Comparison

HAM Test Prep Lite vs HamTester Technician

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

HamTester Technician

Prepare for your ham radio technician license exam with unlimited practice tests. This app simulates the actual FCC exam experience, providing immediate feedback on incorrect answers and the correct responses.

Highlights
  • Unlimited exam generation
  • Complete Technician Class question pool
  • Immediate exam grading
  • Feedback on errant questions
  • Display of incorrect and correct answers
Features
Read full description

This application will generate unlimited examinations for you to take to prepare you for your actual testing session. "It is important to realize that to prepare someone to take an exam, you need to do more than just present a question pool. It is more than just questions/answers, statistics etc. It requires a mental preparation also. I created the HamTester series Technician, General and Extra to be as close to a real FCC exam session as I could, to prepare the student for more than just a list of questions." - Gene Backlin And Gene should know. Since 2000, Gene has been a Volunteer Examiner(VE) and has presided over 150 examination sessions. He has seen what it takes to pass, as well as mentored and encouraged/tutored those who have not. "It is a great hobby, and if I have been able in any way to help you achieve your ham ticket, I am thankful for your trust in my application" - Gene Backlin Features include: - Unlimited Examination Generation. - Complete Technician Class Question Pool included for immediate study. - Immediate grading of exam upon completion. - Feedback of questions that are errant, including multiple display of incorrect answer chosen as well as correct answer expected.

Screenshots

HAM Test Prep Lite4 screens
HamTester Technician4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: HAM Test Prep Lite at 88% against HamTester Technician's 0%. HAM Test Prep Lite also leads on price (Free vs $0.99). HamTester Technician's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18.6). On update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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; HamTester Technician costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 8 months, HamTester Technician every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
HAM Test Prep Lite versus HamTester Technician: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHAM Test Prep LiteHamTester Technician
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.7 (169 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings169 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.610.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick J Maloney LLCGene Backlin

Customer experience

HAM Test Prep Lite

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

HamTester Technician

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

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

HamTester Technician

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HAM Test Prep Lite

No in-app purchases

None

HamTester Technician

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 HamTester Technician free?
HamTester Technician costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do HAM Test Prep Lite or HamTester Technician have ads?
Neither HAM Test Prep Lite nor HamTester Technician shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HAM Test Prep Lite or HamTester Technician?
HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 8 months, and HamTester Technician every 5 months. Most recently, HAM Test Prep Lite was updated on October 23, 2026 and HamTester Technician on October 24, 2026.

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