Droners.io

Droners.io is a marketplace for hiring commercially licensed drone pilots. A client posts a job describing the property and the footage needed, and the platform matches it with local pilots who are available and interested in flying it.

Pilots reply with quotes, and the client compares prices and portfolios before picking one. Each pilot profile carries an FAA Part 107 licence number, the insurance coverage held, an average hourly rate and how far the pilot will travel from a home base; profiles on the homepage ranged from $35 to $250 an hour with travel radii up to 180 miles. Payment runs through the platform after the footage has been received.

Work is categorised well beyond listing photography: aerial inspections, agriculture, construction, cinematography, events, infrastructure, land, real estate, roof inspection, surveying and mapping, and data analysis all appear as job types. The company also runs an enterprise route, a done-for-you option for clients who do not want to manage hiring, and an affiliate program.

Rates are set by the individual pilot, not by Droners.io, so a profile rate is a starting point rather than a quote. The client and pilot FAQ pages were behind a bot check when crawled, so confirm cancellation, licensing and image usage rights directly before booking.