Private Pilot Test Prep vs Checkride Compass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Private Pilot Test Prep
Prepare for your FAA Private Pilot knowledge test with study questions, flashcards, and practice tests. Features explanations from experienced instructors and offline access to all figures. Designed for iPhone and iPad.
- Study questions by topic
- Flashcard review mode
- Randomized practice tests
- Offline figure access
- Progress saving and history
- Explanations for answers
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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.
Checkride Compass
Prepare for your Private Pilot checkride with focused quizzes, flashcards, and real-world scenarios. This tool helps build confidence for oral exams, ACS standards, and written preparation.
- Practice quizzes
- ACS flashcards
- Checkride-style scenarios
- Focused study experience
- Build confidence
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Checkride Compass helps student pilots prepare for their Private Pilot checkride with focused quizzes, flashcards, and real-world scenarios based on FAA ACS standards. Features: • Practice quizzes • ACS flashcards • Checkride-style scenarios • Focused study experience Build confidence and stay on course for your oral, ACS, and written prep. Disclaimer: Checkride Compass is an independent educational study tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FAA.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Checkride Compass at Free against Private Pilot Test Prep's $14.99. Checkride Compass also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 months). Private Pilot Test Prep's advantage is ratings volume (116 vs 8) and chart position (#21 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Checkride Compass is free to download; Private Pilot Test Prep costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Checkride Compass holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Private Pilot Test Prep has 116 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Private Pilot Test Prep's written reviews are positive against 100% of Checkride Compass's.
Private Pilot Test Prep ships an update every 5 months, Checkride Compass every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Private Pilot Test Prep | Checkride Compass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (116 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 116 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #21 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sporty's Pilot Shop | Jainik Parekh |
Customer experience
Private Pilot Test Prep
Checkride Compass
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- Dark mode option
- Compatibility with iPhone X
- More sample test questions from FAA
- Bundle option for instrument written prep
Checkride Compass
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Private Pilot Test Prep
No in-app purchases
Checkride Compass
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Private Pilot Test Prep free?
Is Checkride Compass free?
Which has better reviews, Private Pilot Test Prep or Checkride Compass?
Do Private Pilot Test Prep or Checkride Compass have ads?
Which is updated more often, Private Pilot Test Prep or Checkride Compass?
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