Comparison

Pass CCRN vs Core Anesthesia

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

Head to head
About

Pass CCRN

Prepare for your CCRN certification exams with a comprehensive mobile study tool. It offers practice questions, personalized study plans, and detailed performance tracking to help you pass your Adult, Neonatal, or Pediatric critical care nursing exams.

Highlights
  • Personalized study plan
  • 1800+ practice questions
  • Topic-based learning
  • Strength and weakness tracking
  • Detailed test statistics
  • Community score comparison
Features
Read full description

Updated for the 2026 CCRN exam cycle — new question sets, refreshed rationales, and up-to-date exam tips keep your study plan current. Pass your CCRN Adult, Neonatal, and Pediatric exams with flying colors! Boost your confidence in passing the first time with our mobile app and a personal study plan based on your current skill and requirements. CCRN is a specialty certification for nurses who provide direct care to acutely/critically ill patients regardless of their physical location. Nurses interested in this certification may work in areas such as intensive care units, cardiac care units, combined ICU/CCUs, medical/surgical ICUs, trauma units, or critical care transport/flight. CCRN Key features: - Choose from different topics required to become a certified nurse - Practice with 1800+ questions - Track your strengths and weaknesses within Stats section of the app - Study detailed statistics of every test you take - Compare your score to the community average for almost any type of exam - - - - CCRN Purchases, subscriptions and terms You need to buy a lifetime access or subscribe to get access to all features, courses and questions. The cost of the purchase is charged to your iTunes account. Subscriptions are auto-renewable and are billed at the rate and period selected depending on the subscription plan. Users’ accounts are charged for auto-renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions can be managed and auto-renewal can be turned off in Account Settings in iTunes after the purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Terms of use: https://mastrapi.com/terms Privacy policy: https://mastrapi.com/policy

About

Core Anesthesia

This app offers a curriculum of audio episodes for CRNAs and students to earn CEUs, pass tests, and review for boards. Designed for busy schedules, episodes can be listened to anywhere and include printed outlines and sources.

Highlights
  • Continuing education episodes
  • Board review content
  • Podcast format for on-the-go learning
  • Printed outlines and sources included
  • Designed for CRNAs and students
Features
Read full description

Core Anesthesia is continuing education and board review built for nurse anesthetists, made by CRNAs who remember how little time there is. Learn by listening. The curriculum is delivered as podcast episodes you can take anywhere: the commute, the gym, the drive between clinical sites. Every episode comes with learning objectives, a printed outline, cited sources, and a read-along transcript. EARN AANA CE CREDIT • Class A credits logged as you listen • Certificates ready to download when you need them • No paperwork and no separate reporting STUDY WITH PURPOSE • 1800+ practice questions with rationales that explain the answer • Custom quizzes across 19 anesthesia categories • See which topics are strong and which need work • High-yield cheat sheets and procedure videos • Search that finds the episode, sheet, or clip you meant TAKE IT OFFLINE Download episodes and cheat sheets for flights, commutes, and dead zones. Anything you save stays available with no signal. For SRNAs preparing for boards and CRNAs maintaining certification. End user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Pass CCRN4 screens
Core Anesthesia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Core Anesthesia at 90% against Pass CCRN's 20%. Core Anesthesia also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6). Pass CCRN's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price, ratings volume, 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. Pass CCRN sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per month and Core Anesthesia sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Core Anesthesia holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 608 and 535 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Pass CCRN's written reviews are positive against 90% of Core Anesthesia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pass CCRN versus Core Anesthesia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPass CCRNCore Anesthesia
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (608 ratings)4.9 (535 ratings) — better
Positive reviews20.0% of reviews90.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings608 — better535
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMastrAPIStudent Nurse Anesthesia LLC

Customer experience

Pass CCRN

All ratings607 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive20.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative68.0%

Core Anesthesia

All ratings535 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive90.2%
Neutral7.3%
Negative2.4%

User reviews

Pass CCRN

From 608 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
  • 📚 Comprehensive exam topic coverage
  • ⚡ Responsive and easy to read
  • 💡 Immediate rationale explanations provided
  • ✅ Helpful for exam preparation and passing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App frequently freezes or fails to load
  • ❌ Inaccurate and false questions in database
  • 🔄 Repeating questions despite large question bank claims
  • 📝 Poorly worded and incomplete questions
  • 🚫 No customer support or response to issues

Core Anesthesia

From 535 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎓 Excellent content quality and depth
  • 👨‍🏫 Talented hosts (Cole and Tanner) who explain complex topics clearly
  • 🚀 Perfect episode length for commutes and busy schedules
  • 📱 Easy-to-use app interface
  • 🎯 Content aligns well with CRNA school curriculum

Room to improve

  • 🗂️ Poor episode organization and filtering options
  • 🧭 Confusing navigation and discoverability of content
  • 🐛 Playback issues without Wi-Fi connectivity
  • ❓ Inconsistent premium content access and display
  • 📍 Difficulty locating specific episodes despite search function

Bugs and requests

Pass CCRN

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App freezes or won't open
  • Only loads 4 questions despite paid access
  • Same questions repeat in quiz sets
  • App won't open without WiFi
  • Extremely slow loading times (over an hour)
Show 6 more
  • Crashes or becomes unresponsive
  • Statistics not updating in real time
  • Wrong answer marked as correct in questions
  • Missing information in questions (e.g., incomplete ABG values)
  • Inconsistency between question prompt and answer choices
  • No iPad support

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to filter questions by topic/module (e.g., cardiac questions)
  • Custom exam creation based on selected subjects
  • Pediatric CCRN section
  • Question reporting/review system
  • Better organization of content by difficulty level

Core Anesthesia

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Episodes won't play offline or without Wi-Fi despite having data
  • Premium subscription doesn't always unlock premium-labeled episodes
  • Home screen categories don't display all available episodes
  • Inconsistent episode visibility between app and podcast platforms
  • Playback buffering and connectivity issues in the car

Requested features

6 requests
  • Chronological episode listing (1 to most recent)
  • Better filtering and sorting options
  • Episode download capability for offline listening
  • Improved search functionality for specific topics
  • Clearer distinction between free and premium content
Show 1 more
  • Enhanced navigation to reduce confusion about available episodes

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pass CCRN

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly access by subscription7 Days trial$24.991 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime access$99.99
14 purchases

Core Anesthesia

Subscriptions5
  • Student Premium Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • CRNA Premium Monthly3 Days trial$64.991 Month
  • Student Premium Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • CRNA Premium Quarterly$179.003 Months
  • CRNA Premium Yearly3 Days trial$599.001 Year
One-time9
  • Airway Core Module$49.99
  • Equipment Core Module$49.99
  • Pharmacology Core Module$49.99
Show 6 more
  • Anatomy Core Module$149.99
  • core_crna_10$199.00
  • core_crna_30$299.00
  • CRNA USAP 25%$449.99
  • CRNA Promotion$539.00
  • core_crna_60$599.00

Questions

Is Pass CCRN free?
Pass CCRN is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Core Anesthesia free?
Core Anesthesia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pass CCRN or Core Anesthesia?
Core Anesthesia is rated higher. Pass CCRN averages 4.6 out of 5 from 608 ratings, while Core Anesthesia averages 4.9 from 535 ratings.
Do Pass CCRN or Core Anesthesia have ads?
Neither Pass CCRN nor Core Anesthesia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pass CCRN or Core Anesthesia?
Pass CCRN ships an update every 3 weeks, and Core Anesthesia every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pass CCRN was updated on October 21, 2026 and Core Anesthesia on October 18, 2026.

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