no ads and collect no personal information. We hope you enjoy the Free E6B App, and find it useful and instructive.

Screenshots

Airmate4 screens
Sparky's E6B Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Airmate at 4.5 against Sparky's E6B Lite's 3.5. Airmate also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (545 vs 10). Sparky's E6B Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 21). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Airmate sells 21 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Sparky's E6B Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Airmate holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Airmate has 545 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Airmate's written reviews are positive against 67% of Sparky's E6B Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Airmate ships an update every 6 weeks, Sparky's E6B Lite every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Airmate versus Sparky's E6B Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAirmateSparky's E6B Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (545 ratings) — better3.5 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings545 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMyriel Aviation SAIntineo LLC

Customer experience

Airmate

All ratings545 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral4.4%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews412 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral9.5%
Negative15.5%

Sparky's E6B Lite

All ratings10 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative30.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral11.1%
Negative22.2%

In-app purchases

21 purchases

Airmate

Subscriptions2
  • Airmate Premium$24.991 Year
  • Photorealistic terrain display$47.991 Year
One-time19
  • Flight plan filing token$1.99
  • Token for 1 year chart access$3.99
  • Support Airmate development!$4.99
Show 16 more
  • Argentina Center VFR 2022$4.99
  • Chile North VFR chart 2022$4.99
  • Chile Santiago VFR chart 2022$4.99
  • Argentina/Chile South VFR 2022$4.99
  • Support Airmate development!$8.99
  • Chart download token$8.99
  • Italy North Avioportolano 2022$11.99
  • Support Airmate development!$17.99
  • Airmate Pro version$22.99
  • Tunisia VFR Air Million 2024$24.99
  • Skyguide Swiss VFR Airport Plates (with one year updates)$36.99
  • Airmate Dispatcher$44.99
  • Avioportolano VFR Airfield Plates for Italy (one year subscription)$46.99
  • Airport Plates premium browser$54.99
  • UAE 2023 Rogers Data$79.99
  • UAE 2025 Rogers Data$89.99
None

Sparky's E6B Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Airmate free?
Airmate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sparky's E6B Lite free?
Sparky's E6B Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Airmate or Sparky's E6B Lite?
Airmate is rated higher. Airmate averages 4.5 out of 5 from 545 ratings, while Sparky's E6B Lite averages 3.5 from 10 ratings.
Do Airmate or Sparky's E6B Lite have ads?
Neither Airmate nor Sparky's E6B Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Airmate or Sparky's E6B Lite?
Airmate ships an update every 6 weeks, and Sparky's E6B Lite every 10 months. Most recently, Airmate was updated on October 9, 2026 and Sparky's E6B Lite on October 5, 2026.

Other comparisons