Flight Instructor Checkride vs SAFE Toolkit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Flight Instructor Checkride
Prepare for your flight instructor certification practical exam with this comprehensive Q&A tool. It covers over 1000 likely examiner questions and provides succinct answers, drawing from FAA documents and examiner interviews. Identify knowledge gaps and build confidence for your checkride.
- Over 1000 Q&A for practical exams
- Succinct, ready responses
- Based on popular oral exam guide
- Covers all CFI certificate subjects
- Flag questions for further study
- Includes applicant practical test checklist
Read full descriptionHide full description
Using a question-and-answer format, Flight Instructor Checkride lists the questions most likely to be asked by examiners during the last step in the flight instructor certification process – the Practical Exam – and provides succinct, ready responses. Instructor applicants will find this App an indispensable tool in both planning for what to expect during the airplane checkride, and mastering the subject matter. Instructors rate them as excellent preparation for students, as well as general refresher material. This Flight Instructor Checkride app is based on the popular Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide book by Michael Hayes. It is designed for instructor applicants training for the Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Certificate. More than 1000 questions and responses ensure all the subjects a Flight Instructor candidate will be tested on during checkrides and review flights are covered. Topics include: fundamentals of instructing, technical subject areas (such as runway incursion avoidance, scanning, navigation, logbook entries and certificate endorsements, etc.), preflight preparation, preflight procedures, airport operations, takeoffs, landings and go-arounds, fundamentals of flight, performance and ground reference maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and spins, basic instrument maneuvers, emergency operations, postflight procedures. Answers and explanations were researched using FAA documents (which are identified so pilots know where to go for further study) as well as interviewing FAA examiners. Questions can be marked for further study from any subject to build your own collection of flashcards. An Applicant Practical Test Checklist and the Safety of Flight appendix from the Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-25) are also included. Compatible with iOS phones and tablets, this app teaches applicants not only what to expect, but also how to exhibit subject mastery and confidence when under the examiner’s scrutiny. It identifies candidates’ strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in their aeronautical knowledge, which increases study efficiency. App features: • More than 1000 questions are included with succinct, ready responses. • Questions from any subject can be flagged for further study into a separate group. • Includes all the questions and answers from the popular book, Flight Instructor Oral Exam Guide by Michael Hayes. • Brought to you by a trusted resource in aviation training and publishing, Aviation Supplies & Academics (ASA).
SAFE Toolkit
This app offers essential news and resources for Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs), including endorsement details, experience requirements, and test codes. It also provides flight test applicants with insights from Designated Pilot Examiners and features a weekly blog and industry news notifications for all pilots.
- CFI endorsements, experience requirements, test codes
- Flight test insights from DPEs
- Weekly SAFE blog
- Industry news push notifications
- Pilot resources
Read full descriptionHide full description
SAFE Toolkit provides "go-to" news and resources for CFIs: (endorsements, experience requirements, and test codes), but also "Checkride Ready™ for flight test applicants (the inside story from DPEs). Pilots enjoy the SAFE blog every week and push notifications of industry news. Download and stay up to date; "We are here to help! ALl we "sell" is safety!"
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SAFE Toolkit at Free against Flight Instructor Checkride's $9.99. SAFE Toolkit also leads on rating (4.2 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 7 months vs every 19 months). Flight Instructor Checkride's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (50% vs 38%). On 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
SAFE Toolkit is free to download; Flight Instructor Checkride costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SAFE Toolkit holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SAFE Toolkit has 18 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Flight Instructor Checkride's written reviews are positive against 38% of SAFE Toolkit's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Flight Instructor Checkride ships an update every 19 months, SAFE Toolkit every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Flight Instructor Checkride | SAFE Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 4.2 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 37.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 19 months | Every 7 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #187 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ASA | David St. George |
Customer experience
Flight Instructor Checkride
SAFE Toolkit
In-app purchases
Flight Instructor Checkride
No in-app purchases
SAFE Toolkit
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Flight Instructor Checkride free?
Is SAFE Toolkit free?
Which has better reviews, Flight Instructor Checkride or SAFE Toolkit?
Do Flight Instructor Checkride or SAFE Toolkit have ads?
Which is updated more often, Flight Instructor Checkride or SAFE Toolkit?
Other comparisons















