The discussion about whether it is worth swapping the paper logbook for a digital one is already over — the regulation exists, the platforms exist and whoever migrated does not go back. The real question for those operating today is a different one: which platform to choose.
And here most people start with the wrong question. "Which is the best?" has no useful answer, because the answer depends on a prior question: what does your operation need beyond the logbook?
The two families of solutions
All software in this market replaces paper. The difference starts after that, and it separates the solutions into two families:
Aircraft management. The focus is the record: digital logbook and maintenance tracking (CTM) — hours, cycles, expirations, components. It solves the documentation pain. For the owner of an aircraft with simple use, it may be everything he or she needs.
Operations management. The logbook is the starting point, not the product. Around it: safety management (SMS), pre-flight risk assessment, briefing, crew rostering, expenses, training. It is the family for those for whom flying is a professional activity — business operator, air taxi, flight school, managed fleet — and who need the record to feed decisions, not just the archive.
Neither is "the right one" in the abstract. The wrong choice is buying one family thinking you got the other: the owner who pays for modules he will never open, or — the costliest case — the operator who finds out at the first audit that the "management system" was a logbook with reports.
The evaluation checklist
The table below is the roadmap we recommend for evaluating any platform — ours included. It is not about counting features: it is about knowing which lines matter for your operation before watching the first demo.
| Criterion | What to check | Matters most for |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory validity of the logbook | Compliance with ANAC Resolutions 773/2025 and 458/2017 and with the model of Portaria 3.220/SPO/SAR; how authorization works for your operation | Everyone |
| Integrated CTM | The logged flight updates hours, cycles and expirations without re-typing | Everyone |
| SMS | Hazard recording, risk management and indicators — a module of its own, not a folder of PDFs | RBAC 135, fleets |
| Risk assessment (FRAT) and briefing | Does the system help build the assessment (official sources, weather, NOTAM) or just file the form? | Professional operation |
| Crew rostering and scheduling | Crew, aircraft availability and change notification | Fleets, air taxi |
| Operating expenses | The cost of the flight is born linked to the flight | Managers, aircraft managers |
| Training and instruction | Missions, evaluations, instruction records with signature | Schools and CIACs |
| App with offline use | Log on board and in the hangar without internet, syncing later — the cockpit is the worst place in the world to depend on signal | Everyone |
| Your data is yours | Full export of the history in an open format; what happens if you leave | Everyone |
| Who builds the product | Does the team understand air operations or only software? Ask who uses the system themselves | Everyone |
Two lines of this table deserve special attention, because they only show up late:
Offline use. Every demo happens in the office, with Wi-Fi. The logbook is filled out on the aircraft and in the hangar — exactly where the connection fails. Ask, in these words: what happens if I log the flight with no signal at all?
The exit. No one chooses a platform thinking about changing platforms. But your flight and maintenance history is worth more than any software, and it needs to come out whole if you ever want it. A platform that makes export difficult is answering the question before you ask it.
The questions to ask in the demo
- Does the logbook meet Resolutions 773/2025 and 458/2017 and the Portaria 3.220 model? How does authorization work for my operation?
- What happens when I log a flight without internet?
- Does the logged flight update the component's expiration on its own, or does someone re-type it?
- Show me the risk assessment of a real flight — how much did the system build and how much did the pilot have to hunt for?
- If I leave three years from now, how do I take my history?
If the demo answers all five without juggling, you are looking at a serious candidate — from any vendor.
Where Alis positions itself
No suspense: Alis is in the operations management family, and this guide reflects the criteria with which we built the platform — ANAC-approved electronic logbook, CTM that the flight feeds on its own, SMS and FRAT with AI in Flight Kit, crew rostering with WhatsApp notification, expenses, flight schools module and an app that works offline.
The honesty we owe the reader: if your need is to log the flights of a private aircraft with simple use and nothing more, you do not need all of this — our Essencial plan exists exactly to start with only the logbook, and to grow if (and when) the operation asks for it.
The rest of the conversation is better with your data on screen: the demo takes 30 minutes and uses your operation as the example, not slides.
This article is informational and does not replace consulting current ANAC regulations. The compliance of adopting an electronic logbook must be verified for the specific case of your operation.