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Best ACT prep course in 2026, by use case

The best ACT prep course depends on your budget. Start with ACT's four free official practice tests. For a full course, Magoosh is the budget pick at $129 for a year, Kaplan is the official live option at $649, and PrepScholar adds adaptive lessons from $397. Princeton Review suits live classes and UWorld extra questions. Prices as of October 2026.

  • Checked October 2026

Pick by what you need

  • Official ACT free prepOfficial full-length practice tests, free
  • MagooshA low-cost full course with video lessons and an AI tutor
  • KaplanThe official ACT partner, with live classes or a cheap self-paced course
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At a glance

ToolFree tierPrice (October 2026)Platforms
Official ACT free prepFour full practice tests, digital or paper, plus section practiceFreeWeb, downloadable paper tests
Magoosh7-day free trial with sample lessons and questions$129 for 12 months, $399 with on-demand classesWeb, iOS, Android
KaplanA free sample live class and a free practice testSelf-paced $179, live online $649Web, live online classroom
PrepScholar5-day risk-free trial, card needed, cancel by email$397, or $495 with the AI assistantWeb
The Princeton ReviewA free practice test and free info sessionsSelf-paced $299, live from $949Live online, web
UWorldA 7-day free trialQuestion bank from $99, course from $299Web, iOS, Android
StudyPDFThat's usAbout 4 materials a week, 2 courses, no credit cardPro and Ultra plans, see the pricing pageWeb, iPhone, iPad, Android
Prices as of October 2026. Check the vendor's site for the current price.

Tool by tool

Official ACT free prep

Official full-length practice tests, free

ACT's own site has four full-length practice tests with scoring keys, practice by section, QuizMe and a daily question with a free MyACT account. It also links free Kaplan sample classes and a free Kaplan practice test.

Strengths

  • Real ACT material from the test maker, in digital or paper form
  • Timed and untimed versions of every section, plus screen-reader versions

Limits

  • No lessons or study plan: you see your score, not how to raise it
  • Only four full tests, and an online section is erased when you close the page
Official site

Magoosh

A low-cost full course with video lessons and an AI tutor

Magoosh sells a 12-month self-paced ACT course for $129 with 250+ video lessons, 8,000+ practice questions built on official ACT items and up to 33 official full-length tests. An AI tutor, a score predictor and study schedules come with it.

Strengths

  • The lowest price of the full courses here, and plans do not auto-renew
  • A 7-day money-back guarantee and a 4-point score guarantee for students who start at 30 or below

Limits

  • No live teacher: the $399 plan adds recorded classes only
  • The score guarantee has conditions and does not cover students who already score above 30
Official site

Kaplan

The official ACT partner, with live classes or a cheap self-paced course

Kaplan partners with ACT, so its courses carry official practice. Self-paced ($179, 35 lessons) and live online ($649, 16 live hours) both include 3 official practice tests and 6 months of access. Tutoring starts at $849.

Strengths

  • 2,000+ official ACT questions from the test maker
  • The self-paced course is free if you register for the ACT with a fee waiver

Limits

  • Only three official practice tests, and access ends after 6 months
  • Kaplan's quoted 4-point average counts only students who finished 1,200+ questions and 3 full tests
Official site

PrepScholar

Adaptive lessons and a weekly plan built from a diagnostic test

PrepScholar's self-paced course starts with a 60-question diagnostic, then assigns 54 skill lessons and a weekly plan, with 3,000+ practice questions and 4 official practice tests. Access lasts 12 months. Live classes cost $895 and tutoring $995.

Strengths

  • The plan follows your diagnostic results, so you skip what you already know
  • A 4-point improvement guarantee, and progress emails that keep parents in the loop

Limits

  • Strict guarantee: you finish every assigned lesson and test, and ACT must send your score report to PrepScholar
  • Costs more than Magoosh or Kaplan self-paced, with no live teacher in the base course
Official site

The Princeton Review

Live classes and one-on-one tutoring with a money-back guarantee

Princeton Review sells a self-paced course ($299), an 18-hour live Essentials course (from $949), a 36-hour ACT 31+ course ($2,199) and private tutoring from $175 an hour. The 31+ course and 34+ tutoring carry a money-back guarantee.

Strengths

  • Live classes of up to 36 hours and private tutoring from one provider
  • A money-back guarantee on the 31+ course and 34+ tutoring, with the terms on its site

Limits

  • The most expensive option here, up to $2,199 for the class course
  • The guarantee requires attending every session and finishing all practice tests and homework
Official site

UWorld

A large question bank with step-by-step visual explanations

UWorld sells an ACT question bank with 2,500+ exam-style questions (from $99), a full course with video lessons, study guides and one mock exam (from $299), and printed study guides from $59. Access runs 30 to 360 days.

Strengths

  • Detailed visual explanations and a generator for custom practice tests
  • A study planner, flashcards, analytics and a predicted composite score in one app

Limits

  • Questions are written by UWorld, not official ACT items
  • No ACT Science prep, and only one full mock exam in the course
Official site

StudyPDF

That's us

Quizzes and practice exams from your own ACT guide and class notes

StudyPDF is not an ACT course and has no ACT question bank of its own. Upload your prep book chapters, class notes or a photo of a worksheet, and it builds quizzes, flashcards and practice exams from them. It tracks which concepts you keep missing so the next set targets them. Bo, the tutor, answers from your files with the page cited. The free plan needs an account but no credit card.

Strengths

  • Drills the exact chapters and mistakes from your own material
  • Tracks the concepts you keep missing and builds the next quiz from them
  • A free ACT sampler in the browser, and quizzes print as worksheets with an answer key

Limits

  • Not an ACT course: no lessons of its own, no ACT question bank, no official questions and no adaptive full-length tests
  • Weekly caps on every plan
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How we picked

  • We started from what ACT prep needs: official practice tests, lessons for weak sections, a plan and plenty of questions.
  • The free official tools come first because they match the test and cost nothing.
  • Prices and features come from each vendor's own site, checked October 2026. Sales are common, so we list regular prices.
  • We sort by use case, not by rank. StudyPDF is one option, with real limits.

More on this

The test changed. Since September 2025 the ACT composite is the average of English, math and reading, and science is optional. A college-reportable composite now takes 125 minutes of testing instead of 175. Buy only material built for this version, and check the edition date on any prep book.

Start free. ACT offers four full-length practice tests, digital or on paper, plus section practice and a question of the day, all at no cost. Take one under the clock before you buy anything. A paid course earns its price when you need lessons, a plan or a score guarantee, not just more questions. Two pages at studypdf.net/answers/what-is-a-good-act-score and studypdf.net/answers/how-is-the-act-scored explain what the numbers mean.

StudyPDF also has a free 15-question ACT sampler in the browser at studypdf.net/quizzes/act-practice-questions. Our team wrote it; it is not official ACT material.

More lists

  • Best SAT prep apps in 2026: free and paid
  • Best GRE prep in 2026: courses, apps and free practice
  • Best GMAT prep course in 2026, compared by price and style
  • Best TEAS prep in 2026: books, courses and apps

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Questions and answers

What is the best ACT prep course?

There is no single winner. Magoosh is the budget pick at $129, Kaplan is the official ACT partner with live classes at $649, PrepScholar adapts lessons to a diagnostic test, and Princeton Review suits students who want live teaching. Most students pair one course with ACT's free official tests.

How much does an ACT prep course cost?

Self-paced courses run from $129 at Magoosh to $397 at PrepScholar. Live online classes start at $649 at Kaplan and reach $2,199 for Princeton Review's 36-hour course. One-on-one tutoring starts at $175 an hour at Princeton Review. Prices as of October 2026.

What is the best free ACT prep?

ACT's own site: four full-length practice tests, digital or paper, section practice, QuizMe and a daily question. Kaplan adds a free sample class and a practice test. With a fee waiver, The Official ACT Self-Paced Course, powered by Kaplan, is free.

Can SAT prep help with the ACT?

Partly. Both tests cover algebra, grammar and reading, so those skills carry over. Pacing, question styles and the optional science test differ, so finish with ACT material. Some providers sell both, for example Kaplan College Advantage from $650.

Is a paid ACT prep course worth it?

Often not at first. Take a free official test, find your weakest section and use the free material for a few weeks. Pay when your score stalls or you want lessons and a plan. Read score-guarantee terms closely, they all have conditions.

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