OpenSky API alternatives in 2026
The OpenSky Network’s API is free for research and personal projects, and needs a written licence for anything commercial or operational. Flight Data allows commercial use on every plan from €5 a month — with the route on the live position, not the next day.
The alternatives at a glance
- Flight Data — from €5/month billed yearly. Live positions with the observed route, flight phase, operator and type on one object; billed per call; live push and commercial use on every plan. Opening from its waitlist.
- adsb.lol — free under the ODbL; radius queries up to 250 nm; the route is a separate call.
- airplanes.live — free; radius queries up to 250 nm; no routes; terms not stated.
- adsb.fi — free, one request a second, personal and non-commercial use only; no routes.
- Flightradar24 API — from $9/month for 30,000 credits, 8 per live flight; route and ETA on the position; no push. Compared
All of them side by side: flight data APIs compared.
Flight Data and the OpenSky API side by side
| OpenSky Network API | Flight Data | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; a licence is negotiated in writing | From €5/month billed yearly; a 14-day trial on every plan |
| Commercial use | Only with a written licence — operational use too | Included on every plan |
| Limits | Daily credits: 400 anonymous, 4,000 registered, 8,000 for active feeders | 25,000 calls a day on Hobby, 150,000 on Developer, 1,000,000 on Pro |
| Route on the live position | No — departure and arrival come from a separate endpoint, filled in a nightly batch | Yes, observed origin and destination with a confidence, live |
| Flight phase, operator, type | Not in the state vector | Joined on every aircraft |
| Whole world in one call | Yes, 4 credits | Developer, €15/month: every 30 s; Pro, €49/month: any time |
| Live push | No | On every plan: one area every 5 s on Hobby, the whole world every 5 s on Pro |
Flight Data prices in euros before VAT. Flight Data opens from the waitlist; its prices may change until launch.
Where the difference shows
Shipping something
A side project that becomes an app, a client’s display, a newsletter with a sponsor: the moment the use turns commercial, the free API is no longer the right footing. Flight Data’s cheapest plan already covers it.
Knowing where it is going, now
OpenSky’s state vectors carry position, altitude and speed; where a flight came from and went to arrives the day after. Flight Data puts the observed origin and destination, the flight phase, the operator and the ICAO type on the aircraft while it is in the air.
Not running out at midday
A registered account’s 4,000 daily credits run out after about 11 hours for a display that asks for a small area every 10 seconds. Hobby’s 25,000 calls a day cover one call every 3.5 seconds, around the clock, and its live area is pushed rather than polled.
When OpenSky is the better choice
- Academic research. OpenSky is built for it; Flight Data keeps 30 days of legs and tracks, not a long-term archive.
- A personal project on no budget. OpenSky is free; Flight Data has no free plan.
- You need it today. Flight Data is opening from its waitlist.
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.
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