Most pilots will stay with an EFB for years. It runs their briefings, stores their logbook, and knows their aircraft. The switching cost — muscle memory, chart preferences, training hours spent — is real.
And yet, the number of pilots actively evaluating alternatives in 2026 is notable. When we ask them why, the answers cluster.
- Pricing surprises after acquisitions or plan restructuring
- Ecosystem uncertainty when an EFB changes ownership
- Missing features that pilots now consider table stakes
- Cost of subscriptions that scale with features you never use
- No way to manage compliance and currency in one place
- AI-native expectations shaped by every other app they use
The why
The real reasons. What pilots tell us when they explain the move.
Pricing surprises
Quiet plan restructuring or tier shuffles that turn a $100 annual into a $200 annual without warning.
Ownership uncertainty
When an EFB changes hands, pilots worry about data ownership, roadmap shifts, and price control.
Missing compliance
Medical, BFR, IPC, WINGS — tracked on a spreadsheet because the EFB does not offer it.
No automated FRAT
Pilots want a risk score from live data, not a paper form they skip when they are rushed.
Ecosystem lock-in
Being forced into a single-device platform when a web browser would work just as well.
AI-native expectations
Every other app in their life can answer questions in plain English. Their EFB cannot.
The how
What the move looks like. The practical experience of switching — and why it is smaller than it sounds.
Import your logbook
CSV import brings in flight history. Aircraft profiles carry over with tail number, make, model.
Run parallel for a week
Fly with both for a weekend. Compare briefings, FRAT, currency tracking side by side.
Keep your chart app if needed
Many pilots keep a traditional chart app for moving maps and use AeroCopilot for everything else.
Pay only what you use
Monthly billing means you can pause when you are not flying — no annual money-on-the-shelf.
Free for CFIs
Every Certified Flight Instructor gets a free Pro account, forever.
Real support
A real pilot replies within one business day — not a chatbot that restates your question.
Switching is easier than staying frustrated
The sunk cost of years in one EFB feels enormous in the abstract. In practice, most pilots are up and running on a new platform within a single flight — and the relief of a tool that finally tracks compliance and runs real FRAT is immediate.
If you have been waiting for a better moment to evaluate an alternative, this is it. Start free. No credit card. No annual lock-in.