Uncovering the Best Plane Finder Alternatives for Air Traffic Enthusiasts
Plane Finder has long been a go-to application for anyone fascinated by live air traffic, offering a beautifully re-engineered interface to track 12,000+ planes simultaneously across a worldwide map. Its features, including flight search, detailed aircraft information, Augmented Reality (AR) view, and custom alerts, have made it a favorite since 2009. However, for various reasons – whether you're seeking different functionalities, a free alternative to Plane Finder, or just exploring your options – a wealth of other powerful tools are available. This article dives into the top alternatives that can satisfy your aerial curiosity.
Top Plane Finder Alternatives
While Plane Finder excels in its real-time tracking capabilities and rich feature set, many other platforms offer similar or complementary services for flight tracking, travel planning, and price comparison. Let's explore some of the best options:
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a comprehensive travel search engine that compares over 1000 airlines to find the cheapest airfares, hotels, and car rentals. Unlike Plane Finder's focus on live tracking, Skyscanner is ideal for planning your next trip. It's a free web, Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, and Kindle Fire platform offering flight search, quick search, booking engine, price charts over time, flight search engine, flights tracking, and price comparison.
Google Flights
Google Flights is a robust online flight booking search service that facilitates the purchase of airline tickets through third-party suppliers. As a free web-based platform, it serves as an excellent Plane Finder alternative for those interested in flight planning rather than live tracking, providing powerful flight search and multi-city search capabilities.
KAYAK
KAYAK is a prominent fare aggregator and travel metasearch engine. While Plane Finder shows live planes, KAYAK focuses on finding you the best deals on flights, hotels, and car rentals. It's available on Freemium, Web, Android, iPhone, S60, Blackberry, Windows Phone, iPad, and Kindle Fire, offering flight search, a booking engine, a flight search engine, flights tracking, and price comparison features.
Invisible Hand
Invisible Hand discreetly notifies you if a product or flight you’re shopping for is available more cheaply elsewhere. While not a direct Plane Finder alternative for live tracking, it's a valuable tool for ensuring you get the best price on flights you plan to book. It's a free extension for Mac, Windows, Linux, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox, specializing in price checks and price comparisons.
Momondo
Momondo helps you find and compare fares from numerous travel sites, offering access to competitive rates for airline tickets. As a free web, Android, iPhone, and Blackberry platform, Momondo serves as a strong Plane Finder alternative for those focused on booking flights, featuring flight search, flight tracking, meta-search, and multi-city search capabilities.
Expedia
Expedia is a widely recognized platform for booking hotels and flights. While Plane Finder focuses on live air traffic, Expedia is a comprehensive travel booking site, making it a good alternative for planning actual travel. It's available for free on Web, Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, and iPad.
Skiplagged
Skiplagged is a unique airfare search engine that finds hidden city flights, potentially saving you money. For those looking beyond live tracking and into cost-saving flight booking strategies, Skiplagged is a valuable free Plane Finder alternative available on Web, Android, and iPhone.
Matrix (airfare search)
Matrix (airfare search) showcases fresh travel search ideas from ITA Software, rebuilt on Google technology. It's a powerful, free web-based tool for in-depth airfare analysis, serving as a sophisticated alternative to Plane Finder for detailed flight search planning.
FareFirst
FareFirst helps you find cheap flights and best hotel deals by comparing all top travel sites in one simple search. It’s a free platform available on Web, Android, iPhone, Android Tablet, and iPad. As a comprehensive Plane Finder alternative for travel planning, it offers flight search, meta-search, flights tracking, flight status, multi-city search, ad-free experience, and more.
Wander
Wander allows you to find travel destinations based on your budget and other preferences. By entering your budget, availability dates, and departing airport, it helps you discover ideal travel spots. It's a free web-based tool, making it a good Plane Finder alternative for inspiration and planning budget-conscious trips.
Whether you're deeply invested in real-time air traffic monitoring or primarily looking for the best flight deals for your next adventure, the alternatives to Plane Finder offer a wide range of functionalities. Explore these options to find the platform that best fits your specific needs and interests in the world of aviation and travel.