Pilot EFB Desk is a paid subscription with no free tier, and it says so at the door. This chapter is the one page for the plans, the trial, the Subscription page in Settings and how to cancel. It also draws the line between Desk and the iOS app's plan, Pilot EFB Pro: two products, two subscriptions, and neither opens the other.
Find your way around
The web edition has three gates, in this order, and nothing else loads until all three are passed:
| Gate | What it asks | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Sign in | Your Pilot EFB account | Your account |
| Disclaimer | One acceptance, re-shown only if the text changes | Your account, so it carries across browsers |
| Subscription | An active Desk subscription, or an organisation seat | Stripe, read by the app |
The subscription screen carries the two plans, the trial terms line, the Subscribe button, an honest Sign out instead of a "Not now", and a line stating that a web subscription is separate from any App Store purchase.
The plans
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly | $99.99 a year | The launch price. We may withdraw it later, but if you subscribe while it stands, it stays your price for as long as you keep the subscription |
| Monthly | $12.99 a month | Not price-locked. Twelve months cost $155.88, so the yearly plan saves 36% |
Both are USD, billed through Stripe, and both include everything Desk does: there are no add-ons and no tiers. The price lock is a term of the terms of service: it ends if you cancel, if a renewal payment fails and is not made good, or if you switch to the monthly plan, and it does not carry to another account.
How to subscribe
- Open app.pilotefb.com and sign in.
- Accept the disclaimer if this account has not accepted it before.
- On the subscription screen, pick Yearly or Monthly.
- Click Subscribe. When your account qualifies for the trial, the button reads Start 3-day free trial instead, and the ticket above the plans spells the terms out: "Free for 3 days, then $99.99/year or $12.99/month. A payment card is needed to start; cancel before the trial ends and nothing is charged. One free trial per person and per payment card."
- Complete checkout on Stripe. The button reads Opening checkout... while the redirect runs and Confirming your payment... when you return.
- The page flips to the desk on its own once Stripe confirms.
Above the button the screen states the cancellation position in one line: by subscribing you ask us to start your access immediately and accept that the 14-day right to cancel is lost once access begins, and auto-renewal can be cancelled at any time from Settings > Subscription. Stripe checkout asks you to tick the same statement.
How to read the Subscription page
- Open Settings > Subscription. The page is titled Subscription, "Your Pilot EFB Desk membership, billing and storage allowance".
- Read the membership card at the top: a status chip and the one date that matters - Renews, Expires, Trial ends, Period ends or Demo ends - with a fact strip beneath (Billed via and Applies to: "Every device you sign in to").
- Below it sit the billing card and the photo-storage meter side by side, then Everything included, the grid of what the subscription covers.
- The context rail on the right lists the List prices (Yearly and Monthly) and links to the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Send feedback.
The billing card has three faces. A Stripe subscriber sees Billing & payment, "Secure Stripe billing portal - payment details and cancellation". An account whose Pro came from the App Store sees Managed in the App Store with the three steps to change it on the phone. A demo or promotional grant sees Demo access or Promotional access with the note that nothing is billed.
How to change your card or cancel
- Open Settings > Subscription.
- Click Manage subscription. The Stripe billing portal opens in a new tab; this page stays put.
- In the portal, update the payment method, download invoices, or cancel.
- Cancelling stops future charges. Your access continues until the end of the period you have paid for, and the page's milestone changes from Renews to Expires.
If you are a consumer in the UK you may also cancel within 14 days of subscribing by emailing support@pilotefb.com; the refund is what you paid less a proportionate amount for the days already supplied, as the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 provide. After the 14 days, auto-renewal can still be turned off at any time, and refund questions go to the same address.
Demo access by invitation
Crew rooms and operators weighing Desk up for several pilots can ask for a
demo by email; we issue a link of the form app.pilotefb.com/demo/... The
person opening it signs in (or creates a free account) and lands in the desk
with full Desk access for a fixed number of days - nothing is billed and no card
is taken. A Demo chip counting the days left sits in the top bar beside
the clock for the whole demo; clicking it opens Settings > Subscription,
which reads "Demo access - ends
Organisation seats
An organisation - a flight department, a school, a club - can buy a block of Desk seats and invite its pilots by email. A seat passes the subscription gate without a personal subscription; the Subscription page then reads Provided by your organisation, "Nothing to pay while you hold this seat". A personal subscription always takes precedence over a seat. Organisations covers what a seat is, what the organisation can and cannot see, and how to leave.
iOS and Desk side by side
| Pilot EFB on iOS | Pilot EFB Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch | Any modern browser, or installed from it as a web app |
| Price | $39.99 a year or $4.99 a month for Pro, via the App Store | $99.99 a year (launch price) or $12.99 a month per pilot, via Stripe |
| Free tier | Yes, usage-capped, no time limit | No free tier; a 3-day free trial with a card up front, one per person |
| Account | Works without one; Cloud Sync needs one | Signs in with the same Pilot EFB account |
Subscribing on iPhone or iPad does not open the web app, and a Desk subscription does not give you Pilot EFB Pro or affect your App Store billing. Pilot EFB on iPhone and iPad has the iOS side in full.
Troubleshooting
The button says Subscribe, not Start 3-day free trial. The trial is offered only to accounts that have never had one and have never been a Stripe customer. If the page shows the plain button, the trial is not available to this account.
Checkout would not open. The screen reads "Could not open checkout. Please check your browser settings and try again." A content blocker cancelled the redirect to Stripe; allow it for app.pilotefb.com and retry. Starting checkout also needs a connection.
I pay for Pro on my iPhone but the web asks me to subscribe. That is by design: the two subscriptions are separate. The Subscription page's Managed in the App Store card names the difference.
Where next
- Overview - the first desk you see once the gates are passed.
- Settings and sync - the sync bridge between phone and desk, and the storage meter.
- Organisations - seats bought by an operator instead of a personal subscription.
- Pilot EFB on iPhone and iPad - the iOS app, its plan and what stays on the phone.