Flight Data Live aircraft API · coming soon

Flight data APIs compared: live positions, routes and prices

Twelve flight tracking APIs, from the free community feeds to the enterprise vendors, on the five questions that decide most projects: what the cheapest plan costs, whether you may use it commercially, whether the route comes with the live position, whether one call returns the whole world, and whether anything is pushed to you.

Every provider checked on its own pages on 8 October 2026. “Not stated” means we could not confirm it there.

The table

API Cheapest paid plan Commercial use Route on the live position Whole world in one call Live push
Flight Data€5/month billed yearly, 25,000 calls a dayEvery planYes, with a confidenceFrom €15/monthEvery plan
Flightradar24 API$9/month, 30,000 credits (8 per live flight)Listed as commercial on every planYes, with an ETAFrom $900/monthNo
FlightAware AeroAPI$100/month minimum, billed per result setFrom StandardNot statedNo, pagedFlight alerts; Firehose on request
OpenSky NetworkFree; licence on requestWritten licence onlyNo, the next dayYesNo
ADS-B Exchange$10/month, 10,000 requestsNo on the Community APINot statedNot statedEnterprise, on request
aviationstack$49.99/month, 10,000 requestsYesYes, 30–60 s delayedNot statedNot stated
AirLabs$49/month, 25,000 queriesYesYesNot statedNo
SkyLink API$19/month, 5,000 requestsYesSeparate callNot statedWebhooks from $59/month
Fly Overhead$20/month, 40,000 requests a dayNot statedSeparate callNot statedWebSocket, tier not stated
adsb.lolFree, ODbLUnder the ODbLSeparate callNo, 250 nm radiusFeeders only
airplanes.liveFreeNot statedNoNo, 250 nm radiusNot stated
adsb.fiFree, 1 request a secondNo, personal use onlyNoFeeders onlyNot stated

Other providers’ prices in US dollars as published, ours in euros before VAT. Flight Data opens from the waitlist; its prices may change until launch.

Which one fits

You need schedules, flight status or delays

FlightAware AeroAPI, aviationstack and AirLabs are built around flights as airlines publish them. Flight Data is not: its routes are observed from how aircraft fly, and carry no times.

A personal project with no budget

The community feeds — adsb.lol, airplanes.live, adsb.fi — and the OpenSky Network are free. Read their terms: several are for personal or non-commercial use only, and none puts the route on the position.

Live traffic with routes, commercially, on a small budget

That is the gap Flight Data is built for. Every plan allows commercial use and returns the route with its confidence, the flight phase, the operator and the ICAO type on every aircraft; you pay per call, not per aircraft returned; and live areas are pushed to you on every plan.

You need oceanic or remote coverage

Flight Data comes from ground receivers: around 6,000 aircraft at any moment, densest over Europe, with no satellite and no MLAT. Over oceans and remote land, look for a provider with satellite reception.

One provider at a time

Early means three months free.

Waitlist offer: three months free with yearly billing, and 10 % off Developer or 20 % off Pro for as long as you keep the plan.