CheckPrep vs PocketDPE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CheckPrep
Prepare for your pilot checkride oral exams with this app. It's structured around the FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS) and includes searchable regulations, adaptive quizzes, and real-world scenario trainers. Track your progress and know when you're ready.
- FAA ACS structured study
- Searchable FAR, AIM, and FAA documents
- Offline study and bookmarking
- Adaptive flashcards and quizzes
- METAR, TAF, and PIREP interpretation
- ATC clearance trainers
- Progress tracking (0-100%)
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Purpose-built for pilots who refuse to leave their checkride to chance. CheckPrep is a checkride oral prep app for the Private, Instrument, Commercial and Commercial Multi Add-On practical tests, built around the FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS), the exact framework your DPE uses to evaluate you. This is not written test prep. This is oral prep. STUDY THE WAY YOUR DPE TESTS YOU Every question, answer and reference is organized by ACS Area of Operation and Task, the same structure your examiner follows. Every card maps to an ACS task, so every minute of study maps to your oral exam. THE FAA LIBRARY, FREE FOR EVERY USER Full FAR, AIM, Advisory Circulars, the ACS documents themselves, FAA letters of interpretation, InFOs and the FAA handbooks: PHAK, AFH, Instrument Flying, Instrument Procedures, Aviation Weather, Risk Management, Weight & Balance, Chart Users' Guide and the AMT handbooks. Tap a citation on a study card to open the exact paragraph, page or ACS element. Bookmark passages, search by keyword, read offline after download. AIM paragraphs also open on the FAA website, so you never have to wonder whether it is current. KNOW WHEN YOU'RE READY Mastery is tracked from 0 to 100% for every ACS task. Flash cards and multiple-choice quizzes are built from the same cards. Switch on the Needs Review filter to limit a session to the cards you still miss and leave the mastered ones out. When every task reads 100%, you know where you stand before the examiner does. DECODE REAL-WORLD WEATHER METAR, TAF and PIREP decoding practice with live data from aviationweather.gov. Included free. TRAIN YOUR EAR Departure (CRAFT) and approach (P-TAC) clearance trainers read the clearance aloud. You give the readback by voice. Beta, included with the Instrument guide. BUILT FOR YOUR CERTIFICATE Start with the free Private Pilot Sample: four complete ACS tasks with flash cards, quizzes and tappable citations. The full Private, Instrument, Commercial and Commercial Multi Add-On guides are one-time purchases, no subscription. Aircraft-specific add-on guides for the Cessna 172SP, Cirrus SR20 G7, Cirrus SR22 G6 and Diamond DA42 NG, each cited to the aircraft's own POH, AFM and PIM. Six themes. Offline-first. Study history and bookmarks sync across your devices through iCloud. Lightweight. No ads. No account required. No tracking. Walk into the oral knowing you have worked every ACS task. That is what CheckPrep is for. CheckPrep is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the FAA. All regulatory content comes from official FAA publications.
PocketDPE
Practice your aviation checkride oral exam with an AI examiner. Engage in realistic, back-and-forth conversations to build confidence and identify areas for improvement before your real test.
- AI voice checkride examiner
- Real-time conversational practice
- ACS-aligned questions
- Instant feedback and debrief
- Available 24/7
- Focus on oral exam preparation
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Your checkride oral is the part everyone dreads. PocketDPE lets you practice it as many times as you want—out loud, in a real back-and-forth conversation—so you walk in confident instead of guessing. Speak your answers to an AI Designated Pilot Examiner who questions you the way a real DPE does: scenario-based, with follow-ups, one question at a time, all mapped to the FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS). No typing. No scheduling. No judgment. Just unlimited reps whenever you have ten minutes. MEET YOUR EXAMINERS Three examiners, three different orals. Emma asks the questions every applicant should know cold, area by area, and teaches when you're stuck. Mike is the poker-faced professional most DPEs actually are—a normal checkride, graded straight. Cornelius is the burnt-out examiner from hell, and he is genuinely harder: hardest question first, none of the easy ones, and he pushes into the exceptions and what-ifs most applicants have never been asked. Same ACS areas and the same standards for all three—what changes is the questions. WHY PILOTS USE POCKETDPE - Voice-first — answer out loud, exactly like the real oral - ACS-aligned — every question maps to the standards your DPE uses - Scan your written — photograph your knowledge test report and your orals weight the areas you missed - Charts and plates — sectionals, approach plates and performance tables, right in the conversation - Show me the FAR — pull the regulation on screen mid-question, the way an open-book oral works - Readiness Score — a straight answer to "am I ready?", built from what you actually demonstrated - Instant debrief — where you were solid, where you were shaky, what to study before test day - Flashcards with spaced repetition tuned to your weak areas - Available 24/7 — practice at 5am or the night before, no appointment HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick your certificate — Private, Instrument or Commercial 2. Choose your examiner and start a full practice oral or a single-topic drill 3. Answer in your own words, out loud 4. Get an instant debrief on what to review before test day WHO IT'S FOR Student pilots prepping for a Private, Instrument, or Commercial checkride—and anyone who wants to rehearse the oral until it feels routine. IMPORTANT PocketDPE is a self-study practice tool. It is not flight instruction, ground training, or an FAA-approved training program, and it does not replace your CFI. AI-generated answers can contain errors—always verify with your instructor and official FAA publications (ACS, FAR/AIM, PHAK, AFH). Cornelius uses strong language; a one-time confirmation is required before his sessions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://calm-kindness-production-bc67.up.railway.app/privacy
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CheckPrep at 5.0 against PocketDPE's 4.5. CheckPrep also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs weekly). PocketDPE's advantage is ratings volume (24 vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.2). On price, 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
Both are free to download. CheckPrep sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and PocketDPE sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
CheckPrep holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PocketDPE has 24 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
CheckPrep ships an update every 4 days, PocketDPE weekly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | CheckPrep | PocketDPE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.5 (24 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 24 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Robert Rousey | London Moren |
Customer experience
CheckPrep
PocketDPE
In-app purchases
CheckPrep
- Cessna 172SP Content$4.99
- Cirrus SR20 G7+ Content$4.99
- Diamond DA42 NG Content$4.99
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- Cirrus SR22 G6 Content$4.99
- Commercial Multi Add-On Package$19.99
- Commercial Package$19.99
- Instrument Package$19.99
- Private Pilot Package$19.99
PocketDPE
- Pro Weekly$19.997 Days
- Pro Monthly$39.991 Month
- Pro Annual7 Days trial$129.991 Year
Questions
Is CheckPrep free?
Is PocketDPE free?
Which has better reviews, CheckPrep or PocketDPE?
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Which is updated more often, CheckPrep or PocketDPE?
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