VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

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Sunday, October 5, 2025

View FlightAware View Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)Back to Home

Head-to-head

FlightAware vs Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

FlightAware adds APIs & SDKs, Alerts, and Satellite / Geospatial coverage that Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) skips.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) includes Shipping & Trade, Education, and Blogs categories that FlightAware omits.

FlightAware highlights: Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions., Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data., and AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication..

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) is known for: Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs..

FlightAware ships a mobile app. Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) is web/desktop only.

FlightAware

flightaware.com

A global flight-tracking platform offering free web and mobile access to live flight data. Premium subscriptions add unlimited alerts and extended historical lookback. Enterprise offerings include AeroAPI (REST), Firehose (streaming), and Rapid Reports (one-off email deliveries).

Platforms

Web

Mobile

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

One-time

Quick highlights

Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions.
Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data.
AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication.
FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections.
Global coverage powered by fused data sources: national air navigation providers, ACARS messages, over 30,000 terrestrial ADS-B receivers, Aireon space-based ADS-B with ~1-minute updates, and FlightAware’s HyperFeed® ML engine processing tens of thousands of position messages per second.

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Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

oec.world

A global trade and economic complexity platform with rich visualizations, country and product rankings, and an API. Pro plans unlock the latest monthly and subnational datasets, while Premium adds company-level Bill of Lading data and bulk downloads. Academic discounts and enterprise options with SSO support are also available.

Platforms

Web

API

Pricing

Free

Subscription

Quick highlights

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.
Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers.

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Overlap

Shared focus areas

2 overlaps

Mutual strengths include Data APIs, and Data Visualizations.

Where they differ

FlightAware

Distinct strengths include:

APIs & SDKs

Alerts

Satellite / Geospatial

Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions.
Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data.
AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication.
FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections.

Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

Distinct strengths include:

Shipping & Trade

Education

Blogs

Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification.
Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans.
Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs.
REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

Attribute	FlightAware	Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)
Categories Which research workflows each platform targets	Shared: Data APIs, Data Visualizations Unique: APIs & SDKs, Alerts, Satellite / Geospatial	Shared: Data APIs, Data Visualizations Unique: Shipping & Trade, Education, Blogs
Asset types Supported asset classes and universes	Other	Other
Experience levels Who each product is built for	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced	Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Platforms Where you can access the product	Web, Mobile, API	Web, API
Pricing High-level pricing models	Free, Subscription, One-time	Free, Subscription
Key features Core capabilities called out by each vendor	Unique Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions. Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data. AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication. FlightAware Firehose delivers a continuous enterprise-grade feed of real-time, historical, and predictive flight data over secure TCP/SSL connections. Global coverage powered by fused data sources: national air navigation providers, ACARS messages, over 30,000 terrestrial ADS-B receivers, Aireon space-based ADS-B with ~1-minute updates, and FlightAware’s HyperFeed® ML engine processing tens of thousands of position messages per second. Rapid Reports offer one-time purchases of airport or aircraft history, delivered via email within about an hour.	Unique Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification. Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans. Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs. REST API with a free tier for historical data and Pro/Premium tokens for the latest datasets, subnational access, and higher query volumes. Data downloads in CSV, Excel, or JSON, with bulk access and larger query limits available for subscribers. Support for multiple HS revisions (from HS92 through HS2022) with well-documented historical ranges.
Tested Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat	Not yet	Not yet
Editor pick Featured inside curated shortlists	Standard listing	Standard listing

Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do FlightAware and Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) both support?

Both platforms cover Data APIs, and Data Visualizations workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do FlightAware and Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) require subscriptions?

Both FlightAware and Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

Which tool has mobile access?

FlightAware ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) focuses on web or desktop access.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

FlightAware differentiates itself with Live flight tracking and flight-status pages with dedicated views for cancellations and delays, plus the signature MiseryMap® for U.S. air traffic disruptions., Premium subscriptions unlock unlimited flight alerts and access to three, five, or eight months of historical flight data., and AeroAPI (v4) provides RESTful access to current and historical flight data with JSON responses and API key authentication., whereas Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) stands out for Visualizations and rankings based on Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Product Complexity Index (PCI), with reports by HS classification., Monthly international trade data and subnational coverage across 30+ countries available on Pro plans., and Premium tier adds company-level U.S. Bill of Lading data through a Company Explorer sourced from U.S. Customs..

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

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