Plane Finder is the quieter British rival to Flightradar24: a live map of the world’s aircraft, built since 2009 by Pinkfroot, a small UK developer. Tap a plane and you get its route, height, speed and type; hold your phone to the sky and augmented reality labels the jet overhead. Where Flightradar24 sells three tiers, Plane Finder keeps things simple with a single Premium subscription.
The free version works, but it leans hard on adverts, and some features you might expect for nothing, such as the 3D view and even light mode, sit behind the paywall. Here is our Plane Finder review: what is free, what Premium costs, how accurate it is and how it stacks up against the big names.
Plane Finder Promo Code: None needed
Best deal: free trial on the annual plan, then Premium at £19.99 a year
| Offer detail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | None needed. Plane Finder does not publish promo codes |
| Welcome offer | Free trial on the annual Premium subscription, one per user |
| Who qualifies | New subscribers on iPhone, iPad and Android |
| Key terms | Renews automatically; Premium is £3.49 a month or £19.99 a year on the UK App Store |
| How to claim | Download the app, open the Premium screen and choose the annual plan |
Plane Finder at a glance
- Owner: Pinkfroot Ltd, United Kingdom
- Launched: 2009
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Android and web
- Free plan: yes; live map, flight details and airport boards, with ads
- Paid from: £3.49 a month or £19.99 a year for Premium (UK App Store)
- Offline use: no; it needs a data connection
- Ratings: App Store (UK) 4.7/5 from 96k ratings
Our verdict
Plane Finder is a capable, well-supported flight tracker that does the everyday jobs well and charges a fair, single price for the extras. Premium at £19.99 a year is good value if you want 3D, alerts and ad-free playback without weighing up tiers. The free app, though, is noticeably ad-heavy, and for most casual users Flightradar24’s free version remains the better first download.
Pros
- One Premium plan at £19.99 a year, with a free trial on the annual option
- AR mode identifies aircraft overhead with your phone camera
- Apple Watch and Vision Pro apps
- Live and delayed feeds are colour-coded, so you know what you are looking at
- Free apps and an ad-free website if you share data from a home receiver
Cons
- Ads in the free app, including full-screen ones, draw frequent complaints
- 3D view and light mode are Premium-only
- No offline mode
- App Store privacy label lists location and purchases among data used to track you
- Smaller user base than Flightradar24, so fewer community photos and less buzz
What Plane Finder does and who it suits
Plane Finder picks up the position signals that most aircraft broadcast (ADS-B), adds multilateration (MLAT) where three or more receivers hear the same plane, and fills gaps with an FAA feed over the US and Canada and a FLARM feed for gliders and small aircraft. On the map, red planes come from live feeds; orange ones come from the delayed FAA feed and appear only where live tracking is unavailable. That honesty about data sources is a nice touch.
It earns its place in moments like these:
- Your brother is flying into Gatwick from Lisbon. Rather than refreshing the airport website, you watch the aircraft cross the Channel and set off when it begins its descent.
- A helicopter has been circling over your street for twenty minutes. Plane Finder’s filters and AR view may tell you whose it is, if it broadcasts.
- You are a private pilot and want a second pair of eyes on gliders and light aircraft near your local airfield.
It is not a booking app, and it does not replace your airline’s own alerts.
Is Plane Finder free? What you get without paying
Yes. The free app gives you the live map, flight and aircraft details, and airport arrival and departure boards with gate and weather information. It carries adverts, including a permanent banner and full-screen interstitials.
Premium removes ads and, according to the UK App Store listing, unlocks the 3D mode and more than 50 other features, among them unlimited custom alerts, playback, advanced filters, customisable aircraft labels and additional map styles. Light mode is also a Premium feature, which a WhistleOut review rightly called an odd thing to charge for.
Plane Finder’s own FAQ says historic tracks back to April 2011 can be viewed through playback or its Explore database, so the archive itself is unusually deep.
Plane Finder price: Premium and the cheapest way to pay
The UK App Store lists these prices.
| Plan | UK price | US$ (US App Store) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | £0 | $0 |
| Premium, monthly | £3.49 | $3.49 |
| Premium, yearly | £19.99 | $19.99 |
| Legacy Users (one-off) | £19.99 | $19.99 |
The “Legacy Users” item is aimed at people who bought the old paid versions of Plane Finder. Prices on Android may differ.
The cheapest way to pay: go annual. £19.99 a year works out at about £1.67 a month, under half the monthly price. Start the free trial and set a reminder, because it converts automatically, and Pinkfroot says the trial is a one-time offer.
The free route for tinkerers: anyone with an ADS-B receiver can share data with Plane Finder using its client software for Windows, macOS and Linux. In return, sharers get free apps, an ad-free website and extra statistics.
Plane Finder features worth knowing
AR spotting. Point the camera at the sky and labels appear over aircraft in view. Plane Finder lists live AR mode among the headline features on its App Store page.
3D view. Follow a flight from the cockpit, an airport or anywhere on the map. Premium only.
Airport boards. Live arrivals and departures with terminal, gate, baggage belt and weather.
Alerts and filters. Premium adds unlimited custom alerts and filters by airline, aircraft type and more.
Platforms. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, Android and a web map. There is no offline mode; an eSIM helps if you track flights abroad.
Is Plane Finder accurate and safe?
Live ADS-B and MLAT positions are close to real time. Orange FAA-fed planes are delayed. Aircraft can vanish over oceans, at low altitude near airports without a nearby receiver, or if they lack the right transponder. Routes are matched from callsigns and airline schedules, so unscheduled flights can show the wrong route.
On privacy, Plane Finder’s UK App Store label lists purchases, location, identifiers and usage data as data used to track you, and contact info and user content as data linked to you. When DailyStoke checked, we found no published regulator action against Pinkfroot.
What users say about Plane Finder
The UK App Store rating is strong at 4.7 from 96,000 ratings. RiversLakes wrote: “This is the best app for tracking planes in my opinion.” Support gets regular praise; Webcrawler59 wrote in 2022: “Really great support from Pinkfoot.”
The recurring complaint is advertising. As Darkstoat put it in 2021: “The free is ok but full of ads.”
To cancel: on iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, choose Plane Finder and cancel. On Android, go to Google Play, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions. Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal.
Plane Finder vs Flightradar24 vs AirNav Radar
| Plane Finder | Flightradar24 | AirNav Radar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, with ads | Yes, with ads | Yes, with ads |
| Paid from | £3.49 a month | £2.99 a month (Silver) | £2.99 a month |
| Annual top tier for individuals | £19.99 (Premium) | £33.99 (Gold) | £34.99 (Pilot) |
| Apple Watch | Yes | No | No |
| App Store rating (UK) | 4.7 (96k) | 4.8 (378k) | 4.7 (646) |
Pick Plane Finder for one simple Premium plan, an Apple Watch app and a deep archive.
Pick Flightradar24 for the strongest free app, the biggest network and the most polished map.
Pick AirNav Radar if you want aviation chart layers and tower radio for less than Flightradar24 Gold.
For US delay data, see our FlightAware review; for tracking your own trips rather than the sky, try Flighty.
Who should buy Plane Finder Premium?
Buy it if you check flights several times a week, hate juggling tiers and like the Apple Watch app. Skip it if you only meet the odd arrival: the free app, or Flightradar24’s, will do. Enthusiasts with a Raspberry Pi should feed data and get the apps free.
Plane Finder FAQs
Is Plane Finder free?
Yes. The live map, flight details, and airport boards are free, with ads. Premium removes ads and adds 3D, alerts, light mode and more.
How much is Plane Finder Premium?
On the UK App Store, £3.49 a month or £19.99 a year, with a free trial on the annual plan.
Who owns Plane Finder?
Pinkfroot Ltd, a British developer that launched Plane Finder in 2009.
What do orange planes mean on Plane Finder?
They come from a delayed FAA feed and appear where live ADS-B or MLAT tracking is not available.
Is Plane Finder better than Flightradar24?
Not for most people. Flightradar24 has the bigger network and a better free app, but Plane Finder’s single Premium plan is cheaper than Flightradar24 Gold.
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