Comparison

Airmate vs Sofia VAC

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

Sofia VAC

This app provides access to French aeronautical information, including airfield details and dynamic VAC maps. Users can search for airfields by name or code, filter by runway characteristics, and download maps for offline use. It offers personalized map views with various airspace and navigational point overlays.

Highlights
  • Search airfields by name, ICAO code, or map
  • Filter airfields by runway length and surface
  • Consult dynamic VAC maps
  • Personalize map views with airspaces and VFR points
  • Download maps for offline access
  • Receive update notifications
Features
Read full description

The official App of the SIA, french Aeronautical Information Service FIND AN AIRFIELD Find the aerodrome or helipad of your choice by his name, ICAO code or directly on the map. Filter the airfileds according to the length of the runway and the nature of the surface. CONSULT FRENCH METROPOLITAN AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION Consult VAC maps easily from a dynamic map. Personalize your consultation by displaying the airspaces of your choice - TMA - CTR - SIV - FIR, P - D - R zones, or even the various VORs and VFR points. Manage your preferences: aerodromes or heliports - French or English - Automatic map updates. YOUR VAC MAPS WITH NO LIMIT Download geographical tiles and the VAC maps of your choice on your tablet in order to consult them at any time, even offline. UPDATES You can see your dataset's date. You'll be notified if an update is needed when openning the app. You are informed of the updates that need to be made for each VAC map on your tablet.

Screenshots

Airmate4 screens
Sofia VAC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Airmate at 75% against Sofia VAC's 25%. Airmate also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). Sofia VAC's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Airmate sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Sofia VAC asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Airmate ships an update every 6 weeks, Sofia VAC every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Airmate versus Sofia VAC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAirmateSofia VAC
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (549 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews74.8% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings549 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMyriel Aviation SADIR SERVICES DE NAVIGATION AERIENNE

Customer experience

Airmate

All ratings549 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral4.4%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews413 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative15.7%

Sofia VAC

Written reviews12 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative58.3%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Airmate

Subscriptions2
  • Airmate Premium$24.991 Year
  • Photorealistic terrain display$47.991 Year
One-time8
  • Flight plan filing token$1.99
  • Token for 1 year chart access$3.99
  • Support Airmate development!$4.99
Show 5 more
  • Support Airmate development!$8.99
  • Chart download token$8.99
  • Support Airmate development!$17.99
  • Airmate Pro version$22.99
  • Airmate Dispatcher$44.99
None

Sofia VAC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Airmate free?
Airmate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sofia VAC free?
Sofia VAC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Airmate or Sofia VAC have ads?
Neither Airmate nor Sofia VAC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Airmate or Sofia VAC?
Airmate ships an update every 6 weeks, and Sofia VAC every 3 months. Most recently, Airmate was updated on November 6, 2026 and Sofia VAC on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons