Comparison

Prepware Instrument Pilot vs Instrument 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 Instrument Pilot

Prepare for your FAA Knowledge Exam with flashcard-style reviews and practice tests. Study by subject or take a full practice exam to gauge your readiness.

Highlights
  • Flashcard-style review
  • Questions, answers, and explanations
  • Study by subject
  • Practice test simulation
  • FAA Knowledge Exam preparation
Features
Currently charting
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

Instrument Test Prep

Prepare for your FAA Instrument Rating Knowledge Test with a comprehensive question bank and detailed explanations. Customize study sessions, take simulated exams, and track your progress. An optional upgrade unlocks full ground school lessons and advanced features.

Highlights
  • Over 900 FAA questions with explanations
  • Customizable study sessions
  • Simulated FAA exams
  • Review missed questions
  • Track progress across devices
  • Study resources library
Read full description

Over 900 FAA questions and explanations to help prepare for the FAA Instrument Rating Knowledge Test. Upgrade to the complete ground school course to unlock lessons, additional questions, statistics, and more (free trial available). ▸ Create custom study sessions based on topics, session size, and your overall mastery. Filters allow you to include or exclude questions that require the use of figures or an E6B. Some advanced filtering options require Premium Test Prep or Ground School upgrade. ▸ View most often missed FAA questions across all FlightReady users (requires Premium Test Prep or Ground School upgrade). ▸ Quickly identify and create study sessions focusing on your weakest topic (requires Premium Test Prep or Ground School upgrade). ▸ Create practice sessions from missed questions after a completed practice or exam session. ▸ Review missed questions after a practice or exam session. ▸ Take simulated FAA exams administered under the same rules and time constraints as the actual Instrument Rating exam. Unlike other test prep apps, our exams present the correct proportion of questions from each knowledge area per the ACS. ▸ Sync your data and course progress across on all of your iOS devices (requires Premium Test Prep or Ground School upgrade). ▸ Access a library of study resources for the Instrument Rating - Airplane ▸ Question bank covers all areas of the FAA Instrument Rating Airman Certification Standards to ensure thorough preparation for the knowledge test. ▸ Detailed explanations and references for all questions, including the text of the regulation where applicable.

Screenshots

Prepware Instrument Pilot4 screens
Instrument Test Prep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Instrument Test Prep at 88% against Prepware Instrument Pilot's 36%. Instrument Test Prep also leads on price (Free vs $9.99) and rating (4.9 vs 2.6). Prepware Instrument Pilot's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and chart position (#35 vs unranked). On ads 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

Instrument Test Prep is free to download; Prepware Instrument Pilot costs $9.99 up front. Instrument Test Prep sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Prepware Instrument Pilot asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Instrument Test Prep holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 152 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Prepware Instrument Pilot's written reviews are positive against 88% of Instrument Test Prep's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prepware Instrument Pilot ships an update every 4 months, Instrument Test Prep fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Prepware Instrument Pilot versus Instrument Test Prep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrepware Instrument PilotInstrument Test Prep
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating2.6 (43 ratings)4.9 (152 ratings) — better
Positive reviews35.7% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43152 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#35 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.1
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB116 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperASAAeroapps Technology

Customer experience

Prepware Instrument Pilot

All ratings43 ratings
Positive34.9%
Neutral14.0%
Negative51.2%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral20.0%
Negative44.3%

Instrument Test Prep

All ratings152 ratings
Positive98.0%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Prepware Instrument Pilot

Reported bugs

39 issues
  • Text frequently cut off
  • App cannot dynamically scale text
  • Some questions missing figures
  • Figures have nothing to do with the question
  • Correct answers no longer shown in green
Show 34 more
  • Dark mode broken
  • App crashes
  • Save feature does not work
  • Answers lost when returning to app
  • Progress lost when switching categories
  • App closes by itself
  • Loses test progress when minimized
  • Figures not displayed for questions
  • Incomplete questions
  • Questions and answers do not match
  • Questions not completely displayed
  • Can't get back to question from figure display
  • Back button disappears
  • Can't take entire test without shutting down or redownloading
  • Software reverts to quiz mode when returning to study mode
  • Explanation link missing in study mode
  • Can't go back when opening a figure
  • Answers longer than three lines are cut off
  • Figures are sometimes incomplete
  • Figures are sometimes at too low a resolution
  • No way to store previous test scores
  • No progress shown
  • Study modes stops showing correct answer
  • Practice test questions do not allow access to appropriate figure
  • Truncated answers
  • Truncated questions
  • Figures are sometimes incomplete
  • Font is hard to read and small
  • Bold indication of right or wrong is missing
  • No running tally of missed questions
  • App restarts in test mode even when last in study mode
  • Bugs causing crashes that instantly exit the application
  • Scans did not come over well, particularly weather graphics
  • Hard to see some images

Requested features

18 requests
  • Ability to focus on previously incorrect answers
  • Major update for functionality and display bugs
  • Ensure all software is up to date with FAA question banks
  • Add timer and number of questions selection
  • Ability to eliminate questions already known
Show 13 more
  • Autosave and clear progress button
  • Ability to search through questions
  • Save test results
  • Ability to uncheck material of questions not needed
  • Ability to select questions relating to chapters
  • Provide reasons for wrong answers
  • Make background red or green for visibility
  • Allow marking questions for review
  • Record wrong answers for review
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Ability to skip questions that do not apply to equipment
  • Add CX-2 to iPhone

Instrument Test Prep

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Prepware Instrument Pilot

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Instrument Test Prep

One-time4
  • Instrument Ground School TrialFree
  • Instrument Rating Test Prep$49.99
  • Upgrade to Ground School$129.99
Show 1 more
  • Instrument Ground School$179.99

Questions

Is Prepware Instrument Pilot free?
Prepware Instrument Pilot costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Instrument Test Prep free?
Instrument Test Prep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Prepware Instrument Pilot or Instrument Test Prep?
Instrument Test Prep is rated higher. Prepware Instrument Pilot averages 2.6 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Instrument Test Prep averages 4.9 from 152 ratings.
Do Prepware Instrument Pilot or Instrument Test Prep have ads?
Neither Prepware Instrument Pilot nor Instrument Test Prep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prepware Instrument Pilot or Instrument Test Prep?
Prepware Instrument Pilot ships an update every 4 months, and Instrument Test Prep fortnightly. Most recently, Prepware Instrument Pilot was updated on September 22, 2026 and Instrument Test Prep on September 24, 2026.

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