Getting Started

Create your account, choose your plan, and get flying with 5-by-5 in minutes.

What is 5-by-5?

5-by-5 is an aircraft management platform built for pilots who want a smarter way to manage their airplane — whether you fly solo or share ownership with partners and club members. It combines flight logging, maintenance tracking, pilot currency, scheduling, group finances, and an AI assistant in one place.

5-by-5 has two components that work together:

• The mobile app (iOS and Android) — the primary tool for day-to-day flying: logging flights, booking the airplane, checking maintenance, tracking currency, asking questions about your aircraft, and more.
• The web dashboard — a companion tool optimized for deeper financial management, detailed maintenance records, and a broader view of airplane activity. Available on every plan, including Free.

Most pilots will spend the majority of their time in the mobile app. The web dashboard is for deeper context and analytics where a full screen and mouse is more usable than a mobile device.

Choosing Your Plan

5-by-5 offers two plan types depending on how you fly:

Solo plans — for single-owner pilots. You get full access to flight logging, maintenance tracking, pilot currency, the Documents Library, the web dashboard, the AI assistant, and more — with no scheduling or multi-member features to clutter your experience.

Club plans — for flying clubs, partnerships, and co-ownerships. Adds scheduling, multi-member management, group billing, online ACH/card payments through Stripe Connect, and the member financial ledger on top of everything in the Solo plan.

Both plan types have a free tier with basic features and a paid tier that unlocks the full platform. See Billing & Subscriptions for a complete feature comparison.

Where You Fly

5-by-5 currently supports pilots in the United States and Australia, with currency, weather, sales tax/GST, and date/distance formatting tailored to each region. Country is set on a per-group basis during signup. See Onboarding Walkthrough to learn more.

Creating Your Account

You can create your account two ways — both end up in the same place, so use whichever is in front of you.

In your browser. Go to fly5by5.com and click Get started free. Enter your name, email address and a password, then verify your email with the code we send you.

In the app. Download 5-by-5 from the App Store or Google Play and tap Create Account. Enter your email address and a password, then verify your email with the code we send you.

If you already have an account, tap Log In instead.

After verifying your email, 5-by-5 walks you through a one-time Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enrollment before you can reach the main app or the dashboard. Copy the setup key into an authenticator app (Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, 1Password, etc.) and enter the 6-digit code it generates — there is a QR code below the key for the case where your authenticator is on a different device. The web works the same way. It takes about 30 seconds and substantially raises the bar against unauthorized access to your aircraft records and group finances. You can defer it with Not now unless your club has made it mandatory, though we would rather you did not.

Enrollment finishes by giving you three recovery codes. Save them — they are shown once, and one of them is how you get back in if you lose your phone. See Account Security for the full setup and recovery options.

Setting Up: Four Paths

After creating your account, you’ll choose how to get started. On the web there’s no separate choice screen: setup opens straight onto the first step, where you pick A group or Just me. If you were invited, follow Were you invited to join a group? Use your invite code at the bottom of that first step.

Create a New Group (Club)

You’re setting up a new flying club or partnership. The onboarding wizard walks you through naming your group, entering your aircraft details, setting billing rates, and completing your pilot profile. See the Onboarding Walkthrough for a step-by-step guide.

The web dashboard runs the same wizard in the same order. Everything required sits in the first two steps — your group name and the aircraft details — and once those are behind you, every screen offers Skip the rest and go to my dashboard. The current tach reading on step 3 is optional: if you don’t have it handy, leave it blank and the Tach Out you enter on your first logged flight becomes the starting point. Skipping costs you nothing permanent: anything you leave out lives in Settings whenever you want it. Either way, your new group starts its 60-day free trial the moment it is created.

Create a Solo Account

You’re a single-owner pilot. The setup is similar to a group, but without scheduling or billing configuration. You’ll enter your aircraft details and pilot profile. See Solo Mode for what’s included.

Join an Existing Group

Someone has already set up a group and sent you an invite code. Go to fly5by5.com, create your account, and enter the code (on the first setup screen, choose Use your invite code) — the invite email has an Accept your invite button that takes you straight there. Your aircraft and group settings are already configured, so you only add your own pilot information. Then install the app and sign in with the same email and password. (On Android you can also do all of this in the app.)

The invite email has a Join in your browser button that takes you through the same thing on the web. If your group logged flights under your name before you had an account, you’ll be asked whether one of those pilots is you, and those flights become yours.

Add Another Group or Account

Already in 5-by-5 and want to set up a new instance for a different airplane or group? Your name, contact details, emergency contact, certificates and ratings carry over automatically — you only fill in what’s new.

On the web, and in the Android app’s Settings screen, you can join another group with a code or create a new group or Solo account. On iPhone and iPad, Settings offers Create New Solo Account; anything involving a group is done on the web. See Settings for details.

Inviting Members (Club Plans)

Once your group is created, invite your co-owners or club members:

1. Open Settings → Members in the web dashboard (or the Members screen in the Android app)
2. Enter their email address
3. They’ll receive an invite code by email from invites@fly5by5.com
4. They click Accept your invite, create their account on the web, and enter the code
5. They install the app and sign in with the same details

The free Club tier supports up to 2 members. Upgrade to Club for unlimited members.

Your First Flight

After setup, you’re ready to go:

1. Book a flight (Club plans) — tap Book Time on the home screen to reserve the airplane on the group calendar
2. Log a flight — tap Log Flight and enter your tach times, airports, landings, and any squawks. On many flights you can tap Prefill flight data to import the route, landings, and an estimated tach time from your flight’s ADS-B or FlightAware trace automatically.
3. Check your currency — your pilot currency updates automatically based on logged flights and events
4. Open your route in your EFB — tap the route on any booking or flight log entry to hand off to currently supported EFBs ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot
5. Ask AI anything — tap the Ask AI tab to ask questions about your aircraft’s POH, maintenance, or finances. See AI Assistant.

Next Steps

• For owners and treasurers: Set up online payments so members can pay their monthly invoices by ACH or card, and connect your group’s bank account via Plaid to see actual transactions next to planned expenses on the Finances page.
• For everyone: Allow-list 5-by-5’s sender addresses so important emails like invoices, payment receipts, and squawk alerts don’t end up in spam. See Email Notifications.
• For mechanics: Your group can invite you as a Mechanic with limited access to maintenance and the Documents Library. See Members & Roles.