Flightradar24 Alternatives: 5 Free and Freemium Trackers

If you have opened Flightradar24 recently and found a feature you used to use for free now sitting behind a paywall, you are not imagining it. That is exactly why so many people are hunting for a Flightradar24 alternative, and the good news is there are several excellent ones. The best free alternative for most people is FlightAware, while ADS-B Exchange is the one to use if you want to see unfiltered or military aircraft. More on both (and the rest) below.

We usually compare flight prices, but the two worlds overlap more than you would think, and we know these tools well.

Why did Flightradar24 become paywalled?

Flightradar24 did not vanish, and it is still a very good product. Its free version is fairly limited, with features such as longer flight history, extra filters, 3D views and some of the deeper data kept for its paid tiers.

Running a global tracking network costs real money, so it is hard to be too harsh on them for it. But if you only ever used the free map to see what was flying overhead, the limits are enough to send you looking elsewhere.

The other thing worth saying plainly: not every tracker shows every plane. Which brings us to the bit that trips most people up.

What is ADS-B, and why do some planes not show up?

Nearly every modern flight tracker runs off something called ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast), which, in plain English, means most aircraft are constantly broadcasting their position, altitude and speed over radio, and a network of ground-based receivers (many of them run by volunteers, which is pretty cool when you think about it) picks up that signal and plots it on a map. No ADS-B signal, no dot on the map.

That is why some aircraft never appear. A plane might have its transponder off, it might be flying through an area with no nearby receivers, or (crucially) the tracking platform itself might choose to filter it out.

Many of the big commercial trackers hide military, government and privately-requested aircraft on purpose. So if you are wondering why a plane you can hear overhead is not on your screen, it is usually one of those three reasons rather than a bug.

Keep that in mind as we go, because it is the single biggest difference between these apps.

Flightradar24 alternatives compared

No single page we could find lays all of this out side by side, so here it is. This is the quick way to pick: free tier, whether it shows military or unfiltered aircraft, roughly how fast it updates, and where you can run it.

Tracker	Free tier	Shows military / unfiltered	Update speed	Mobile apps
ADS-B Exchange	Yes (web map)	Yes, nothing filtered	Very fast (~500ms)
FlightAware	Yes, generous	No, filters blocked aircraft	Near real-time
Flighty	Yes, limited	No, traveler-focused	Near real-time	iOS only
Plane Finder	Partial (web)	No	Near real-time
FlightStats	Yes (status lookup)	No	Status-based, not live map	Web-first

The best Flightradar24 alternatives, ranked by use case

1. ADS-B Exchange: best for unfiltered and military tracking

If the whole point is to see what everyone else hides, this is the one. ADS-B Exchange is a volunteer-fed network, now owned by aviation data company JETNET, built on (by its own account) more than 25,000 receivers around the world, and its guiding principle is simple: it does not filter aircraft. Military, government, blocked private jets, the lot. If it is broadcasting, it shows up.

It is also genuinely fast, with update latency down around the 500ms mark on its live feed, which makes it feel close to real-time rather than the lagging snapshot you sometimes get elsewhere.

Free vs paid: the web map is free to use. ADS-B Exchange historically leaned on data contributors feeding the network, and offers paid API access for heavier or commercial use. For a casual look at military flight radar, you will not need to pay a cent.

Apps: available on iOS and Android, plus the browser map.

2. FlightAware: best free all-rounder

FlightAware is the one we would point most people toward first. It has a generous free tier, a loyal following (the app has racked up 10M+ downloads) and strong coverage of both commercial and general aviation. Where some trackers feel built for spotters, FlightAware is just as happy telling you whether Grandma’s connection out of Chicago is going to be late.

Using both ADS-B and, in some regions, official air-traffic data means it can plug the gaps that a receiver-only network would otherwise leave. It does filter some blocked aircraft, so it is not your tool for chasing military traffic, but for everyday tracking it is excellent and it is free.

Free vs paid: free tier covers most needs; paid plans add extended history and advanced features for aviation professionals.

Apps: iOS and Android, plus web.

3. Flighty: best for travelers

Flighty is the one we recommend if you care less about plane spotting and more about actually catching your flight. It is built for travelers, with sharp delay predictions, push notifications when something changes, and (our favorite touch) inbound aircraft tracking, so you can see whether the very plane you are flying out on is already running late getting to you.

That inbound feature is the kind of early warning that saves you from sprinting through a terminal. If you spend any time worrying about disruption, pair it with our rundown of the most common reasons flights get delayed so you know what you are actually looking at.

Free vs paid: Flighty has a free tier for basic tracking, with its best predictive and alert features reserved for a paid subscription. Flighty Pro costs around $60 a year in the US (about £50 in the UK), and your first flight includes Pro free. Worth checking the current pricing before committing.

Apps: available on the US App Store for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, but iOS only: there is no Android app, only a waitlist. If you are on Android, byAir (below) is the closest alternative.

4. Plane Finder: best for spotters who like a nice map

Plane Finder has been around a long time and remains a favorite among plane spotters for its clean, fast map and augmented-reality mode, where you point your phone at the sky and it labels what is overhead. It covers commercial traffic well and is a pleasure to just leave running.

Free vs paid: there is a free web experience, while the full app features sit behind a recurring Premium subscription rather than a one-off purchase.

Apps: iOS and Android.

5. FlightStats: best for a quick status check

FlightStats (run by Cirium) is less about a live map crawling with dots and more about the status of one specific flight: on time, delayed, diverted, the gate, the terminal. If someone texts you a flight number and you just need to know when to leave for the airport, it is quick and to the point.

Free vs paid: the consumer flight-status lookup is free to use online; Cirium’s heavier data products are commercial.

Apps: the web tool is the main consumer product; functionality varies on mobile.

A few more worth knowing

If none of the above quite fits, there are a handful of others worth a look. byAir is a newer, design-led tracking app aimed at casual users who want something simple on their phone, and it is the one to try on Android if you like the sound of Flighty.

AirHelp is not really a tracker at all, but if your delay or cancellation turns into a compensation claim, it is the kind of service that chases airlines on your behalf, which is a different and genuinely useful job.

Which flight tracker shows military planes?

For military and other normally-hidden aircraft, ADS-B Exchange is the clear answer, precisely because it refuses to filter. The big mainstream platforms, including Flightradar24's free view and FlightAware, suppress a good chunk of military, government and owner-blocked traffic.

So if "military plane tracker" is the whole reason you are here, go straight to ADS-B Exchange and skip the rest. Nothing else on this list gives you the same unfiltered feed from a network that size.

Is FlightAware better than Flightradar24?

For a free experience, we would argue yes, more often than not. FlightAware’s free tier is more generous than Flightradar24's has become, and its general-aviation coverage is strong.

Flightradar24 still edges it on polish and on some of its paid 3D and historical features, so it depends on what you value. If you were only ever using the free map, moving to FlightAware costs you nothing and loses you very little.

Which tracker has the most accurate real-time data?

Simply put, "accurate" can mean two different things here. For the lowest latency and the most complete, unfiltered picture, ADS-B Exchange wins on the strength of its 25,000-plus receiver network and sub-second updates.

For accuracy on commercial schedules and statuses (the gate, the delay, the diversion), FlightAware and FlightStats are hard to beat because they blend ADS-B with official data. Pick based on which kind of accuracy you actually need.

Can I track private or unfiltered flights without a subscription?

Yes. ADS-B Exchange’s free web map shows blocked and private aircraft that most platforms hide, and it costs nothing to look. The caveat, as always, is the physics: if an aircraft has its transponder off or is flying somewhere with no receivers nearby, no free tool (and no paid one either) will conjure it onto the map.

A quick word on finding the flight itself

Tracking a plane is the easy, fun part. Finding the right flight at the right price is the bit that actually saves you money, and that just so happens to be what we’re all about. If you are booking rather than spotting, it is worth comparing fares across several engines rather than trusting one name, which is exactly why we put together guides to the best alternatives to Skyscanner and the leading Google Flights alternatives.

Moonsand (yes, that’s us) is a flight comparison platform in its own right: for each search we pull results from hundreds of vetted providers to surface the cheapest option, and we even estimate checked-baggage costs, which very few sites bother to do. If you want to see how we stack up head to head, our Trip.com vs Skyscanner vs Moonsand and Hopper vs Skyscanner vs Moonsand comparisons lay it all out. Or just browse our roundup of the top flight comparison websites to get the lay of the land.

So which Flightradar24 alternative should you use?

It comes down to one question: what are you actually trying to see? For unfiltered and military aircraft, go to ADS-B Exchange, no contest.

For a free, everyday tracker covering commercial and small aircraft, FlightAware is the one.

If you are a traveler who just wants to know whether your plane will be late, Flighty earns its place. Spotters will love Plane Finder, and FlightStats is perfect for a quick "is this flight on time?" check.

And once you’ve tracked your plane down, come back and let us help you book the next flight for less, that’s what we’re actually here for!