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Best ACT Prep Courses
Our comprehensive guide to the best online ACT prep courses and classes
With almost every college applicant having a solid GPA and impressive extracurriculars, it is tougher than ever to get into your dream college. Your ACT score will likely be the difference maker on your application, and to get a great score, you’re going to need a prep course. But with so many options to choose from, how do you decide? Our team of experts has reviewed every major prep course on the market and ranked the best ones here.
In this video review, John from the Test Prep Insight team breaks down the best ACT prep courses on the market based on price, effectiveness and a number of other factors. For more detail, be sure to continue reading our full guide below.
After testing about a dozen programs, we’ve concluded that Kaplan offers the best all-around curriculum and study material in ACT prep. Their review bundle covers every instructional method, including video lessons, live classes, practice work, textbooks, and even tutoring with their top-tier package.
Perhaps the most attractive aspect of Kaplan’s packages is the price tag.
Their live online course, which includes 16 hours of live instruction, is priced at $650 at full retail—comparable to Princeton Review’s pricing after discounts. Meanwhile, Kaplan’s On Demand course is about $180, making it a standout bargain. At roughly half the cost of Princeton Review’s self-paced package, it’s one of the most affordable self-study options available.
The next win for Kaplan is that they have partnered directly with the makers of the ACT exam. In fact, it is actually an official ACT prep package “powered by Kaplan.” As such, students get direct access to official, previously used ACT questions and tests. The value of this realistic practice cannot be overstated.
Princeton Review does an excellent job designing problems, but the real test questions will always get our vote. Beyond the first-rate practice material, Kaplan also offers some strong instructional materials.
Kaplan ACT prep video lesson
While Kaplan doesn’t provide as many live class hours as Princeton Review and has fewer video lessons, the quality of their lessons is exceptional. Kaplan is a rock-solid, all-around option that earns our top spot.
Partnership with the Makers of the ACT
Kaplan offers its students the unique opportunity to practice with real, previously used ACT questions. This is an exclusive benefit to Kaplan that others simply cannot provide.
The partnership between Kaplan and ACT is actually so close that Kaplan is labeled as ACT’s official course on their website and powered by the Kaplan platform and expertise. Anytime that the makers of an exam partner with a test prep company, that company gets our immediate attention – they’re literally being endorsed by the test writers themselves.
Practicing under exam-like conditions is one of the keys to effective review, and responding to real questions is about as good as it gets. The questions don’t just resemble real ACT; they are real exam questions. This provides a best-of-both-worlds scenario – you get the expertise and capabilities of Kaplan, with the official test material.
Excellent Video-Based Instruction
Kaplan also provides some very good video lectures. Though we give a slight edge to Princeton Review’s video lessons overall, Kaplan’s lessons hold their own. Their approach features the instructor sitting behind a desk.
As he or she speaks, notes and key points appear on screen next to them. They also frequently work in practice problems to help demonstrate the points they are trying make. At this point, they pause the lesson for a moment to allow you to work the practice problem on your own.
Then, they walk you through how to solve it. The screen cuts to a digital whiteboard, and the instructor takes notes right onscreen with their tablet and stylus, showing you how you should have attacked the question.
Kaplan ACT quiz
This use of practice problems combined with content review makes for a powerful delivery.
Kaplan keeps their videos short and sweet. They last just 7 to 12 minutes, which is just enough time to get the material across without losing the attention of a 17-year-old.
The final point worth mentioning about the Kaplan videos is their stellar audiovisual quality. The picture is sharp, the digital effects are perfectly executed, and the all-around delivery is very sleek. In short, I was a big fan of these Kaplan video lectures.
Princeton Review makes our list for some of the reasons that Kaplan does. That is, Princeton Review offers a robust course plan and top-notch study materials.
Their varied approach to teaching offers superior material comprehension and retention, and it accommodates all learning types. Princeton’s video lessons lead the way on the instructional side, and they are very good. The quality of their video content and delivery is unparalleled, and we believe this is the highlight of the course.
The video lectures are complemented by live class sessions with instructors who know the actual exam inside and out. The Princeton live classes are jam-packed with content review and testing strategies, as well as helpful tips from the individual teachers.
Princeton Review ACT video lecture
These teaching elements are backed up by two review books and a set of first-rate practice work. Though Princeton doesn’t provide quite as many practice questions as other ACT prep providers, the quality is strong.
These problems, which have been carefully crafted by Princeton’s team of in-house experts, closely mirror the real questions you will see on game day. Although they take a more traditional approach to test prep, when all of these elements are rolled up together in one bundle, it is a very good study experience that our team of experts agreed was at the top of our best list.
Solid Video Lessons
The highlight of the Princeton Review ACT prep course is clearly the video lessons. Understanding that it is very difficult to hold a teenager’s attention for more than a few minutes, Princeton smartly designs short, engaging clips, rather than long lectures.
Each mini-lesson only runs for 4 to 10 minutes. This creates a real sweet spot to deliver some seriously informative content, while being short enough to hold your attention the entire time.
We also found the delivery fantastic. The instructor appears on screen before a plain white background. But rather than using a whiteboard and having the instructor turn around frequently to jot down notes with their back to the camera, Princeton uses some digital effects to superimpose the text and graphics onscreen in front of the instructor.
This allows the instructor to always be facing the camera and to use a marker to take notes right in from of them (between the teacher and the audience). This cool delivery keeps all the material right at the forefront of the lesson.
One of Princeton Review’s excellent ACT video lessons
This improves both engagement and material comprehension. I personally liked this online instruction a lot.
Physical Review Books
A nice benefit available to students who take one of Princeton Review’s live online courses is that you receive two physical review books that aren’t included with the Self-Paced plan. For me, there’s nothing like thumbing through the pages of a paperback, so if you learn best by marking up an actual book, this is a huge plus.
The course workbook and book of practice questions that come with any live class package provide you around 1,500 practice problems, plus some really nice content review and test strategies. Bottom line, this is really insightful and helpful material that works perfectly for readers and hands-on learners.
PrepScholar makes our best list in large part because of their robust library of fantastic practice material. They also did a major refresh, so everything closely aligns with the new Enhanced ACT test in Fall 2025.
But PrepScholar offers students much more than just a boatload of solid review work – they also provide one of the most extensive and well-planned curriculums around.
Across 50+ individual lessons, PrepScholar guides students step-by-step through what, when, and how to study. There is never a question with PrepScholar about what you should be doing at any given point, and I love this. They walk you through every bit of content on a strictly scheduled basis, ordered in a manner to maximize gains.
One of the PrepScholar video lessons
Plus, PrepScholar offers some incredibly informative instructional lessons with a varied approach to teaching. You get a mix of text-based trainings and video lectures. Though I do just want note that you don’t get a video with every lesson, just some of them. And that bums me out, as the videos are pretty darn good. 😞
While I found the text-based lessons to be a bit dry at times, they are about as detailed as they come. They cover every testable point on the ACT in extreme detail and thoroughly explain both the content side and strategy side of a given lesson.
Beyond the text passages, most (again, not all) lessons have a corresponding video lecture as well, which I really liked. The delivery format isn’t perfect, but the content is dead on and the lesson itself is engaging.
When these video lectures are used together with the text-based lesson, it doesn’t get much more thorough. For students who learn well through text, PrepScholar could be a great fit, especially when you consider the value of their practice work.
Quality & Quantity of Practice Material
If you’re the type of student who loves to work practice questions and learn by doing, rather than just studying content and strategies, you’ll love PrepScholar. Offering 2,800+ practice questions and 4 full-length practice tests, PrepScholar boasts some of the best hands-on work in the industry.
PrepScholar practice problem and answer explanation
When PrepScholar’s ACT questions are lumped in with their SAT material (through their Dual SAT + ACT course), you actually almost 7,000 total practice problems and 11 practice tests.
This is just a ton of material – so it’s great for anyone who wants to make sure you have your bases covered. To be clear, PrepScholar does not just create practice problems for the sake of practice problems (and getting this volume recognition) – these are questions of first-rate quality.
PrepScholar’s test experts have clearly spent considerable time on these questions, as I found them to be very close in terms of content and style to real ACT questions. When you think of PrepScholar practice material, you have to think quantity and quality.
One more thing to note – while PrepScholar is best known for test prep, they’ve also expanded into college admissions consulting – which is super convenient if you want ACT /SAT help and application support under one roof. I’ve reviewed their consulting service separately.
Magoosh makes our best list in large part for one reason – price. With their flagship prep course offerings coming in at just $130, the value here cannot be overlooked. Despite being a budget option, Magoosh still delivers a hefty quantity of practice material.
With 250+ video lessons, 1,300+ practice questions and up to 4 full-length practice tests, it kind of makes you wonder how they can offer all of this at such a low price. But it is not just the quantity that impressed our team – the quality is also quite good.
Magoosh ACT video lesson
The 250+ video lessons are each pretty short (generally 5 to 15 minutes) and are in PowerPoint form. This is great for visual learners, as the instructor draws up notes right on screen and all of the material is presented visually right in front of you. That said, these videos are a touch dull. They’re not the most engaging material, but they are very informative and quick enough for students to power through before they get bored.
In addition to a rather deep library of video instruction, students also get access to some very solid practice questions, as well as four practice tests. But more important than the practice questions themselves, Magoosh delivers a text and video explanation for each and every problem.
I still do not know how they can afford to do this at their low price points, but these explanations are a major win. All things considered, Magoosh may be a major bargain based purely on pricing, but they also provide a very reliable course.
Incredible Value
As mentioned above, the Magoosh package is extremely affordable. You won’t get this kind of value for your dollar anywhere else. At only $130, you will not have to break the bank for this package.
In addition, their new live class format (with 16 hours of live class work) can be purchased for just around $400. That is a very, very good value for inclusion of live class time with an instructor and assigned homework.
And when our team assesses the value component of a course, we always weigh the price against the materials you get. Magoosh doesn’t disappoint. They provide some rather astounding levels of video lessons, practice questions and problem explanations for this low cost.
The video lecture quality isn’t the best, but the video lessons in Magoosh’s library and practice work may be all that independent learners need.
Text & Video Explanations
The highlight of the Magoosh course content is very likely the text and video explanations that accompany each and every practice problem. The text explanations are extremely thorough and written in a very easy-to-understand manner.
Plus, many of them contain graphics and diagrams to help visualize the solution. To be honest, the text explanations standing alone are better than you get with many competitors’ practice questions. But Magoosh doesn’t stop with text.
Magoosh ACT video lecture
The also provide a video explanation of each solution. These take the same general PowerPoint approach as the video-based instruction, explaining step-by-step how the problem at hand should be solved. So whether you are a visual or text learner, Magoosh has you covered.
This is a fantastic benefit that you wouldn’t expect to get with such an affordably priced option.
If your student is strapped for time between school, sports, extracurriculars, and a part-time job, there is a strong chance Achievable is going to be a great fit for you. Though they don’t have the name recognition of Kaplan or Princeton Review, Achievable offers an affordable, modern study approach that we really like.
In short, Achievable positions itself as the intelligent and efficient program to getting your target ACT score. With adaptive algorithms to allocate study material based on your personal strengths and weaknesses, as well as learning science principles baked in to maximize gains, Achievable feels like the smartest program in the space from a tech perspective.
More on this below, but we love Achievable’s dedication to not wasting your time. This is a big reason why we rate Achievable so highly.
Quick Overview
Achievable offers a comprehensive digital textbook, hundreds of ACT Math, English, Reading, and Science practice problems, and narrowly focused review sessions.
One of the coolest features is the endless supply of math practice problems. Each numbers-based problem uses random variables each time, creating an infinite question bank that you can use over and over again to get original questions to drill on.
The Achievable ACT digital text
While Achievable’s content isn’t as varied as what you get with Kaplan or Princeton Review from a content medium point of view (it lacks on demand video lessons and live classes), for the price of about $130, you can’t really complain. Bottom line, if pricing and getting bang for your buck is one of your biggest priorities, we find Achievable to be an awesome option.
Bite-Sized Lessons
One of the highlights of Achievable is how it breaks down its lessons into bite-sized chunks. As noted above, Achievable doesn’t provide video lessons. Instead, it makes its digital textbook the centerpiece of its curriculum. Though that might sound unappealing (and boring 😴), we actually found it to be a positive from an efficiency perspective.
Their book has 78 chapters, which essentially each serve as short learning modules. Each chapter takes just a few minutes to read (maybe 10 minutes on average), and is written in incredibly plain English.
The language is conversational, making it easier to understand more complicated concepts. This makes Achievable a great fit for people who struggle with denser, wordier textbooks. It’s simply not like those old-school textbooks at all.
Achievable ACT lessons take less than 30 minutes
We also love how they leverage simple, easy-to-understand sample problems. The text walks you through a concept in plain English, then demonstrates the point with an example problem that helps tie theory to practice.
Then following each chapter, you are assigned a review session, which basically quizzes you on the material you just learned (while also circling back to earlier content for review).
It is a highly effective and efficient means of learning material, and you can finish an entire lesson on a topic (including text and review problems) in less than 30 minutes. Again, perfect for busy students.
Smart Science & Tech
Lastly, as already discussed, one of the biggest selling points of the Achievable course is the science baked into their curriculum, as well as the smart tech. The efficiency gains noted above are primarily accomplished through their adaptive algorithm, which constantly monitors your progress on practice work to optimize your study plan.
The Achievable ACT prep dashboard
Our team loves how they focus your studies on weak spots, which is where you generally get the biggest point increases. The other way in which Achievable makes gains is with spaced reviews, which is a learning concept backed by memory science.
Essentially, rather than covering a topic one time and continuing on with other material until you hit the end of your course content, Achievable periodically pulls old material back into your review quizzes, to keep the material fresh in your mind.
When this smart tech and coursework structure is combined with some quality practice work and a digital text, we couldn’t help but give this program high marks.
If you’re the type who learns best by actually doing problems rather than watching endless video lessons, UWorld is your best bet for ACT QBank. It’s a perfect add-on if you’ve already got a baseline course (Kaplan, Princeton Review) but need tougher, higher-quality questions to push your score higher.
What makes UWorld particularly valuable right now is that they’ve fully adapted to the “Enhanced ACT” – their entire question bank matches the new digital format, including updated timing and the shift to four answer choices in Math. And here’s the thing: UWorld’s questions are deliberately harder than what you’ll see on test day. If you can handle these, the actual exam will feel manageable.
But the real standout is how they explain answers. Every wrong answer gets a detailed, illustrated breakdown that shows you exactly where your thinking went off track. It transforms mistakes from frustrating dead-ends into genuine learning opportunities.
They offer plans ranging from 30 days to a full year, depending on your timeline. All tiers include the full question bank (2,500+ practice problems), customizable quizzes, one practice test, and detailed visual explanations.
Prep Expert broke onto the ACT review scene back in 2016 after founder Shaan Patel’s appearance on the hit show Shark Tank. While our team was a little skeptical about the effectiveness of a course that made its name through a reality TV show, after reviewing this program, I can say that the Prep Expert ACT package is the real deal.
The course largely revolves around Shaan’s 100 self-created ACT testing strategies, which helped him achieve a perfect score on the SAT (the strategies have been tweaked to apply to both the SAT and ACT).
More on these testing strategies below, but in short, I loved how Prep Expert doesn’t waste time feeding you tens of hours of standard content review. They cut straight to the chase and teach you the tricks and techniques that are most effective in achieving major score gains.
A sample on demand video lesson led by Shaan Patel
Prep Expert accomplishes this primarily through 36 hours of live online instruction and prerecorded video lectures. Personally, I found their live online classes to be engaging, informative, and downright helpful.
The Prep Expert instructors have all earned a spot among the top 1% of all scorers on the ACT and have been trained on Shaan’s testing strategies. You get a consistent lesson across teachers and lesson format, which is always nice.
Alternatively, for those students taking Prep Expert’s self-paced course (and as backup for those students in one of the live classes), you get access to prerecorded video lectures from founder Shaan Patel himself.
While I really liked Shaan’s teaching style and obvious mastery of the material, the video format and delivery wasn’t my favorite, finding it a little outdated and jumpy.
Beyond the instructional channels, Prep Expert also offers students an excellent opportunity to practice under exam-like conditions with some high-quality practice questions and simulated exams. All in all, Prep Expert offers a very well-rounded curriculum that is one of the best review options out there.
Prep Expert’s 100 ACT Strategies
The clear of highlight of the Prep Expert ACT program is their bundle of 100 testing strategies, which were developed by founder Shaan Patel. Shaan created these strategies while studying for the SAT over a decade ago.
While they are now 10+ years old and were originally designed with the old SAT in mind, these techniques still apply today and work very well for the ACT. For example, some of these strategies include “remove nonessential appositives,” “tackle line-cited questions first,” and “ace exponents.”
These test taking strategies are the basis of most lesson plans, so your instructor will spend significant time hammering these techniques. I loved this concept of making strategies the foundation of the course as opposed to old-school content review.
What a typical live class session looks like
Your instructor generally presents the technique by identifying a way in which the exam attempts to trick you or where students frequently get off-track. He or she then presents the technique as a means of resolving the common issue and demonstrates how it plays out with a few practice problems.
Across 100 strategies, this provides a lot of shortcuts and easy fixes that are sure to get extra points that otherwise would have been missed because of difficulty or timing.
Administered by ACT, Inc. and commonly used by colleges and universities as a determining factor for admissions, the ACT Exam is a standardized, multiple-choice test that is typically taken by high school students in their sophomore, junior or senior year. The exam measures skills in English, Reading, Math and Science, with an optional Writing section.
How the ACT Is Structured
The test comprises three sections in the following subject areas: (1) English, (2) Math, and (3) Reading. Test takers can choose whether or not to complete optional Science and Writing sections. The testing time for the three main sections is 2 hours, 5 minutes, with a total time of 3 hours and 25 minutes if the student also completes the Science and Writing sections.
English Section
The first section covers English usage and mechanics, including punctuation and grammar. It also covers rhetorical skills, together with sentence structure and organization. The English section has 50 questions, with a testing time of 35 minutes.
Math Section
Math is the second section of the exam and tests the subjects of pre-algebra, algebra, plane geometry, coordinate geometry, and trigonometry. For the math section you are allowed to use your 4-function scientific or graphing calculator, provided it is not on the ACT’s prohibited list. Be sure to check the ACT website for a current list of prohibited calculators. The math section has 45 questions, with a testing time of 50 minutes.
Reading Section
The reading section consists of four different passages in the subject areas of Social Studies, Natural Sciences, Prose Fiction, and Humanities. Measuring your overall reading comprehension, you will be assessed on your ability to identify and understand main ideas and details, use reasoning skills, interpret important details, make comparisons and grasp cause and effect relationships. The reading section has 36 questions, with a testing time of 40 minutes.
Science Section
The optional science section has students read passages including graphs, charts, and conflicting viewpoints. Students then answer a series of questions assessing their interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning and problem-solving skills. The science section has 40 questions, with a testing time of 40 minutes.
Optional Writing Section
Administered at the end of the exam and measuring overall writing skills, the optional writing test consists of one essay question where students are asked to respond to a given prompt. Students are provided with three different perspectives relating to the prompt, and encouraged to develop and explain their own point of view. The writing section has one essay question, with a testing time of 40 minutes.
How Often is the ACT Offered?
It’s administered seven times a year on a Saturday during the months of February, April, June, July, September, October and December (though note that New York does not offer a test during the month of July). It is recommended that you register with ACT at least six weeks prior to your desired test date.
Preparing for the ACT
Start by taking a practice test. Starting with a diagnostic exam will provide you with baseline information about your strengths and weaknesses, and allow you to become familiar with the testing format. You will see how test questions are formatted, and what material is tested, as well as understanding the instructions given on the test. Plus, you’ll get an idea of your raw, baseline score.
Use review courses, books and sample questions available from ACT, Inc. Join or form an ACT study group and take a prep course. Take at least one practice test with the use of a timer to simulate the real test. This will give you a sense of timing so you can learn to pace yourself accordingly. Practice, practice, practice!
Increase the time you spend reading and brush up on your reading skills. Expand your reading to new types of books, articles, and magazines. There is a lot of reading on the ACT, so get yourself prepared to quickly read, understand and answer questions effectively.
Practice self-care. Studying for the ACT exam can be stressful, but it will be far more daunting if you don’t take care of yourself. Make sure to stay hydrated, eat healthy meals and take time for physical exercise daily. Don’t skimp on sleep. Practice mindfulness daily, and stay connected with friends and family.
FAQ
Do I need an ACT prep course?
If you are targeting a better-than-average ACT score, yes. In today’s competitive college admissions landscape, your score will likely be the difference maker on your application and you’ll want to make sure you get a prep program to ensure you’re ready.
How much does a typical ACT prep course cost?
ACT prep courses can cost anywhere from as low as $80 up to $2,000+, all depending on the features, resources and level of personal touch that you need.
Will an ACT prep course raise my score?
Very likely, yes. Most ACT prep courses provide a thorough curriculum of instructional material and practice work, that when completed will almost surely raise your score.
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