Kaplan MCAT vs NextStep
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kaplan MCAT
This mobile app serves as a companion for Kaplan's MCAT prep courses, offering on-the-go access to study materials. It features a Qbank with thousands of questions, video lessons, flashcards, and progress tracking that syncs with your desktop account.
- Qbank quizzes with 3,000+ questions
- Detailed question explanations
- Video Library access
- Flashcards for science concepts
- Progress tracking and performance analytics
- Customizable quizzes
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MOBILE COMPANION APP FOR KAPLAN’S MCAT® PREP COURSES Take your Kaplan MCAT prep on the go! Use this app for your actively enrolled accounts in Kaplan’s MCAT courses, tutoring packages, and practice products that include Qbank. The app automatically syncs with your Kaplan MCAT desktop account—giving you on-the-go access to the following key resources from your course: - The ability to build and take Qbank quizzes from more than 3,000 questions, easily filterable by topic and subtopic - Detailed explanations for each question - Video Library so that you can watch all your course videos on your phone - Flashcards to memorize 1,000 key science concepts on the MCAT - Tracking that syncs everything you do in the app with your overall progress and performance If you’re NOT already a Kaplan MCAT student, you can sign up within the app for a limited free trial that gives you access to: - A 230-question Qbank you can use to build and take custom quizzes - A Video Library containing a sampling of videos on key MCAT topics -ALWAYS AT THE CUTTING EDGE We constantly update our content, images, and questions so you can stay ahead of the curve. -GET STRATEGIC Step-by-step strategies walk you through each question, so you can take the MCAT apart like an expert. Review in-depth explanations and master the material. -LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES Detailed review materials and performance analytics help you boost your score and keep on boosting it.
NextStep
This app helps pre-med students organize their academic and extracurricular activities. It allows users to log hours, track progress towards goals, and manage application milestones efficiently. Designed by former students, it aims to reduce stress in the med school application process.
- Experience logging for various activities
- Hour tracking and statistical visualization
- Customizable goals and reminders
- Offline functionality
- AI-powered insights (coming soon)
- Built by pre-med students
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Ready for med school? NextStep helps pre-med students log hours, track experiences, and hit application milestones—without the stress. Whether you're shadowing, volunteering, doing research, or prepping for the MCAT, NextStep keeps you organized and on track. Key Features: • Experience Tracker – Log clinical, research, volunteer, and extracurricular activities • Hour Tracking & Stats – Visualize your time, find your gaps, stay balanced • Guided AI Insights – Coming soon! • Custom Goals & Reminders – Set targets, get notified, stay accountable • Offline First – Works without Wi-Fi, syncs when you're back online • Built for Pre-Meds – Created by students who’ve been there Stop guessing. Start progressing. Download NextStep and take control of your med school journey today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: NextStep at 100% against Kaplan MCAT's 5%. NextStep also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). Kaplan MCAT's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (264 vs 4). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
NextStep holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kaplan MCAT has 264 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 5% of Kaplan MCAT's written reviews are positive against 100% of NextStep's.
Kaplan MCAT ships an update every 3 months, NextStep fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kaplan MCAT | NextStep |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (264 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 4.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 264 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kaplan | Josh Hoffman |
Customer experience
Kaplan MCAT
NextStep
Bugs and requests
Kaplan MCAT
Reported bugs
21 issues- Cannot log in, redirects to login screen
- App logs out immediately after login
- App stays on login page after entering credentials
- App won't allow sign-in, returns to home screen
- App immediately logs out when closed
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- App logs out every time it's reopened
- App shows only video library after update
- App logs out each time app is closed
- App says "Loading Data" a lot
- App does not support 2022-2023 Kaplan MCAT Course
- App does not support 2024-2025 self study toolkit
- App perpetually stuck on "Loading Data"
- App doesn't load anything or allow course access
- App says "downloading data" endlessly
- Flashcards are broken
- Cannot sign up or sign in
- Login page keeps crashing and restarts
- Cannot access self study kit
- Cannot access toolkit
- Will not pull up keyboard on iPad for login
- Physical keyboard needed to sign in on iPad
Requested features
8 requests- Optional auto-login feature
- Easy textbook access
- Live session integration
- Schedule access
- Text size options for flashcards
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- Support for older courses (2022-2023, 2024-2025)
- Display study plan/calendar in app
- Add schedule to the app
NextStep
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Kaplan MCAT
No in-app purchases
NextStep
No in-app purchases









