/why-gasguide
The honest comparison.
We respect the incumbents. They built the market. But they each solve one slice and haven't shipped anything new in years. Here's what we do that they don't, and why one subscription replaces four.
From the founder
I built this because I needed it.
I'm Blake Cunningham, CRNA. I went through nurse anesthesia school juggling Apex for Q-bank, a separate review course for the final push, CSPA before that for admissions prep, Picmonic for mnemonics, CE Broker for tracking, and a spreadsheet for credential renewals. Five subscriptions, $2,500 a year combined, none of them talking to each other, all of them built like 2014 ed-tech.
The Q-bank tools didn't talk to the lecture material. The mock-oral prep cost $1,500 for 5 sessions. Credential tracking required manually copying license expiration dates between 8 different state-board portals twice a year. The admissions prep tool didn't exist after I got in. And nothing — nothing — let me speak with an examiner the way you actually have to on board day.
So I built gasguide.app: one subscription that covers the whole CRNA arc. Voice-AI orals you can run at 11pm in your kitchen. A Q-bank that knows which NBCRNA subdomain you're weakest in and drills you there. A credentialing tracker that reads your license PDF and fills the form for you. Lectures with the same pitfalls + pearls a senior CRNA would quiz you on. One $20/mo subscription.
I'm a working CRNA, not a content shop or an ed-tech generalist. Every Q-bank item is hand-curated. Every lecture body is sourced from Miller's / Stoelting / Vargo / the AANA Practice Manual. No batch-AI fluff. We ship the things I wish I'd had as an SRNA.
— Blake Cunningham, CRNA
What only gasguide has
Voice-AI mock interviews + oral boards
Speak with an AI examiner. Score rubric + transcript + weakness map. NO incumbent has this.
Interactive 3D anatomy in the browser
Heart, brain, lungs, airway, spine — all spinnable, zoomable, free of installation. Built on professionally-derived (BodyParts3D) models, not AI generation.
Anatomically-correct image library
350+ peer-reviewed medical illustrations from OpenStax, Servier, Wikimedia — searchable by topic, attribution always preserved.
Surgical case library
Hand-authored anesthesia concerns + mock-defense scenarios for every major surgery — 105 cases across 15 specialty groups, growing weekly.
Crisis algorithms with related anatomy
13 crisis algorithms (MH, anaphylaxis, LAST, AFE, CVCI, and more) with full step-by-step + drugs + pitfalls + sources.
29 working calculators
ABL/EBV, MAC, Aldrete, Apgar, BMI, BSA, MAP, SVR, Bicarb deficit, O₂ cylinder, ICP/CPP, peds dosing, CO₂ absorbent, NPO times, RCRI, STOP-BANG, CHADS-VASc — all live + showing work.
AANA Practice Manual summaries
27 hand-authored summaries of high-yield AANA documents. Free.
One subscription replaces 4-5 others
Apex ($899) + Vargo ($99) + CSPA ($1,500) + a Picmonic-equivalent + a CE platform = $2,500+ to start. We're $20/mo.
Where the incumbents are strong (and weak)
Apex Anesthesia
$499–$889 (1–4 yr) + SmartBankStrengths
- +3,000+ Q-bank, well-curated
- +Allnurses-favorite for boards
- +Illustrations + video
Gaps
- −No AI
- −No voice mock interviews / orals
- −No interactive 3D
- −Static content
Valley Anesthesia
$600–$835 + $995 retakeStrengths
- +3-day live/webinar review
- +MemoryMaster cards
- +Valley Engage AI chatbot (free)
Gaps
- −Allnurses sentiment: 'no longer reflects boards'
- −Engage AI is generic ChatGPT-like
- −No mock orals
Prodigy Anesthesia
$175–$499.99 (1–4 yr)Strengths
- +5,000+ questions
- +25 simulations
- +'My Review' stats
Gaps
- −No AI tutoring
- −No voice features
- −Static UX
Vargo Mega App
$99.99 one-timeStrengths
- +17 mini-apps in one
- +500 cases
- +Drug ref + calcs
Gaps
- −One-time price = no maintenance
- −Reference, not study
- −No interactive content
- −No AI
CSPA (CRNA School Prep Academy)
$47/mo, $1,397–$2,500 intensivesStrengths
- +Owns the admissions niche
- +Live human coaching
- +Strong community
Gaps
- −Pre-SRNA only — abandons you after acceptance
- −Human coaching doesn't scale to unlimited practice
- −No AI mock interviews
Ollivate
Free / $17.99/mo / $149.99/yrStrengths
- +AI spaced repetition
- +Mobile-first, gamified
- +Cheap
Gaps
- −Q-bank only — no broader reference
- −No mock orals or interviews
- −Recently launched, light content depth
Try the free tier first.
Drug box · 29 calculators · 22 crisis algorithms · 26 AANA summaries · 105 surgery cases · 60 interactive 3D anatomy systems · 350-image library — all free, no signup.
Browse the free reference layer →