A US recreational pilot may only fly during the day and within 50 nautical miles of the departure airport, and not from airports with control towers. The training requires about 75% of the training for a PPL.
Additional training with logbook endorsement by a CFI allows a rec pilot to make cross-country flights -- but by the time the rec pilot meets those conditions, he or she would be very close to having the hours for a PPL. So most pilots forego the rec pilot and instead get a PPL.
There are only about 300 recreational pilots in the United States.
