Prepware Private Pilot vs Private Pilot Test Prep
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Prepware Private Pilot
Prepare for your FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam with this comprehensive study and test tool. It offers flashcard-style review of questions, answers, and explanations, allowing you to study by subject or take realistic practice tests.
- Flashcard-style review
- Questions, answers, and explanations
- Study by subject
- Practice tests
- FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
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Comprehensive preparation, study and test tool for the FAA Knowledge Exam. Flashcard style review of questions, answers and explanations included for you to study by subject or with a true-to-form practice test.
Private Pilot Test Prep
Prepare for the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test with over 900 practice questions and detailed explanations. Customize study sessions, review missed questions, and take simulated exams that mirror the official test format and question distribution. Unlock a complete ground school course for advanced features and tracking.
- Over 900 FAA practice questions
- Detailed explanations and references
- Customizable study sessions
- Practice sessions from missed questions
- Simulated FAA exams
- Data sync across iOS devices
- Instructor endorsement upon course completion
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The #1 Private Pilot test prep app is now free, and includes over 900 FAA questions and explanations to help prepare for the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test. Upgrade to the complete ground school course to unlock all lesson, detailed tracking and statistics, and premium test prep with hundreds of additional questions (free trial available). ▸ Custom study sessions based on topics, session size, and your overall mastery. Filters allow you to include or exclude questions that require the use of figures or an E6B. ▸ Create practice sessions from missed questions after a completed practice or exam session. ▸ Review missed questions after a practice or exam session. ▸ Take simulated FAA exams administered under the same rules and time constraints as the actual Private Pilot knowledge test. Unlike other test prep apps, our exams present the correct proportion of questions from each knowledge area per the ACS. ▸ Sync your data and course progress across on all of your iOS devices ▸ Access a library of study resources for the Private Pilot certificate ▸ Question bank covers all areas of the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards to ensure thorough preparation for the knowledge test. ▸ Detailed explanations and references for all questions. ▸ Obtain an instructor endorsement after completing the course.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Private Pilot Test Prep at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. Private Pilot Test Prep also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.9) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and chart position (#9 vs unranked). On ads 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
Private Pilot Test Prep is free to download; Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99 up front. Private Pilot Test Prep sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Prepware Private Pilot asks for nothing beyond the download.
Private Pilot Test Prep holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Private Pilot Test Prep has 1.5K ratings behind it against 137, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Prepware Private Pilot's written reviews are positive against 85% of Private Pilot Test Prep's.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Private Pilot Test Prep fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | Private Pilot Test Prep |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (137 ratings) | 4.9 (1.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | 84.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 137 | 1.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #9 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 116 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | ASA | Aeroapps Technology |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
Private Pilot Test Prep
User reviews
Prepware Private Pilot
From 137 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💯 High scores achieved
- 📚 Great practice for harder questions
- 📱 Convenient for studying on the go
- ✅ Questions similar to real exam
- 💡 Detailed explanations provided
Room to improve
- ❓ Powered flight questions for glider pilots
- 📱 Small screen issues for plotting/maps
- 🤷 Missing essential questions
- ⚠️ Not a sole reliance tool
- 🤔 Questions worded differently
Private Pilot Test Prep
From 1.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Thorough course with good foundation
- 🚀 Great graphics and easy to follow
- 🚀 Helped pass the FAA exam
- 🚀 Realistic practice exams with FARs and AIMs
- 🚀 Excellent explanations and figures
Room to improve
- 🐛 Grading issues and incorrect marking of answers
- 🐛 Frequent app updates required, causing issues for users with poor internet
- 🐛 Inability to review missed questions after exiting the app
- 🐛 Lack of zoom and drawing tools for charts
- 🐛 Crashes and login issues reported
Bugs and requests
Prepware Private Pilot
Reported bugs
24 issues- Powered flight questions appearing for glider pilots
- Small screen makes chart plotting difficult
- Missing essential questions for the written exam
- Some answers are incorrect
- Macbook app not working properly
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- Dark mode has contrast issues, making text unreadable
- Status bar bug with black text on black background
- Right answers not highlighted after getting a question wrong
- Study portion allows pushing through without selecting the right option, leading to false 100% scores
- Questions cut off at the end
- Save and exit function does not save progress
- App resets to homepage after a short period or if not actively used
- Quiz shuffles questions, preventing picking up where left off
- Errors in questions referencing sectional charts
- Sections on charts not available when referenced
- New update degraded the app interface
- White lettering on light background makes questions unreadable
- Dark mode compatibility issues with white text on gray background
- Questions in rotorcraft sections refer to fixed-wing regulations
- Irrelevant gyrocopter and fixed-wing questions in rotorcraft section
- Dark theme not displaying correct/incorrect answers properly
- App not compatible with iPhone X screen
- No way to systematically study, questions are random
- Questions that reference a chart or diagram are cumbersome to view
Requested features
14 requests- Ability to save/create a bank of difficult questions
- Scramble answer choices for realism
- Improve UI for newer devices (iPhone X/Xs/Xr, iPad Pro)
- Add Apple Watch support
- Vary the length of test modules
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Allow studying more than one section at a time
- Add better reference information in explanations (page/section numbers)
- Allow resizing of figures on iPhone
- Show explanation immediately after wrong answer
- Fix grading to allow for incorrect answers without immediate correction
- Make questions more compatible with dark mode
- Fix contrast issues in dark mode
- Add a feature to stop showing questions already known
- Allow review of only missed items
Private Pilot Test Prep
Reported bugs
4 issues- Grading issues and incorrect marking of answers
- Frequent app updates required, causing issues for users with poor internet
- Inability to review missed questions after exiting the app
- Crashes and login issues reported
Requested features
8 requests- Add sound when choosing correct answers
- Provide separate guides for each chapter
- Offer 50-question practice tests by chapter
- Allow users to pause and resume simulated tests
- Provide a bank of all practice tests and simulated tests
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Display passed section grades to track progress
- Add a lock zoom feature for charts
- Integrate a protractor tool
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
Private Pilot Test Prep
- Private Pilot Course TrialFree
- Private Pilot Test Prep$49.99
- Upgrade to Ground School$99.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Private Pilot Ground School$149.99
Questions
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