SpotterLog vs TailLog
The closest logbook to SpotterLog. Here's where they part ways.
TailLog is the closest thing to SpotterLog out there — a real spotting logbook with a live ADS-B radar, photo support, offline logging and stats. So the question isn't the feature checklist, it's how the log gets made and how far it reaches. TailLog builds your log a tap at a time from the radar map. SpotterLog builds it from your photos automatically — identifying the exact aircraft, even ones with no transponder — then keeps working long after the sighting, watching every tail you've logged for ownership and accident-history changes. And it isn't app-only: everything SpotterLog does on your phone, it does on the web too.
What TailLog does
TailLog does a lot right: tap an aircraft on its live radar and it's saved to your logbook with flight data, add a photo in the moment or later, and it all works offline and syncs when you're back on signal. Where it stops is the photo itself — the identification comes from ADS-B, not the image, so snapping a parked, military or transponder-off aircraft won't identify it the way SpotterLog can. SpotterLog reads the aircraft straight from your photo, fills in GPS and time from the file, and then goes beyond the moment: ownership and registration change alerts, the full NTSB accident history for every tail in your collection, and a shareable stats profile. SpotterLog runs offline in the field too — and, unlike an app-only logbook, everything it does lives on a full-featured website as well.
- Live ADS-B radar map
- One-tap logging from the map
- Photo support in the logbook
- Offline logging that syncs later
The SpotterLog difference
- 400K+
- Registered aircraft in our database
- 4,000+
- Aircraft in our catalog
- 150K
- Flight positions logged every day
- Complete
- NTSB accident investigation history
Why spotters choose SpotterLog
TailLog and SpotterLog agree on the big idea: keep a lasting record of what you spot, with a live radar, photos and offline logging on both sides. The difference is where the identification comes from and where your collection lives. SpotterLog reads the aircraft from the photo itself — so parked, military and transponder-off planes count — pulls GPS and time from the file, and then watches every tail you've logged for ownership changes and its complete NTSB history. And because SpotterLog is a full-featured website as well as an app, your collection is with you everywhere, not locked to one phone.
- Photo-first capture — snap the plane and the sighting identifies and logs itself.
- Reads the aircraft from the image, so no-transponder, parked and military planes count too.
- Runs offline in the field, and lives on a full-featured website — not app-only.
- Ownership, registration and NTSB change alerts on every tail you've logged.
Comparison based on publicly available information and may change over time.
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