X-Plane 12 vs Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: Which Should You Buy?

Get Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 if you want to fly over the real world, like having missions to fly, or play on Xbox or PS5. Get X-Plane 12 if how the aircraft flies matters most, you're on a Mac or Linux, your PC is modest, or you want to fly offline. Both are excellent, and the same controls work in both on a PC.

Microsoft / Asobo Studio

Best for the real world

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

The whole planet in photo detail, with a career to fly. PC, Xbox and PS5.

Get it if…

• You want to fly over real places, including your own street
• You like goals: careers, missions, challenges
• You play on Xbox or PS5, or have Game Pass
• You have a strong PC and fast internet

Price

$69.99, or Game Pass

Runs on

Windows PC, Xbox, PS5

PCs that run itTry it with Game Pass

Laminar Research

Best for how it flies

X-Plane 12

Physics first, runs on Mac and Linux, flies offline, and you can try it free.

Get it if…

• How the aircraft flies matters most to you
• You're a pilot, or training to be one
• You use a Mac or Linux, or an older PC
• You want to fly offline, and tinker

Price

$59.99, free demo

Runs on

Windows PC, Mac, Linux

PCs that run itTry the free demo

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Still torn? Answer up to five quick questions and we'll tell you which one fits, how clear the pick is, and what each does better for you.

X-Plane 12 vs MSFS 2024 at a glance

Twelve things people compare, with our take on who leads each. Tap a topic to jump to the details.

List prices as of October 2026. Both go on sale on Steam often.

Flight model: which one flies more like the real thing?

X-Plane 12, by a smaller margin than it used to be. This is X-Plane's reason to exist. For decades it has worked out the forces on every part of the aircraft (each section of wing, tail and body) as you fly, instead of reading behavior from tables. That's why unusual situations feel believable: stalls, spins, gusty crosswinds, a heavy landing. Many pilots use it to practice, and its professional version can be FAA-certified as the software inside approved training devices.

MSFS 2024 closed much of the gap. Microsoft rebuilt its physics for 2024: an aircraft can now be modeled with more than 10,000 surfaces, and ground and water handling improved. For normal flying, most of its aircraft feel right, and the best add-ons feel excellent.

What this means for you:

• Learning real technique, especially in small planes and helicopters: X-Plane 12 is the safer bet.
• Airliners: the add-on matters more than the sim. A study-level airliner (see aircraft and add-ons) is realistic in either.
• Just enjoying the flight: you won't feel let down by either.

X-Plane's next big update, 12.5, is due in late 2026 with more flight-model work, including helicopter rotors and ground handling.

Scenery: the whole planet vs an installed world

MSFS 2024, clearly. It streams the planet from Microsoft's servers: aerial photos of everywhere, more than 500 cities and 100,000 km² of countryside scanned in 3D, and 40,000 airports. Fly over your own town and you'll recognize it.

X-Plane 12 installs its world on your drive. Terrain, roads and rivers come from map data such as OpenStreetMap, with generic buildings and more than 20,000 3D airports made by its community. It looks convincing from the air, but it isn't your street. Photo scenery is an add-on: free community tools build it from satellite images, region by region, and paid packs exist too.

Laminar announced a new tile-based scenery engine at FlightSimExpo 2026. It's designed to stream scenery and is due as a free X-Plane 12 update in late 2026. It's a big change under the hood, but don't expect MSFS-style photo cities out of the box.

Bottom line: if sightseeing is half the fun, MSFS 2024 wins this one by a mile.

Weather

Even. Both download real-world weather as you fly, and both draw 3D volumetric clouds that build and move. MSFS 2024 makes weather look spectacular. X-Plane 12 added a working weather radar to several default aircraft in 2025, including its 737 and A330, so you can see storms ahead in the cockpit, the way real pilots do.

Aircraft and add-ons

Out of the box, MSFS 2024 wins: the Standard Edition has more than 65 aircraft, from gliders and bush planes to airliners and helicopters. X-Plane 12 includes more than 15, from a Cessna 172 and a Robinson R22 helicopter to a Boeing 737-800 and an Airbus A330, plus an F-14.

With add-ons, it's even. Both have "study-level" airliners, modeled switch by switch by specialist developers:

MSFS has the bigger add-on market overall, and Microsoft says virtually all MSFS 2020 add-ons work in 2024. X-Plane's free Zibo 737 is one of the best deals in flight simming.

Things to do: careers, lessons and free flight

MSFS 2024, easily. Its career mode lets you earn certifications and fly real jobs: medevac, cargo to remote strips, aerial firefighting, search and rescue, all the way to airline pilot. There are also challenges and races, a photography mode, and bush trips (all 59 from MSFS 2020 came back free in August 2026). Lessons start from zero, and you can turn off assists one at a time as you improve.

X-Plane 12 is a sandbox: pick an aircraft, an airport and the weather, and fly. Its flight school covers the basics, and there's a lot of depth once you know what you want to practice, but it gives you few goals. Some people love exactly that.

Flying online: ATC, multiplayer and VATSIM

Both have built-in AI air traffic control. MSFS 2024 also has built-in multiplayer that works across platforms: you see other real players flying around you. X-Plane 12's own multiplayer connects computers you set up yourself, not a public world.

For the real thing, both work with VATSIM, the free network where volunteers play air traffic controllers, through its pilot clients for each sim. If online flying with real controllers is your goal, either sim gets you there.

VR: which is better in a headset?

Even, and it depends on your platform. MSFS 2024 supports VR on PC and, since April 2026, PS VR2 on the PS5. Its scenery is breathtaking in a headset, but it's very demanding.

X-Plane 12 supports VR on Windows only, through SteamVR or Meta's PC app. Version 12.4.3 (June 2026) rebuilt its VR from scratch, with mixed reality, hand tracking on headsets that support it, and Apple Vision Pro through a free App Store app. No VR on Mac or Linux.

Either way, VR asks a lot of your graphics card. Our guide to VR headsets for flight sims covers which headset to buy and the PC it needs, and we rank VR headsets for MSFS and for X-Plane 12.

PC requirements: what each sim needs

X-Plane 12 asks for less. Here's each maker's own minimum and recommended spec:

Two things the table doesn't show:

• Both lean hard on the processor, not just the graphics card, especially with detailed airliners and busy airports. Don't pair a new graphics card with an old CPU.
• Running both? Buy for MSFS 2024. A PC that runs it well runs X-Plane 12 comfortably.

Not sure what's in your PC? On Windows, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, then the Performance tab: it shows your processor, memory and graphics card (with its dedicated memory).

Shopping for a new one? See the prebuilt PCs ranked for MSFS and for X-Plane 12, our graphics cards for MSFS and for X-Plane 12, or three PC builds that run both.

Mac, Linux, Xbox and PS5

This decides it for many people:

• Mac: X-Plane 12 only. It runs natively on Apple Silicon (macOS 12 or newer). MSFS 2024 doesn't run on a Mac.
• Linux: X-Plane 12 only (Ubuntu 24.04 is officially supported).
• Xbox Series X|S: MSFS 2024 only. Game Pass Ultimate includes it.
• PS5 and PS5 Pro: MSFS 2024 only, since December 2025.

On a console, controllers have to be licensed for it. Our controller guide lists which ones connect to Xbox and PS5.

Controls that work in both sims

On a Windows PC, any joystick, yoke, throttle or pedals work in both sims. Buy once, set up the buttons in each sim, and you're done. These are good starting points:

Windows PC Mac Xbox + PS5

Windows PC: works in both sims: our picks

Part	Our pick	Price
Stick + throttle (PC, Xbox) The stick steers the plane. The throttle sets the power. Twist the stick for rudder.	Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One (MSFS 2024 Edition) The safe first controller for either sim: it flies everything from a Cessna to a helicopter.	Check price
Yoke + throttle (PC) A yoke plus a three-lever throttle: power, propeller and mixture.	Logitech G Pro Flight Yoke System The classic first yoke for small planes, which is where X-Plane's flight model shines.	Check price
Airbus sidestick + thrust levers (PC) Replicas of the A320 sidestick and thrust levers.	Thrustmaster TCA Officer Pack Airbus Edition Made for the Airbus add-ons both sims are known for: Fenix in MSFS, ToLiss in X-Plane.	Check price
Boeing yoke + throttle (PC, Xbox) A Boeing-style yoke and an airliner throttle quadrant.	Thrustmaster TCA Yoke Pack Boeing Edition For 737 flyers: the PMDG 737 in MSFS, or the free Zibo 737 in X-Plane.	Check price
Rudder pedals (PC, Xbox, PS5) Steer on the runway, keep turns balanced, land in a crosswind.	Thrustmaster TFRP T.Flight Rudder Pedals On PC they plug in by USB on their own. Pedals are where X-Plane's crosswind handling comes alive.	Check price

Links go to Amazon, where you'll see today's price. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Mac: X-Plane 12: our picks

Part	Our pick	Price
Compact yoke (Mac, PC) A smaller, simpler Honeycomb yoke.	Honeycomb Alpha LITE Honeycomb officially supports its yokes and throttle in X-Plane on Mac.	Check price
Throttle quadrant (Mac, PC) Power levers, plus flaps, landing gear, trim and autopilot buttons.	Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant Comes with airliner and small-plane lever handles. Swap them in seconds.	Check price

Links go to Amazon, where you'll see today's price. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Xbox and PS5: MSFS 2024: our picks

Part	Our pick	Price
Stick + throttle (Xbox, PC) The stick steers the plane. The throttle sets the power. Twist the stick for rudder.	Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One (MSFS 2024 Edition) Designed for Xbox, so it connects. It works on PC too, in both sims.	Check price
Stick + throttle (PS5, PC) The stick steers, the throttle sets power. Twist for rudder.	Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas 5 (Microsoft Flight Simulator Edition) One of the few sticks MSFS supports on PS5. Stock comes and goes.	Check price
Rudder pedals (PS5, Xbox, PC) Steer on the runway, keep turns balanced, land in a crosswind.	Thrustmaster TFRP T.Flight Rudder Pedals On consoles they plug into the Hotas One or Hotas 5.	Check price

Links go to Amazon, where you'll see today's price. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Want more choice? See our ranked flight sticks, yokes and rudder pedals, or the X-Plane 12 yokes and flight sticks.

Price: what each one really costs

Our take: X-Plane 12 is the cheaper one to own outright, and the demo lets you check how it runs on your PC first. MSFS 2024 is the cheaper one to try: a month of Game Pass costs far less than the game. The bigger editions add aircraft and handcrafted airports, not better graphics, so Standard is all most people need. The real cost of either is the computer and controls (see above), and later the add-ons.

Mods, tinkering and flying offline

X-Plane 12 leads. Everything sits in plain folders on your drive. It has a plugin system that developers have used for decades, so there are tools for nearly anything: custom cockpit displays, home-cockpit hardware, scripting. And it flies with no internet at all; you only need a connection for real weather.

MSFS 2024 has a huge add-on scene of its own, with thousands of free community mods and a big paid market. But it's built around online services: it needs the internet to fly, and much of the world lives on Microsoft's servers, not your drive.

Already own MSFS 2020?

Then you're probably deciding between moving to MSFS 2024 and trying X-Plane 12:

• Moving to MSFS 2024 keeps your add-ons (Microsoft says virtually all of them work) and adds the career mode, the new physics and a much smaller install: 50GB instead of the 150GB MSFS 2020 needs (see our storage guide). It does recommend more memory: 32GB of RAM instead of 16GB.
• Trying X-Plane 12 makes sense if what bugs you about MSFS is how the aircraft fly. Download the free demo and fly the same aircraft type you know in MSFS. You'll feel the difference in a few landings.

MSFS 2020 still works and is still sold, so there's no rush. Your controls carry over to any of the three.

What's coming next

• X-Plane 12.5 (late 2026, free): flight-model work, including helicopter rotors, engines and ground handling.
• A new X-Plane scenery engine (late 2026, free for X-Plane 12): tile-based and built to stream.
• X-Plane 13: not announced. Laminar has said nothing official about it as of October 2026.
• MSFS 2024 keeps getting free sim updates. Sim Update 6 (August 2026) added the bush trips and DLSS 4.5. There's no "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2026"; apps with that name come from unrelated developers.

The bottom line

For most people, MSFS 2024 is the better first sim: it's easier to start, there's more to do, and nothing else shows you the real world like it. X-Plane 12 is the better sim for flying itself, and the only one of the two for Mac, Linux, older PCs and offline flying.

You don't have to choose forever. Plenty of simmers own both, and on a PC they share the same controls. Try the X-Plane 12 demo and a month of Game Pass, and keep the one you keep reaching for. Weighing other sims too, like DCS World or Aerofly FS 4? See the best flight simulators of 2026.