How is PlaneWX different from my EFB or aviationweather.gov?

Your EFB is excellent for charts, filing, and day-of flying. Aviationweather.gov and Flight Service (including 1800WXBRIEF) give you official weather products. PlaneWX sits beside those tools. It does not replace them. What PlaneWX adds is decision support days out: a WX Score matched to your aircraft and personal minimums, a dynamic FRAT on the FAA PAVE framework, and mentors who see the same briefing you see. You can also share a flight plan into PlaneWX from a supported EFB. You stay PIC. Charts, filing, and official sources stay where they belong.

Is the briefing accurate?

Your briefing uses the same official observations and forecasts every pilot relies on: METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, SIGMETs and model guidance. It can only be as accurate as those forecasts, and every forecast carries some uncertainty. Every weather briefing, from any provider, also has the same built-in limit. It describes one departure time, one route, one altitude and one arrival time. Real flights change. You leave late, get rerouted, or get assigned a different altitude, and each change puts you in weather the briefing didn't look at. That's why PlaneWX can keep updating your briefing for monitored flights as the forecast changes, and why your decision-making continues in the air.

How can I make my briefing more accurate?

Enter the flight the way you'll really fly it: a realistic departure time, the route you expect to file or be cleared, your planned altitude, and the right aircraft profile. If any of those change, update the trip and brief again. Check again close to departure, when the forecasts are freshest.

Yes, in specific places. Weather reports, forecasts, model data and NOTAMs are fetched and decoded by code. AI reads forecaster discussions and writes the plain-language briefing, the hazard summary and most section ratings. It also proposes a starting WX Score and some deductions, such as for convection. Ceiling and visibility are always scored by code. Within 12 hours of departure, your personal minimums and aircraft limits are checked by rule-based code, not the AI. Further out, AI also helps weigh icing and turbulence against your limits. You always make the final call.

What is the WX Score?

The WX Score is a 0-100% metric calculated against YOUR personal minimums and your specific aircraft, not generic VFR/IFR categories. It tells you, in a single number, how well conditions are expected to match your standards. Every deduction is transparent and explained.

What is the PAVE framework?

PAVE is the FAA risk framework: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures. It is the structure behind a serious preflight risk assessment, not a weather product by itself. We walk through it in plain language in our PAVE risk assessment guide. PlaneWX FRAT uses that same framework as a living sit-down assessment near departure. See how PlaneWX FRAT works, including how the briefing and airport context feed the enVironment side.

How far in advance can PlaneWX forecast weather?

PlaneWX provides weather intelligence from 14 days out through departure. Confidence improves as your flight approaches. We are transparent about uncertainty at every time horizon.

What is the mentor system?

PlaneWX connects you with experienced pilots who can review your full briefing (WX Score, aircraft profile, personal minimums) and offer a second set of eyes grounded in shared data, not guesswork. Mentor sits alongside the risk-management loop when you want it.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. The Free Plan, No End Date, includes full-quality briefings for 2 flights at a time. We limit how much you can use PlaneWX, not how good the analysis is. Details on plans and what each tier includes are in PlaneWX Plans help.

What's the difference between Casual, Pro, and Pro Plus?

Casual is for pilots who fly a few times a month and want auto-monitoring. Pro raises limits and automation. Pro Plus adds Ground Protection, Auto-Brief, Pre-Flight Text, briefed fuel stops, and Labs. Compare current limits and features in Plans help, or start from the pricing section on this page. Personal minimums still drive the WX Score on every plan. If you are setting those for the first time, see personal minimums for weather planning.

What happens after the 14-day free trial?

You keep access on Free, or choose Casual, Pro, or Pro Plus. No card is required to start the trial. Plan details stay in Plans help.

Best Pilot Weather Apps for Decision Support (2026)

The best aviation weather app depends on the job. Many pilots pair an all-in-one flight app such as ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot or FltPlan Go with one or two specialized weather tools: RadarScope or MyRadar for radar, Windy for model visualization, StationWeather or AeroWeather for decoded METARs and TAFs, WeatherSpork for route weather planning, and the Aviation Weather Center as the official source. PlaneWX fills a different slot: decision support days ahead of departure, with a WX Score tuned to your aircraft and personal minimums, departure windows and a FRAT. No single app is the whole picture, and the pilot in command makes every go or no-go decision.

This guide groups the apps the way pilots actually use them, gives each one a short, fair description based on the vendor's own site, and then covers free options, VFR versus IFR, and iPhone versus Android.

What pilots actually need from an aviation weather app

A strong aviation weather app (or stack) should help you answer three questions before you commit:

What is the weather doing along my route and at my destination? METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs and SIGMETs, PIREPs, winds aloft, and convective outlooks that match how you fly.
How does that weather interact with my flight? Aircraft, currency, experience, night, IFR vs VFR, and personal mins matter as much as the forecast.
When do I need to decide? An early go/no-go beats a last-minute scramble on the ramp.

Weather apps for pilots sit on a spectrum: all-in-one flight apps (EFBs) with charts and briefings, specialized tools that do one weather job very well, official sources, and decision support tools that frame risk earlier. The best aviation weather app for you depends on which of those jobs you need covered.

All-in-one flight apps (EFBs)

These apps combine charts, flight planning, filing and weather in one place. For most pilots, one of them is the primary app in the cockpit.

ForeFlight

ForeFlight describes itself as an integrated flight app on iPad, iPhone and the web for flight planning, aviation weather, maps and charts. Its weather briefing strengths are real: graphical layers, route-aware products, METARs and TAFs, radar and satellite, and a briefing workflow that fits how many pilots already plan. For charts, procedures and in-flight awareness, it remains a core tool for a large share of GA and business aviation. (foreflight.com)

Garmin Pilot

Garmin Pilot is Garmin's EFB, available for computers as well as Apple and Android mobile devices. Weather layers, METARs, forecasts and briefing-style views support planning and enroute awareness, and it is a natural fit for pilots whose panel and portables are already Garmin. (garmin.com)

FltPlan Go

FltPlan Go is the free companion app to the FltPlan.com flight planning and filing website, with route and mapping features for inflight and offline use on iOS and Android. FltPlan is a Garmin company, and FltPlan Go can display ADS-B traffic, weather and GPS data from compatible Garmin ADS-B products. (fltplan.com)

Specialized weather tools

These tools do one weather job in depth. Pilots usually keep one or two next to their EFB rather than replacing it.

RadarScope

RadarScope displays single-site NEXRAD and TDWR radar data, including reflectivity, velocity and dual-polarization products, in the radar's native format, along with NWS warnings and storm tracks. It is a paid app for iOS, macOS, Android and Windows, with optional Pro subscriptions that add more products. (RadarScope support)

Windy

Windy is a worldwide animated weather map with more than 50 layers, radar and satellite, forecast models including ECMWF and GFS, and METAR, TAF and NOTAM lookups for airports. For a broad look at wind, fronts, convection and model differences, it is a strong visualization layer. It is not a flight weather briefer, FRAT or decision support tool. (windy.com)

MyRadar

MyRadar is a fast animated radar app for iOS, Android and Windows. Its Aviation layer adds AIRMETs, SIGMETs, TFRs, echo tops and filed flight plans on top of the radar picture, for a quick look at the big picture. (MyRadar support)

StationWeather

StationWeather decodes METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs and D-ATIS (worldwide, not only in the US), adds radar and more than 700 weather charts, and can build flight briefings from the flights in your device calendar. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, with a free version and a Pro upgrade. (stationweather.com)

AeroWeather

AeroWeather, from Lakehorn, shows current METARs and TAFs in raw and decoded form and is made for pilots. It is available on iPhone and iPad (with an Apple Watch app) and on Android. On iOS there is a free Lite version and a paid Pro version. (lakehorn.com)

WeatherSpork

WeatherSpork calls itself a strategic, all-purpose weather planning app for pilots. It takes a route-oriented approach that blends weather guidance with aviation weather education, runs in a browser and on iOS and Android, and is a subscription product. Its own site notes it is most useful for flights within the lower 48 United States. (weatherspork.com)

Aviation Weather Center (aviationweather.gov)

The NWS Aviation Weather Center is the official public source for many of the products other apps re-display: METAR and TAF data, SIGMETs and G-AIRMETs, the Graphical Forecasts for Aviation, prog charts, PIREPs and forecast discussions. It is free, and it is the reference when you want primary-source products or need to cross-check what an app shows. It gives you the weather. You still make the call. (aviationweather.gov)

PlaneWX: decision support days ahead of departure

PlaneWX is a pilot decision support system, not a chart, navigation or radar replacement. Its job sits earlier in the timeline than most weather apps: helping you see, days before departure, whether a trip is trending toward a good fit for you and your airplane.

WX Score. A 0 to 100% rating of how well forecast conditions match your aircraft's capabilities and your personal minimums. It is built from Synoptic Intelligence™ briefings that draw on the NWS Weather Forecast Offices along your route, calibrated with NBM for near-term outlooks, with a 14-day planning horizon. It is advisory, not a flight authorization. (WX Score help)
Departure windows. When a briefing scores low, the Flight Window Explorer shows the hazard picture for departure times up to three hours earlier or later and for nearby cruise altitudes, so you can see whether a different window fits your limits. (Flight Window Explorer help)
FRAT. A flight risk assessment built on the FAA PAVE checklist (Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, External pressures) that reads your briefing and keeps your own self-ratings in charge. It opens within four hours of departure. (FRAT help, and the FRAT guide)
Mentor network. When the call is not obvious, Need Help Now lets you ask an experienced pilot who can see the same briefing.

PlaneWX does not tell you whether to go. It never recommends GO or NO-GO, and it is not meant to be your only source. Pilots still check NOTAMs, ATIS, PIREPs and the latest METARs and TAFs, get an official briefing, and apply their own judgment. PlaneWX complements ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot and the official sources rather than replacing them.

On the Pro Plus plan, PlaneWX also offers an AI assistant connector (a PlaneWX Labs beta) that works in Claude, Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini. It lets you ask for a WX Score or departure windows in chat and compare a PlaneWX briefing with other sources you connect there. It is not available on the Free, Casual or Pro plans. See how to cross-check your pilot weather briefing and the connector help page.

Best free aviation weather app

Several good options cost nothing. The Aviation Weather Center website is free, FltPlan Go is a free app, StationWeather has a free version, and AeroWeather has a free Lite version.

PlaneWX has a Free plan that is completely free. It uses the same WX Score, Synoptic Intelligence™ briefing, multi-model icing and turbulence analysis, FRAT and departure windows as the paid plans. The limits are on how much you use it, not how well it works: 2 saved flights, 1 aircraft profile and 15 briefings per week, refreshed by hand. Paid plans add automatic refresh, email alerts and more capacity. (Free plan help)

How to choose among pilot weather apps in 2026

Need	Strong fit
Charts, procedures, filing, enroute weather	ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot or FltPlan Go
Serious radar interrogation	RadarScope
Quick radar look with aviation layers	MyRadar
Big-picture wind and model visualization	Windy
Fast decoded METAR, TAF and D-ATIS	StationWeather or AeroWeather
Route weather planning with education built in	WeatherSpork
Official products and cross-checks	aviationweather.gov (AWC)
Decision support days ahead: WX Score, departure windows, FRAT, mentor input	PlaneWX

A common stack for GA pilots looks like this: decision support and a FRAT while the trip is still days out and plans can move, official products and an EFB briefing as departure gets close, and the EFB you trust for navigation and in-cockpit weather. For the types of official briefings and when each fits, see weather briefing types. For why forecasts behave differently at different lead times, see MOS vs NBM vs TAF.

Aviation weather briefing vs decision support

An aviation weather briefing answers: what products apply to this route and time? A flight weather briefer (human or digital) organizes those products. Decision support asks the next question: given this pilot, this aircraft, and these mins, how does the weather fit, and what would change the picture?

EFB briefings and the official sources excel at the first job. PlaneWX is aimed at the second, earlier in the timeline, without replacing your EFB, your official briefing or your certificate.

FAQ

What is the best aviation weather app for VFR vs IFR flying?

VFR pilots tend to lean on ceiling and visibility products, METARs, TAFs and radar, so a decoder such as StationWeather or AeroWeather plus a radar app often sits next to the EFB. IFR pilots usually add icing, freezing levels, turbulence and alternates, and rely on an EFB with approach charts such as ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot. In PlaneWX, an instrument-rated pilot can see the WX Score under IFR on the same weather. Either way, an official briefing and your own judgment remain part of the decision.

What is the best aviation weather app for iPhone vs Android?

ForeFlight runs on iPad, iPhone and the web, and StationWeather is Apple only (iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch). Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go, RadarScope, MyRadar, AeroWeather and WeatherSpork all have Android versions. PlaneWX runs in the browser and can be added to the home screen on iPhone, iPad and Android, and aviationweather.gov works in any browser.

What is the best free aviation weather app?

Free options include the Aviation Weather Center website, FltPlan Go, the free version of StationWeather and AeroWeather Lite. For decision support, the PlaneWX Free plan is completely free and includes the full WX Score, FRAT and departure windows, with limits on the number of saved flights and weekly briefings.

Bottom line

The best pilot weather apps in 2026 are not a single winner. ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot and FltPlan Go cover the all-in-one EFB job. RadarScope, Windy, MyRadar, StationWeather, AeroWeather and WeatherSpork each do one weather job well, and the Aviation Weather Center remains the official source. PlaneWX fills the decision support slot days ahead of departure: WX Score, departure windows, FRAT and mentor network, alongside an official briefing, NOTAMs, ATIS, PIREPs and your own judgment.

For airports of entry and customs discovery, the PlaneWX family also includes GA Customs, with more tools in the PlaneWX apps hub.

PIC decides. Tools inform. Stack them that way.

Ready to brief with decision support? Sign up for PlaneWX

Sources

Vendor sites, checked October 21, 2026: ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, FltPlan, RadarScope, Windy, MyRadar, StationWeather, AeroWeather (Lakehorn), WeatherSpork, Aviation Weather Center.
PlaneWX help: WX Score, Flight Window Explorer, FRAT, Free plan, AI assistant connector.