Pathway Degree Planner vs CourseTrees
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pathway Degree Planner
This app helps college students plan their academic journey by visualizing degree requirements, course schedules, and progress towards graduation. It allows users to map out semesters, track credits, and identify potential issues before registration.
- Map out semesters to graduation
- Add courses from school catalogs
- Track credits and requirement coverage
- Identify overloaded semesters
- See which requirements courses satisfy
- Record completed courses and grades
- Track GPA
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College gives you plenty to think about. Figuring out which class counts for which requirement shouldn’t be one more mystery. Pathway turns your degree requirements, prerequisites, credits, and semesters into one clear plan. See your entire road to graduation without maintaining a heroic collection of spreadsheets and browser tabs. BUILD A PLAN THAT MAKES SENSE • Map out every semester from now through graduation • Add courses from your school’s supported catalog • See credits, prerequisites, and requirement coverage as you plan • Find overloaded semesters and prerequisite problems before registration • Adjust your timeline whenever college refuses to go exactly according to plan SEE WHERE EVERY COURSE COUNTS No more staring at a course description and wondering, “Does this actually help me graduate?” Pathway shows which requirements a course may satisfy, updates your degree progress as your plan changes, and makes remaining gaps easy to find. • Track total credits, general education requirements, majors, and minors • Review progress requirement by requirement • Record completed courses and grades • Track your GPA using your school’s supported grading scale • Record approved exam, transfer, and other outside credit BUILT AROUND YOUR SCHOOL Pathway uses catalog information from supported colleges and universities instead of forcing every student into the same generic template. School and catalog-year coverage varies and continues to grow. Not ready to enter your own degree yet? Explore the built-in demo university first and see how everything works. DO MORE WITH PATHWAY+ Pathway+ is an optional upgrade offered as a monthly or annual subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Pathway+ includes: • Schedule Optimizer - add possible sections, work commitments, and priorities, then generate a conflict-free schedule that fits them • What-if plans and Compare - explore possibilities like graduating early, adding a minor, or studying abroad without changing your main plan • Private AI planning help - ask questions about your plan and receive on-device suggestions on supported devices; Pathway does not send your plan to an external AI service • Smart checks - scan for sequencing risks, heavy semesters, and easy-to-miss gaps • GPA forecasting • Advisor-ready exports • Unlimited what-if plans • Course color tags YOUR PLAN IS YOURS Pathway does not require a Pathway account. Your information is stored on your devices, synced through your personal iCloud account, and when chosen, shared for data improvement purposes only. No advertising. No sale of your personal data. No cross-app tracking. A QUICK ACADEMIC NOTE Pathway is an independent planning tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official service of any college or university. Catalogs, degree requirements, prerequisites, transfer equivalencies, course availability, and institutional policies can change. Pathway does not replace your institution’s official degree audit, registrar records, or academic advising. Always confirm important academic and graduation decisions with your college or university. Supported schools, catalog years, courses, requirements, and features may vary. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Pathway offers auto-renewing monthly and annual Pathway+ subscriptions, as well as a separate one-time lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when the purchase is confirmed. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your Apple Account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before that period ends. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Prices may vary by country or region. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://pathwaydegreeplanner.com/privacy.html
CourseTrees
Visualize university course catalogs as interactive graphs. Easily see course prerequisites, plan academic paths, and explore what each course unlocks. Supports 156 universities, simplifying semester planning.
- Interactive course graph
- Visualize prerequisites
- Plan academic routes
- Explore course unlocks
- Supports 156 universities
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CourseTrees turns a university's course catalog into one interactive graph. Every course is a node, every prerequisite is an edge. From there, you can see what a course unlocks, trace a route to a course you want to take, and plan a few semesters out without reading the catalog cover to cover. 156 universities are on it today.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CourseTrees at none against Pathway Degree Planner's 3. Pathway Degree Planner's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and iOS requirement 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. Pathway Degree Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. CourseTrees asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Pathway Degree Planner against 5.0 for CourseTrees. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pathway Degree Planner has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | Pathway Degree Planner | CourseTrees |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zane Aloia | NOAH BAER FINKELSTEIN |
Customer experience
Pathway Degree Planner
CourseTrees
In-app purchases
Pathway Degree Planner
- Pathway+ (Monthly)$1.991 Month
- Pathway+ (Yearly)$9.991 Year
- Pathway+$19.99
CourseTrees
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pathway Degree Planner free?
Is CourseTrees free?
Which has better reviews, Pathway Degree Planner or CourseTrees?
Do Pathway Degree Planner or CourseTrees have ads?
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