VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Tool Comparison

FlightAware vs Visible Alpha comparison

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

Quick takeaways

FlightAware adds Alerts, and Satellite / Geospatial coverage that Visible Alpha skips.

Visible Alpha includes Financials, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Price Targets, Analyst Recommendations, Stock Comparison, Sheets / Excel Add-ins, Blogs, and Playbooks & Case Studies categories that FlightAware omits.

FlightAware has a free tier, while Visible Alpha requires a paid plan.

FlightAware ships a mobile app. Visible Alpha is web/desktop only.

In depth comparison

FlightAware logo

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

WebMobileAPI

Pricing

FreeSubscriptionOne-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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Visible Alpha logo

Visible Alpha

visiblealpha.com

Granular, line‑item consensus from full sell‑side models (7,000+ companies; 250+ contributing brokers) with VA Actuals historicals, Excel add‑in, and enterprise delivery via API/Data Feed/Snowflake. Now part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and available as an add‑on within S&P Capital IQ Pro. Includes modules like Target Price & Ratings and a Line Item Monitor for alerts and revision analysis.

Platforms

WebDesktopAPI

Pricing

Subscription

Quick highlights

  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.
  • Company & Line Item Monitor: alerting on threshold changes, dispersion, trend and revision analysis at the metric level.

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Where they differ

FlightAware

Distinct strengths include:

  • 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.

Visible Alpha

Distinct strengths include:

  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeFlightAwareVisible Alpha
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Data Visualizations

Unique: Alerts, Satellite / Geospatial

Shared: Data APIs, APIs & SDKs, Data Visualizations

Unique: Financials, Analyst Forecasts, Analyst Price Targets, Analyst Recommendations, Stock Comparison, Sheets / Excel Add-ins, Blogs, Playbooks & Case Studies

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Other

Stocks

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web, Mobile, API

Web, Desktop, API

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free, Subscription, One-time

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

  • Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered.
  • VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series.
  • Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app.
  • Target Price & Ratings: consensus rating distributions, target prices and valuation context with an ‘Open Entitlements’ contributor‑visibility framework.
  • Company & Line Item Monitor: alerting on threshold changes, dispersion, trend and revision analysis at the metric level.
  • Enterprise data delivery: REST API for ad‑hoc queries, file‑based data feeds (S3/SFTP), and Snowflake data shares; feeds/cloud updated throughout the day.
Tested

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do FlightAware and Visible Alpha both support?

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

Which tool offers a free plan?

FlightAware offers a free entry point, while Visible Alpha requires a paid subscription. Review the pricing table to see how the paid tiers compare.

Which tool has mobile access?

FlightAware ships a dedicated mobile experience, while Visible Alpha 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 Visible Alpha stands out for Deep, line‑item consensus built from full working sell‑side models; 7,000+ companies, 250+ contributing brokers, 1M+ consensus line items; 170+ industries covered., VA Actuals: stitched historical fundamentals not always disclosed in filings, integrated with forward estimates for seamless time series., and Excel Add‑in with real‑time updating of figures, pre‑built templates, and one‑click tear‑sheets/export from the web app..

Keep exploring

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.