Flightradar24: watch flights live on a world map, free, no login
Thousands of real aircraft move across a live map, and clicking one tells you its airline, route, schedule and aircraft type. We tracked a live Akasa Air flight from Siliguri to Delhi ourselves, with no account and no payment; here is what the official pages confirm and the limits to know.
Quick facts
- What: Flightradar24, a free live flight tracker that shows aircraft moving over a world map in real time, with route, airline, schedule and aircraft details for each plane
- Cost: the live map and flight details are free without an account; it is ad-supported, and optional Premium plans (Silver $14.99/year, about ₹1,420; Gold $34.99/year, about ₹3,310; Business $499.99/year, about ₹47,250; at roughly ₹94.5 per US dollar, 21 October 2026 close) add 60+ features such as 3D view, longer history and aviation weather
- Signup: none needed; we tracked a live flight in detail with no account
- Made by: Flightradar24 AB, Stockholm, Sweden (from its privacy policy, last updated 15 August 2024)
- Runs on: any modern browser; we tested on desktop with no login
- Works in India: yes; the map opened centred over India with dense live coverage, and our tracked flight showed IST times
What it is
Flightradar24 turns the sky into a live map. Thousands of yellow aircraft icons move over the Earth in near real time: zoom into any country, click a plane, and a panel tells you the airline, flight number, aircraft type, where it took off, where it is going, its scheduled and estimated times, and often a photo of the exact aircraft. A purple line on the map traces its route, and buttons let you follow it, view the route or share the flight as a link.
It is both a toy and a tool: plane-spotters lose hours to it, but it is just as useful for checking whether a family member's flight is on time, or watching the evening rush over Delhi and Mumbai.
What we tested
On 22 October 2026 we opened flightradar24.com in a desktop browser with no account. This is exactly what we did and saw:
- The map loaded centred over India, with hundreds of live aircraft over the Delhi, Mumbai and Kanpur-Lucknow corridors and across Pakistan and the Himalayas. No login was asked for.
- We clicked a plane flying over Uttar Pradesh. A panel opened with full live details: Akasa Air flight AKJ1808 (also QP1808), a Boeing 737 MAX 8, flying Siliguri (IXB) to Delhi (DEL), scheduled departure 4:45 PM, actual 5:00 PM, estimated arrival 7:05 PM, with 596 km flown and 547 km to go, an aircraft photo, and the route drawn on the map. The browser address bar became a shareable deep link to that exact flight.
- A small advertisement slot appeared inside the flight details panel, and a prominent panel on the right offered Premium ("Unlock 60+ premium features", with a 7-day free trial).
- On the official subscription page we verified the paid tiers: Silver $14.99/year, Gold $34.99/year and Business $499.99/year (US dollars, tax extra), adding features like 3D view, longer flight history and aviation weather. Everything we used in this test was free.
Is it free?
The core experience - the live world map and per-flight details - is free with no account, and that is what most people want. The site earns from advertising (we saw an ad slot in the flight panel) and from Premium subscriptions. The Premium upsell panel is prominent but dismissible, and the free tier is complete enough to track real flights end to end, as our test shows.
What you can use it for
- Picking someone up: watch their actual flight position and estimated arrival instead of trusting the scheduled time
- Plane spotting: identify the aircraft flying over your house right now, with airline and type
- Learning geography: see how air routes actually connect Indian cities, and which corridors are busiest
- Sharing: send a live flight link to family so everyone watches the same plane
Privacy and data
Using the free map needs no account, so you can track flights without telling Flightradar24 anything. According to its published privacy policy (Flightradar24 AB, Stockholm; last updated 15 August 2024), the service automatically collects usage data such as your IP address, device ID and browser type; your location is used only if you grant permission; and if you optionally register, it stores your email and subscription details, deleting account data after 12 months of inactivity. The policy names GDPR rights and says some data processors are in the US under EU Standard Contractual Clauses. We did not audit their servers; this section summarises the provider's own published policy and what we observed.
India
Coverage over India is dense and live: in our session the map opened over the country and showed heavy traffic over Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, plus regional airports. Flight times in the details panel display in IST, and Indian carriers (we tracked an Akasa Air Boeing 737 MAX 8) show full route and schedule data.
Good to know
- Free history is limited: replaying older flights and 3D cockpit view are Premium features.
- Aircraft icons are approximate positions from tracking data; a plane can vanish briefly over areas with less coverage.
- The 7-day Premium trial needs an account and starts billing after the trial unless cancelled, per the official terms on the subscription page.
- Settings, weather layers and filters (by airline, altitude and more) sit in the toolbar at the bottom of the map.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to track a flight?
No. Open the site, click a plane (or search a flight number), and you get live details. An account is only needed for Premium and alerts.
Is the tracking really live?
Yes, positions update continuously; in our test the aircraft's progress bar and map position were updating as we watched.
Can I track a specific flight number?
Yes. Clicking any plane shows its flight number and route, and the search box at the top finds flights directly.
What do I lose by not paying?
Mainly 3D view, longer flight history, aviation weather layers and other extras; live tracking and flight details stay free.