Flightradar24
Shares rank 4 of 5 flight trackers by recommenders
Recommended for live flight tracking with a daylight view and map memory. Main caveat: critics expect the paid tier to shift to monthly payments with fewer features.
5 people recommended Flightradar24 in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 11 comments.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 5
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 20% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 11 of the 11 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Handy, timely flight tracking features
“Flightly or flightradar24 listens to air traffic control and updates the app before any announcements are made.”
Comment from 19 Jan 2026 in “America is slow-walking into a Polymarket disaster” “handy flight tracking that includes the daylight progression”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Sun Position Calculator” “since it remembers where you were on the map”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Vienam Bans Unskippable Ads, Requires Skip Button to Appear After 5 Seconds” Paid license adds filters and data
“which would get you many more filters and much more precise data”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “France's aircraft carrier located in real time by Le Monde through fitness app” “recommended they get a license instead of the free version”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “A joke domain purchase turned in geopolitical warfare”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Subscription changes and expected feature cuts
“I bought the app, they sunsetted it and created "new one" with monthly payments”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Restore full BambuNetwork support for Bambu Lab printers” “It still feels like a setup for future degradation by some marketing genius.”
Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “Flightradar24 for Ships” “I'd pretty confidently place bets that the tier will have reduced features”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Flightradar24 for Ships”
Other flight trackers people recommend
The four most recommended other flight trackers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flighty | 30 | 12 | 13 | 70% | 5 | — | — |
| Airloom | 22 | 12 | 3 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| ADS-B Exchange | 6 | 2 | 5 | 55% | 6 | — | — |
| Flightradar24This page | 5 | 1 | 5 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
| airplanes.live | 5 | 0 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 11 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“recommended they get a license instead of the free version”
“I bought the app, they sunsetted it and created "new one" with monthly payments”
“You could even just display FlightRadar24, still better than nothing.”
“which would get you many more filters and much more precise data”
“The inscrutable buttons in their UI are terrible for mobile/tablet access.”
“I'd pretty confidently place bets that the tier will have reduced features”
“It still feels like a setup for future degradation by some marketing genius.”
“Sounds like Flightradar24”
“Flightly or flightradar24 listens to air traffic control and updates the app before any announcements are made.”
“handy flight tracking that includes the daylight progression”
“since it remembers where you were on the map”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.