Open-Source Ground Control Station

Helios is a free ground control station for drones running ArduPilot, PX4, iNav, or Betaflight. Part of the open-source drone community.

What Is a Ground Control Station?

A ground control station (GCS) is the software interface between a pilot and their drone. It receives real-time data from the aircraft - attitude, altitude, speed, GPS position, battery state, and system health - and displays it in an easy-to-read format. A ground control station also provides tools to plan autonomous missions with waypoints, set up geofences for safety, configure flight controller parameters, and review flight logs after landing.

Ground control stations communicate with the drone's flight controller over radio links, Wi-Fi, or USB using protocols like MAVLink (used by ArduPilot and PX4) or MSP (used by Betaflight and iNav). The open-source community has produced several ground control stations, each with different strengths - and Helios is the newest addition to that family.

Open-Source Ground Control Stations

The open-source drone community has built several ground control stations over the years. Each has its strengths, and many pilots use more than one depending on the task. Here's how they compare.

Helios GCS

Modern Flutter-based ground control station focused on queryable flight data analytics with DuckDB. Supports MAVLink and MSP protocols across macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web.

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QGroundControl

Widely used cross-platform ground control station supporting both ArduPilot and PX4. Strong community, extensive documentation, and reliable vehicle support across many hardware configurations.

Community staple

Mission Planner

The original ArduPilot ground control station with deep parameter tuning, advanced configuration, and powerful scripting. The go-to tool for serious ArduPilot users who need full control over every setting.

ArduPilot powerhouse

Different tools for different needs

These ground control stations aren't competing - they're part of the same open-source ecosystem. Mission Planner excels at deep ArduPilot configuration. QGroundControl provides reliable, cross-platform vehicle control. Helios brings a fresh approach to flight data and a modern UI. The best choice depends on your workflow, and there's nothing stopping you from using all three.

What Helios Brings to the Community

Flight Data

Every flight becomes a queryable database

Helios automatically records every telemetry point into a DuckDB columnar database. Query your flights with SQL, compare data across sessions, and export to Parquet for use in Python, R, or Jupyter notebooks.

Modern UI

Built with Flutter for native performance

A clean, responsive interface designed for high-DPI displays. Smooth 60fps flight instruments, dark mode, and a layout that puts the information you need front and centre.

Multi-Protocol

One ground control station for all your aircraft

Helios speaks both MAVLink and MSP, so it works with ArduPilot, PX4, iNav, and Betaflight. Use one ground control station across your entire fleet, regardless of firmware.

Cross-Platform

Runs everywhere you do

Native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android - plus a web app that runs in any browser. Same experience on every platform.

Try Helios

Free, open source, and part of the community. Download for desktop or try it in your browser.

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