How we picked
- We started from what a CPA course must do: follow the current AICPA blueprints, give you thousands of questions and stay open until you finish all four sections.
- Prices come from each vendor's own site, checked October 2026. Most run frequent sales, so we show the sale price and the list price where both appear.
- We sort by use case, not by rank. A full course, a cheap monthly plan and the free AICPA samples solve different problems.
- Where a number was not on the vendor's own page, such as Gleim's question counts per package, we left it out.
- StudyPDF is a supplement for your own notes. It does not replace a CPA review course.
More on this
The US CPA Exam has four sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Taxation and Regulation (REG) and one discipline you pick (BAR, ISC or TCP). You need a 75 on each. A course should do four things: follow the blueprint for your test date, give you thousands of exam-style questions, stay open until you finish all four sections and let you try it before you pay. The AICPA's updated blueprints take effect on January 1, 2027, so ask every vendor which version its course follows.
Sticker prices mislead. In October 2026 UWorld's Elite-Unlimited was $3,899 list and $2,299 on sale, and Becker's Pro was $3,845 list and $2,499 on sale (Pro covers six sections, Elite-Unlimited four). Compare sale to sale, and check whether your employer, school or state society has partner pricing. If money is tight, Kesler and NINJA CPA Review cost a fraction, and the AICPA sample tests are free.
Choosing a course is one decision, how you study is another. For the second, see studypdf.net/answers/how-to-study-for-the-cpa-exam, a section-by-section schedule at studypdf.net/answers/cpa-study-schedule, a free 15-question CPA practice exam at studypdf.net/quizzes/cpa-practice-exam, and flashcards and practice from your own review notes at studypdf.net/use-cases/cpa-exam-prep.