Prepware Private Pilot vs King Test Prep Companion
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
King Test Prep Companion
Prepare for FAA knowledge tests with this app. Study FAA-style questions, flashcards, and unlimited practice exams offline. Track your progress and focus on areas needing review to achieve a high score.
- FAA-style question review
- Flashcard study decks by category
- Unlimited practice exams
- Offline study capability
- Progress tracking and syncing
- Detailed question explanations
- Pinch-to-zoom for figures
Read full descriptionHide full description
The KING Test Prep Companion App is part of the King VIP Study Method to get a guaranteed high score on your FAA Knowledge Test. It works with the question database of your Ground School and Test Prep course and allows you to study FAA style questions, flash cards and unlimited Practice Exams -- anywhere, anytime. Even when not connected to the Internet! Your question review progress will automatically sync to our online servers the next time your device is connected to the internet. Launching the app and signing in with your iLearn or Cessna credentials, you will be greeted with a list of your FAA ground school course(s). From there, selecting a course will open your choice of 3 King Study Method choices. Flashcards will give you "Decks" of questions by category such as Aerodynamics, Flight Instruments, Sectional Charts, etc. You can choose to shuffle the entire set of decks, or study just one category/deck. You will read the question on the front of the card, then "flip" the card to see the answer side. You can then choose to mark each card "Got This," or "Needs Review" so you can continue to focus on areas that need more work. Clicking the down arrow next to "Explanation" will provide in depth knowledge to help retain valuable information. Use a pinch zoom for any figures to get a closer look! Question Review will present All Questions of your FAA Test Prep course, also broken out by study category or all questions together. Be sure to "Mark" questions you want to review later, which you can toggle viewing only "Marked" questions at the top. You can also view only questions answered incorrectly to focus on troublesome topics. Practice Exams will provide curated exams carefully developed to simulate your FAA test. Mark each question that gives you difficulty for later review. Score your test and go through incorrectly answered questions. Retake any exams where you scored less than 80% until you are scoring high. Be sure to take Unlimited Random Exams repeatedly to get a Top Gun score! King Schools produces home-study courses used in preparation for FAA (The aviation authority in the United States) exams, overcome flying hurdles and meet mandatory flight training requirements. Whether you are studying for Sport Pilot, Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor (CFI), Multi-Engine or Airline Transport Pilot (ATP); King Schools has a course just for you. Follow the King Study Method and you are certain to achieve a high score on your FAA Exam! King Schools courses are specifically designed to efficiently give you the vital flying knowledge you'll use for the rest of your flying career. Born from a Passion for Flying King Schools, Inc. is the world's leading producer of aviation training videos and computer software. KING was first established in 1974, when John and Martha began flying throughout the country to teach ground school courses. Today, King Schools has over 50 employees operating from an 18,000 sq. ft. complex, housing a dedicated video production facility. In the past 10 years we have delivered more than 4 million hours of video instruction, teaching up to one-third of all pilots in the U.S. obtaining training. We are keenly aware of the importance of the work we do. During the time someone is learning to fly, flying is the most important thing in his or her life. We are privileged to play such a significant role in the lives of such committed individuals. We take pride in producing quality work for these special people.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: King Test Prep Companion at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. King Test Prep Companion also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (80% vs 63%). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is chart position (#11 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
King Test Prep Companion is free to download; Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
King Test Prep Companion holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: King Test Prep Companion has 1.4K 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 80% of King Test Prep Companion's.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, King Test Prep Companion every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | King Test Prep Companion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (137 ratings) | 4.9 (1.4K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 137 | 1.4K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | King Schools, Inc. |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
King Test Prep Companion
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
King Test Prep Companion
From 1.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Best teachers
- 💡 Well thought out
- 👍 Helpful
- 👍 Efficient and intuitive
- 👍 Great study tool
Room to improve
- 🐛 Questions not always arranged to the video
- 🐛 Progress not saved in question review
- 🐛 Difficult to scroll and view figures
- 🐛 Lack of context around correct answers
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
King Test Prep Companion
Reported bugs
2 issues- Doesn't work with all King School courses
- Charts hard or impossible to view when zoomed in
Requested features
3 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to reset progress through modules
- Roku app
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
King Test Prep Companion
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Is King Test Prep Companion free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion?
Do Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion?
Other comparisons















