VA Ready vs Plain 38
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VA Ready
This tool helps veterans and service members manage their VA disability claims from start to finish. It allows users to track their rating, organize documents, prepare for exams, and find support resources.
- Calculate combined VA rating and estimated pay
- Organize all claim documents in one place
- Generate condition-specific folders for VA submission
- Create exportable PDFs for VSOs and examiners
- Prepare for C&P exams with guidelines and studies
- Track symptoms and claim timeline daily
- Discover potential secondary conditions and benefits
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VA Ready is the place to keep your whole VA disability claim, from first record to final decision. Built by a veteran, for veterans and service members still in uniform. KNOW YOUR RATING See your combined rating with real VA math, including the bilateral factor, and your estimated monthly pay. Each of 765 conditions carries its full 38 CFR rating criteria, so you know what the examiner measures. TDIU and SMC calculators show what each would change. KEEP YOUR CLAIM IN ONE PLACE Scan, photograph or import every document into your Claim File. Each gets a label matching the VA's document types, a date and the condition it supports, and your evidence checklist ticks itself. Files saved to the VA Ready Documents folder import on their own. On Mac, drag and drop. READY FOR VA One tap builds a dated folder for each condition: your records, signed buddy statements, symptom logs and an optional claim journal. Every file is named with the document type to pick on VA.gov, plus an upload checklist. SEND IT TO THE RIGHT PERSON The Export Center makes one clean PDF for your VSO, your C&P examiner, a doctor writing a nexus letter, or yourself. Cover page and index included. GET READY FOR YOUR C&P EXAM A C&P/DBQ Guideline for each condition, an exam questionnaire you answer in your own words, and peer-reviewed studies mapped to your diagnostic codes, all exportable to PDF. TRACK IT OVER TIME A daily Symptom Tracker builds the frequency and severity record examiners look for. The Claim Journal keeps a dated timeline of every call, letter and decision. FIND WHAT YOU MAY BE MISSING Claim Intel shows the conditions commonly claimed for your MOS, AFSC or rating, plus PACT Act presumptives from the bases you served at and the aircraft you worked on. Secondary conditions commonly granted alongside yours are suggested for each claim. SEE WHAT IT WOULD TAKE What-If shows the claims your profile points to and the rating each would need to reach your next combined level. NEVER MISS A VA DATE One Upcoming list for your Intent to File expiration, VA evidence requests, decision review windows, C&P exams and VSO visits. Reminders never show your condition on the lock screen unless you choose. Print the schedule for the fridge. STILL SERVING A runway built around your separation date, a BDD screener, and a Reserve and Guard duty-status check. FIND FREE HELP Search 8,949 accredited VSO offices, read ratings from other veterans, track visits, and hand your rep a VSO Packet. BUDDY STATEMENTS DONE RIGHT A how-to guide, five templates and examples modeled on statements the Board of Veterans' Appeals credited. Export to PDF or Word. BENEFITS AND BACK PAY Federal and state benefits at your rating, the pay rate chart, and a back pay estimate from your effective date. Guides cover appeals, proposed reductions, protected ratings and more. WHAT IS INSIDE 765 conditions with full 38 CFR criteria. 2,403 peer-reviewed studies. 1,098 military job codes. 8,949 VSO offices. 827 bases and 148 aircraft mapped for exposure. 56 toxic exposures. 644 state benefit entries. 60 filing guides. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. Your claim stays on your device, backed up to your own iCloud Drive or files, documents included. iPhone, iPad and Mac. FREE No login. Your combined rating, the Claim File, the free share pages and Texas state benefits. PRO Full rating criteria, all 50 states, Claim Intel, and sharing or exporting your documents and packets. $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, auto-renewing. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at purchase and renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in Apple settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.vareadyapp.com/privacy.html VA Ready is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. Estimates are not VA decisions.
Plain 38
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Plain 38 turns VA regulations into plain English. Search Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the VA's M21-1 manual, and get an answer you can actually read. Every answer shows the section it came from, and tells you whether that section is binding law or VA internal guidance. Those are different things, and the difference matters. DECODE YOUR DECISION LETTER Paste the text of a VA decision and get it explained issue by issue. What was granted, what was denied, and the reason given for each. VA terms get defined in one plain sentence. PLAIN-ENGLISH GUIDES Written explanations of the topics that come up most: TDIU, secondary conditions, migraine ratings, nexus letters, and the three appeal options. WHAT THIS IS NOT Plain 38 is an information tool. It explains what the regulations say. It is not legal advice, not a claims service, and not affiliated with the VA. It will not tell you what to file or predict how your claim will turn out. An accredited representative can help you with those decisions, and VSO representatives do it for free. PRIVACY We do not store your searches or the letters you paste. Letters are scrubbed of personal information before they are processed, and nothing is kept afterward. FREE TO USE Five searches and two letter explanations every week, free. Optional credit packs if you need more, $1.99 or $3.99, one time, no subscription. Every answer costs real money to produce. The packs cover that. Nobody pays for claims help here, and nobody should have to pay for it anywhere. Built by a veteran who went through the claim process and got tired of reading regulations written for lawyers.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: VA Ready at #127 against Plain 38's unranked. VA Ready also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.4). On price, 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
Both are free to download. VA Ready sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Plain 38 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | VA Ready | Plain 38 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (776 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 776 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #127 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JDL Software LLC | Dakota Yelvington |
In-app purchases
VA Ready
- VA Ready Pro$4.991 Month
- VA Ready Pro Annual$39.991 Year
- Pro Lifetime$59.99
Plain 38
- Search Pack$1.99
- Search Pack Plus$3.99









