Best EFB Apps 2026: Every Plan and Price Compared

TL;DR: We build Ascent EFB, and the case for it is short: one plan, $59.99 the first year and $89.99 a year after that, with 3D terrain, geo-referenced FAA charts, the full weather stack and full offline caching all included. No tiers, nothing held back. ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot are the established incumbents with the longest track records, SkyDemon leads in Europe, and Avare and FltPlan Go are the free options. Every price below came from the vendor's own published page, checked August 5, 2026. Every account also gets a one time 30 day Pro trial, so you can fly it before you pay for it.

What is the best EFB app in 2026?

There is no single best EFB. For the most capability per dollar with no tier math, Ascent EFB is one plan at $59.99 the first year and $89.99 after, with 3D terrain, FAA charts, full weather and full offline. ForeFlight publishes the deepest feature set, Garmin Pilot suits Garmin panels and Android, SkyDemon leads European VFR.

EFB is short for electronic flight bag: the iPad or iPhone app that replaced the paper sectionals, plates and plotter most of us learned on. Every pilot flying with a tablet eventually asks which one to use. This comparison covers the main EFB apps on the market in 2026, with pricing and features taken from each vendor's published pages. Prices change, so always confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.

At a glance

Every figure read from the vendor's own published pricing page or official App Store listing on August 5, 2026, re-checked August 26, 2026.

How we compared, and where we are biased

We are biased. Ascent EFB is our app, we would rather you bought it, and you should read everything below with that in mind. So here is the method. Every price, platform and feature claim about another vendor came from that vendor's own published pricing page or official App Store listing, read on August 5, 2026 and re-checked on August 26, 2026. We have not characterised any competitor beyond what they publish about themselves, and where another app is the better buy for you, we say so by name.

The thing a comparison table cannot show you

Read the table above and most of these apps rhyme. Geo-referenced charts, a weather stack, traffic, airport data, offline caching. That is what a mature category looks like, and it is why picking an EFB on feature count usually leads nowhere useful.

Here is the analogy that gets it across. Flighty and a browser flight tracker will both tell you your flight is 40 minutes late. Identical row on the spec sheet. Nobody who has used both thinks they are the same product. The difference is not what the app knows, it is what it manages to hand you in the half second you can spare for it.

Half a second is the actual design brief for an EFB. One hand on the yoke, sun on the glass, a glance down, and whatever did not land in that glance did not land. No feature table can measure that, and we are the last people you should trust to referee it, because we are not neutral. Fly two of these and you will know within ten minutes.

What we can do is point at the one place where our answer to that brief shows up immediately.

The ridge looks like a ridge. That is the entire idea.

Reading terrain off a sectional is a decode: contour tints, spot elevations, a maximum elevation figure in a box, and a mental model of which ridge is which, all reconstructed in your head while flying the airplane. 3D terrain removes the decode step. Rising ground reads as rising ground. You are not translating numbers into a shape, the shape is already there.

Ascent EFB

Ascent EFB is our app. It launched in August 2026 for iPhone and iPad, which makes it the newest thing on this list, and it makes one bet the incumbents do not: a single plan with everything in it.

Key features

• 3D terrain. The feature we built the app around, and the reason it is worth trying rather than reading about. Your own-ship is a heading-up 2D puck on the map, not a 3D model of your airplane, and the terrain around it is the part doing the work.
• Geo-referenced FAA charts, from VFR Sectionals and Terminal Area Charts through IFR Enroute Low, High and Area.
• The full weather stack: METAR, TAF, radar, winds aloft, AIRMET and SIGMET.
• Live traffic, airport info, and geo-referenced taxi diagrams.
• Full offline caching. Charts, weather you have already pulled, and the 3D map all keep working with no signal. This is the feature that quietly matters most, because the moment you need situational awareness is rarely the moment you have bars.

Geo-referenced taxi diagrams, included in the single plan.

Who it suits

Pilots who fly where terrain matters and want to read it instead of decode it. Pilots who are tired of working out which tier carries taxi diagrams. iPhone and iPad flyers, since that is the only place it runs.

Who it does not suit, plainly: if you need Android, geo-referenced approach plates, or your flight plan pushed into a Garmin panel, buy ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot instead. Ascent is also newer than the incumbents and does not have their years of accumulated edge-case polish.

Pricing

$59.99 for the first year, $89.99 a year after that. One plan. No Starter, no Essential, no Premium, no IFR add-on.

Sourced note

This one is ours, so treat the section above as a vendor claim, because that is exactly what it is. The App Store listing carries the platform requirements, the current version and the ratings, none of which we control.

ForeFlight

Key features

Per ForeFlight's published plan comparison, read August 5, 2026: geo-referenced VFR and IFR charts including approach plates, a deep weather and planning stack, logbook, and capability that scales up through three tiers into advanced and business-aviation territory.

Who it suits

Pilots who want the widest published capability set in the market, the longest track record in it, and an ecosystem that a lot of instructors, clubs and operators already run on.

Pricing

$130 Starter, $260 Essential, $390 Premium, per ForeFlight's published pricing page on August 5, 2026. The headline $130 is the entry tier, not the full app, so open that page and check which tier carries the capabilities you actually want.

Sourced note

Everything above comes from ForeFlight's own published plan comparison and pricing page, read August 5, 2026. ForeFlight published a 30-day free trial on that page as of the same date.

Garmin Pilot

Key features

Per Garmin's published US plan catalog, read August 5, 2026: VFR and IFR enroute charts in both tiers, weather, traffic, airport data, planning and filing, and Connext connectivity with Garmin avionics. Synthetic vision, SafeTaxi, terrain and obstacle alerts and geo-referenced FliteCharts are listed in the Premium tier.

Who it suits

Pilots flying behind a Garmin panel, where flight plan transfer is a daily advantage, and pilots on Android, which Garmin supports.

Pricing

$109.99 a year US Standard, $209.98 a year US Premium, per Garmin's published US catalog on August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Tier contents above are Garmin's own published description of its plans, read August 5, 2026. Garmin published a 30-day free trial on the same page. Our head-to-head is here: Ascent EFB vs Garmin Pilot.

SkyDemon

Key features

Graphical NOTAM briefings, European airspace and terrain data, planning and in-flight navigation, in a single all-inclusive plan per SkyDemon's published pricing page, read August 5, 2026.

Who it suits

VFR flying in Europe, where it is the app most pilots and clubs standardise on.

Pricing

$139 the first year and $115 on renewal, per SkyDemon's published pricing page, read August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

SkyDemon publishes iOS, Android and PC versions and a 30-day free trial, checked August 5, 2026.

FlyQ EFB

Key features

Seattle Avionics' own listing for FlyQ EFB includes synthetic vision and an augmented-reality view, along with charts, weather and planning.

Who it suits

US pilots who want synthetic vision and are pricing it against the higher tiers elsewhere.

Pricing

$99.99 a year VFR, $199.99 a year for VFR and IFR, per Seattle Avionics' published pricing, read August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Feature and price claims taken from Seattle Avionics' own product and pricing pages, read August 5, 2026, which also published a 30-day free trial.

iFly EFB

Key features

Charts, weather and planning across iOS, Android and Windows, with synthetic vision listed in the base plan per iFly's published feature list, read August 5, 2026.

Who it suits

Pilots who want the same EFB on a tablet and a Windows machine, or who want an Android option.

Pricing

$94.99 a year for the VFR plan, with IFR data listed as a $55 addition, per iFly's published pricing, read August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Platform list, plan contents and prices all come from iFly's own published pages, read August 5, 2026, which also published a 30-day free trial.

WingX

Key features

Charts, weather and planning in a base subscription, with Advanced IFR sold as a separate subscription per Hilton Software's own App Store listing, read August 5, 2026.

Who it suits

Pilots looking for the lowest paid entry price in this roundup, who do not need the IFR module.

Pricing

$74.99 a year for the base subscription, with the IFR add-on listed at a further $74.99, per Hilton Software's published listing on August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Read Hilton Software's own listing before comparing the sticker price against a bundled plan, since the base and IFR subscriptions are priced separately. A 30-day free trial was published there as of August 5, 2026.

FltPlan Go

Key features

Free flight planning and filing, charts and in-flight navigation on iOS and Android, per FltPlan Go's published listing, read August 5, 2026. It is Garmin-owned.

Who it suits

Pilots who want free planning and filing, or a second app on the yoke as a backup.

Pricing

Free, per its published listing on August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Everything above comes from FltPlan Go's own published pages and App Store listing, read August 5, 2026.

Avare

Key features

Free, open-source FAA chart display and navigation on Android, per the project's published documentation and Play Store listing, read August 5, 2026.

Who it suits

Android pilots who want FAA charts at no cost, and anyone who wants a free backup that does not depend on a subscription.

Pricing

Free and open source, per its published listing on August 5, 2026.

Sourced note

Claims taken from the Avare project's own published documentation and Play Store listing, read August 5, 2026.

Where the incumbents still win

A roundup written by one of the vendors is worth nothing without this section, so here it is, specific and by name.

ForeFlight still wins on geo-referenced approach plates. ForeFlight publishes them in its plan comparison, read August 5, 2026. We do not ship geo-referenced approach plates at any price. If you fly IFR approaches and want own-ship on the plate, that single line should decide this for you, and it should decide it against us.

ForeFlight also wins on ecosystem and track record. Its published feature set runs deeper than ours, it has been shipping far longer, and a lot of flight schools, clubs and operators already run on it, which matters if you want your instructor looking at the same screen you are.

Garmin Pilot still wins on the panel and on Android. Garmin publishes Connext integration with Garmin avionics and an Android version, checked August 5, 2026. We have neither, and no story about getting them.

Choose ForeFlight if you need geo-referenced plates or your operation already standardises on it. Choose Garmin Pilot if your panel is Garmin or you fly Android. Choose SkyDemon if you fly VFR in Europe. Those are good reasons and we would rather you acted on them than bought ours and regretted it.

One more thing worth knowing across the paid apps: several publish an entry price with further tiers or add-ons above it. That is a normal way to sell software, it just means the number in a comparison table and the number you end up paying are not always the same. Price the tier that carries what you will actually use.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best EFB app in 2026?

We are biased, so here is the biased answer with the reasoning attached. If you want the most capability per dollar with no tier math, Ascent EFB is our pick: one plan at $59.99 the first year, $89.99 after, with 3D terrain, geo-referenced FAA charts, full weather and full offline caching in it. If you want the deepest, most established feature set and the longest track record, that is ForeFlight. If your panel is Garmin or you need Android, Garmin Pilot. If you fly VFR in Europe, SkyDemon. Judge them against your own workload, not against a feature table.

What is the cheapest EFB app?

Avare and FltPlan Go are free. Among paid apps, Ascent EFB is $59.99 the first year and $89.99 after with everything included, and WingX starts at $74.99 for its base plan with IFR as a paid add-on. See our full EFB cost breakdown.

Which EFB apps publish a free trial?

ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, SkyDemon, iFly EFB, FlyQ EFB and WingX all published a 30-day free trial as of August 5, 2026, so it is possible to evaluate two or three on real flights inside a single month. Check each vendor's page for current terms before relying on that.

Is Ascent EFB available on Android?

No. Ascent EFB is iPhone and iPad only. If you need Android, Garmin Pilot, iFly EFB, SkyDemon, FltPlan Go and Avare all publish Android versions.

What actually separates these apps, if the feature lists match?

Design, and how much the screen tells you in one glance. Feature rows are close enough across the paid apps that they are rarely the deciding factor. The difference shows up in flight, which is why the useful move is to fly two of them rather than read a longer table. Ours is on the App Store if you want to include it in that test.

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Every price and feature claim above about another vendor was read from that vendor's published pricing page or official App Store listing on August 5, 2026, re-checked August 26, 2026, and we have not characterised anything they do not publish themselves. Ascent EFB is our product. Any EFB is a supplemental aid to situational awareness, and final authority rests with the pilot in command. Also see: How to Choose an EFB App.