Best Flight Tracking Apps in 2026: Complete Comparison

Whether you are a frequent flyer logging hundreds of flights a year or a casual traveler who wants to remember every trip, a good flight tracking app can change how you experience air travel. In 2026, several apps cover different needs, from live flight alerts to a lifelong flight diary. This article looks at four of the best known: FlightLog, Flighty, App in the Air, and myFlightradar24.

What to Look for in a Flight Tracking App

Before looking at individual apps, it helps to know what separates a great flight tracker from an average one. The best apps should offer easy flight logging (ideally by scanning a boarding pass), live plane tracking, rich statistics, offline access, and a design that makes you want to open it. Pricing matters too, so check what is free and what is paid before you commit your flight history to an app.

FlightLog: A Flight Journal and Plane Tracker

FlightLog is a flight diary for iPhone, iPad and Android. Its boarding pass scanner reads the barcode and the printed text of a paper or digital pass, so the flight number, airports, date, seat and class are filled in without typing. You can also add a flight from its number and date, take a photo of a booking confirmation to read all its flights at once, forward booking emails to a personal import address, or import trips from your phone calendar. If you are coming from another app, FlightLog imports files from Flighty, myFlightradar24, OpenFlights and several others.

The built-in live plane tracker uses ADS-B data to show the position, altitude, speed and heading of an aircraft from your logbook (a flight with its registration), together with the aircraft's details. Every flight can carry its aircraft type and registration, and the aircraft collection lists the types you have flown.

Statistics are the core of the app: total distance, time in the air, number of flights, countries, airports, airlines, routes and aircraft types, year by year, plus a carbon footprint estimated with factors based on the DEFRA figures, by cabin class. Your routes appear on an interactive 3D globe and a 2D map, and a passport page collects one stamp for each country you have visited. Achievements, shareable statistics cards and export to PDF, CSV and JSON are included.

FlightLog is free to download, and every feature is free up to 10 flights. Premium removes the limit and unlocks your complete history: $4.99 per month, $29.99 per year, or $99.99 once. It is available in 35 languages, and your logbook and statistics work offline, with optional account sync. Saved boarding passes and tickets (passenger name, booking reference) are stored on your phone and never synced to your account; when you ask the app to read a photo, a document or a forwarded email, it is sent to a third-party reading service, which you can turn off in the app. See the pricing page for details.

Flighty: Known for Real-Time Flight Alerts

Flighty has built a reputation around real-time flight status notifications. Its website promotes fast alerts about delays and gate changes, and it can add flights from your calendar, TripIt or email. The interface is focused on upcoming flights.

Flighty is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, according to its website, and it does not list an Android version. If you use Android, or want a diary built around your whole flight history, you will need another option. For a feature-by-feature view, see the FlightLog and Flighty comparison.

App in the Air: Shut Down in 2024

App in the Air was a travel companion offering flight status, airport guides and flight logging. Its closure was announced in September 2024 and the service stopped on October 19, 2024; the app is no longer on the App Store or Google Play. If you used it, you can still bring over any data you exported with the App in the Air import guide.

myFlightradar24: For Aviation Enthusiasts

myFlightradar24 is the flight diary of the Flightradar24 ecosystem (it was previously called Flightdiary). You enter a flight number and date, and for flights in its database the airports, times and airline are filled in. It also shows personal rankings of your most used airports, airlines and aircraft.

If you already use Flightradar24 to watch planes, it keeps your diary in the same place. You can move a diary from it into FlightLog with the myFlightradar24 import guide, and the comparison page lists the differences.

At a Glance

How to Choose

Each app serves a slightly different traveler. Choose Flighty if real-time alerts for upcoming trips are your top priority and you use Apple devices. Choose myFlightradar24 if you already live in the Flightradar24 ecosystem. App in the Air is no longer an option since its shutdown.

Choose FlightLog if you want one place for the whole history of your flying: scan or import every flight you have ever taken, then explore your distance, countries, airlines, aircraft and carbon footprint on a globe, on iPhone, iPad or Android. You can download FlightLog for free and log your first flight in minutes. An account is optional.