Comparison

Practicing Excellence vs TrueLearn SmartBanks

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Practicing Excellence

This app provides short, video-based coaching for healthcare professionals. It offers practical tips and challenges to improve everyday actions in care and teamwork. Users can track progress and engage in discussions.

Highlights
  • Short video coaching
  • Personalized practical content
  • Daily action challenges
  • Progress tracking
  • Team discussions
  • Access learning resources
Features
Read full description

The Practicing Excellence app delivers short, video-based coaching to physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and care team members engage with personalized, practical content designed to turn insight into everyday action. Each tip is 5 minutes or less and concludes with a “try this challenge” to help apply behavioral change topics in real moments of care and teamwork. Users can track their progress, participate in team discussions, and access learning resources directly within the app.

About

TrueLearn SmartBanks

This app provides exam-style practice questions and detailed explanations to improve test-taking skills. It offers custom quizzes, performance dashboards, and a wide variety of question types for standardized tests.

Highlights
  • Exam-style practice questions
  • Rich answer explanations
  • Custom quizzes by topic
  • Performance dashboards
  • Multiple question types
  • Computer-simulated testing environment
Features
Read full description

We created the TrueLearn app to help learners become great test takers. Whether you need USMLE Step 1 practice questions or NBCOT® exam prep, we provide an unparalleled testing experience that improves exam performance. We believe every learner has the potential to become a better standardized test-taker. Because TrueLearn SmartBanks are not just another qbank. Our platform features include: -Exam-style practice questions with rich answer explanations that fundamentally improve your understanding to easily identify what you missed, understand why incorrect answers are wrong, and grasp why the correct answer is the best choice. -Custom quizzes around topics where you score low in a computer-simulated environment with practice questions written in the same style you will encounter on test day. -Performance dashboards that provide informative metrics on strengths and weaknesses in real-time – quickly see where you stand compared to peers across the nation. -Multiple question types, including multiple-choice, multi-part, SATA Basic and Advanced, matrix, open answer, matching, and ordering. Free to download, sign-in with your TrueLearn credentials, and start taking practice questions. Each of the SmartBanks are mapped to the corresponding exam and have thousands of practice questions written by board-certified professionals. -COMLEX: Level 1, Level 2, COMAT, & Level 3 -USMLE: Step 1, Step 2 CK, & NBME Shelf -Physician Assistant: PANCE & PANRE -APEX Anesthesia NCE/SEE SRNA Smartbank -Anesthesiology: ITE, BASIC, ADVANCED, ACA, & CME -Emergency Medicine: ABEM ITE & Qualifying -Family Medicine: ABFM ITE & Board Certification -General Surgery: ABSITE, ABS Qualifying, & CME -Internal Medicine: ACP IM-ITE & ABIM Board Certification -Neurology: AAN RITE®, ABPN Certification, & CME -OBGYN: CREOG, ABOG, & CME -Pediatrics: ABP ITE & Certification -Psychiatry: PRITE & ABPN Certification -Radiology: DXIT & CORE -Anesthesiology Assistant: NCCAA -Behavior Analyst: BCBA -Dental Hygiene: NBDHE -Medical Assistant: CMA, RMA, NCMA, CCMA -Nursing: NCLEX-RN® -Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP): AANP & ANCC -Occupational Therapy: NBCOT OTR® & COTA® -Pharmacy: NAPLEX -Pharmacy Technician: PTCE® And ExCPT® -Physical Therapy: NPTE PT & PTA -Speech Language Pathology: Praxis® CCC-SLP

Screenshots

Practicing Excellence4 screens
TrueLearn SmartBanks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: TrueLearn SmartBanks at 4.9 against Practicing Excellence's 3.9. TrueLearn SmartBanks also leads on ratings volume (1.7K vs 30). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

TrueLearn SmartBanks holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TrueLearn SmartBanks has 1.7K ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Practicing Excellence's written reviews are positive against 28% of TrueLearn SmartBanks's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Practicing Excellence ships an update monthly, TrueLearn SmartBanks every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Practicing Excellence versus TrueLearn SmartBanks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPracticing ExcellenceTrueLearn SmartBanks
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (30 ratings)4.9 (1.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews27.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings301.7K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB48 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperPracticingExcellence.com, Inc.TrueLearn, LLC

Customer experience

Practicing Excellence

All ratings28 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%

TrueLearn SmartBanks

All ratings1,691 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive27.8%
Neutral15.5%
Negative56.7%

Bugs and requests

Practicing Excellence

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

TrueLearn SmartBanks

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to access previous tests and quizzes
  • Inconsistent data between app and website
  • Crashing when opening images or lab references
  • Unreliable question submission and tracking

Requested features

5 requests
  • Landscape mode support
  • Ability to highlight and annotate questions
  • Offline question access
  • Feedback mechanism for questions
  • Password/biometric login options

In-app purchases

None

Practicing Excellence

No in-app purchases

None

TrueLearn SmartBanks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Practicing Excellence free?
Practicing Excellence is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TrueLearn SmartBanks free?
TrueLearn SmartBanks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Practicing Excellence or TrueLearn SmartBanks?
TrueLearn SmartBanks is rated higher. Practicing Excellence averages 3.9 out of 5 from 30 ratings, while TrueLearn SmartBanks averages 4.9 from 1.7K ratings.
Do Practicing Excellence or TrueLearn SmartBanks have ads?
Neither Practicing Excellence nor TrueLearn SmartBanks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Practicing Excellence or TrueLearn SmartBanks?
Practicing Excellence ships an update monthly, and TrueLearn SmartBanks every 3 weeks. Most recently, Practicing Excellence was updated on September 8, 2026 and TrueLearn SmartBanks on September 24, 2026.

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