SpotterLog vs live ADS-B trackers
Trackers show where planes are right now. SpotterLog remembers the ones you've actually seen.
Live trackers do one thing brilliantly: show you what's flying right now. They paint every ADSB-equipped aircraft onto a global map in real time, and some let you rewind a few days of history. But the moment a flight lands, none of it is yours — no photo of the plane you actually saw, no place to take notes, and no record of where you were standing when you caught it. SpotterLog is the opposite: a permanent, photo-first log of the specific aircraft you've spotted with your own eyes.
The trackers spotters know
All three plot live aircraft over the same patch of sky. Here they are watching Chicago at the same moment.
What each app does
Flightradar24
The most popular consumer tracker, with a polished map and worldwide coverage.
- Live global tracking from ADS-B, MLAT and satellite feeds
- Tap any aircraft for flight number, route, altitude and type
- 7-day playback free; longer history and detail on paid plans
- Airport arrival and departure boards
- AR mode — point your phone at the sky to identify a plane
OpenADSB
A front-end for ADS-B Exchange — the unfiltered, community-run data feed.
- Unfiltered data — shows military and blocked aircraft others hide
- Live map with altitude-colored aircraft and local track counts
- Powered by a crowdsourced network of hobbyist receivers
- Filters, callouts and location tools for what's overhead
- Built for enthusiasts who want the raw, uncensored feed
FlightAware
The pro's choice, blending ADS-B with commercial airline and airport data.
- Live tracking backed by commercial data feeds, not just ADS-B
- Deep airline and airport coverage: schedules, gates and delays
- Flight status alerts and detailed flight history
- Global coverage from a large receiver network
- Popular with pilots and aviation professionals
What SpotterLog does that they can't
The same sky, remembered. Your photos, your locations, your history — the parts a live radar feed throws away.
The best spotting app, period
Trackers answer “what's up there right now?” SpotterLog answers everything after: what you saw, where you saw it, and its whole story — historical records, sighting details and accident reports, all at your fingertips.
A permanent historical record
Every plane you've ever caught, kept forever — not a feed that resets the moment a flight lands. Revisit sightings from years ago in seconds.
Rich sighting details
Each catch stores your photo, the tail number, type and operator, plus the exact GPS location and time — pulled straight from the picture you took.
Complete accident reports
The full NTSB accident investigation history for any tail number, right beside the aircraft in your collection.
Change alerts that watch for you
Get told when an aircraft you've logged changes owner, registration or status — or is involved in an accident.
Photo-first identification
Identify aircraft trackers never show — parked, military, or with the transponder off — from a single photo across 400,000+ registered aircraft.
An AI aviation assistant
Ask anything about any aircraft and get an instant answer, drawn from your collection and our database.
Start your collection today.
Free to download. Your next sighting could be your rarest yet.