Short answer
- Taller is not better here. What changes is what you are looking at: the grid from Skydeck, the lake from 360.
- 360 looks $2 cheaper. It is not, if you want the glass: The Ledge is included at Skydeck, TILT is a separate $15.
- 360 publishes its gate price and Skydeck does not, so only one of the two lets you check what booking online saves you.
- The CityPASS is the same pass at the same price on both sites. It cannot help you choose between them.
01The difference in one paragraph
Skydeck sits on the 103rd floor of Willis Tower and puts you above the grid, so what you see is the city as a plan: streets running out to the horizon, the river cutting across, rooftops in every direction. 360 Chicago is on the 94th floor of the old John Hancock Center, a thousand feet up, close enough to the lake that the water takes up a large share of the view and close enough to the street that you can still pick out traffic. Height is the specification. Orientation is what you actually experience.
02Side by side
The two decks, read from their own ticket pages
| Skydeck (Willis Tower) | 360 Chicago | |
|---|---|---|
| Floor | 103rd | 94th |
| Adult online, from | $32 | $30 |
| Adult at the gate | Not published | $35 |
| Child | $22 (ages 3-11) | $20 |
| Glass feature | The Ledge, included | TILT, not included |
| Cheapest ticket with the glass | $32 | $45 |
| Chicago CityPASS | $144 adult | $144 adult |
| Faces | The grid, all directions | The lake, north and east |
Read from theskydeck.com/plan-a-visit/ and 360chicago.com/tickets on 16 September 2026. Both adult prices are 'starting at' rates and vary by date and time slot.
03The price flips when you count the glass
Almost everyone who buys one of these tickets is buying the glass. The Ledge and TILT are what the marketing leads with and what ends up on the phone afterwards. So the comparison that matters is not the headline price, it is the price of getting onto the glass.
Skydeck states that general admission, from $32, includes access to the museum, the observation deck and The Ledge. There is no upgrade to buy. At 360 Chicago, general admission from $30 covers the observation deck and the CloudBar, with TILT listed as an option to purchase; the cheapest bundle that actually includes the TILT ride is $45.
So the two-dollar advantage becomes a thirteen-dollar disadvantage the moment the glass is what you came for. Both sites are being accurate. Neither is going to put those two numbers next to each other.
Prices at both decks vary by date and time slot and are all quoted as "starting at". The figures here were read on 16 September 2026 and should be rechecked before you book.
04Which one to pick
First visit to Chicago, going up once: Skydeck. The grid seen from above is the thing you cannot get any other way in this city, and The Ledge is in the price.
You want the lake in the picture: 360 Chicago, and skip TILT. General admission at $30 gets you the view that makes the deck worth visiting, and TILT is fifteen seconds of novelty for fifteen dollars.
Second visit, or you have already been up one: neither. Put the money into the architecture cruise instead. Seeing the same skyline from water level with someone explaining the buildings is a different experience, not a repeated one.
Travelling with children: Skydeck, on price structure alone. The Ledge is included rather than an upgrade, and a family of four is not being asked to decide who gets to go on the glass.
05Questions people actually ask
Is Skydeck or 360 Chicago cheaper?
360 Chicago is cheaper on the headline: $30 against $32 for adult general admission bought online in September 2026. But The Ledge, the glass box at Skydeck, is included in that $32, while TILT at 360 Chicago is not included in the $30. The cheapest 360 ticket that includes TILT is $45. If the glass is what you are going for, Skydeck is the cheaper of the two by $13.
Is it worth doing both?
Rarely. They are the same city from two heights, and after the first one the second is mostly repetition at full price. The case for doing both is if you want one in daylight and one after dark, and even then we would put the money into one deck plus the river instead.
Which one has the better view?
Different rather than better, and it is a question of orientation, not height. Skydeck is on the 103rd floor and looks down the street grid running to the horizon. 360 Chicago is on the 94th, a thousand feet up, and sits close enough to the lake that the water fills a large part of the view.
Are tickets cheaper online than at the door?
At 360 Chicago, yes, and it publishes both numbers: general admission starts at $30 online against $35 at the gate, and it advertises savings of up to $11 per person for booking online. Skydeck publishes only a 'starting at $32' online price and does not state a gate price, so the saving there cannot be checked from its own page.
Does the Chicago CityPASS help me choose?
No, and both sites promote it as though it were their own advantage. It is the same third-party pass at the same price on both pages: $144 for an adult and $114 for a youth. It bundles either deck with four other attractions, so it is a reason to buy a pass, never a reason to pick one deck over the other.
What are the opening hours?
Skydeck states that it opens 365 days a year, and between 26 May and 30 September runs 9:00 to 22:00, with Saturdays opening at 8:30. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. We have not captured 360 Chicago's hours from its own page yet and are not going to copy them from anywhere else.
Diego FresnoI went up both decks in the same week in July 2025 and paid for both tickets myself, as a visitor rather than a resident. I did not photograph either one, so the two pictures on this page are not mine: they come from Wikimedia Commons and are credited under each. I visited in summer only. The prices, floors and inclusions above were read from the two official ticket pages on 16 September 2026, not from memory and not from another guide.
Prices and inclusions read from theskydeck.com and 360chicago.com on 16 September 2026. Not verified: 360 Chicago's opening hours, conditions outside summer, and night tickets. No queue or wait times appear on this page because none were measured, by us or by anyone whose method we could check. Photographs on this page are not our own.