Comparison

HAM Test Prep Lite vs HamStudy.org

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

Head to head
About

HAM Test Prep Lite

Prepare for your amateur radio Technician license exam with practice questions and tests. Review FCC rules, track your progress, and identify areas needing more study. This version includes a portion of the question pool, with a full version available for purchase.

Highlights
  • Technician question pool
  • Practice exams
  • Progress tracking
  • Immediate feedback
  • FCC rule text viewer
  • Zoomable figures
  • Dark mode support
Features
Read full description

Includes the Technician Question Pool effective July 1, 2026! NOTE: This "Lite" version contains only 2 of the 10 subelements in the question pool. Click the 'Buy Now' link in the app to get the FULL version. Join the amateur radio community! Become a HAM by obtaining your Technician class license! Amateur Radio License exams are composed of questions from a pool. Use this application prior to taking your exam to review and practice all possible questions. Then, test your knowledge with practice exams! After completing your first practice exam, the question pool screen will display your proficiency in each question group for all practice exams you have completed. This will identify areas in which you need further practice. You may choose to receive immediate feedback on right and wrong answers when taking a practice test. On practice tests, questions in a group will not be repeated until all of them have been used. Some questions require you to review associated Figures. These figures may be zoomed and panned on iPhone/iPod touch. FCC rule text is viewable within the application. All sections can be browsed from the main screen. Additionally, for questions where rule sections have been identified, the rule text can be viewed on the question screen when studying the question pool or reviewing test results. An in-progress practice test can be resumed if you exit the test or the application. Current Technician question pool is valid through June 30, 2030. This "Lite" version only contains questions from subelements T1 and T6. Versions of this application for both the General and Extra license classes are also available. This app has these additional features: • Accessibility option for vision-impaired users to exclude questions with figures • Dark mode support • Portrait and Landscape support on iPad • Swipe gestures to navigate between questions • Tap on answer to select it • Double-tap or use pinch gesture to zoom Figures on iPhone and iPod touch • Buttons to skip to next/previous wrong answer in test results • ARRL question number displayed on practice tests • Configurable Test Settings • Optional randomizing of test answers • Optional auto-advance during test

About

HamStudy.org

This app offers an intelligent study mode that tracks your progress and focuses on areas where you struggle. It allows you to tailor your study to specific chapters and topics from license manuals, with explanations for difficult questions. Practice exams are also available.

Highlights
  • Intelligent study algorithms
  • Vetted user-submitted explanations
  • Infinite practice exams
  • Study all US Amateur Radio question pools
  • International question pools
  • Multi-user support
  • Cross-device progress sync
Features
Read full description

HamStudy is not your typical study app. Most study apps focus on practice exams, which is like studying for your math test by trying 20% of the questions on repeat. Study smarter with HamStudy. Instead of taking practice tests with random questions over and over, our intelligent Study Mode tracks your progress as you move through the questions—what you’ve seen, what you haven’t, and where you’re struggling—and focuses your study on the questions you need to see most. Full statistics are provided along the way, giving you insight into how many times you’ve gotten a question right or wrong as well as your overall study progress. Don’t worry, you can still take practice exams whenever you want. You won’t find a better tool to use alongside your favorite learning material. Through collaboration with some of the most recognized names in amateur radio, HamStudy allows you to simply choose from a selection of license manuals, then instantly adapts so you can match your study to the chapters, topics, and sections you’re used to†. Want to study just the questions from chapters 4 and 5? No problem. And when a question trips you up, just tap the Explain button to understand what you missed, review formulas, and read helpful study tips. Features: • HamStudy's intelligent study algorithms work with you to ensure you learn the questions, tracking your progress and adjusting the pace to keep you challenged but not frustrated. • Vetted user-submitted explanations help you avoid the pitfall of just memorizing answers. • Infinite practice exams. Fun fact: it takes around 70 practice exams before you’ll see every Technician question just once. Study more, test less! • Study all current US Amateur Radio question pools: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. Updates are downloaded automatically, and new pools are always included free when they are revised every four years. • English and Spanish translations included for US Amateur Radio pools. • Includes an ever-growing selection of international question pools, such as Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Argentina. • Supports multiple users on the same device, each with independent study history. • Sync your progress across all devices and study online with a free hamstudy.org account. • Share your progress with friends, instructors, or other HamStudy.org users and help each other keep progressing towards that next license exam! HamStudy is proud to be sponsored by Icom. † Disclaimer: HamStudy does not contain the actual instructional material from linked books, but works great with the book sitting on the table next to you! Images, names, and trademarks used with permission.

Screenshots

HAM Test Prep Lite4 screens
HamStudy.org4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HAM Test Prep Lite at Free against HamStudy.org's $3.99. HamStudy.org's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (2.6K vs 167). On review sentiment, 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

HAM Test Prep Lite is free to download; HamStudy.org costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HamStudy.org holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HamStudy.org has 2.6K ratings behind it against 167, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of HAM Test Prep Lite's written reviews are positive against 94% of HamStudy.org's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 8 months, HamStudy.org every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
HAM Test Prep Lite versus HamStudy.org: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHAM Test Prep LiteHamStudy.org
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.7 (167 ratings)4.9 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews93.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1672.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#6 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick J Maloney LLCSignal Stuff

Customer experience

HAM Test Prep Lite

All ratings167 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral3.6%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative6.2%

HamStudy.org

All ratings2,580 ratings
Positive98.4%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews189 reviews
Positive93.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.7%

User reviews

HAM Test Prep Lite

From 167 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for passing tests
  • 👍 Excellent study tool
  • 👍 Helpful for preparation
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Great practice test

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paid version expensive
  • ❓ Free version limited
  • 🐛 Inconsistent answers
  • 🐛 Clunky interface
  • ❓ Unclear test completion

HamStudy.org

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great study tool
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Efficient way to prepare for exams
  • 🚀 Comprehensive coverage of exam material
  • 👍 Helpful explanations and hints

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional app freezes
  • 👎 Some explanations could be clearer
  • 🔋 Battery drain when using app extensively

Bugs and requests

HAM Test Prep Lite

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Correct answer changes
  • Clunky interface
  • Hard to see green letters (correct answers)
  • Free version useless

Requested features

4 requests
  • More features for free app
  • More test variety
  • Ability to run subset of questions
  • Clearer test completion indicator

HamStudy.org

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Email support not working
  • Occasional freezing or crashing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to clear test history
  • More detailed performance analytics
  • Spell out acronyms and define technical terms

In-app purchases

None

HAM Test Prep Lite

No in-app purchases

None

HamStudy.org

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HAM Test Prep Lite free?
HAM Test Prep Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HamStudy.org free?
HamStudy.org costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HAM Test Prep Lite or HamStudy.org?
HamStudy.org is rated higher. HAM Test Prep Lite averages 4.7 out of 5 from 167 ratings, while HamStudy.org averages 4.9 from 2.6K ratings.
Do HAM Test Prep Lite or HamStudy.org have ads?
Neither HAM Test Prep Lite nor HamStudy.org shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HAM Test Prep Lite or HamStudy.org?
HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 8 months, and HamStudy.org every 3 weeks. Most recently, HAM Test Prep Lite was updated on October 8, 2026 and HamStudy.org on October 13, 2026.

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