Prepware Private Pilot vs PIA Student Portal
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.
PIA Student Portal
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Access essential academic information and convenient self-service tools with the PIA Student Portal app. Stay up to date with your courses, academics, staff, and classes. Current students can log in easily to navigate through the features. Experience a seamless way to manage your academic journey.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PIA Student Portal at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 15 months) and chart position (#12 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
PIA Student Portal 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.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, PIA Student Portal every 15 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | PIA Student Portal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (139 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 60.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 139 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 15 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | #12 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) |
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
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- 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
PIA Student Portal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
PIA Student Portal
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Is PIA Student Portal free?
Do Prepware Private Pilot or PIA Student Portal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or PIA Student Portal?
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