Comparison

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.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Flashcard-style review
  • Questions, answers, and explanations
  • Study by subject
  • Practice tests
  • FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
Features
Read 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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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

Prepware Private Pilot4 screens
King Test Prep Companion4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Prepware Private Pilot versus King Test Prep Companion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrepware Private PilotKing Test Prep Companion
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (137 ratings)4.9 (1.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.5% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1371.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.7
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperASAKing Schools, Inc.

Customer experience

Prepware Private Pilot

All ratings137 ratings
Positive68.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative21.9%
Written reviews72 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral16.7%
Negative20.8%

King Test Prep Companion

All ratings1,426 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative16.0%

User reviews

Prepware Private Pilot

From 137 App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

None

Prepware Private Pilot

No in-app purchases

None

King Test Prep Companion

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is King Test Prep Companion free?
King Test Prep Companion is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion?
King Test Prep Companion is rated higher. Prepware Private Pilot averages 3.9 out of 5 from 137 ratings, while King Test Prep Companion averages 4.9 from 1.4K ratings.
Do Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion have ads?
Neither Prepware Private Pilot nor King Test Prep Companion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or King Test Prep Companion?
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, and King Test Prep Companion every 2 months. Most recently, Prepware Private Pilot was updated on October 18, 2026 and King Test Prep Companion on October 16, 2026.

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