Comparison

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.

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

Private Pilot Test Prep

Prepare for your FAA written test with this comprehensive study tool. It offers three modes: study questions by topic with detailed explanations, review using flashcards, and take full-length practice tests. Track your progress with detailed reports.

Highlights
  • Study questions by topic
  • Custom review sessions
  • Detailed answer explanations
  • Flashcard review mode
  • Simulated practice tests
  • Progress reports
Features
Read full description

Sporty's Study Buddy prepares you for the FAA Private Pilot knowledge test (the "written") with three ways to study: Study Questions, Flashcards and Practice Tests. Questions are organized by knowledge area, with explanations of the right and wrong answers developed by Sporty's team of Master CFIs, based on their experience preparing students for the Private Pilot certificate. • STUDY QUESTIONS BY TOPIC • Choose whole knowledge areas or individual topics to build your own study session. As soon as you answer, you'll see the correct answer, why it's right, and where to read more. Change your answer anytime, bookmark questions as you go, and jump to any question from the question list. Every study session is shuffled. • REVIEW WITH FLASHCARDS • Flashcards show just the question, so you answer from memory before revealing the correct answer and its explanation. Mark each card Know It or Still Learning, then start a new session from the cards you're still learning. On iPhone Duo, study a card with the phone open and close it to check the answer. • TAKE PRACTICE TESTS • Each Practice Test draws 60 questions at random from the full question bank, gives you 2 hours, and is graded at the FAA's 70% passing score. Afterward, see your score by topic, review every question or only the ones you missed, and turn your misses into a new study session. • PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF • Sessions save as you go. The History tab lets you resume any session in progress and review past results, including your scores by topic. • EVERY FIGURE, OFFLINE • The Figures tab includes the complete FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement, with every figure and legend listed by name and page. Swipe through the pages or open any one full screen. Questions show their figures right alongside, and you can study without a connection. Designed for iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad, with Dark Mode and support for larger text sizes. The FAA does not publish its knowledge test questions, so the questions on your test won't necessarily appear in this app. Study Buddy is meant to complement your training, not to replace flight and ground instruction.

Screenshots

Prepware Private Pilot4 screens
Private Pilot Test Prep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Private Pilot Test Prep at 4.3 against Prepware Private Pilot's 3.8. Private Pilot Test Prep also leads on review sentiment (82% vs 61%). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $14.99) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On ratings volume, 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

Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99 and Private Pilot Test Prep $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Private Pilot Test Prep holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 139 and 116 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Prepware Private Pilot's written reviews are positive against 82% of Private Pilot Test Prep's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Private Pilot Test Prep every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Prepware Private Pilot versus Private Pilot Test Prep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrepware Private PilotPrivate Pilot Test Prep
Price$9.99 — better$14.99
Rating3.8 (139 ratings)4.3 (116 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.8% of reviews81.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings139 — better116
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#15 — better#18
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperASASporty's Pilot Shop

Customer experience

Prepware Private Pilot

All ratings138 ratings
Positive68.1%
Neutral9.4%
Negative22.5%
Written reviews74 reviews
Positive60.8%
Neutral16.2%
Negative23.0%

Private Pilot Test Prep

All ratings115 ratings
Positive82.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative13.0%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative12.1%

User reviews

Prepware Private Pilot

From 139 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

Private Pilot Test Prep

From 116 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✅ Excellent for exam prep
  • 💯 Questions are verbatim/similar
  • 💡 Affordable and valuable
  • 👍 Easy to use and navigate
  • 📚 Good explanations

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Some questions outdated/inaccurate
  • 📉 Not all questions match real exam
  • 😵 Repeat questions in test mode
  • 📱 Difficult to use on small screens
  • 🤔 Explanations not always perfect

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

Private Pilot Test Prep

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes in test mode
  • Progress not saved on phone
  • Blackout bug when viewing figures or rotating screen
  • Crashes after deleting test sessions
  • Not updated for iPhone X
Show 1 more
  • Save function issues

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to save flagged questions across sessions
  • Randomized questions in test mode
  • Improved cross-device progress syncing (iCloud)
  • Interactive map features for practice
  • Search functionality for specific questions
Show 4 more
  • Dark mode option
  • Compatibility with iPhone X
  • More sample test questions from FAA
  • Bundle option for instrument written prep

In-app purchases

None

Prepware Private Pilot

No in-app purchases

None

Private Pilot Test Prep

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Prepware Private Pilot costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Private Pilot Test Prep free?
Private Pilot Test Prep costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or Private Pilot Test Prep?
Private Pilot Test Prep is rated higher. Prepware Private Pilot averages 3.8 out of 5 from 139 ratings, while Private Pilot Test Prep averages 4.3 from 116 ratings.
Do Prepware Private Pilot or Private Pilot Test Prep have ads?
Neither Prepware Private Pilot nor Private Pilot Test Prep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or Private Pilot Test Prep?
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, and Private Pilot Test Prep every 5 months. Most recently, Prepware Private Pilot was updated on November 4, 2026 and Private Pilot Test Prep on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Prepware Private Pilot or Private Pilot Test Prep?
Prepware Private Pilot currently peaks at #15 in the App Store charts, and Private Pilot Test Prep at #18. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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