Pilot logbook apps compared (2026): what professional crews need

By Arnthor Birgisson, business aviation captain and founder of Galley. Facts checked on 30 October 2026 against the official texts listed under Sources.

Prices and features change. Each fact is from the company’s own site on the date shown; check it there before you rely on it.

Most of us keep two logbooks for a while: the one we trust, and the one we are trying. When I moved mine, I wanted to know two things first. What does the regulation ask of the logbook itself? And which app does that without hours of typing after every trip? This guide answers both.

I build Galley, which has a logbook, so I am not neutral. That is why the comparison below holds only facts, each taken from the company’s own website on 30 October 2026 and listed under Sources, and why it says where other apps fit better than Galley.

1. What EASA asks of your logbook

Part-FCL keeps it short. FCL.050 of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011:

“The pilot shall keep a reliable record of the details of all flights flown in a form and manner established by the competent authority.”

FCL.045(c) adds that you “shall without undue delay present” that record “for inspection upon request by an authorised representative of a competent authority”.

The detail sits in AMC1 FCL.050, in EASA’s Easy Access Rules for Aircrew. What matters for an app:

• What each flight records ((a)(2)): “name(s) of PIC; date of flight; place and time of departure and arrival; type, including make, model and variant, and registration of the aircraft; indication if the aircraft is SE or ME, if applicable; total time of flight; accumulated total time of flight.”
• Your function ((a)(4)): PIC, “including solo, SPIC and PICUS time, co-pilot, cruise-relief co-pilot, dual, FI or FE”, and the conditions ((a)(5)): night, or IFR.
• PICUS needs a signature. A co-pilot logs PICUS time as PIC “provided that such PICUS time is countersigned by the PIC” ((b)(1)(v)).
• When and how ((e)): entries “as soon as practicable after any flight undertaken”. An electronic logbook must be “made and kept in a way to be readily available at the request of a competent authority”, contain the items above, be “certified by the pilot, and in a format acceptable by the competent authority” ((e)(2)).
• UTC, and your choice of format ((i)(2), (i)(4)): “All times should be in UTC”; total time “may be entered in hours and minutes or decimal notation as desired”.
• Page totals ((j)): “When each page is completed, accumulated flight time or hours should be entered in the appropriate columns and certified by the pilot in the ‘remarks’ column.”
• For good ((d)): the logbook is “a permanent record” of your flying. No period after which you may throw it away.

The paper template in AMC1 FCL.050 has 12 columns: date; departure place and time; arrival place and time; aircraft make, model, variant and registration; single-pilot (SE, ME) and multi-pilot time; total time; name of the PIC; landings by day and night; night and IFR time; function time (PIC, co-pilot, dual, instructor); FSTD sessions; remarks and endorsements. An app that prints this layout gives an inspector the page they know.

Recency is a separate rule, but your logbook is the evidence. FCL.060(b)(1): no commercial air transport or passengers as PIC or co-pilot unless, “in the preceding 90 days, at least 3 take-offs, approaches and landings as a pilot flying in an aircraft of the same type or class or an FFS representing that type or class”. Take-offs count, not only landings, and only a full flight simulator counts.

2. What the FAA asks (14 CFR 61.51)

For an FAA certificate, 14 CFR 61.51(b) lists what each entry records: the date, the total flight or lesson time, the “location where the aircraft departed and arrived”, the type and identification of the aircraft, the name of a safety pilot if required; the type of experience (solo, PIC, SIC, instruction received, training in a simulator); and the conditions: day or night, actual or simulated instrument. 61.51(i) asks you to present the logbook “upon a reasonable request” by the FAA, the NTSB or a law enforcement officer.

Two differences from EASA trip up pilots who hold both: the FAA logs actual and simulated instrument time, not IFR time, and 61.57(b)’s night recency counts take-offs and landings “to a full stop during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise”, a different night from the one that counts your night time.

3. What business jet crews need on top

The rules say what a logbook must hold. Our flying decides how much typing that takes. What I look for:

1. Your roster, not your typing. We fly on registrations and trip numbers, planned in Leon, FL3XX, Avianis or Schedaero. Check that the importer names your system: many list airline crew systems only.
2. Actual block times. The schedule is not the flight. The captain’s journey log has the real off-block and on-block times.
3. The EASA page, printed as AMC1 FCL.050 lays it out, for an inspector, a type rating course or an interview.
4. Recency by licence. Many of us hold an EASA licence and an FAA certificate. Each has its own rule.
5. Night time worked out, along the route, not typed.
6. Signatures for PICUS, training and checks, without the captain installing your app.
7. Offline, in the cockpit and in hotels with bad Wi-Fi.
8. Your data out, any time: export and backups that don’t depend on the subscription.
9. Your devices: iPhone, Android, a computer.

4. Eight logbook apps, side by side

Each cell is what the company says on its own website on 30 October 2026, linked under Sources. “Not stated” means its site doesn’t say; it may still do it. Prices are as listed, in the company’s currency.

Who can use it, and what it costs

Getting your flights in

The record itself

App names belong to their owners. If you make one of these apps and a fact here is out of date, write to [email protected]: we check your page and update the date.

5. Where each one fits

No app wins on every line, and the right one depends on where your flights come from and where you print them.

• You want a desktop program on Windows or Mac: CrewLounge PILOTLOG, Safelog and FlyLog run there; LogTen Pro runs on a Mac. Galley runs in a browser but has no desktop program.
• You hold a UK licence and want the CAP 407 page: LogTen, FlyLog and Safelog list that layout. Galley doesn’t print it yet.
• You fly from Switzerland: Capzlog says the Swiss FOCA audited it against AMC1 FCL.050 in 2020.
• You already pay for ForeFlight: the logbook comes with its Starter plan and above, and it drafts entries from your track logs.
• You want it free: MyFlightbook is free, with extras for donors.
• Your roster is in Leon: several apps now name Leon (CrewLounge by a CSV export, Capzlog for the operators it lists, FlyLog, Safelog and MyFlightbook). Galley reads Leon live and takes the block times from the captain’s journey log.
• Your roster is in FL3XX, Avianis or Schedaero: Galley follows all three by a calendar link that keeps your roster up to date. Safelog’s help desk lists imports from Avianis and SchedAero. None of the other sites names FL3XX.

Galley is the one I build, so here is where it stands. Its logbook is part of a crew app: the same roster gives your FTL check, per diems and crew hotels, and the logbook fills each line from it for you to confirm. It doesn’t import CrewLounge files, doesn’t print the UK CAP 407 page, and its iPhone app is in public beta while the Android and web apps are live.

6. Moving your logbook without losing a flight

1. Export everything from the old app, in its own full format, and keep the file. Print the last pages as a PDF too.
2. Write down the grand totals per column before you import: total, PIC, co-pilot, night, IFR, landings.
3. Import, then compare the totals. A difference usually means simulator sessions counted as flight time, positioning legs logged as flights, or a balance brought forward added twice. A printed logbook that rounds each line to tenths of an hour also ends up a few hours away from the exact times in the file.
4. Keep the old logbook readable until the new one has a full year of your flying and the totals agree.
5. Sign what needs signing in the new app: PICUS and training lines don’t carry their signatures over from a file.

In Galley, the import shows what is new, what is already there and every difference before it saves anything, and a printed EASA logbook is read from the PDF’s text and checked page by page against its printed totals.

Coming from LogTen Pro? The guide Move your LogTen Pro logbook to Galley shows each step, from LogTen’s export to checking your totals.

Start your logbook from your roster

Related

• Move your LogTen Pro logbook to Galley without losing a flight
• Galley’s logbook for business jet crews
• EASA FTL for business aviation: the rules that catch crews out

Sources

1. Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (Aircrew), Annex I Part-FCL: FCL.045, FCL.050, FCL.060: consolidated text of 30 April 2026; read 30 October 2026. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02011R1178-20260430
2. EASA, Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (revision of October 2026): AMC1 FCL.050 (ED Decision 2025/002/R) and its logbook template: pp. 101–110; read 30 October 2026. https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/downloads/115485/en
3. 14 CFR 61.51, Pilot logbooks: read 30 October 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-A/section-61.51
4. 14 CFR 61.57, Recent flight experience: Pilot in command: read 30 October 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-A/section-61.57
5. LogTen, Pricing: read 30 October 2026. https://logten.com/pricing/
6. LogTen Help Center: subscriptions, schedule import, imports, logbook reports, night, signatures, export, backups, sync: articles 11542450, 11667617, 11771761, 12068280, 11603229, 11771775, 11653803, 11661377, 11641679, 11647123, 11604664, 11625726, 11604207, 11626180, 11632689, 11634297, 11632677; read 30 October 2026. https://support.logten.com/en/
7. CrewLounge PILOTLOG: pricing, editions, features, import wizard, download, FAQ: read 30 October 2026. https://pilotlog.crewlounge.aero/pricing/
8. CrewLounge support: roster download; Leon import; Wheels Up voyage report; night time: articles 24000033763, 24000073606, 24000072750, 24000054310; read 30 October 2026. https://support.crewlounge.aero/support/solutions/articles/24000073606
9. CrewLounge PILOTLOG user guide v2.0: EASA print format, one signature per calendar day, next landing date: 26 June 2023; read 30 October 2026. https://crewlounge.aero/files/help/crewlounge.pilotlog.userguide.pdf
10. Capzlog: home, pricing, features, Auto-Import, app download, “Officially certified digital pilot logbook”: read 30 October 2026. https://www.capzlog.aero/pricing
11. FlyLog: home and FAQ, pricing, “FlyLog vs LogTen”, global regulators: read 30 October 2026. https://www.flylog.io/pricing
12. Safelog: product page, order page, transition service: read 30 October 2026. https://www.dauntless-soft.com/products/Safelog/
13. Safelog help desk: imports from 553 systems; works offline and online; automated night calculation: read 30 October 2026. https://www.dauntless-soft.com/helpdesk/cate_view.asp?ID=3
14. ForeFlight: Logbook, pricing, release notes 17.7, 17.11, 18.6: read 30 October 2026. https://foreflight.com/products/logbook/
15. MyFlightbook: feature chart and FAQ: read 30 October 2026. https://myflightbook.com/logbook/mvc/pub/FeatureChart
16. Galley: the logbook as built (the code on 30 October 2026): galley.aero/pilot-logbook. https://galley.aero/pilot-logbook/

Changes

• 30 October 2026: Every rule and every app’s facts read again: CrewLounge, ForeFlight, MyFlightbook and Safelog updated.
• 29 October 2026: Written; rules and every app’s facts read on their own pages.