aviationstack
Real-time flight tracking and airline data API by APILayer — live flights, routes, airports, airlines, and historical flight data. The standard pick for flight-tracker tutorials.
🟢 Online · 488 ms
100%
100 requests/month, email signup, no credit card
API key
Free alternatives (live ranking)
- PokéAPI — 🟢 Online · Unlimited, no key, no credit card
- Rick and Morty API — 🟢 Online · 10,000 req/day, no key, no credit card
- Random User Generator — 🟢 Online · Unlimited, no key, no credit card
Compare aviationstack with…
- aviationstack vs PokéAPI — Unlimited, no key, no credit card
- aviationstack vs Rick and Morty API — 10,000 req/day, no key, no credit card
- aviationstack vs Random User Generator — Unlimited, no key, no credit card
Paid alternatives
- FlightAware AeroAPI — usage-based, from $100/mo typical
Frequently Asked Questions
Does aviationstack require an API key?
Yes, aviationstack requires a free API key. You can sign up via https://aviationstack.com/documentation.
What is aviationstack's free tier?
100 requests/month, email signup, no credit card
Is aviationstack currently online?
We check aviationstack every hour. The current status is shown at the top of this page. You can also see the 30-day uptime history in the chart above.
Implementation notes
When to use aviationstack
aviationstack is the default API in flight-tracker tutorials: real-time flight positions, routes, airport and airline reference data, and historical flights through one REST interface. The 100 requests/month free tier suits learning projects and prototypes — every request can return up to 100 flights, so a single call per refresh goes further than it sounds. For anything commercial (flight boards, logistics), budget a paid plan or FlightAware.
Common pitfalls
- Real-time flight data on the free tier updates every 30-60 seconds at best — do not build anything safety-relevant on it. It's for dashboards and hobby projects, not operations.
- The free tier is HTTP only and excludes historical flights — those need the Basic plan. The docs show historical examples without flagging this clearly.
- Flight results are paginated at 100 per request; the `total` count in `pagination` tells you the full size. A busy airport query can span many pages — each page is a billed request.
Quick start (bash)
curl "http://api.aviationstack.com/v1/flights?access_key=YOUR_KEY&dep_iata=CDG"Embed this badge
Add a live status badge to your README, docs, or website.
Markdown
[](https://freeapi.watch/aviationstack)HTML
<a href="https://freeapi.watch/aviationstack"><img src="https://freeapi-builder.a10ayassine.workers.dev/badge/aviationstack.svg" alt="aviationstack Status"/></a>