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. Free forever includes full-quality briefings. 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.

PlaneWX now connects to Perplexity. Which AI should we build for next?

Now in Perplexity

PlaneWX now connects to Perplexity. It joins Claude, Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini as an assistant you can link to your PlaneWX account, so you can ask about your flying in a normal conversation and get answers from your own PlaneWX data.

You need a paid Perplexity plan (Pro, Max or Enterprise). On Enterprise, your admin has to allow custom connectors. In Perplexity, open Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize, Connectors), then Add custom, Connector, Add MCP connector. Choose Remote. Name it PlaneWX, enter the PlaneWX MCP URL https://app.planewx.ai/api/mcp, set Authentication to OAuth and leave Client ID and Client secret blank. Tick the acknowledgement box, click Add, then click the PlaneWX card to connect. Sign in to PlaneWX and press Allow. Tick Also allow building briefings if you want scored runs.

When you connect, the assistant can read your profile, aircraft, personal minimums, saved trips, Self Debriefs (including private notes, in trimmed form) and FRATs. Only connect assistants you trust. You can disconnect anytime in PlaneWX account settings.

What you can ask

Whichever assistant you use, it works from the same PlaneWX tools:

Your saved trips. Route, departure time, and stored WX Score, without scoring again. "What upcoming trips do I have?"
Your saved briefing. The same briefing and WX Score you see in the app, without scoring again. If you ask for a fresh score, the assistant runs a new briefing for that route and time. That counts toward your daily limit and doesn't change the saved briefing in the app.
A WX Score for a route and time. Ask about a flight you are thinking about, using your personal minimums and aircraft.
Departure windows. Ranked candidate times for a route and day. "Find the best departure window Saturday from KAPA to KSDL."
Save a time as a trip. Pick a candidate and say "Save that time as a trip." It shows up in PlaneWX with its own briefing.
Past trips, Self Debriefs and FRATs. "Show my FRATs where I chose no-go this year."
Your profile and airports. Look up an airport or check the minimums your WX Score uses.
Your limits. "What are my limits?" shows your real usage and what is left for today. Set a home airport or home time zone in PlaneWX so it knows when your day starts.
Something looks off. Ask the assistant to send a note to PlaneWX for review.

A new WX Score, departure windows and saving a trip need Also allow building briefings. Each scored run counts toward your daily limit. Ask "What are my limits?" to see what is left.

You're still the PIC

Weather decision support only. You are pilot in command. PlaneWX never tells you to go or not to go, and neither does the connector. The assistant relays the WX Score and what drives it, and it can get things wrong, so check the full briefing in PlaneWX before you fly. The go or no-go call stays with you.

Who can use it

The AI assistant connector is a Pro Plus Labs feature (Enterprise included), and Pro Plus trials include it. Turn it on first under Profile, Preferences, PlaneWX Labs (the switch is labeled AI assistant connector).

Full steps for every assistant, including Perplexity, are in Help: Connect PlaneWX to Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Which AI should we build for next?

Want us to connect your favorite AI? Tell us and we'll build the MCP. Tap the Feedback button in the app (on a phone it's the speech bubble icon), choose Feature, and tell us which assistant you use. If you've hidden the floating button, Send Feedback is also in the Profile menu. We read every one.

Blue skies,
Mark