9 Best Flight Data APIs of 2026

1. 1

   FlightAware AeroAPI

   FlightAware's REST API for live, historical and predicted flight data, fed by air traffic control feeds, ADS-B ground stations and space-based ADS-B.

   9.0overall

   FlightAware's REST API for live, historical and predicted flight data, fed by air traffic control feeds, ADS-B ground stations and space-based ADS-B.

   Best forDevelopers who want one flight API from free personal projects up to commercial apps

   Adoption data

   13 millionFlightAware says it serves more than 10,000 aircraft operators and service providers and more than 13 million passengers with flight tracking tools.

   FlightAware, About FlightAware (2026): “FlightAware provides over 10,000 aircraft operators and service providers as well as over 13,000,000 passengers with global flight tracking solutions, predictive technology, analytics, and decision-making tools.”

   FlightAware AeroAPI is the most complete flight data API that a single developer can start using for free. The Personal tier has no monthly minimum and covers up to $5 of per-query fees each month, or $10 for people who feed ADS-B data to FlightAware, which is enough for a hobby tracker or a class project. It returns current flight status and tracks, while Standard ($100 monthly minimum) adds history from January 1, 2011, rights for business and B2C products and a rate of 5 result sets per second. Premium at a $1,000 minimum is the tier for B2B resale. The data comes from air traffic control systems in over 45 countries, FlightAware's own ADS-B stations in 195 countries and Aireon's space-based ADS-B, and the API adds Foresight predictive ETAs and event alerts. The limits to watch are the Personal tier's academic and personal-use rule and its 10 result sets per minute. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Free monthly query credit makes it the cheapest way to start with a commercial-grade feed
   • +History back to 2011 suits post-flight analysis
   • +Clear tier rules for personal, B2C and B2B use

   Limitations

   • −Personal tier is limited to personal or academic use and 10 result sets per minute
   • −Historical data is not included in the Personal tier
   • −Commercial use starts at a $100 monthly minimum, and B2B resale needs Premium at $1,000

   SummaryFlightAware AeroAPI is the best choice for developers who want a free start and a clear commercial path because its Personal tier has no minimum and up to $5 of free queries a month. Standard at $100 a month adds history back to 2011.

2. 2

   Flightradar24 API

   A credit-based API to the live positions, flight summaries and history behind the Flightradar24 tracker.

   8.9overall

   A credit-based API to the live positions, flight summaries and history behind the Flightradar24 tracker.

   Best forHobbyists and small teams who want live positions and tracks at a low monthly price

   Adoption data

   5 million daily usersFlightradar24 reports more than 5 million users per day and more than 100 million app downloads.

   Flightradar24, About Flightradar24 (2026): “App downloads 100M+ Users per day 5M+”

   The Flightradar24 API opened in 2024 and gives developers the same positions, flight events and tracks that power the Flightradar24 app, which reports more than 5 million users a day and 100M+ downloads. Pricing is by credits. Explorer costs $9 a month for 60,000 credits and 30 days of history, Essential costs $90 for 666,000 credits and 2 years, and Advanced costs $900 for 8,100,000 credits and all available history, with unlimited response size. For billing cycles that start on or before December 31, 2026, Flightradar24 doubles the monthly credits. The data comes from more than 50,000 ADS-B receivers and from MLAT, which Flightradar24 now calculates where possible to work around GPS interference. The trade-offs are the lack of a free plan, the short history on Explorer and the fact that only Advanced is labeled for commercial use. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Lowest verified paid entry price among the major trackers at $9 a month
   • +Largest reported audience on this list, with 5M+ users a day
   • +No commitment; plans can be canceled anytime

   Limitations

   • −No free plan, and an active subscription is needed to buy top-up credits
   • −Explorer keeps only 30 days of history
   • −Flightradar24 marks only the $900 Advanced plan as ideal for commercial use

   SummaryThe Flightradar24 API is the best choice for hobbyists who want live tracks cheaply because Explorer costs $9 a month for 60,000 credits. Commercial teams should budget for the $900 Advanced plan.

3. 3

   Cirium

   An aviation analytics company, owner of FlightStats, that sells flight status, schedules and fleet data to airlines, airports and travel firms.

   8.3overall

   An aviation analytics company, owner of FlightStats, that sells flight status, schedules and fleet data to airlines, airports and travel firms.

   Best forAirlines, airports and travel companies that need schedule and status data with a contract

   Adoption data

   1,600 customersCirium says it has over 1,600 customers, including a majority of the world's top 100 airlines and over 700 airports.

   Cirium, About Cirium (2026): “Over 1,600 customers.”

   Cirium is the enterprise source behind FlightStats, and its API services cover flight status and tracks, airports, routes, flights near a point, historical flights and schedules. The scale is the reason to pick it: Cirium reports over 25M flight updates a day from 3,000 live data sources, schedules from over 900 airlines, coverage of 99.5% of scheduled passenger seats and records on over 480,000 aircraft. Its customer base of over 1,600 includes a majority of the world's top 100 airlines and over 700 airports. The FlightStats developer site now points new users to Cirium Developer Studio, where free trials and credentials are issued. What Cirium does not do is publish prices, so budgets come from a sales conversation, and the product is aimed at companies rather than individuals. We compared documented features and published facts; the USD price is pending.

   Strengths

   • +Deepest schedule and fleet coverage on this list
   • +Used by a majority of the top 100 airlines
   • +Free trials through Cirium Developer Studio

   Limitations

   • −No public price list
   • −Sold mostly through sales contracts, not self-serve plans
   • −Overkill for hobby projects

   SummaryCirium is the best choice for airlines and travel companies that need contract-grade schedules because it covers 99.5% of scheduled passenger seats. Individual developers will find the self-serve APIs above easier to start with.

4. 4

   ADS-B Exchange

   An independent, community-fed ADS-B network with a low-cost Community API and enterprise streaming and history products.

   8.1overall

   An independent, community-fed ADS-B network with a low-cost Community API and enterprise streaming and history products.

   Best forHobbyists and researchers who want raw aircraft positions from an independent network

   Adoption data

   11 millionADS-B Exchange says it is powered by over 25,000 receivers and trusted by more than 11 million users.

   ADS-B Exchange, ADS-B Exchange home page (2026): “Powered by over 25,000 receivers and trusted by more than 11 million users worldwide.”

   ADS-B Exchange runs an independent flight tracking network powered by over 25,000 receivers and used by more than 11 million people, according to its home page. Developers have two routes. The Community API, formerly API Lite, costs $10 a month through RapidAPI for 10,000 requests, returns real-time positions with 500ms updates and supports queries by location, hex code, callsign and squawk; it is limited to non-commercial use such as side projects and research. The enterprise products add real-time streaming with updates every 250ms, S3 delivery and historical backfills of up to 10 years, sold as subscriptions with minimum annual commitments. ADS-B Exchange does not sell one-time extracts. It is a positions feed, so teams that need schedules or gate times should pair it with another source. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Low entry price for raw position data
   • +Independent network of over 25,000 receivers
   • +Enterprise history reaches back up to 10 years

   Limitations

   • −Community API is for non-commercial use only
   • −Enterprise data needs minimum annual commitments
   • −No one-time data extracts or project-based access

   SummaryADS-B Exchange is the best choice for hobbyists who want raw positions from an independent network because its Community API costs $10 a month for 10,000 requests. Commercial users need an enterprise subscription with an annual commitment.

5. 5

   Aviationstack

   An APILayer REST API for real-time and historical flight status, schedules, routes and airline, airport and aircraft lookups.

   8.1overall

   An APILayer REST API for real-time and historical flight status, schedules, routes and airline, airport and aircraft lookups.

   Best forDevelopers who want simple monthly request plans with schedules and lookups included

   Adoption data

   5,000 companiesAviationstack says its flight data API is trusted by more than 5,000 companies.

   Aviationstack (APILayer), Aviationstack home page (2026): “trusted by 5,000+ of the smartest companies”

   Aviationstack, part of APILayer, is a request-based REST API that bundles real-time flight status with schedules, routes and reference lookups for airlines, airports, airplanes, cities, countries and aviation taxes. It lists 13,000+ airlines, 10,000+ airports and 19,000+ airplanes, and says more than 5,000 companies use it. The free plan gives 100 requests a month for personal use, which is enough to test the response format. Basic costs $49.99 a month, or $44.99 billed yearly, for 10,000 requests with commercial rights and historical flights, and Professional costs $149.99 for 50,000 requests. Overage rates are posted on the pricing page, so costs are easy to forecast. The free tier is small, though, and there is no published detail on the underlying tracking network, so teams that need second-by-second positions are better served by a tracker-backed API. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Permanent free plan for testing
   • +Predictable request-based plans with posted overage rates
   • +Broad reference data, including 500+ aviation taxes

   Limitations

   • −Free plan allows only 100 requests a month and no commercial use
   • −Historical flights start on the paid Basic plan
   • −No published user or receiver network of its own

   SummaryAviationstack is the best choice for app developers who want schedules and lookups on simple plans because Basic includes 10,000 requests and commercial use for $49.99 a month. Its free plan is only large enough for testing.

6. 6

   OpenSky Network

   A Swiss non-profit ADS-B and Mode S sensor network whose REST API and historical database are free for research and non-commercial use.

   7.9overall

   A Swiss non-profit ADS-B and Mode S sensor network whose REST API and historical database are free for research and non-commercial use.

   Best forResearchers, students and aviation fans who need free aircraft position data

   The OpenSky Network is the best answer for anyone who needs aviation data at no cost. It is a non-profit association based in Switzerland that started in 2012 as a research project between armasuisse, the University of Kaiserslautern and the University of Oxford, and it archives the raw data from its volunteer and institutional receivers in a historical database used mainly by researchers. The REST API is free for personal and non-profit applications. Registered users get 4,000 credits a day per endpoint group, anonymous users 400 and active feeders 8,000, and authenticated users can pull state vectors up to 1 hour in the past. The limits are real: any commercial use needs OpenSky's consent, and the FAQ says it does not provide scheduled flights, cancellations, delays or flight numbers. For status and schedule data, pair it with a commercial API. We compared documented features and published terms.

   Strengths

   • +Completely free for personal and non-profit use
   • +Run by a non-profit association founded in 2015
   • +Feeding a receiver doubles your daily credits

   Limitations

   • −Any commercial use, including internal use by a for-profit firm, needs OpenSky's consent
   • −No schedules, delays, cancellations or flight numbers mapped to commercial schedules
   • −REST history for state vectors is limited to the past hour

   SummaryThe OpenSky Network is the best choice for free research use because registered users get 4,000 API credits a day at no cost. Companies must ask OpenSky for a license before any commercial use.

7. 7

   AeroDataBox

   An affordable REST and push API for flight status, airport schedules, aircraft and statistics, sold through API.Market, RapidAPI and direct plans.

   7.7overall

   An affordable REST and push API for flight status, airport schedules, aircraft and statistics, sold through API.Market, RapidAPI and direct plans.

   Best forSmall businesses and solo developers who need schedules and status on a tight budget

   AeroDataBox describes itself as an affordable flight data API for small and medium businesses, individual developers and researchers, and its prices back that up. Through RapidAPI there is a free Basic plan with 400 API units a month, and the Pro plan costs $7.50 a month on API.Market or $8 on RapidAPI for 5,000 units. New direct plans start at $19 a month for 40,000 units, with Growth at $99 for 400,000 and Scale at $499 for 4,000,000 plus B2B sublicensing. The API covers real-time status by flight number or registration, airport departures and arrivals, aircraft data and statistics, through REST or push delivery. People who run ADS-B receivers can turn their data into non-expiring API credits. AeroDataBox publishes no customer count, so adoption is scored conservatively, and its licensing page sets caching limits that apps storing flight logs should read. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Lowest verified paid price on this list at $7.50 a month
   • +Free plan for evaluation
   • +Published caching and derived-work rules

   Limitations

   • −No published user or customer count
   • −Free plan quota of 400 units is small
   • −B2B sublicensing needs the $499 Scale plan or a marketplace licensing tier

   SummaryAeroDataBox is the best choice for budget projects because its Pro plan costs $7.50 a month and a free plan covers 400 units. Teams reselling data should check the derived-work licensing tiers first.

8. 8

   AirLabs

   A query-based aviation data API with real-time flights, live airport schedules, flight alerts and databases of airlines, airports, fleets and routes.

   7.7overall

   A query-based aviation data API with real-time flights, live airport schedules, flight alerts and databases of airlines, airports, fleets and routes.

   Best forDevelopers who want a 1,000-query free plan and clear per-query pricing

   Adoption data

   12,239 clientsAirLabs says more than 12,239 clients have used its APIs over three years.

   AirLabs, AirLabs home page (2026): “12239+ clients use our APIs over 3 years”

   AirLabs sells aviation data by the query. Its free plan includes 1,000 queries for personal use with limited data, the Developer plan costs $49 a month for 25,000 queries with commercial rights, Business costs $99 for 100,000 and Enterprise costs $499 for 1,000,000, which works out to 0.05 cents a query. Services include real-time flights, live airport schedules, flight information, a flight alert API and a nearby geo API, plus databases of airports, cities, airlines, fleets, routes, countries, taxes and time zones. AirLabs reports 12,239+ clients over three years on its home page. It is a good middle option for apps that need status plus reference data without an enterprise contract. It publishes less detail than FlightAware or Flightradar24 about where its tracking data comes from, so check coverage for your airports on the free plan first. We compared documented features and published prices.

   Strengths

   • +Larger free allowance than Aviationstack's 100 requests
   • +Per-query cost falls to 0.05 cents on Enterprise
   • +Fleets and routes databases on paid plans

   Limitations

   • −Free plan is personal use only with limited data
   • −Smaller company with less published network detail than the big trackers
   • −Pricing page loads with JavaScript, which makes plans harder to compare offline

   SummaryAirLabs is the best choice for developers who want a usable free tier because its free plan includes 1,000 queries. The Developer plan adds commercial use for $49 a month.

9. 9

   OAG Flight Info API

   OAG's REST JSON API for global schedules, flight status, seats, master data and connections, backed by nearly a century of schedule data.

   7.3overall

   OAG's REST JSON API for global schedules, flight status, seats, master data and connections, backed by nearly a century of schedule data.

   Best forTravel and airport businesses that need forward schedules under an enterprise contract

   OAG has supplied flight schedules for nearly a century, and its Flight Info API delivers that data as RESTful JSON in five sets: Global Schedules, Flight Status, Seats, Master Data and Connections. OAG says its schedules cover 900+ airlines and are updated every 15 minutes, and its about page lists 4,000+ airports tracked and 97% worldwide flight coverage. Typical users are online travel agencies, booking systems, travel apps and airport operations, and the developer portal at developers.oag.com offers interactive documentation and test environments. OAG does not publish prices or a self-serve plan, so it suits companies with a procurement process rather than hobbyists, and it does not publish a customer count we could cite. For forward schedules and connection building, it is one of two serious enterprise options alongside Cirium. We compared documented features; the USD price is pending.

   Strengths

   • +Schedule data refreshed every 15 minutes from 900+ airlines
   • +Connections data for itinerary building
   • +Test environments before production

   Limitations

   • −No public price list
   • −No free plan for individuals
   • −No published customer count, so adoption is scored conservatively

   SummaryOAG Flight Info API is the best choice for booking platforms that need forward schedules because its data covers 900+ airlines with updates every 15 minutes. Individuals and small teams should start with a self-serve API.

Questions or corrections: editorial@statlyst.com · Disclosure