Comparison

CDL Permit Prep vs Ready CDL Prep

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CDL Permit Prep

Prepare for your Class A commercial driver's license permit exam with practice questions directly from official state manuals. Study offline, track your progress with a readiness ring, and take simulated mock exams to ensure you're DMV-ready.

Highlights
  • State-specific practice questions
  • Offline study mode
  • Mock exam simulation
  • Weak areas drilling
  • Progress tracking
  • Daily streak tracker
Features
Read full description

CDL Prep by TransTech is a free study app for the Class A commercial driver's license permit exam. Built by a real truck-driving school, every practice question is sourced directly from the official state CDL manuals — not generic boilerplate. WHY THIS APP • Free, no ads, no in-app purchases. • Built by TransTech, Inc. — a CDL school operating across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia. • Practice questions sourced from each state's official CDL manual and reviewed before publication. • Works offline — download your state's pack once and study anywhere. WHAT YOU CAN STUDY Class A core (required for the permit): • General Knowledge • Air Brakes • Combination Vehicles Endorsements (optional — add the ones you plan to take): • Hazardous Materials (H) • Tanker (N) • Doubles / Triples (T) • Passenger (P) HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick your state — NC, SC, GA, or VA. 2. Read the study guide for each section. 3. Practice with quick 10-question quizzes. 4. When you feel ready, take a 50-question, 50-minute mock exam that simulates the real DMV test. 5. Track your progress with a Readiness ring. Hit 80% and you're DMV-ready. FEATURES • ~180 state-specific questions per state • Mock exam mode — 50 questions, 50 minutes, DMV-style • Weak Areas drilling — re-quiz only the questions you've missed • Daily streak tracker and study-time goals • Earn badges as you progress • "Report this question" — flag anything that looks wrong, we review every report • Find your nearest TransTech location with one tap on the Contact tab WHO THIS IS FOR Anyone studying for a Class A CDL permit in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, or Virginia. Coverage in additional states is on the roadmap. ABOUT TRANSTECH TransTech, Inc. is a commercial driver training school with locations across the Southeast. We've trained thousands of new drivers and we built this app because the existing free options weren't good enough for our own students. If you're considering a career in trucking and want to talk to a real advisor, you can request a callback from inside the app. DISCLAIMER This app is a study aid. It does not replace your state's official CDL manual, and passing the practice quizzes does not guarantee passing the actual DMV exam. Always verify requirements with your state's DMV. Users must be 18 or older.

About

Ready CDL Prep

Prepare for your Commercial Driver's License (CDL) knowledge test with practice questions sourced directly from official state handbooks. This app provides detailed explanations for each answer, tracks your progress, and offers an exam simulator to gauge your readiness.

Highlights
  • State-specific practice questions
  • Source citation for every answer
  • AI-powered explanations
  • Readiness score estimation
  • Exam simulator
  • Offline study mode
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Pass your CDL knowledge test on the first try — and know you are ready before you book it. All 1,495 practice questions here are written from official state CDL handbooks, and every answer names the handbook section it came from. WHY THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT • Every answer cites its source. Miss a question and you get why your choice was wrong, why the right one is right, and the exact handbook section — so you can go check it yourself. • Your state's answer, not a generic one. State handbooks disagree with each other: the low air pressure warning is 55 psi in some manuals and 60 psi in others. We track 105 of these differences per state instead of shipping one national question bank. • A readiness score that will not flatter you. It weighs how much material you have covered, your accuracy, how consistent you are and how recent your practice is — then estimates your chance of passing. Five right in a row does not make it move much, because it should not. EVERY SUBJECT, EVERY ENDORSEMENT • General Knowledge — required for every applicant • Air Brakes — the section most applicants fail first • Combination Vehicles — Class A tractor-trailer • Pre-Trip Inspection — what the examiner wants pointed at, in order • HazMat (H) — placarding, shipping papers, the segregation table • Tank Vehicles (N) — surge, baffles, outage • Passenger Transport (P) — loading, standee line, emergency exits • School Bus (S) — danger zones, loading, railroad crossings • Doubles & Triples (T) — coupling order, converter dollies, trailer sway Class A, Class B, Class C and commercial learner's permit (CLP), for all 50 states and DC. STUDY THE WAY THE TEST WORKS • Practice by subject with the explanation right there • Exam Simulator that matches the real test's length and pass mark • Timed Drill for exam-day pacing • Daily Study — five questions rebuilt from what you keep missing • Missed Questions and bookmarks, so nothing you missed disappears • Flashcards for quick drills between sessions • Handbook Mode to read straight through, questions and answers together AI COACH Miss a question and the AI Coach explains it in plain language — why your answer was wrong, why the right one is right, and where the handbook says so. Ask a follow-up in your own words and it answers. Tap for a real-world example, something you would meet at a scale house or on a pre-trip. Tap again for a quick check on the same topic to see if it stuck. BUILT FOR LIFE ON THE ROAD • The question bank lives on your device. Study in the sleeper, in the yard, or anywhere with no signal. • Daily reminders at a time you choose • Progress synced across your devices • App interface in English or Spanish FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL UPGRADE 888 questions across the four core subjects are free — no account, no card. So are the explanations, Daily Study, flashcards, progress and offline study. Free accounts also get five AI explanations a day. GO PRO Pro adds the Exam Simulator, Timed Drill, every state variation, all five endorsement banks — 1,495 questions in total — and unlimited AI explanations. Pro Monthly — $19.99 per month Pro Annual — $59.99 per year Pro Lifetime — $79.99, one payment Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase and never renews. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://readycdl.ai/privacy-policy DISCLAIMER Ready CDL Prep is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the FMCSA, any state Department of Motor Vehicles, or any government agency. All practice questions are original content written from publicly available state CDL handbooks. They are not actual exam questions.

Screenshots

CDL Permit Prep3 screens
Ready CDL Prep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CDL Permit Prep at none against Ready CDL Prep's 3. CDL Permit Prep also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

Both are free to download. Ready CDL Prep sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. CDL Permit Prep asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for CDL Permit Prep against 5.0 for Ready CDL Prep. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
CDL Permit Prep versus Ready CDL Prep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCDL Permit PrepReady CDL Prep
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTranstechTrucker Path Inc.

Customer experience

CDL Permit Prep

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Ready CDL Prep

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CDL Permit Prep

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Ready CDL Prep

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro Access3 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Annual Pro Access3 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pass$79.99

Questions

Is CDL Permit Prep free?
CDL Permit Prep is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ready CDL Prep free?
Ready CDL Prep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, CDL Permit Prep or Ready CDL Prep?
CDL Permit Prep and Ready CDL Prep are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do CDL Permit Prep or Ready CDL Prep have ads?
Neither CDL Permit Prep nor Ready CDL Prep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CDL Permit Prep or Ready CDL Prep?
CDL Permit Prep ships an update every 5 days, and Ready CDL Prep every 5 days. Most recently, CDL Permit Prep was updated on October 1, 2026 and Ready CDL Prep on September 29, 2026.

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