Prepware Private Pilot vs CogPilot
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.
CogPilot
Prepare for FAA medical certification tests with realistic simulations of cognitive assessment modules. Reduce test anxiety by familiarizing yourself with computer-based testing mechanics and track your progress with in-depth analytics.
- Realistic cognitive assessment module simulations
- Adaptive difficulty scaling
- Pilot-normed scoring
- In-depth analytics and progress tracking
- Educational resources on cognitive domains and flight safety
- Sync training history across devices
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CogPilot is the official iOS companion app for PilotPrep — the CogScreen AE training platform at faacogscreen.com used by pilots and aspiring pilots to prepare for FAA HIMS evaluations and CogScreen-AE medical certification tests. REDUCE TEST ANXIETY Many pilots find that unfamiliarity with computer-based testing mechanics is the leading cause of stress during medical evaluations. CogPilot bridges that gap by providing a realistic training environment that mirrors FAA guidance and industry research for aviation cognitive assessment standards on your iPhone or iPad. CORE FEATURES 13 High-Fidelity Modules: Replications of Math, Backward Digit Span, Pathfinder (Trail Making), Shifting Attention, and more. Adaptive Difficulty: Experience real-time difficulty scaling that mimics standard clinical protocols. Pilot-Normed Scoring: Compare your performance against established pilot population datasets. In-Depth Analytics: Track your Cognitive Proficiency Index and visualize progress over time. WHO IT IS FOR Student pilots preparing for initial evaluations. Commercial pilots returning to flight status via Special Issuance. Anyone looking to maintain high-level cognitive fitness in an aviation context. SUBSCRIBER ACCESS CogPilot is a free companion app for existing PilotPrep subscribers. Log in with your faacogscreen.com account to sync your training history, analytics, and "Coach's Corner" prescriptions across all devices. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT Access our definitive "Pilot's Guide to CogScreen" and educational resources explaining how cognitive domains like multi-tasking and spatial awareness relate to flight safety. Disclaimer: CogPilot is an educational training tool. It may not be used for clinical or medical testing. Performance on this app does not guarantee medical certification results. This app is developed using public information and research and there no affiliation or endorsement from FAA and the publisher of CogScreen AE test.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CogPilot at Free against Prepware Private Pilot's $9.99. CogPilot also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months). Prepware Private Pilot's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (137 vs 2). 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
CogPilot 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 holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prepware Private Pilot has 137 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Prepware Private Pilot ships an update every 4 months, CogPilot every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Prepware Private Pilot | CogPilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (137 ratings) — better | 1.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 137 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #25 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | ASA | Siva Darivemula |
Customer experience
Prepware Private Pilot
CogPilot
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
CogPilot
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Prepware Private Pilot
No in-app purchases
CogPilot
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Prepware Private Pilot free?
Is CogPilot free?
Which has better reviews, Prepware Private Pilot or CogPilot?
Do Prepware Private Pilot or CogPilot have ads?
Which is updated more often, Prepware Private Pilot or CogPilot?
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