SIE Prep Course Comparison Table
Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page. This does not affect our rankings or reviews.
SIE® prep courses run from $20.99 a month (Pocket Prep) to $599 (Kaplan’s top package), and most self-studiers should spend $99 or less. The tables below compare every major provider on price, access length, features, and (the part course pages don’t show you) refund and expiry policies. All prices verified July 2026.
Prices and access
| Course | Price (verified July 2026) | Access window | Pass guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achievable | $99 one-time | 12 months | Yes |
| Kaplan | $99–$599 by package | Varies by package; expiry complaints are common | Varies by package |
| STC | $99–$249 | Varies by package | Tied to Greenlight benchmark performance |
| Pocket Prep | $20.99/mo · $49.99/qtr · $124.99/yr | While subscribed | Performance-gated: read the conditions |
| ExamFX | $129–$249 | 60 days standard; $30 per extension | Varies by package |
| Knopman Marks | Sold mainly through firms; retail pricing not clearly published | Program-dependent | None published for retail buyers |
For context: the SIE exam itself costs $100 (fee raised from $80 effective January 1, 2026), and most candidates study for one to three months. Match the access window to that timeline: a 60-day clock is the single most common way candidates end up paying twice.
Features at a glance
| Feature | Achievable | Kaplan | STC | Pocket Prep | ExamFX | Knopman |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-paced course | Yes | Yes | Yes | Question bank only | Yes | Yes |
| Live or instructor-led option | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (firm classes) |
| Mobile-first app | Web works on mobile | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Benchmark / readiness exam | Practice exams (calibration runs generous) | Practice exams | Greenlight predictor | Quizzes + exams | Practice exams | Benchmark with published pass-correlation claim |
| Spaced-repetition review | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Free try-before-you-buy | Yes, ungated practice exam | Limited | Limited | Limited free quizzes | Limited | No |
Two calibration notes worth more than any feature row: Achievable’s mocks score generous (real scores land a few points lower), and Knopman’s score deliberately brutal (a mid-70s mock there is not the failure it feels like). Neither is wrong to use; just know which direction your dial is off.
Billing and refund reality
Course pages advertise features; review mining shows what happens at refund time. From our July 2026 audit of Trustpilot, BBB, and app-store reviews:
| Course | What reviewers report |
|---|---|
| Achievable | Essentially no billing complaints, the cleanest record we found |
| Kaplan | Refund windows enforced to the day; course-expiry pressure |
| STC | Support friction on billing issues; quality complaints since the Colibri acquisition |
| Pocket Prep | Cancellation friction; refunds deflected to Apple/Google |
| ExamFX | Billing is over half of its BBB complaints, expiries and extension fees |
| Knopman | Few retail reviews to mine; product is firm-oriented |
If a policy matters to you (refund window, extension fee, renewal terms) screenshot it at purchase. The industry’s top complaint category is not bad content; it’s billing: unclaimable refunds, silent renewals, and access that ends before your exam date does.
How to use this table
Pick by constraint, not by feature count. Phone-only study points to Pocket Prep; zero background points to Achievable; a firm-paid seat points to Kaplan or Knopman; a hard need for a trustworthy “am I ready?” signal points to STC’s Greenlight. The full reasoning per provider, including each one’s honest cons, is in our best SIE prep courses rankings.
And before spending anything: our free SIE practice exam has 1,000+ original questions with every answer verified against current rules and cited to its source. No card, no expiry. Fifty questions there will tell you whether you need a course at all.
If you’re comparing exams rather than courses, start with SIE vs Series 7, or the state-law splits: SIE vs Series 63 and SIE vs Series 65.