How Much Do Drones Weigh?

Drones are mini aircraft that are traditionally remotely controlled when you are talking about consumer recreational drones. Most of these recreational drones have cameras and they can be used for a variety of different purposes including photography, videography, or just plain fun. 

When it comes to buying a drone, it’s important to take into consideration a few different things and choose a drone that fits your needs and expectations. Whether you need it for entertainment and it is just a hobby, or if you want to make money with it, take your time, and do proper research before deciding which drone is for you. 

One common thing that many people want to know is how much drones weigh. This question is quite common around the world since many governing bodies will require licensing or registration for drones that are above a certain size or weight. Since many people don’t want to fool with the licensing or registration then finding a drone that weighs below the amount for your country is important. 

The exact amount that drones weigh varies from drone to drone and isn’t even the same for different series of the same type of drone. Since drones can be small micro drones all the way up to those used for military purposes the weight can vary a significant amount as well. 

Since the weight of a drone can vary so much from manufacturer to manufacture and even from model to model we will give some specific drone weights next in this article. Knowing how much your drone weighs will help you determine if you need to register/license it as well as help you understand more about the different models that are on the market. 

In this article we will give you some of the most popular drone model’s weights but this is far from an exhaustive list as they continue to make more and more models of drones all of the time. 

As you can easily see from the above table the weights and dimensions of just the 20 drones listed vary quite a bit. Some of them will need to be registered with the FAA (in the USA) if they are over 250 grams while others don’t require registration at all since they weigh less than that. Most full size drones will be well over that weight limit so they will require registration or licensing in most countries. 

The weights mentioned above are also only for recreational drones. Drones that are designed for commercial or military purposes will certainly weigh a lot more and will have other restrictions surrounding their use as well. 

Should you register your drone?

Once you know the weight of your drone you can then easily answer the question of whether it needs to be registered or not. In the United States the FAA requires all drones to be registered if they are more than 250 grams in weight which basically means anything that is larger than the DJI Mavic mini will need to be registered. 

Thankfully registration is quite simple and is not very expensive ($5 for 3 years currently). You just have to head over to the FAA website and just need to put in your email, physical address, drone information and pay the fee and you are ready to go! 

The process for registering or licensing your drone varies from country to country so if you don’t live in the USA be sure and see exactly what you are supposed to do to register in your location. 

But do you HAVE to register your drone?

If you are in the United States and your drone weighs over 250 grams then yes, you do have to register your drone. 

But what happens if you don’t register your drone?

If you do not register your drone that meets the requirements of needing registration then you will be subject to fines and even criminal penalties of up to 3 years in jail! The FAA doesn’t mess around either as these fines are $27,500 which is certainly nothing to sneeze at! 

If you want to learn more about the penalties of not registering your drone you can check out this NBC News article.

Conclusion

How much a drone weighs varies a considerable amount from drone to drone and honestly the only way to know how much your drone weighs is to check out the table above. If it is not included then you can simply put it on a kitchen scale and see what the weight is (if you’ve already purchased it) or contact the manufacturer and ask them. 

Knowing how much a drone weighs is incredibly important as it is the main factor in whether your drone needs to be registered in the United States as well as in many other countries. If your drone exceeds the weight and needs to be registered then it is a good idea to do it immediately as the $5 fee for three years is obviously much less than a $27,500 fine!