Best Pilot Logbooks: Paper vs. Digital (How to Choose)

Choosing the best pilot logbook comes down to how you fly, how you study, and how much you trust your phone battery. Some pilots want the tactile permanence of paper, others want searchable digital records that sync across devices, and many end up running both. Here's how the main options stack up so you can pick the setup that fits your training and won't leave you scrambling before a checkride or 8710 application.

Best paper

Standard Paper Logbook (ASA or Jeppesen style)

The classic bound paper logbook remains a favorite for student pilots because it's simple, requires no charging, and creates a permanent physical record that examiners and instructors are used to reviewing. Column layouts are standardized enough that any CFI can glance at your totals and endorsements without hunting through an app.

The trade-off is manual math: totals, currency tracking, and endorsement pages all depend on you keeping entries neat and accurate. It's also vulnerable to loss, spills, or fading ink over a long career.

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Best for long-term keepers

Leather-Bound or Deluxe Paper Logbook

If you want a logbook that survives 40 years of flying and looks good doing it, a hardbound leather or deluxe edition adds durability and a bit of ceremony to a document you'll reference for your entire career. These usually offer more entries per book and slightly larger columns for handwriting.

They cost more than a basic paper logbook and still carry all the manual-tracking downsides, so this is really a style and longevity upgrade rather than a functional one.

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Best digital

ForeFlight Logbook (built into the EFB)

Since most student and private pilots already run ForeFlight for charts and planning, its built-in logbook is a natural fit. It auto-calculates totals, tracks currency (like the 90-day and IFR requirements), and can pull flight times from track logs, cutting down on manual entry errors.

The downside is dependency on a subscription and a device; if you don't already pay for ForeFlight for other reasons, adding it just for logging may be overkill.

Best for career-track pilots

LogTen

LogTen is a dedicated digital logbook app popular with pilots building toward commercial or airline careers, offering detailed reports, currency tracking, and export formats that many employers and check airmen recognize. It's built specifically for logging rather than bundled into a broader EFB.

It has a learning curve and a cost of its own, so casual weekend flyers may find it more robust than they need compared to a simpler app or paper book.

Best of both worlds

Paper + Digital Combo

Many instructors recommend keeping a paper logbook as your legal backup and permanent record while also running a digital app for day-to-day convenience and currency tracking. If your phone dies or an app shuts down, the paper copy is still there; if you lose the paper book, the digital record backs it up.

It does mean double entry, so some pilots batch their paper updates weekly rather than after every flight to keep it manageable.

Best budget option

Spreadsheet or DIY Digital Log

A simple spreadsheet template costs nothing and can be customized to track exactly the columns and currency windows you care about, which appeals to pilots who like full control over their data. It's a reasonable stopgap while you're still deciding on a long-term system.

It won't auto-calculate currency the way dedicated apps do and isn't as universally recognized by examiners, so most pilots eventually migrate to paper, an app, or both.

Read our records-keeping guide →

There's no single best pilot logbook for every pilot — the right choice depends on whether you value simplicity, durability, or automated currency tracking. Whatever system you land on, keeping it accurate and current matters just as much as the format itself, especially when it's time to prove your experience for a checkride or certificate application.

Pair good logbook habits with solid knowledge-test prep, since both are part of building a reliable, well-documented flying record from day one.

Study smart before your first lesson

The single highest-return move on any of these lists is showing up already understanding the material. Work through a free, ACS-aligned practice test — no account, no card — to see where you stand, then read up on the endorsements that go in it before you solo in our free /learn library. Every FAA handbook is also free to read online in the FAA Reference Library. Blue skies. ✈️