Know what your pilot certificate will actually cost.
Pick your flight school and see your certificate priced at the rates it publishes.
, or get a cost range without picking a school.
- 1,810 schools in 50 states
- Rates checked and dated
- Built by a CFI
- Featured in AVweb and General Aviation News
Every school in your state, side by side.
Each state page lists its flight schools with the rates they publish and the date each was read. Open a school and its rates become the full cost of your certificate. Every school is priced on the same hours, so the only difference you see is what each one charges.
If a school publishes half a rate card, it is listed with what it publishes.
Browse 1,810 schools by state
A Private Pilot certificate takes 40 hours by FAA minimum. Examiner records put the real figure closer to 72.
What you'll pay depends on the airplane, your instructor, and how often you fly. PilotBound prices those at today's rates, then tracks what you actually spend against the plan.
Scholarships closing soon.
- LPA Flight Training · minorityVariesNov 52 days left
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Built by a CFI, not a marketing team.
I'm Samip Shah. I hold a CFI, CFII and AGI, and I spent ten years paying off my own flight training. I built PilotBound so you know the real cost before you start.
Samip ShahCFI, CFII, AGI. Founder of PilotBound.
Read more about PilotBound
Your whole training, one plan.
Every step from first lesson to checkride, with its cost, then tracked in the app as you fly. No login to start.
Scan to download on your iPhoneTools for every money question.
- Cost of a ratingWhat one certificate costs
- Cost to the airlinesThe whole journey, zero to ATP
- Checkride retake costWhat a bust really costs
- Is it worth it?Training cost vs. pilot pay
- Plan by budgetWhat you can afford a month
- FinancingCompare loans and monthly payments
- GI Bill & VA benefitsWhat the VA covers for flight training
- Part 61, 141, academy & degreesCompare all five paths, with cost
Cost by certificate: Private Pilot · Instrument · Commercial · CFI · CFII · MEI · ATP
Questions student pilots ask first.
Where do the school rates come from?
From the school itself, almost always its own website or a rate sheet it sent us. Every rated school's page shows its trainer rate, its instructor rate, the date they were checked and a link to the source. If a school publishes only part of its rates, it is listed with what it publishes and nothing filled in.
Is the estimate the school's price?
No. It is a PilotBound estimate: the school's published hourly rates applied to the hours students typically take, plus one-time costs like the written test and the checkride fee. What you actually pay depends on how often you fly and how quickly you progress, so use it to plan and confirm the details with the school.
Why 72 hours when the FAA minimum is 40?
40 hours is the legal minimum for a Private Pilot certificate under Part 61, and few students finish there. Examiner records put the typical student closer to 72 hours, so that is what your certificate is priced on.
What if my school is missing, or its rates look wrong?
Tell us. Every school page has a link to correct the listing, and a school can send its current rate sheet. If your school is not among the 1,810 listed yet, write to us from the Help & Support page.
What does the app do?
It tracks what you spend on training against your projected cost, so you always know what you have spent, what is left and what comes next before your checkride. Each flight you log is priced from your aircraft and instructor rates, and it follows the FAA requirements for the certificate you are working toward. It runs on iPhone and iPad.
Does it cost anything?
No. The estimates, the school directory, the training plan and the app are free for student pilots, with no subscription. The plan works without an account, and a free account syncs it to your other devices and the app.
Your next flight starts here.
Build your plan, then track every dollar of it in the app.