MSFS 2024 vs X-Plane 12 — Which Flight Simulator Is Worth Your Money

The MSFS 2024 vs X-Plane 12 debate has gotten complicated with all the hot takes and forum wars flying around. As someone who has logged somewhere north of 400 hours split between both platforms over the past two years, I learned everything there is to know about what separates these two simulators — and what makes each one worth owning. Both cost real money. Both will destroy a mid-range PC if you let them. Neither is something you buy on a Tuesday night without thinking it through. So here is my honest take before we get into the weeds.

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The Quick Verdict — It Depends on What You Value Most

Buy Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 if you want to be visually floored every single flight. Buy X-Plane 12 if you are a real-world pilot, a student, or a hardcore sim enthusiast who will not tolerate a sloppy stall characteristic. Full stop.

I spent the first three months of 2023 almost exclusively in X-Plane 12 — grinding IFR procedures in the default Cessna 172 and Laminar’s Beechcraft Baron G58 on weekday evenings after work. Then I switched to MSFS for a solid stretch and did long VFR cross-countries across New Zealand and Iceland. They are genuinely different tools. Calling one objectively better is like arguing whether a torque wrench is better than a socket set. That’s what makes this debate so endearing to us sim nerds, honestly. Nobody agrees because nobody is wrong.

That said — one of them probably fits your specific situation better. Here is how I break it down.

Visual Quality and Scenery

This is not a competition. MSFS wins. It is not particularly close.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 uses Bing satellite imagery combined with procedural photogrammetry to reconstruct the real world at a scale that still makes me stop mid-flight and just stare out the virtual window. Flying the Pipistrel Velis Electro at 2,500 feet over the Scottish Highlands and watching the terrain actually match what you would see from a real aircraft — that is genuinely moving. I flew over my hometown once, found my actual street, and recognised the roof of my local grocery store. That is either impressive engineering or a sign I need to get outside more. Probably both.

Photogrammetry and Satellite Imagery

But what is X-Plane 12’s scenery approach? In essence, it’s orthophoto tiles and procedurally generated autogen buildings. But it’s much more than that — it’s a deliberate philosophy. Laminar Research never pretended otherwise. Flying into a major city in X-Plane without third-party add-ons feels like visiting a city made entirely of generic brown and beige boxes. Their priority has always been simulation accuracy, not visual tourism.

MSFS 2024 also shipped with improved handcrafted airports — over 150 receiving detailed treatment compared to the roughly 80 that came with MSFS 2020. Ground textures, taxiway markings, terminal details — all noticeably sharper. I took the Cessna 172 out of EGLL Heathrow on a clear evening just to walk around the apron detail in slew mode. That would be a strange thing to do in X-Plane. In MSFS, it made complete sense.

Live Weather and Atmospheric Effects

Both simulators now offer live weather injection. MSFS pulls from Microsoft’s meteorological data and renders volumetric clouds that look extraordinary — the kind of clouds you photograph on your phone when you see them out a real aircraft window. X-Plane 12 made substantial improvements to cloud rendering over version 11, and its atmosphere has a different quality. Less cinematic. More honest. The way light scatters at golden hour in XP12 has something almost photographic about it. But if you want to fly into a live thunderstorm and watch cumulonimbus towers build in real time above you, MSFS puts on the better show.

Night Lighting

Night flying in MSFS 2024 is spectacular. City grids glow with actual street-level lighting density pulled from real data. Roads, highways, populated suburbs — they feel inhabited. X-Plane 12’s night lighting improved over its predecessor, but flying over a major urban area at night still carries a distinctly artificial quality — even with the HD mesh and ortho packs the community has spent years building. MSFS wins the night shift decisively.

Flight Model Accuracy

Probably should have opened with this section, honestly. For a lot of serious simmers, this is the only section that matters.

X-Plane 12 uses blade element theory to calculate aerodynamic forces. What that means practically is that the simulator computes lift, drag, and moment forces across hundreds of individual elements of an aircraft’s geometry in real time — not a pre-baked aerodynamic database, but actual physics running on every surface simultaneously.

What Real Pilots Actually Say

I asked three friends who hold PPLs — one of them a CFI with a Robinson R22 rating, two of them weekend warriors flying Pipers out of a small grass strip about 40 minutes from where I live — which simulator they actually use for currency and procedure practice. All three said X-Plane 12 without hesitation. One of them put it plainly: “MSFS flies like a video game in a crosswind.” That is harsh. It is also not entirely wrong.

I tested this myself. I set up a 20-knot direct crosswind at KSFO in both simulators using identical wind parameters — same gusts, same direction, same visibility. In X-Plane 12 with the Cessna 172, the aircraft demanded real attention. Constant rudder pressure, crabbing into the wind, a definite tendency to weathervane on rollout. In MSFS 2024 under the same conditions, the aircraft felt more manageable. Smoother. Less demanding. Some beginners will prefer that. Pilots trying to build real skill will not.

Stalls and Turbulence

Stall behaviour in X-Plane is genuinely unsettling in the right way. The Cessna 172 in XP12 will drop a wing — not always the same wing, not always predictably. Power-on stalls require actual coordination to recover cleanly. Early in my XP12 career I spun in from a botched go-around procedure and spent 45 minutes in the replay system trying to figure out what I did wrong. Don’t make my mistake — actually learn the coordination before you practice go-arounds at night. That kind of experience teaches you something a smooth, forgiving sim never will.

MSFS 2024’s aerodynamic model is better than MSFS 2020’s — which had documented problems with turbulence injection and energy bleed in turns. The 2024 update refined several of these. But the gap between the two platforms on flight model fidelity remains real. Third-party developers like FlightFX and Working Title have improved specific aircraft considerably, but the underlying simulation engine still does not do what Laminar’s physics engine does. Turbulence in X-Plane 12 — particularly the mechanical turbulence you get flying near terrain or structures — behaves with more internal consistency. MSFS turbulence can still feel like the aircraft is being shaken by a giant invisible hand rather than responding to actual air mass movement.

Aircraft Quality and Add-Ons

The default aircraft in both simulators are better than they used to be. Neither is entirely satisfying if you want study-level depth.

Default Fleets

MSFS 2024 launched with an expanded default fleet — the Pipistrel Velis Electro, a Guimbal Cabri G2 helicopter, several gliders — a welcome expansion beyond the MSFS 2020 selection. X-Plane 12 ships with a tight but well-modelled default fleet including the 737-800, King Air C90, and the SR22. The SR22 in X-Plane 12 is genuinely excellent for a default aircraft. Systems depth, avionics behaviour, engine modelling — all better than what ships default in MSFS. I have put probably 60 hours into that default SR22 alone.

Third-Party Ecosystem

MSFS has the bigger marketplace and the faster-growing community. Developers immediately began porting and building content at scale when the platform launched — photorealistic scenery for almost any major airport through Orbx, Aerosoft, Fenix Simulations. The Fenix A320 for MSFS runs around $59 USD and is one of the most complete study-level commercial aircraft available in any simulator right now. PMDG’s 737 for MSFS is another genuine masterpiece.

X-Plane’s third-party ecosystem is older and, in some categories, deeper. Laminar Research built a developer-friendly environment years before Microsoft returned to the flight sim space. The X-Plane.org store has over a decade of accumulated content — the FlyJSim 727 Series Pro, the Rotate MD-11, the ToLiss Airbus family. The ToLiss A321neo at approximately $69.95 remains one of the most systems-accurate narrowbody simulations available on any platform. Apparently it took their lead developer three years to finish the bleed air system alone. That level of obsession shows.

For helicopter simulation specifically, X-Plane 12 is significantly stronger out of the box. The helicopter flight model in MSFS 2024 improved over 2020, but XP12’s rotor physics are substantially more realistic for anyone serious about rotary wing.

Payware Costs

Building a serious add-on library costs real money in both ecosystems. A fully equipped MSFS setup — Fenix A320, PMDG 737, a few Orbx scenery packs, REX weather tools — can run $300 to $500 on top of the base simulator price. X-Plane users building a study-level setup spend similarly. Neither platform is cheap once you go deep. Budget accordingly before you start clicking “add to cart” at midnight.

Hardware Requirements and Performance

Burned by MSFS 2020’s launch performance on my old Ryzen 5 3600 and GTX 1070, I upgraded specifically before trying MSFS 2024 on launch day — around $180 in a GPU upgrade I probably would have eventually needed anyway, but the timing stung. Don’t make my mistake. Check the specs before you preorder.

Minimum and Recommended Specs

MSFS 2024 minimum specs list an Intel Core i7-7700K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, 16GB RAM, and a GTX 970 or RX 5700. Realistically, those minimum specs will get you a slideshow at anything approaching high settings. The recommended configuration — Intel Core i5-12600K or Ryzen 7 5800X, 32GB RAM, RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT — is a serious machine. Budget for it.

X-Plane 12 minimum specs require a 4-core CPU at 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, and a 4GB VRAM GPU. Meaningfully less demanding. On a mid-range system — say, a Ryzen 5 5600X with an RTX 3060, the exact setup my brother-in-law runs in his basement — X-Plane 12 delivers a smoother, more consistent frame rate than MSFS 2024 at comparable visual settings. That matters. Stuttery frame rates break immersion faster than any missing scenery feature ever will.

VR Performance

Both simulators support VR. Neither is effortless to get running well in a headset. My experience with a Meta Quest 2 via link cable showed X-Plane 12 delivering more consistent frametimes than MSFS 2024. MSFS in VR might be the best option for pure visuals, as flight simulation in VR requires rock-solid frametimes — that is because any judder during head movement becomes nauseating within minutes. X-Plane’s VR implementation has had more development time and feels more stable on identical hardware.

Cost of Entry

MSFS 2024 Standard Edition retails at $69.99 USD. X-Plane 12 retails at $59.99 USD on Steam. MSFS 2024 is also included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at $14.99 per month — essentially free access if you are already subscribed. That is a meaningful advantage for someone wanting to try the platform without full commitment. First, you should take advantage of that Game Pass trial — at least if you are on the fence about whether MSFS suits your flying style before dropping full retail.

Total cost of entry including hardware sits higher for MSFS 2024 if you are building from scratch. X-Plane 12 will run acceptably well on hardware you might already own. That gap matters more than people admit when they are first making this decision.

The Final Honest Take

If you are a real-world pilot or a student — X-Plane 12. No argument. The flight model will actually teach you something, and the study-level aircraft available for the platform are purpose-built for procedure training.

If you have never flown before and want to fall in love with aviation through sheer visual wonder — MSFS 2024. Fly over the Matterhorn. Fly into Hong Kong at night. Fly across the Sahara at sunset on a Tuesday morning while drinking coffee in your underwear. It is genuinely beautiful and worth every dollar for that experience alone.

If you can only have one and you own mid-range hardware — X-Plane 12 right now, with a plan to upgrade and revisit MSFS 2024 in 12 months once more patches land. MSFS 2024 launched with meaningful bugs around streaming performance and some aircraft systems regressions from 2020. X-Plane 12 is the more mature, stable build today. That new idea of streaming the entire world in real time took off several years ago and has eventually evolved into the ambitious beast enthusiasts know and both love and curse today — it just needs more time to mature.

Having spent serious time in both, I run them simultaneously. Different mornings call for different tools. But if the gun is at my head — X-Plane 12 is the better simulator. MSFS 2024 is the better experience. Know the difference before you spend your money.