A comprehensive list of flight tracking websites (1/2)

9 min readMay 17, 2021

A comprehensive list of flight tracking websites (1/2)

There are many publicly available resources to do flight tracking online (including military flight tracking); I am listing here those that have at least some free services available to anyone (for this reason some key player in this industry are not in my list).

I came into flight tracking few years ago, and over time, I did quite a lot of research, identifying all these resources. I am quite happy to share the result here. I am keeping it up to date as much as I can, but there are always new (and old) sites I don’t know about, therefore do not hesitate to comment if you know some I missed!

I’d also like to thank all of those who already pointed to resources I didn’t know about. Thanks all, this list would be much shorter without your help!

Flight tracking websites with global coverage

ADSBexchange — “World’s largest source of unfiltered flight data”

adsbexchange.com

ADSBexchange is an aggregator of ADS-B feeders, relying on a community of volunteers. It is showing unfiltered data, meaning all aircraft are visible (including private jets and military aircraft). Thanks to this, it has become a reference for many in the flight tracking community. It is a great tool for OSINT, enthusiasts and journalists.
Feeders (people sharing the data from their own receiver) have access to all aircraft visible on the network through API, after requesting an API key. Others have access through a map.

ADSBExchange enable its own MLAT solution, which means that airplane which are not broadcasting their position may still be positioned by triangulation if they are in range of enough feeders. Their map is based on tar1090 open source software.

NameADSBexchangeTypeAggregator, mapURLhttps://www.adsbexchange.comTwitter@adsbexchangeData sharinghttps://www.adsbexchange.com/how-to-feed/

Adsbhub — “Free ADS-B data sharing and exchange”

adsbhub.org

ADSBhub is another aggregator of ADSB data. It also relies on a community of feeders. All their data is accessible to feeders in the same SBS format you can get from the receivers. This is more for enthusiasts with a technical background as there is no interface to track a specific aircraft or flight number, but this is a great tool if you want to increase the coverage of your own receiver. Their coverage is sort of global, but with less receivers than ADSBexchange.

NameADSBhubTypeAggregatorURLhttps://www.adsbhub.orgTwitter@adsbexhubData sharinghttps://www.adsbhub.org/howtofeed.php

Ads-b.nl — “Tracking Military Aircraft”

ads-b.nl

ads-b.nl is a site dedicated to tracking military aircraft. It is relying on ADSBexchange data. It is listing all available military aircraft on ADSBexchange at a given time.

NameADS-B.nlTypeMilitary aircraftURLhttps://www.ads-b.nlTwitter@adsbnl1

Airnav Radarbox — “Disrupting an Industry. Revolutionizing Air Traffic Surveillance.”

radarbox.com

Airnav Radarbox is a commercial website, based in Tampa, Florida, USA, relying on a network of feeders that they deployed, a community of feeders, but also some different sources of data (FAA radars, Satcom ACARS, HFDL…). Airnav was a pioneer in that industry as they started as early as 2001. As usual you can share your data. They are filtering some aircraft for privacy reasons. They are also selling a ADS-B dongle and one to listen to ATC. They have one of the best coverage of the market thanks to the aggregation of data from different technologies. It is definitely one of the reference in this domain.

NameAirnav RadarboxTypeCommercial, map, commercial flight trackerURLhttps://www.radarbox.comTwitter@RadarBox24Data sharinghttps://www.radarbox.com/sharing-data

AvDelphi — “One place for all your aviation data requirements”

AvDelphi is an aviation data provider based in Switzerland. They propose more than tracking, with a lot aviation related data available on their site (ACARS data, NOTAM, aviation news, airframes data…). They also propose some spotting tools so that you can log your observations and store your pictures. A little less well design than the other websites, they still are a great source of information.

NameAvDelphiTypeAviation dataURLhttps://www.avdelphi.com/track.htmlTwitter@avdelphiData sharinghttps://www.avdelphi.com/addsource.html

FlightAware — “Live Flight Tracking”

FlightAware.com

FlightAware is one of the pioneer in the industry, based in the USA. As a commercial website, they started in 2005, focusing first on North America, and step by step increasing their coverage to the world. They now have one of the best global coverage, thanks to their access to satellite ADS-B technology, that allow them to track cross ocean flights that are not visible to normal ADS-B trackers (to be able to track a plane, the receiver has to be “in view”; as the earth is round, even with receivers on high points and aircraft at cruising levels, it is difficult to track planes beyond 250nm).

FlightAware deployed its own network of feeders and they also made it possible for enthusiasts to share the data of their own receivers. FA is also making some Raspberry Pi software available, to make it pretty affordable and easy to build your own receiver and start with flight tracking. They have been deploying tracking worldwide actively, they even sent me one for free back in the time they launch their own tracking dongle.

One of the great feature is they give you access to MLAT positions (if there is enough receivers in your area for triangulation), which means you can track some aircraft that do not broadcast their position, as is often the case with military one. At least you can see them on your tracker, even if they may not be visible to the general public.

They also provide some hardware, with some great USB dongles (maybe the best on the market, with integrated amplifier and filters), filters and antennas. If you are a feeder, you have a free access to their business account. They also make a lot of data available for free for the general public. They are filtering some aircraft for privacy reasons. Don’t expect to find many military aircraft. Some private jets are also filtered. They also provide a lot of services to the aviation industry.

NameFlightAwareTypeCommercial, map, commercial flight tracker, mobile appURLhttps://www.flightaware.comTwitter@flightaware, @FlightAwareADSBData sharinghttps://www.flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/build

FlightRadar24 — “Live Air Traffic”

flightradar24.com

FlightRadar24 is one of the best commercial websites, based in Sweden, relying on a network of feeders that they deployed and also a community of feeders. They started in 2006, just one year after FA. They gain a lot of exposure in 2010 during the explosion of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano that disrupted the flights over Northern Europe.

If you share your feeder’s data, you have a free access to their business account. Many great features are also available for free. They have one of the best global coverage, you should find what you are looking for with FlightRadar24. As other commercial websites, they are filtering some aircraft for privacy reasons. Don’t expect to find many military aircraft; private jets are more covered, but also filtered.

I also love their mobile app with an AR feature that let you know which flight is the plane above your head. They also have a great 3D view on their website developed using Cesium and Mapbox.

NameFlightRadar24TypeCommercial, map, commercial flight tracker, mobile appURLhttps://www.flightradar24.comTwitter@flightradar24Data sharinghttps://www.flightradar24.com/add-coverage

flight-radar.eu

flight-radar.eu is embedding Radarbox map.

NameFlight Radar EUTypeEmbedURLhttps://www.flight-radar.euTwitter@Flights_EU

Opensky-network — “Improving the security, reliability and efficiency of the air space usage”

opensky-network.org

The OpenSky Network is a non-profit association based in Switzerland. It relies on a community of feeders. Researchers and academics have access to their historical data. They claim they keep all the data ever recorded in their database. If you feed your data, you have access to a great dashboard with a lot of statistics about your receiver.

NameOpenSky NetworkTypeNon profit, research & academicsURLhttps://opensky-network.orgTwitter@OpenSkyNetworkData sharinghttps://opensky-network.org/contribute/improve-coverage

Planefinder — “Live Flight Tracking”

planefinder.net

Planefinder is another commercial website, based in UK, that started in 2009. They rely on a network of feeders that they deployed and also a community of feeders. They also integrate FLARM feeds to track gliders and other small planes without ADS-B. They are filtering some aircraft for privacy reasons. Their main focus is on their mobile app.

NamePlaneFinderTypeCommercial, appURLhttps://planefinder.netTwitter@planefinderData sharinghttps://planefinder.net/coverage

Planeflighttracker — “Live Flight Tracker”

Planeflighttracker is embedding PlaneMapper.

NamePlaneFlightTrackerTypeEmbedURLhttp://www.planeflighttracker.comTwitter

PlaneMapper

planemapper.com

NamePlaneMapperTypeURLhttps://www.planemapper.comTwitter@PlaneMapper

RadarLive — “Airplane radar map”

RadarLive is embedding FlightRadar24 map.

NameRadarLiveTypeEmbedURLhttps://www.radar-live.com/p/flight-radar.htmlTwitter

RadarVirtuel

You need to create an account to see the planes.

NameRadarVirtuelTypeWorldwide but better coverage in EuropeURLhttp://www.radarvirtuel.comTwitter@radarvirtuel, @Openskymap

Skyscanworld — “Aircraft Transponder and Satellite Tracking”

Skyscanworld is a new comer in the industry. The radar is behind a paywall, except if you are a feeder.

NameSkyScanWorldTypeNew siteURLhttps://skyscanworld.comTwitter@scan_sky

VariFlight — “Your Live Aviation Data at Hand”

variflight.com

This is the website of the Variflight mobile App. They have great data on the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry.

NameVariFlightTypeURLhttps://flightadsb.variflight.comTwitter@VariFlightData sharinghttps://flightadsb.variflight.com/share-data/script

Flight tracking websites dedicated to commercial flights

Flightstats — “Global flight status”

flightstats.com

Flightstats is dedicated to track commercial flights by flight numbers or by route. This is the website of the Flightstats mobile app.

NameFlightStatsTypeCommercial flights, mobile appURLhttps://www.flightstats.com/v2/Twitter@FlightStatsTech

Flightview — “Real time flight tracker”

llightview.com

Flightview is dedicated to track commercial flights by flight numbers or by route. It is managed by AOG, one of the major aviation data provider.

NameFlightViewTypeCommercial flight, mobile appURLhttps://www.flightview.comTwitter@flightview

Google

google.com

Google is able to give informations about most commercial flights.

NameGoogleTypeSearch engineURLhttps://www.google.comTwitter@Goggle

Flight tracking websites with a regional focus

Airframes

Airframes is an aggregator of ACARS data.

NameAirframesTypeAggregator, ACARSURLhttps://app.airframes.io/flightsTwitter

AussieADSB

AussieADSB is focusing on Australia.

NameAussieADSBTypeVRS, Australia focusedURLhttp://aussieadsb.com/VirtualRadar/desktop.htmlTwitter

DonnyRadar

Watching the skies over Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

NameDonnyRadarTypeList, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, UKURLhttp://www.donnyradar.co.ukTwitter

eSky

eSky is focusing on Europe.

NameeSky.euTypeEuropeURLhttps://www.esky.eu/radarTwitter

Freedar.uk

Freedar.uk is focusing on UK, with a global coverage thanks to ADSBhub data.

NameFreedar.ukTypeVRS, UK focusedURLhttps://freedar.uk/Twitter@freedar_uk

Itamilradar — “Monitoring military aircraft movements over Italy and Mediterranean Sea”