FLIGHT TRACKING HEAD-TO-HEAD
Flightradar24 vs ADS-B Exchange (2026)
Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange track the same sky with opposite philosophies. Flightradar24 (Sweden, founded 2006) is the polished mainstream tracker: real-time positions from a vast volunteer receiver network, rich aircraft detail, airport boards and best-in-class apps, with some traffic filtered and the depth sold by subscription. ADS-B Exchange, founded in 2016 by an aviation enthusiast, is a community-fed network built on the opposite promise — a transparent view of the skies without censorship or filtering, displaying all aircraft broadcasts as received, including military and private aircraft other trackers hide.
Flightradar24 is the polished product — filtered, app-first and subscription-deep. ADS-B Exchange is the open record — unfiltered, community-fed and built for people who want the broadcasts as received. Casual users will be happier in Flightradar24; enthusiasts and researchers who resent filtering will choose ADS-B Exchange.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Sources listed at the bottom of this page
Quick facts
| Flightradar24 | ADS-B Exchange | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Commercial tracker — free Basic tier plus subscriptions | Community-fed network — free map with ads, plus data products |
| Filtering | Filtered mainstream tracker | Unfiltered — all broadcasts shown as received |
| Receiver network | Roughly 45,000 volunteer receivers | 25,000+ active receivers (its own claim) |
| Free tier | Basic tier with limited features; full web view requires registration | Full live map with ads; feeders get ad-free free |
| Paid tier | Silver, Gold and Business — pricing varies by region | Personal ad-free at $2.99/mo or $29.95/yr; enterprise pricing not public |
| History | Up to 365 days on top tiers | History function on the map back to March 2020 |
Key differences at a glance
- Unfiltered military and private aircraftFlightradar24: NoADS-B Exchange: YesADS-B Exchange displays all aircraft broadcasts as received, including military and private aircraft; Flightradar24 is a filtered mainstream tracker
- Weather layers and radarFlightradar24: YesADS-B Exchange: PartialFlightradar24's Gold plan has 15+ weather layers; ADS-B Exchange lists weather radar for the US and Germany among its map features
- Custom flight alertsFlightradar24: YesADS-B Exchange: Not verifiedFlightradar24 offers custom alerts on paid plans; no alert feature was stated on the ADS-B Exchange official pages checked
- Official iOS and Android appsFlightradar24: YesADS-B Exchange: Not verifiedFlightradar24's iOS/Android apps are well established; no official ADS-B Exchange flight-tracking app was confirmed on its official pages — its homepage promotes a Tailvision app, with platform and price unverified
What is Flightradar24?
Flightradar24 shows real-time aircraft positions built from ADS-B, MLAT, radar and FAA data fed by roughly 45,000 volunteer receivers, with airport departure and arrival boards, aircraft photos and deep flight history. Its consumer plans layer on features — up to 365 days of history, full aircraft details (age, serial, squawk, vertical speed), 15+ weather layers, aeronautical charts and oceanic tracks — and its iOS/Android apps, including 3D and cockpit views, are widely considered the best in flight tracking.
What is ADS-B Exchange?
ADS-B Exchange is a global platform that aggregates and displays real-time aircraft movements via a collaborative network of contributors, offering, in its own words, a transparent view of the skies without censorship or filtering. Individuals and organisations host ADS-B receivers that capture broadcast data directly from aircraft, including military, commercial and private traffic. ADS-B Exchange claims over 25,000 active receivers and positions updated every 500 milliseconds, offers a history function on the map back to March 2020, and sells enterprise live and daily data products alongside the public map — with no public pricing for those enterprise products.
Flightradar24 vs ADS-B Exchange: feature comparison
Verified against official sources. “Not verified” means we couldn’t confirm it — not that it doesn’t exist.
FEATURE TALLY — FROM THE TABLE BELOW
Flightradar24
12 yes · 1 partial · 1 no
ADS-B Exchange
9 yes · 1 partial · 1 no · 3 not verified
A count of the rows in the verified table beneath — not a quality rating. The rows themselves, and what each product does best, matter more than the totals.
| Feature | Flightradar24 | ADS-B Exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Live global flight mapBoth track flights worldwide in real time from ADS-B and related data | Yes | Yes |
| Unfiltered military and private aircraftADS-B Exchange displays all aircraft broadcasts as received, including military and private aircraft; Flightradar24 is a filtered mainstream tracker | No | Yes |
| MLAT positionsBoth use multilateration for aircraft that do not broadcast GPS positions | Yes | Yes |
| Flight history and replayFlightradar24 offers up to 365 days of history on top tiers; ADS-B Exchange offers a replay feature and a history function on the map back to March 2020 | Yes | Yes |
| Detailed aircraft informationFlightradar24 pairs positions with photos and full aircraft records (age, serial, squawk); ADS-B Exchange lists detailed aircraft information, detailed ADS-B data and aircraft ownership information | Yes | Yes |
| Weather layers and radarFlightradar24's Gold plan has 15+ weather layers; ADS-B Exchange lists weather radar for the US and Germany among its map features | Yes | Partial |
| Aeronautical charts and layersFlightradar24 offers aeronautical charts and ATC boundaries; ADS-B Exchange lists aeronautical charts and layers, with premium map layers on its personal subscription | Yes | Yes |
| Custom flight alertsFlightradar24 offers custom alerts on paid plans; no alert feature was stated on the ADS-B Exchange official pages checked | Yes | Not verified |
| Official iOS and Android appsFlightradar24's iOS/Android apps are well established; no official ADS-B Exchange flight-tracking app was confirmed on its official pages — its homepage promotes a Tailvision app, with platform and price unverified | Yes | Not verified |
| 3D and cockpit viewsFlightradar24's apps offer 3D and cockpit-view modes; ADS-B Exchange is a map-based service with no 3D globe | Yes | No |
| Airport boards and operations dataFlightradar24 shows airport departure/arrival boards with live ETAs; ADS-B Exchange sells live and daily operations data to enterprise customers, but a consumer airport-board feature was not confirmed on its official pages | Yes | Not verified |
| Free access without signupFlightradar24 has a free Basic tier, but full web access requires registration; the ADS-B Exchange map is free to open, and feeders activate ad-free access with no registration or account needed | Partial | Yes |
| Commercial data feeds and APIsFlightradar24 sells its API separately and offers Business plans; ADS-B Exchange sells enterprise live and daily position and operations products — with no public pricing | Yes | Yes |
| Community feeder networkBoth are fed by volunteers hosting receivers: roughly 45,000 for Flightradar24, and over 25,000 claimed by ADS-B Exchange | Yes | Yes |
Pricing: Flightradar24 vs ADS-B Exchange
Flightradar24 pricing
Free Basic tier with limited features. Paid consumer plans — Silver, Gold and Business — unlock 60+ premium features, with a 7-day free trial and pricing that varies by region (2026 reviews list Silver at roughly $12.99/year on annual billing). The Flightradar24 API is sold separately from the subscriptions.
ADS-B Exchange pricing
The live map is free with ads. A personal ad-free subscription costs $2.99/month or $29.95/year — for individual, personal use only — and adds premium map layers; people who feed data to the network get the ad-free map free. Enterprise data products (live positions, live operations, daily positions and daily operations) have no public pricing — commercial use is by contact and subscription sale only.
Flightradar24: pros and cons
- Polished iOS and Android apps with 3D and cockpit views
- Up to 365 days of flight history and CSV export
- Full aircraft detail, photos and airport boards with live ETAs
- 15+ weather layers, aeronautical charts and oceanic tracks
- Roughly 45,000-receiver network behind the live map
- Filtered — some military and blocked traffic is hidden
- Full web access requires registration, even on the free tier
- The depth sits behind Silver, Gold or Business subscriptions
- Pricing varies by region and is listed in-app
- Flight-only — no ships, cameras or other live layers
ADS-B Exchange: pros and cons
- Unfiltered — military, commercial and private aircraft shown as received
- Free live map; personal ad-free tier is just $2.99/mo or $29.95/yr
- Feeders get the ad-free map free, with no registration needed
- History function on the map back to March 2020, plus replay
- Claims 25,000+ receivers and position updates every 500ms
- Free map carries ads; ad-free is a personal-use subscription only
- Enterprise data products have no public pricing
- No official native app or alert feature confirmed on its official pages
- Researcher-oriented interface — less polished for casual users
- Flight-only — no ships, cameras or other live layers
The verdict
Choose Flightradar24 if…
Choose Flightradar24 if you track for the love of it or for travel — planespotting, following aircraft globally, digging into history and aircraft detail, checking airport boards, or wanting the best mobile apps and 3D views.
Choose ADS-B Exchange if…
Choose ADS-B Exchange if seeing everything matters more than polish — military and private traffic shown as received, a long map history, and a researcher-oriented, community-fed map, even if that means ads on the free tier and a more technical interface.
Is Flightradar24 better than ADS-B Exchange?
They solve different problems. Flightradar24 is the better everyday tracker: richer aircraft detail, up to 365 days of history, airport boards and the best apps — filtered, and with the depth behind subscriptions. ADS-B Exchange is the better open record: a community-fed map that shows every broadcast as received, including military and private traffic, with history back to March 2020 and a cheap personal ad-free tier. If you want a tracker, open Flightradar24; if you want the unfiltered sky, open ADS-B Exchange.
ANOTHER OPTION
Where WorldEye fits
If you mainly want to glance at the sky rather than study it, WorldEye shows live flights free on a 3D globe — no signup — alongside live ships, satellites, weather, earthquakes, wildfires and 74,229 public cameras across 105 countries in the same view. WorldEye does not claim unfiltered military data like ADS-B Exchange or Flightradar24-grade flight history; it is the free, everything-at-once picture. An optional Pro tier ($7.99/week, $13.99/month or $74.99/year) adds the OSINT toolkit and intel feeds.
Live on WorldEye right now
Real cameras from WorldEye's live catalogue — no account, no install. Tap any frame to open that exact camera on the globe.
Full WorldEye head-to-heads: WorldEye vs Flightradar24 · WorldEye vs ADS-B Exchange
Flightradar24 vs ADS-B Exchange: quick answers
Does ADS-B Exchange really show military aircraft?
Yes — that is its defining promise. ADS-B Exchange displays all aircraft broadcasts as received, with no filtering or blocking, including military, commercial and private aircraft. Flightradar24, as a filtered mainstream tracker, hides some traffic that ADS-B Exchange shows.
Is ADS-B Exchange free?
The live map is free with ads. A personal ad-free subscription costs $2.99/month or $29.95/year for individual, personal use, and people who feed data to the network get the ad-free map free. Its enterprise data products have no public pricing.
Is Flightradar24 free?
There is a free Basic tier with a limited feature set. Silver, Gold and Business plans unlock 60+ premium features with a 7-day free trial; pricing varies by region. The API is a separate product.
Which has more flight history, Flightradar24 or ADS-B Exchange?
They count it differently. Flightradar24 offers up to 365 days of flight history on its top tiers. ADS-B Exchange offers a history function on the map going back to March 2020, plus a replay feature — a much longer window, presented as a map archive rather than per-flight subscription history.
Does ADS-B Exchange have an app?
No official ADS-B Exchange flight-tracking app was confirmed on its official pages checked for this comparison — treat its app status as unverified. Its homepage promotes a Tailvision app, but its platform and price were not confirmed. Flightradar24's iOS and Android apps are well established.
Is there a free flight tracker with no signup?
Both maps here can be opened free, and WorldEye's globe also shows live flights free with no signup, combined with ships, satellites, weather and 74,229 public cameras. For unfiltered data, ADS-B Exchange is the specialist; for history, alerts and aircraft records, Flightradar24 remains the specialist.
How we researched this comparison
Every row in the table above was checked against Flightradar24’s and ADS-B Exchange’s official sites, documentation or published pricing — the sources are listed at the bottom of this page, and the comparison was last reviewed in October 2026. Where a capability couldn’t be confirmed from an official source, it is marked “Not verified” rather than guessed.
This page is published by WorldEye, so the head-to-head above is kept deliberately neutral: each product’s strengths are stated in its own terms, and WorldEye appears only in the labelled “another option” section. WorldEye’s own figures there are counted, not estimated — 74,229 public cameras in its live directory across 105 countries, and a free map (flights, satellites, ships, weather, earthquakes, wildfires, cameras and satellite imagery) with an optional Pro tier at $7.99/week, $13.99/month or $74.99/year.
Products change. If you spot a row that has gone stale, the sources below show exactly what each claim rests on.