Prepware Private Pilot vs PlaneEnglish
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.
PlaneEnglish
Master aviation radio communication with an AI-powered simulator. Practice procedures, phraseology, and gain confidence talking to air traffic control through realistic scenarios and instant feedback. Earn FAA WINGS Credits while learning.
- AI-powered air traffic controllers
- Voice recognition and speech analysis
- Realistic training scenarios
- Step-by-step phraseology lessons
- Airport, pattern, and hold training
- FAA WINGS Credits
- VFR and IFR flight training
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**No subscription required to find out what ARSim can do for you.** Practice aviation radio communication with interactive ATC scenarios, AI-powered controllers, voice recognition, and instant feedback. Build confidence, improve phraseology, and prepare for real-world communication before stepping into the cockpit.....and earn FAA WINGS Credits along the way. The PlaneEnglish Aviation Radio Simulator, or ARSim, helps pilots learn, practice, and improve aviation radio communication through realistic, interactive ATC scenarios. Whether you are a student pilot learning to talk on the radio for the first time, an instrument student preparing for IFR communications, or an experienced pilot refreshing your skills, ARSim gives you a practical way to build confidence outside the cockpit. With AI-powered air traffic controllers, voice recognition, speech analysis, and immediate feedback, ARSim helps you practice aviation phraseology, radio procedures, and real-world communication flows across VFR and IFR flight operations. ARSim includes structured training units designed to build your skills step by step: TRAINER helps you practice full ATC communication scenarios with guided lessons, randomized situations, and feedback on your radio calls. AIRPORT helps you learn airport signs, markings, lighting, and surface operations. PATTERN helps you understand and practice communications in the traffic pattern or circuit. HOLD helps you learn and practice instrument holding procedures. BASICS, GLOSSARY, and RESOURCES provide foundational knowledge, references, and supporting material to help you understand the language and structure of aviation communication. Across the app, you can access hundreds of airports, work through more than 200 lessons, and practice thousands of randomized ATC interactions covering many phases of VFR and IFR flight. Selected training units also allow eligible users to earn FAA WINGS credits...you won't find another communication tool that will do this for you! ARSim training content is guided by FAA and ICAO phraseology, standards, and radiotelephony procedures, helping pilots become more familiar with the communication practices used throughout aviation. For student pilots, ARSim provides an accessible way to build radio confidence before and between lessons. For experienced or non-current pilots, it offers a convenient way to refresh communication skills before returning to training, preparing for a flight review, or getting ready for a checkride. For flight schools and training organizations, ARSim can support more consistent communications practice across students and instructors. Download ARSim to explore the free content available in BASICS, AIRPORT, PATTERN, GLOSSARY, and RESOURCES, and use the free trial period to experience the full functionality of the app. You can also customize your experience in Settings, including phraseology standards, display options, and primary flight display preferences. Terms of Use: https://planeenglishsim.com/terms-and-conditions/ Privacy Policy: https://planeenglishsim.com/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PlaneEnglish at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. PlaneEnglish also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 4 months) and rating (4.1 vs 3.9). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and chart position (#10 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ratings volume, 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
PlaneEnglish is free to download; Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99 up front. PlaneEnglish sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Prepware Private Pilot asks for nothing beyond the download.
PlaneEnglish holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 138 and 326 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Prepware Private Pilot's written reviews are positive against 63% of PlaneEnglish's.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, PlaneEnglish every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | PlaneEnglish |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (138 ratings) | 4.1 (326 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.8% of reviews | 63.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 138 | 326 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 381 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | PlaneEnglish |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
PlaneEnglish
User reviews
Prepware Private Pilot
From 138 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
PlaneEnglish
From 326 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great practice for radio communications
- 👍 Helpful for non-native English speakers
- 👍 Organized learning process
- 👍 Customizable with user's callsign and airport
- 👍 Covers VFR and IFR scenarios
Room to improve
- 🐛 Voice recognition issues - often misses or misinterprets words
- 🐛 App crashes and loading issues
- 🔒 Subscription model instead of one-time purchase
- 🔒 Expensive for some users
- 🔒 Limited free content, most features require paid subscription
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
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- 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
PlaneEnglish
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashing on startup
- Voice recognition not working properly
- Progress not saving between sessions
- Incorrect callsign/aircraft type displayed in scenarios
Requested features
5 requests- More realistic ATC communication scenarios
- Better feedback on pronunciation and pacing
- Ability to add custom airports and scenarios
- Offline mode for practicing without internet
- Integration with flight simulators
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
PlaneEnglish
- VFR Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- IFR Monthly3 Days trial$13.991 Month
- VFR+IFR Monthly3 Days trial2 variants$15.991 Month
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- VFR 6 Months3 Days trial$39.996 Months
- IFR 6 Months3 Days trial$49.996 Months
- VFR Annual3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- VFR+IFR 6 Months3 Days trial2 variants$64.996 Months
- IFR Annual3 Days trial$79.991 Year
- VFR+IFR Annual3 Days trial2 variants$95.991 Year
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Is PlaneEnglish free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or PlaneEnglish?
Do Prepware Private Pilot or PlaneEnglish have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or PlaneEnglish?
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