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Best NCLEX Review Courses

We use an independent review process to select our recommended products. Advertisers do not influence our selections, but we may earn a commission when you buy through some links on the site. See our affiliate disclosure for details.

Preparing for the NCLEX? Check out the best NCLEX review courses below to ensure you pass the first time around.

Our team went into these courses and reviewed them to give you the insights you are looking for before making a purchase.

Our Picks

Provider Test-Guide Rating Price Practice Questions Full-Length Exams
Nursing.com Logo

Most Comprehensive
94/100
$59/Month 6,500 1/Month
nurse-plus-logo-1a


Best Value
91/100
$49/Month 2,700+ Unlimited

Best NCLEX Prep Course Reviews

We did a deep-dive into each NCLEX provider below. You can find our review, pros and cons, and actual screenshots from the course below.

Nursing.com: Most Comprehensive

TG Recommended

Nursing.com Logo

Score: 94

Course Overview (1 SIMCLEX)

  • Price: $59/Month
  • Subscription Length: Monthly
  • Free Trial: Yes
  • Course Guarantee: Yes
  • Practice Questions: 6,500
  • Practice Exams: 1/Month
  • Lessons: Yes
  • Mobile App: Yes

Best For

  • Students looking for as realistic of a simulated exam that you will find.
  • Students looking for a ton of practice questions.
  • Students looking for a plethora of lessons (2,100+).

Not Recommended For

  • Students want to make a one-time payment.

Nursing.com was our choice for most comprehensive. They offer a couple of different options to choose from:

  1. 0 SIMCLEX: $29/Month
  2. 1 SIMCLEX: $59/Month
  3. 3 SIMCLEX: $129/Month
  4. Unlimited SIMCLEX: $162/Month

All courses are 100% online and self-paced. Students looking for simulated exams should consider the 1, 2, or 3 SIMCLEX study plans. These plans include the SIMCLEX attempts which are simulated NCLEX exams.

These SIMCLEX exams use computer adaptive technology (CAT) that is used on the actual NCLEX, so it is a great way to prepare for the actual exam. Students who take these simulated exams will find they mimic the actual exam very closely.

An image showing an example of the nursing.com SIMCLEX exam

At the end of the exam, the technology within the course will tell you if you passed or failed your simulated exam. You will be able to review the exam and see where you did well and where you struggled. You should set aside a few hours when you take one of these exams.

An image showing an example of the nursing.com exam results page

In terms of actual learning material, you will find most of that under the “Courses” tab. You will find tons of different courses you can take within your account. Each course has multiple video lessons that you can review.

The video lessons consist of an instructor reviewing various slides and making notes as they go. Most of the videos are bite-sized in length and easy to follow along. There are quizzes you can take after the video lessons to ensure you fully understood what was taught.

An example showing a video lecture from the nursing.com NCLEX course

Under the “Cheatsheets” tab, users will find all sorts of useful study materials like PDF downloads, questions, and more. These can all be downloaded and printed if you would like.

Finally, if you want to focus on specific sections, you can build you own practice quizzes. There are a ton of different filters you can apply to your practice quizzes like quiz type, quiz length, categories, question difficulty, and more. It is a very cool feature and very helpful.

An example showing a quiz question from the nursing.com NCLEX course

Nursing.com Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Number of Practice Questions
  • Simulated Exams
  • Lessons and Lecture Videos

Cons

  • Monthly Payments

Nurse Plus: Best Value

TG Recommended

Nurse Plus Logo

Score: 91

Course Overview (30-Day NCLEX Prep)

  • Price: $49/Month
  • Subscription Length: Monthly
  • Free Trial: No
  • Course Guarantee: Yes
  • Practice Questions: 2,700+
  • Practice Exams: Unlimited
  • Lessons: No
  • Mobile App: Yes

Best For

  • Students looking to study via practice questions and exams.
  • Students looking for unlimited simulated exams.

Not Recommended For

  • Students needing additional learning materials like lessons and videos.

Nurse Plus was our choice for best value. They keep their offerings very simple:

  1. 30-Day NCLEX Prep: $49/Month
  2. 60-Day NCLEX Prep: $99/Month
  3. 365-Day NCLEX Prep: $139

Nurse Plus is a little different from the other providers we looked at – they focus on practice questions.

Students will primarily be learning and refreshing their knowledge on various subjects by answering practice questions and taking practice tests. The course is split up into different topics and subtopics. This layout helps make the course more user friendly and less intimidating.

An image showing an example of the Nurse Plus dashboard

The practice questions have a nice user interface with a lot of cool technology. You can see your progress on the left-hand side and view which questions you answered correctly or incorrectly. You can toggle on other features like hints, answer popularity, night mode, and more.

All of the questions have answer explanations so you can see why an answer was right or wrong. One cool feature is the “challenge bank.” The challenge bank is where all questions that you have answered incorrectly go. This is great for when you want to go back and review things you struggled on.

An image showing an example of the Nurse Plus questions

The course includes “Select All That Apply” (SATA) practice questions as well. These are questions in which you will need to select multiple answer choices in order to answer the questions correctly.

In addition to the two types of practice options listed above, you will also find full-length NCLEX practice exams. These are really well done and one of the best features of the course. You can take these as many times as you would like and will see different questions every time.

The exams are simulated to mimic the actual NCLEX exam. They use computer adaptive technology (CAT), just like the actual exam. The practice exam will decide whether you passed or failed the exam using the same criteria as the actual exam.

An image showing the exam results from the Nurse Plus course

Finally, users can utilize the flashcards for some additional practice and a different way to study the material. We liked the flashcards and felt they were a good change of pace.

An image showing the flashcards from the Nurse Plus course

Nurse Plus Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Unlimited Simulated Exams
  • User Interface
  • Price

Cons

  • Lack of Learning Materials (Mostly Practice Questions and Flashcards)

Other NCLEX Courses We Tested

Here is a brief summary of the other NCLEX courses we tested. In an effort to not overwhelm you, we summarized each provider below.

Kaplan – Kaplan offers their NCLEX-RN course for $425. Students will get access to the course for 6 months and will complete the course at their own pace – the course is 100% online. Students will learn the material via the content video library, content review sessions, review guides, and the 700+ page eBook provided. The course includes 2,100 practice questions and 3 full-length practice exams. You will also have access to the NCLEX Channel (Kaplan’s on-demand video library for NCLEX topics). This course is solid, but more expensive than the others.

Hurst – Hurst has a ton of options, it is somewhat overwhelming. They offer different variations of live-online classes and self-paced courses. The self-paced courses include access for 90-days and are $249. You will receive lecture videos, 1,500 questions, and 4 practice exams. We felt for the price, there were better options out there. If you are interested in a live-online class, Hurst is definitely a viable option.

UWorld – UWorld offers similar course options, with the main difference being the amount of time you have access to the course. For their 60-day course, you can expect to pay $169. You will get 2,300 practice questions, flashcards, review videos, and 2 practice exams. Their program is well put together, but we felt it was a bit pricey when compared to some of the other options.

NCLEX Course Comparison Table

NCLEX Prep Nursing.com Nurse Plus Kaplan Hurst UWorld
Rating 94 91 86 83 81
Best For Most Comprehensive Best Value - - -
One of Our Picks TG Recommended TG Recommended - - -
Pricing $59/Month $49/Month $425 $249 $169
Subscription Length Monthly Monthly 6 Months 3 Months 2 Months
Free Trial Yes No No Yes Yes
Guarantee Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Practice Questions 6,500 2,700 2,100 1,500 2,300
Practice Exams 1/Month Unlimited 3 4 2
Videos Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Learn More GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!

Who Needs a NCLEX Review Course?

In order to become a nurse, students must pass the NCLEX exam. The NCLEX-RN exam should be taken by students who are testing for their registered nursing licensure. The NCLEX-PN exam should be taken by students who are testing for their vocational or practical nurse nursing licensure.

Many students have a lot riding on passing their NCLEX exam. Do you need an NCLEX prep course? The answer depends on many factors and can vary for different individuals.

Factors to Consider

  • Study discipline – if you need help studying, an NCLEX prep course will help keep you on track and keep you motivated.
  • Learning style – some people learn best via reading, while others learn best visually. This is something to consider when choosing an NCLEX course.
  • Budget – some of these NCLEX courses are expensive. These courses should be thought of as an investment in your future.

Benefits of a NCLEX Prep Course

  • Efficient studying – An NCLEX review course will help you study efficiently by grouping concepts and materials together for you.
  • Find strengths and weaknesses – By enrolling in a prep course, you will be able to determine your strengths and weaknesses. You can then focus on your weaknesses when preparing for the NCLEX exam.
  • Simulates test – Many of these prep courses do an excellent job of simulating the actual exam. Familiarity is a great thing heading into the NCLEX exam.

Why a NCLEX Prep Course May Not Be Your Best Option

  • Price – some of these courses can be pricey. Some individuals may not be able to afford a NCLEX prep course.
  • Not needed – some students may feel confident in their knowledge acquired while in school to take the NCLEX.
  • DIY alternative – some students may opt to study themselves. Always a great option if you are disciplined.

Bottom Line – If you want to ensure you pass the NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN exam the first time around, a NCLEX prep course may be a great option for you.

Why You Can Trust Us Our Testing Process

We looked at 10 different NCLEX review courses. After comparing them using a high-level view, we picked 5 courses to enroll into.

We like to enroll into the courses ourselves when reviewing. This gives us a better feel for what to expect and helps us figure out what features are actually useful and what features are just used for marketing purposes.

Enrolling into the courses also lets us dive into the content and see how helpful it is. We can get a better feel for the lecture videos, practice questions, and practice exams.

Some of the factors we pay special attention to are:

  1. Price
  2. Content
  3. Questions
  4. Features

After reviewing each course, we assign a score to each provider. All our reviews are independent and not influenced by any of the above providers. You can read more about our independent review process for more information.

Dave Evangelisti
Dave is our founder and CEO. He has 20+ years of experience in the testing and test prep industry.