The Best Pilot Logbook Apps in 2026 — An Honest Comparison

Disclosure first

We make Flight Log. That obviously biases this article. We've still chosen to write it because the existing comparisons online are either out of date, written by Wingman's blog network, or pulled from App Store screenshots without anyone actually flying with the apps. We've used four of the five products on real line operations. The fifth — ForeFlight Logbook — we use as a daily EFB but lean on its logbook only as a backup.

Where we genuinely believe a competitor is better than us, we say so. Skip to the table at the end if you want the verdict.

The five apps that matter

1. LogTen Pro — by Coradine. The grandfather. Has been on iOS since the original iPad.
2. Wingman — by Wingman Apps. Strong roster import network, popular with European airline pilots.
3. ForeFlight Logbook — bundled into the ForeFlight Mobile app. Most US pilots already pay for the parent product.
4. FlightLog App — by an independent Estonian developer, sometimes called "the cheap one".
5. Flight Log — that's us. Newest entrant, EASA-first design, native iOS only.

LogTen Pro

Strengths. Deepest feature set on the market. Genuinely supports every aircraft category, every regulator, every variation of FDP rule you can think of. PDF export quality is best in class — the EASA-formatted layout is the unofficial reference. Flies on macOS, iPadOS, iPhone, and Watch.

Weaknesses. Interface design is structurally rooted in 2014. Many of the screens still look like skeuomorphic iOS 7 forms. Subscription pricing has crept up over the last three years to $129 / year and the migration from the old lifetime purchase model upset a lot of long-term users. Rich features come with a learning curve that can take a week of evening sessions.

Pricing. $129 / year. No free tier; 30-day trial available.

Best for. Pilots who already use it, multi-aircraft owners, instructors with complex student records, anyone who needs every feature regardless of UI cost.

Wingman

Strengths. Probably the strongest airline-roster-import network on the market — the development team has invested heavily in parsers for European carrier crew portals. If you fly for Lufthansa, Ryanair, easyJet, KLM, the import "just works". Cumulative limit warnings are well-thought-through.

Weaknesses. Web-app architecture means features feel sluggish compared to native iOS competitors. PDF export is functional but cosmetically dated. Privacy story is unclear — flight data passes through the company's own servers in addition to whatever cloud sync you opt into.

Pricing. Free tier with limits, then around $59 / year for full access. Genuinely competitive on price.

Best for. European airline pilots whose carrier is supported by the parser network and who don't mind a web-feel UI.

ForeFlight Logbook

Strengths. Already in your bag if you fly under FAA — most US pilots have an existing ForeFlight subscription for charts, weather and EFB. The logbook integrates with that flight plan history, which means trips you've actually flown can populate logbook entries with one tap. Excellent if you fly Part 91 or 135 small-scale operations.

Weaknesses. The logbook is genuinely a secondary feature. ForeFlight is an EFB first, logbook second. The data model isn't designed for the kind of cumulative-limit tracking that Part 121 / EASA airline pilots need. The 28-day cap, split-duty, augmented crew rest are not first-class concepts.

Pricing. Bundled into ForeFlight Performance Plus and above. If you only want the logbook, you're paying $299+ / year for the rest of the suite.

Best for. US Part 91 pilots, GA pilots with one aircraft, instrument students with an existing ForeFlight setup.

FlightLog App

Strengths. Cheapest paid logbook in the App Store. Independent developer who responds to feedback personally. Covers the basics competently — flight entry, totals, simple PDF export. The free tier is unusually generous.

Weaknesses. The interface has the marks of a one-developer project — inconsistent typography, dated controls, uneven feature depth. FDP calculation exists but doesn't keep pace with regulatory updates. No 3D map. No real recency tracker. App Store reviews from 2024–2025 mention occasional data loss after iOS major updates.

Pricing. $4.99 lifetime in some markets, slightly higher elsewhere. Hard to argue with at the price.

Best for. Student pilots, low-time GA pilots, anyone who wants a digital backup without committing to a subscription.

Flight Log (us)

Strengths. Native iOS only — no web shims, no cross-platform compromises. EASA ORO.FTL.205 and FAA Part 117 implemented from the rule text, with split-duty support on EASA. Live FDP gauge during duty with time-sensitive notifications at the 1-hour-out and at-limit marks. 3D map with realistic terrain on every sector. PDF export with optional handwritten signature. Privacy story is the strongest in the category — your data lives only in your private iCloud, there is no Flight Log server to breach.

Weaknesses. Newest of the five. Backlog of features is still being worked through — Apple Watch app is in development at time of writing, Dynamic Island Live Activity not yet shipped. No web or desktop client; if you don't own an Apple device, it isn't an option. Roster import currently supports the iCalendar (.ics) format only — direct parsers for individual carrier portals are on the roadmap.

Pricing. Free for the first five flights forever. Then $14.99 / month, $149.99 / year, or $399 lifetime.

Best for. Pilots who care about design, privacy and live regulatory tracking. EASA-side first officers and captains who want a tool that respects their rule set rather than treating it as a localisation. Anyone tired of legacy logbook UIs.

The verdict table

How to choose

1. If you've used LogTen Pro for years and the UI doesn't bother you — stay. The migration cost outweighs the cosmetic gain. Re-evaluate when LogTen makes its next major version change.
2. If your airline's roster portal is in Wingman's parser list and you're price-sensitive — Wingman makes sense.
3. If you already pay $299 for ForeFlight — you have a logbook bundled. It's not the best logbook, but it's "free" in your situation.
4. If you fly a Cessna on weekends and want a digital backup — FlightLog App at $5 lifetime is hard to beat.
5. If you fly the line for an EASA carrier, value design and privacy, and want live FDP tracking on iOS / iPad / Watch — Flight Log was built for you specifically. Try the free tier.

What we left out

This article focuses on the five apps that genuinely contend for a working pilot's primary logbook. There are dozens of secondary options — Logten Pro Lite, Pilot Logbook PRO, Aviation Logbook, etc. — that we've used, evaluated and don't think are competitive in 2026. If you have one we should consider in a future update, send it along.

Migration notes

If you're switching, the universal interchange format is CSV with one row per flight. All five apps export and import CSV in roughly the same column layout. PDF logbooks are read-only and won't migrate cleanly — you'll re-key the data. Plan a free Saturday for the move and be patient with the column mapping the first time.

Flight Log accepts CSV import on launch and we maintain a column-mapping helper for migrations from each of the four competitors above. If the column matching fails, email us — we'll fix it for the next user.