How we review test prep courses.
TestPrepMatch is an independent directory. We compare test prep courses so you don't have to sit through a dozen sales pages. This is exactly how we do it — what we measure, how we stay independent, and how we make money.
Editorial independence
No provider pays for placement, for a higher rating, or to be recommended by our quiz. Rankings are set by our editorial team, and a company cannot buy its way up. If that ever changes, we'll say so on this page first.
We do earn affiliate commissions when you enroll through some of our links (see below), but which courses we cover and how we rate them is decided before any commercial relationship — and the commission rate never factors into a score.
What we measure
Every provider is scored against the same six criteria, each from 0 to 100. We weight outcomes (does it raise scores?) above everything else. Each score must cite a specific fact and the page it came from. If we can't cite it, we leave that criterion blank instead of estimating.
Evidence a course actually moves scores — published pass rates, score-improvement guarantees, and how those claims hold up against the exam's own reported averages.
Coverage of the full blueprint versus surface-level review — how completely the material maps to the current, official exam format and question types.
Volume and realism of practice questions and full-length exams. Retired official questions and adaptive practice weigh more than recycled item banks.
Instructor access, tutoring, answer explanations, and study planning — how much help you get when you get stuck, not just how much content you can watch.
Price relative to what's included and to the alternatives. A higher price only counts against a course when a cheaper option delivers the same outcome.
The day-to-day of actually using the product — interface, mobile access, pacing tools, and how much friction stands between you and studying.
How our ratings work
A provider's star rating (out of 5) is calculated, not typed in: it is the weighted average of its cited subscores above. A provider needs at least 4 of the 6 criteria scored before it gets a rating at all. It is not an average of user reviews, and it is not a pay-to-play metric. We don't publish review counts or aggregate scores we can't stand behind.
Many providers in our directory are not yet scored, and their pages say so. Each provider page also shows its review status: listed (in the directory, not reviewed yet), desk research (reviewed against the provider's published materials), or hands-on (we used the product). Only reviewed, scored providers can be an editor's pick. Our picks follow one rule: in each exam group (medical licensing, grad school, college admissions, law, med school admissions, accounting), the pick is the highest-rated reviewed provider that has courses for that group, with ties going to the provider with more courses. When ratings change, the picks change with them.
Prices show the date we last checked them. After 90 days we flag a price as possibly out of date, and we stop presenting it to search engines as current.
We use publicly verifiable facts wherever possible — official exam data, published prices, stated guarantees, and course contents. Where a fact isn't published, we leave it out rather than guess. If we get something wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.
Who writes this
Reviews are published under the TestPrepMatch Editorial Team — a small team that researches prep providers, tracks exam changes, and maintains the directory. We publish under a team byline rather than inventing individual "expert" personas: we'd rather be transparent about that than dress up our reviews with names and credentials we can't substantiate.
When a named expert has actually read and fact-checked a guide, the guide shows "Reviewed by" with their name and verifiable credentials. Guides without that line have not had a named expert review.
How we make money
TestPrepMatch is free to use. When you click through to a provider and enroll, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. That's what keeps the site free and independent. It does not influence our rankings, ratings, or quiz results — see "Editorial independence" above.
Questions about how we work? Get in touch.