Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

NCSA Athletic Recruiting vs MaxPreps

NCSA Athletic Recruiting 2.8★ · Free to download 25
Winner MaxPreps
MaxPreps 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75

MaxPreps is the clear winner for high school sports information and tracking, offering extensive data and community features, while NCSA Athletic Recruiting struggles with app functionality and user trust regarding its paid services.

Full reviews: NCSA Athletic Recruiting · MaxPreps

MaxPreps excels as a comprehensive platform for high school sports, providing detailed stats, scores, and team information, despite some app glitches and ad complaints. NCSA Athletic Recruiting, however, faces significant issues with app usability, login problems, and widespread accusations of being a scam due to its high-pressure sales tactics for expensive, unhelpful services.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: MaxPrepsR8R14R23R29
NCSA Athletic Recruiting NCSA Athletic Recruiting aims to connect athletes with college coaches, offering tools to search, research, and communicate with coaches, and providing checklists for recruitment R8R14. Users appreciate getting matched with schools and receiving emails from colleges they might not have found otherwise R8R23. However, some users report that the app doesn't support multiple sports on a single profile, which is inconvenient for multi-sport athletes R29.
MaxPreps MaxPreps is highly informational, offering stats, standings, and quick updates for every school in every state . Users enjoy tracking their favorite athletes and teams . However, there are requests for more sports like dance and the ability to follow more than 16 teams . Some users also report issues with submitting scores for certain sports like baseball and soccer .
Ease of Use & Reliability edge: MaxPrepsR3R6R9R12
NCSA Athletic Recruiting NCSA Athletic Recruiting users frequently report severe login issues, with the app saying emails are already taken or not recognized, or simply failing to log in R3R6R13R16. The app is described as slow, clunky, and inefficient, not working as smoothly as the website R9. Users experience glitches like being unable to scroll, upload content, update profile pictures, or having notifications that won't disappear R9R12. Some screens show incorrect information or get stuck .
MaxPreps MaxPreps is generally intuitive and user-friendly, but recent updates have introduced issues . Users report frequent glitches, error messages (e.g., 406 not responding, 404 messages), and crashes, especially when trying to add teams, view stats, or submit scores . There are also complaints about incorrect scores being posted and then changed . Some users find the app slow .
Price & Value edge: MaxPrepsR28R36R37R38
NCSA Athletic Recruiting NCSA Athletic Recruiting is widely criticized for being a scam and a waste of money R28R36R37R38. Users report being pressured into paying large sums, like $200, $103 a month, or $2500 for 'premium' packages, only to receive generic information, spam, or no personalized help R37R38. Many feel they could achieve the same results independently R55. Some users had their free access revoked after declining paid services R53.
MaxPreps MaxPreps is free to download, but users complain about the number of ads, which can be intrusive and cover much of the screen, making the app difficult to use R75R94R101R102. There are also complaints that certain features, like watching live games or favoriting teams, require a subscription or in-app purchases R61R82. Some users feel they are paying for a subscription only to be redirected to another service like NFHS R61.
Support & Account Management edge: MaxPrepsR1R3R6R13
NCSA Athletic Recruiting NCSA Athletic Recruiting users report extreme difficulty with account management, including being unable to delete accounts despite multiple requests R1. Many struggle to create accounts, encountering errors or being told their email is already in use R6R13R16. Customer service is described as unresponsive or unhelpful, with users waiting for chats or calls without resolution R3R16. Some users also report aggressive or condescending interactions with NCSA staff R53.
MaxPreps MaxPreps users report issues with support, stating that developers do not respond to reported issues or emails . There are complaints about not being able to unfollow teams or remove scorers . Users also struggle with account creation, encountering errors when trying to sign up . Alerts are sometimes sent at inconvenient times, like 4:30 AM .
Pick NCSA Athletic Recruiting if

You are new to recruitment and believe the NCSA platform can help you contact coaches and get matched with schools, and you are prepared to navigate its technical issues and potential costs R8R14.

Pick MaxPreps if

You want a comprehensive, generally reliable app to track high school sports scores, stats, and schedules for multiple teams and athletes, and you are willing to tolerate ads and occasional glitches .

Evidence note: NCSA Athletic Recruiting has a significantly lower lifetime rating and a large number of recent negative reviews focusing on app functionality issues and accusations of being a scam. MaxPreps has a much higher lifetime rating and a larger volume of reviews, with recent negativity primarily around app glitches and ads, rather than core service value.

Frequently asked

Is NCSA Athletic Recruiting a free service?
NCSA Athletic Recruiting is free to download, but many users report that it is designed to push users into expensive paid packages, with some claiming free access was revoked after declining to pay R45R53R55.
Can I watch live games on MaxPreps?
MaxPreps offers live game viewing, but users report that a subscription is required, and even then, it often redirects to other services like NFHS instead of keeping the livestream within the MaxPreps app R61R82.
Why can't I log in or create an account on NCSA Athletic Recruiting?
Many NCSA Athletic Recruiting users experience persistent login and account creation errors, with the app frequently stating that emails are already taken, or displaying generic 'something went wrong' messages, often requiring calls to support R3R6R13R16.
Are there too many ads in the MaxPreps app?
Yes, many MaxPreps users complain about an excessive number of intrusive ads, including full-screen pop-ups and banners that cover a significant portion of the screen, making the app cluttered and difficult to navigate R75R94R101R102.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R8] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 4/5 · US Expensive, but worth it.: If you are new to recruitment, this is defiantly the right app for you. You can literally contact any coach through this, and if you don’t answer you on here it has there contacts for other social media. You send your highlight to NCSA and they will match you up with schools that fit you and your level. I played D3 because I chose that path, but it matched me with D1 scho
  2. [R14] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 4/5 · US Game changer!: Using the checklists that they provide, NCSA is the perfect tool to search for, research, and communicate with college coaches. The app would set itself above everyone is they allowed the ability to use your email templates from your app instead of having to log onto a computer to do it.
  3. [R23] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 5/5 · US Very promising so far!!!: Ive gotten emails from a couple d II and DIII school that i wouldn’t have ever gotten if i didn’t have this app so grateful!! only thing is that i’m too young for my ACT or my SAT so i technically can’t type anything and it’s ruining my completion
  4. [R29] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 4/5 · US Good app for 1 sport athletes: I am a three sport athlete but on NCSA it makes me pick one sport I wish I could get college coaches from different sports to look at me without making a second account. If anyone knows something I don’t, tell me.
  5. [R3] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 3/5 · US please fix login: app works pretty good, the login process is just really flawed. I cant even get into the app and its very inconveniet that I have to call someone to actually fix it.
  6. [R6] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 3/5 · US Idkkk: It’s so hard to create a account it says the email is already taken but I’ve never used it
  7. [R9] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 3/5 · US Not User Friendly: This is nice to have on your phone because it is easier to access without going on the website or going on your computer. The app is a little inefficient. It doesn’t work as smoothly as the website on a computer or laptop. There are also times where I can't scroll down all the way and click things that I want to. Basically I use this app to see when I have a notification but oth
  8. [R12] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 3/5 · US Notifications won’t disappear: Are y’all aware that since the last update, notifications simply accumulate regardless of reviewing them in the app? Kind of annoying. Can you please fix this?
  9. [R28] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Sucks: It’s all a scam
  10. [R36] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Scam: The first few days of you using it it’s pretty good you get emails from the site trying to get you to like go on phone calls, but once you get on the phone call and you’re actually like get into a conversation all they want is your money and don’t help you in the slightest bit. don’t fall for this. There’s better ways for you and your athlete.
  11. [R37] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US terrible site: went to a team camp one day after the sign up process i saw something for NCSA checked a box not knowing what it was. shortly after the team camp i got multiple emails telling me about this program. after persuading my parents to pay almost over 200$ . they have not helped one bit . all of the zoom meetings are the same information . they do not care about type personally . and they
  12. [R38] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US ts a scam: did not do nothing whatsoever paid 103 a month for nothing
  13. [R1] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 2/5 · US Won’t delete my account: I’ve wrote several deactivation requests and they still won’t delete my account
  14. [R13] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️: Doesn’t let you create your account on the app!
  15. [R45] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Free version but made to pay: Last year when I went to a basketball camp I was told to come use this app/ website and I was doing it I got a call by the guy and he wanted me to pay like 2500 a month and all that and I told my athletic director about it and he had told me about this app has a free version when I told the guy about it he double down and said I had to pay and gave me a discount to ma
  16. [R53] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Negative Experience: We created a profile on the app and then when we wouldn’t agree to a paid version the specialist was extremely condescending & took away access to the free version for us.
  17. [R55] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Don’t waste your money: They claim that the app is free until they get you on a call, where then you’re almost forced to pay crazy amounts of money. It is just as easy to contact coaches without paying a single penny without any help. All you have to do is network yourself through email and X and you will most likely get better results that way rather than put your faith in another company. Bet on
  18. [R61] MaxPreps 2/5 · US Great until subscribed: The app works good, however, a subscription to watch live games only ever takes me to NFHS when I click “Live.” What am I paying for on maxpreps if it redirects me to NFHS? Why can’t it keep the livestream on maxpreps, or let me watch on NFHS since I am subscribed to maxpreps.
  19. [R82] MaxPreps 1/5 · US EXPENSIVE: This app costs money to favorite a team🤯they should just let us do it for free and to watch a game it also costs money, can they just let us watch it for free
  20. [R16] NCSA Athletic Recruiting 1/5 · US Doesn’t work can’t sign in error every time: Every time i try to sign in it just says error and i waited on there website for someone to chat with about it no one said anything
  21. [R75] MaxPreps 3/5 · US E6: Decent app but lots of error 406 messages. I understand you need to play the bills, but all the ads & banners fill up 3/4 of the page from top to bottom and there’s very little space to see info, read articles and view stats. Also, the frequent mandatory pop-up ads are so 2002, they’re worse than an infield fly rule…and the new extra-innings rule to start the inning with a runner on 2nd.
  22. [R94] MaxPreps 1/5 · US Worst app ever: Using on an iPad, this is my least favorite app. Obtrusive ads take up the whole screen. You close one ad and another pops up 10 seconds later. Curious if anyone who works at MaxPreps actually uses their own app and doesn’t get frustrated doing so.
  23. [R101] MaxPreps 4/5 · US I like this app a lot, but the commercials are out of control.: I use this app a lot to check my high schools stats and when thier games are so I can go watch them, homewever sometimes I like to watch the highlights of games or of player film. But the problem with this is how there are so many ads it is impossible to watch it without getting annoyed. I know that you need to be able to have ads on
  24. [R102] MaxPreps 3/5 · US Way too many ads: This app used to be great, but now 1/3 of the screen is covered in ads. I understand they need to make a profit, but Holly cow you don’t choke people with the ads.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store