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Best NCLEX Review Courses and Prep Programs
Our comprehensive guide to the best NCLEX prep courses and study materials on the market
As you wrap up nursing school, there is one major obstacle left between you and starting your career as a nurse – the NCLEX. Like most others, you likely just want to get this exam done and over with so you can move on and start working. However, in order to do, you’ll very likely need an NCLEX review course. If you are not sure where to start, this guide pulls together the best NCLEX prep options in one place. We compare the best NCLEX review courses side by side, highlight the NCLEX study programs that offer the strongest teaching and practice, and break down what to look for in an NCLEX prep course or NCLEX study guide so you can choose the right fit for your learning style and budget.
In the video above, TPI team member John walks you through each of the NCLEX review courses that made our best list. For more detail regarding any of these courses, we’ve compiled detailed summaries below.
Nursing.com takes our #1 spot and editor’s choice selection for a number of reasons, but most notably for their combination of awesome practice material and affordable price.
With a monthly subscription cost of $59, or as low as $21 if you buy the two-year plan, they are about the best value in NCLEX prep for what you get. This includes 300+ on-demand video lessons, cheat sheets, an eBook, 6,500+ practice questions, and simulated exams.
But it’s not just the quantity and breadth of review material that blew us away with Nursing.com. We also loved the quality of these materials. Their video lessons are short and digestible at just 10 minutes each, and feature all sorts of sharp graphics and diagrams for visual learners.
They are taught by practicing nurses and are stuffed with helpful tips and tricks for passing the NCLEX (and real practice).
One of Nursing.com’s awesome video lessons
Around these video lessons, you also get some of the most helpful study tools I’ve used and reviewed, including visual diagrams, outlines, cheat sheets with mnemonics, and most importantly, practice problems. Their Qbank of 6,000+ problems is insanely helpful and allows you to build custom quizzes whenever you want.
But the clear highlight of the Nursing.com course is their SIMCLEX. This is their proprietary adaptive NCLEX simulator, which is about as close to the real thing as we’ve seen.
The questions get progressively harder or easier as you take the test, adapting to your performance just like the real thing. Plus, each question is followed by a well-written answer explanation.
The practice material from Nursing.com is near best in class
These text explanations offer some nice insights into the rationale behind the problems, and clearly articulate why each answer choice is correct or incorrect. These answer solutions not only accompany the SIMCLEX problems, but every practice question in their Qbank as well.
In 2025 they’ve also added a new feature, NurseJon, an AI-powered tutor that acts like a 24/7 nursing instructor to answer questions and provide personalized explanations.
Bottom line for our team, Nursing.com simply provides the best bundle of NCLEX study material at an approachable price point.
NCLEX Bootcamp is one of the most purposefully built prep courses on the market — and it’s not an accident that it landed at #2 on our list. Unlike other companies that scrambled to retrofit their existing materials when the Next Gen (NGN) NCLEX rolled out, Bootcamp was built from the ground up specifically for the new exam format. That means 100% of the content is hyper-focused on NGN case studies, standalone questions, and the clinical judgment model, so nothing is recycled or irrelevant.
NCLEX Bootcamp problem explanation with video
What really sets Bootcamp apart, though, is their strategy course. The nine-part video lecture series walks you through exactly how to think about and attack every problem type on the Next Gen NCLEX. It’s the kind of targeted test-taking instruction that most other courses don’t even attempt, and it’s genuinely excellent. Pair that with over 2,600 practice questions, 50 detailed case studies, 140+ cheatsheets, realistic readiness exams, AI-powered answer summaries, and a custom day-by-day study schedule — and you’ve got a complete package.
The NCLEX Bootcamp program dashboard
The one thing we haven’t even mentioned yet is the price. Monthly subscriptions start at just $59 or $99 for two months (before discounts), making Bootcamp not only one of the most feature-rich prep programs available, but also one of the most affordable. For students who want a modern, NGN-native course without paying a premium, this is the clear pick.
In terms of quality of NCLEX study material, we found Kaplan to be a very close second to Nursing.com. Like Nursing.com’s material, Kaplan offers some of the most realistic practice material we’ve seen.
Their practice questions closely resemble real NCLEX problems, and the accompanying explanations are very good, though almost too-detailed.
Kaplan offers very realistic NCLEX practice material
In addition, their simulated exams do a nice job matching up with the adaptive nature of the real NCLEX. The NCLEX can be a tough exam for prep companies to mock-up given the AI at work behind the scenes, but Kaplan does it very well. Their program truly looks and feels like the real thing.
Kaplan’s video lessons are also very worthwhile in my opinion, but the real highlight of the Kaplan course, and why they make our best list is their series of live classes. No other NCLEX prep company offers class sessions this good. Not even Hurst.
In total, you get 18 hours of live class time with Kaplan. But here’s the best part. At only an additional $100 more over the cost of their self-paced option, this makes each class hour only $5.50.
$5 per hour of live class time is insane value and you won’t find NCLEX live review sessions that cheap anywhere else.
A look at a Kaplan video lesson slide
But these are not just budget classes – they are crazy good. The Kaplan instructors are all longtime NCLEX tutors and teachers, and know this exam inside and out.
They are also great communicators and do an excellent job breaking down some of the tougher concepts with mnemonics and testing tricks.
So in a straight comparison with Nursing.com, we prefer Nursing.com’s self-paced material; however, if you’re the type of student that needs the accountability and commitment of live class time, you have to go Kaplan.
Their live classes offer structured studying that you just won’t get with Nursing.com.
Why You Should Consider Simple Nursing For NCLEX Prep
The next NCLEX prep provider we want to highlight is Simple Nursing, which is an excellent study resource that shares a lot of similarities with Nursing.com. However, there are three key differences that set Simple Nursing apart, and I want to break those down for you.
The first standout feature of Simple Nursing is its readiness assessment, a diagnostic exam that tailors your study plan based on your individual strengths and weaknesses. By incorporating this feature, Simple Nursing provides a high level of personalized guidance, making your prep much more efficient.
Custom study plan for each student
Instead of wasting time reviewing material you already know, the program directs your focus to weaker areas where you need the most help. We found this feature incredibly valuable.
Second, Simple Nursing offers top-tier practice question explanations. After each question, you get detailed breakdowns of every answer choice, clearly explaining why each option is correct or incorrect.
Detailed explanations for each practice question
What sets Simple Nursing apart, though, is its learning outcome approach – each explanation ties individual questions to broader concepts, helping reinforce key nursing principles. We think this method significantly enhances comprehension and retention.
Finally, we have to highlight Simple Nursing’s digital study guides. These are some of the best we’ve seen—comprehensive, visually engaging, and perfect for visual learners.
With over 900 one-page guides, they are packed with graphics, charts, diagrams, and memory tricks, making the material easier to digest and remember. Many of these guides even include a notes section, allowing you to personalize them with key takeaways.
Overall, Simple Nursing stands out for its personalized study plan, excellent problem rationales, and visually rich study guides. And in terms of affordability, it’s a solid value – just over $100 for the full prep program with unlimited practice tests.
Nurse Plus Academy Offers Helpful NCLEX Practice Materials
Nurse Plus Academy makes our list of best NCLEX review courses for one simple and clear reason: their combination of value and quality study material. Let’s not beat around the bush and start with the feature that attracts most people to Nurse Plus: cost savings.
At just $139 for their one-year plan (or $99 for the 60-day plan), Nurse Plus Academy’s NCLEX course is a screaming deal. For roughly $100 to$140, this course is an awesome value and offers about the most bang for your buck in NCLEX prep.
Nurse Plus offers one of the best bundles of practice problems
And don’t be concerned about the quality of their materials based on the price here. This isn’t some bargain basement study product at this price – it’s far from. Our team was super impressed with the quality of Nurse Plus Academy’s features, especially their practice work.
With over 2,500 practice problems and an NCLEX simulator that allows for unlimited takes, we think there is a lot to like. We found Nurse Plus’s NCLEX questions to very closely resemble real NCLEX problems and loved the quality of this material.
But perhaps even more importantly, we really like the answer solutions that accompany each problem. The Nurse Plus text explanations have this awesome ability to be detailed, yet still easily readable and understandable at the same time. In other words, they’re written in plain English to make your life easier.
The Nurse Plus Academy NCLEX simulator allows for unlimited takes
If there is one downside with this review course it’s that there are no live classes, prep books or video lessons. This is sort of a bummer for visual learners, but I would note that Nurse Plus does offer a couple decent content review tools, including flashcards and cheat sheets.
You get access to over 300 digital flashcards in total, as well as 4 cheat sheets that cover summaries of essential, need-to-know information.
Bottom line, for students looking for a streamlined and budget-friendly prep option to pass the NCLEX without a ton of substantive material review, Nurse Plus Academy is an excellent choice. Their practice question bank, NCLEX simulator and flashcards are on point – and the price is easy on the wallet.
Princeton Review lands near the top of our best NCLEX review courses list for several reasons, but there is one advantage above all others going for them: Princeton Review has purchased close to 2,000 practice problems directly from the makers of the exam, the NCSBN.
Of the 3,500 or so practice questions that Princeton Reviews offers (more than just about every other prep company in the space), more than half are official problems. This is something we haven’t seen with any other review course, and is a major advantage for Princeton Review.
Most Princeton Review NCLEX practice problems are past official questions
There is no better form of practice than drilling on real problems, so the fact that you get access to nearly 2,000 is a major value add. Honestly, the value can’t be overstated.
Moreover, the rationales that accompany these problems are very good. They’re not quite as good as those from UWorld, but pretty darn close.
In addition, for those looking for live classes, we absolutely loved the new live classes from Princeton Review. Unlike some other prep courses, their classes are taught by real NCLEX tutors who absolutely know their stuff.
The lesson plans for the classes were well thought out, in-depth, and provided plenty of sample problems to show how theory works in practice on the NCLEX.
Princeton Review offers helpful score reports
The live class package does cost a bit more than the self-paced Qbank package, but can almost always be found on sale for a steep discount (they are trying to push this offering since it’s a relatively new product for them).
Bottom line, we love Princeton Review’s live classes, realistic problems, and detailed rationales. The only thing missing are on-demand video lessons.
While some nursing students have the ability to simply study from a single book off Amazon and pass the NCLEX, most aspiring nurses will need a review course. Even the most basic review courses offer practice problems, video lessons and simulated exams to help you pass on the first attempt.
How much does an NCLEX prep course cost?
Most NCLEX review courses are pretty affordably priced. Ranging from around $100 up to $500, typical NCLEX prep courses won’t break the bank.
Will an NCLEX course increase my chances of passing?
As compared to not studying or just reviewing your notes from class, if you use an NCLEX review course to help you study, it will almost certainly improve your odds of passing this high-stakes exam on the first attempt.
What NCLEX prep books and study guides should I use?
Popular NCLEX prep books in 2026 include the Kaplan NCLEX prep book and NGN-focused review books such as Saunders. These work best when paired with an online NCLEX review course that provides realistic case studies and question practice.
Editor's Choice 
