Comparison

PANCE PREP vs FirstPassPA

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

Head to head
About

PANCE PREP

Prepare for medical certification exams with over 13,200 clinically-based practice questions. The app identifies your weak areas and provides a personalized study plan with detailed explanations, clinical pearls, and test-taking strategies. It offers multiple modes to simulate exam conditions and enhance learning.

Highlights
  • 13,200+ clinically-based practice exams
  • Identifies and targets weak areas
  • Personalized study plans
  • Detailed answer explanations
  • Clinical pearls and test-taking strategies
  • Timed, tutor, and improve modes
  • Customizable exam creation
Features
Read full description

Over 13,200 clinically-based practice examinations specifically formulated to enhance clinical skills and improve performance on examinations, such as the PANCE, PANRE, OSCES, USMLE, end of rotation examinations and comprehensive medical examinations. This app will intuitively know your areas of weakness and give you a plan to improve your overall performance. Special clinical pearls, disease review, explanation of the answers, test-taking strategies and much more. 3 modes, Timed mode to simulate the exams, tutor mode that allows you to review the disease states in addition to the questions and improve mode to enhance your weak areas. For every question in tutor mode, there is a feature for a hint to see if you are going in the right direction, answer explanation, a clinical pearl, and bonus questions. Create your own examination based on organ systems or task areas. The ultimate study and exam preparation app! In-App Purchase Product Detail: 1) Title of publication or service - PANCE PREP APP 2) Length of subscription (time period and content or services provided during each subscription period) - 12 MONTHS 3) Price of subscription - $69.99 for everything on the app Terms of Use: http://panceprepapp.io/terms.html

About

FirstPassPA

Features
Read full description

Study smarter. Show up ready. FirstPassPA is focused board prep for PA students and recertifying PAs — the full NCCPA blueprint, explained like a great preceptor. EVERYTHING IN YOUR POCKET • 7,200+ board-style questions spanning all 13 organ systems plus Professional Practice — the entire bank is stored on your device, so practice works even offline • Every question teaches: why the correct answer is correct, and why each wrong answer is wrong • 4,800+ clinician-reviewed flashcards with Again / Hard / Good / Easy grading, minute-level learning steps, and exam-date-aware spaced repetition • A 190+ drug pharmacology reference — mechanism, indications, adverse effects and monitoring, as an outline or as flashcards • 40 memory-hook mnemonics and 25 twelve-lead ECG tracings KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU STAND • Blueprint Tracker: all 514 PANCE blueprint diagnoses, organized by organ system and weighted the way the exam scores them — check each off as you master it • Guidelines & Screening: 72 reference cards covering USPSTF screening, ACIP immunization schedules, pregnancy and pediatric screening, and chronic-disease targets — every number linked to its official source • Analytics: accuracy by system, 14-day trends, and exam-weighted points at risk • Timed exam simulation at true NCCPA pacing (60 seconds per question) • Highlight and cross-out tools while you work a question, the way you would on test day CLINICAL YEAR COVERED • EOR mode: pick your rotation and the dashboard counts down to that exam, builds your daily plan from that rotation's question bank, and asks what's next when the date passes — all 7 PAEA End of Rotation exams • Clinical Sim (beta): interview an AI standardized patient, examine them, write your SOAP note, and get OSCE-style graded feedback across history-taking, physical exam, communication, and assessment & plan — 10 cases AI TUTOR ON EVERY QUESTION Ask why an answer is right, how a drug works, or what separates two look-alike diagnoses — without leaving the question. START FREE Answer 10 questions a day free, no account needed. Create a free account and get 7 days of full access — no credit card required. FIRSTPASSPA PRO Pro unlocks the full question bank, flashcards, EOR mode, Clinical Sim, the AI tutor and every analytic. • Monthly — $14.99 per month • Annual — $129.99 per year, which works out to $10.83 per month Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. FirstPassPA was built by a practicing PA-C who wanted board prep that respects your time. — Not affiliated with NCCPA or PAEA. FirstPassPA LLC is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) or the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). PANCE® and PANRE® are registered trademarks of NCCPA; End of Rotation™ is a program of PAEA. Use of this platform does not guarantee examination passage. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.firstpasspa.com/privacy

Screenshots

PANCE PREP4 screens
FirstPassPA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: FirstPassPA at every 5 days against PANCE PREP's monthly. PANCE PREP's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. PANCE PREP sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $69.99 per year and FirstPassPA sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PANCE PREP ships an update monthly, FirstPassPA every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
PANCE PREP versus FirstPassPA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPANCE PREPFirstPassPA
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.5 (127 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews20.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings127 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB100 MB
Age rating17+17+
Developerallure before and after corpRyan Busch

Bugs and requests

PANCE PREP

Reported bugs

37 issues
  • Account locked out after logging into multiple devices
  • App stuck on loading screen
  • App won't load
  • Redirected to subscription page
  • Network connection lost after payment
Show 32 more
  • App says 'not pay' after successful payment
  • App logs out user and asks for new subscription
  • App blocks account when logging into new phone
  • App asks to subscribe again after purchase
  • App blocked after deleting and reinstalling
  • App freezes constantly
  • App crashes
  • Cannot scroll most of the time
  • Scrolling for question, answer, explanation
  • App freezes for 1+ minutes when starting exam
  • Tutor mode doesn't show answer explanations
  • Answers scroll off the bottom of the screen
  • White text on white background
  • Timer mode doesn't work correctly
  • Improve mode stopped working
  • Cannot log in
  • App keeps telling user session finished early
  • App resets in the middle of a test
  • Dark mode shows white text on white background
  • Cannot read questions
  • Cannot see question explanations
  • Cannot log in to the app
  • App constantly asks to subscribe then says already subscribed
  • Cannot connect to iTunes
  • Cannot get past subscribe now page
  • Timed mode gives incorrect time
  • Improve mode doesn't exist
  • Cannot view different features (Hint, Pearl, Answer)
  • App freezes after selecting category and launching test
  • App freezes even after restarting
  • App doesn't connect most of the time
  • Repeatable questions

Requested features

18 requests
  • Ability to select subcategories
  • Better options for selecting number of questions
  • Ability to type number of questions
  • Option to review correct answers
  • Quick way to find correct answers
Show 13 more
  • Ability to save different question sets
  • Option to see used/unused/wrong questions
  • Ability to go back to previous questions
  • Ability to flag questions
  • Cumulative performance tracking
  • Dark mode option
  • Tutorial on how to use features
  • Reference PPP pages for explanations
  • Add explanations for incorrect answers
  • Improvement mode functionality
  • Fix timing in timed mode
  • Make text size adjustable
  • Improve UI/UX

FirstPassPA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PANCE PREP

Subscriptions2
  • Student - 1 Year Subscription$69.991 Year
  • Teacher - 1 Year Subscription$69.991 Year
2 purchases

FirstPassPA

Subscriptions2
  • FirstPassPA Pro$14.991 Month
  • FirstPassPA Pro$129.991 Year

Questions

Is PANCE PREP free?
PANCE PREP is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FirstPassPA free?
FirstPassPA is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PANCE PREP or FirstPassPA have ads?
Neither PANCE PREP nor FirstPassPA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PANCE PREP or FirstPassPA?
PANCE PREP ships an update monthly, and FirstPassPA every 5 days. Most recently, PANCE PREP was updated on October 8, 2026 and FirstPassPA on October 15, 2026.

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