Prepware Private Pilot vs VOR Simulator Pro
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.
VOR Simulator Pro
Master radio navigation with this VOR simulator. Practice realistic dual VOR positioning and authentic navigation features like To/From indicators and Cone of Confusion effects. Ideal for pilots and aviation enthusiasts to hone skills on the ground.
- Dual VOR positioning practice
- To/From indicators
- Cone of Confusion effects
- Radial interception
- HSI or CDI displays
- Three aircraft models
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Master radio navigation with this comprehensive VOR simulator. Perfect for pilots and aviation enthusiasts wanting to practice VOR skills on the ground. Practice realistic dual VOR positioning to fix your location on the map. Experience authentic navigation features including To/From indicators, Cone of Confusion effects, and radial interception. Choose between HSI or CDI displays and toggle between three detailed aircraft: King Air, Cessna 172, or Piper Cherokee. This simulator reproduces VOR signal behavior, needle deflection, and station passage, allowing you to develop and maintain your navigation proficiency anywhere, anytime - no actual aircraft required. Great for students working on their private pilot or instrument rating.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: VOR Simulator Pro at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. VOR Simulator Pro also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (100% vs 61%). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is chart position (#9 vs unranked) and ratings volume (138 vs 19). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
VOR Simulator Pro 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.
VOR Simulator Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prepware Private Pilot has 138 ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Prepware Private Pilot's written reviews are positive against 100% of VOR Simulator Pro's.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, VOR Simulator Pro every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | VOR Simulator Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (138 ratings) | 4.6 (19 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 138 — better | 19 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #9 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 169 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | Pilot Institute |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
VOR Simulator Pro
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
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
VOR Simulator Pro
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
VOR Simulator Pro
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Is VOR Simulator Pro free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or VOR Simulator Pro?
Do Prepware Private Pilot or VOR Simulator Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or VOR Simulator Pro?
Other comparisons
