Best SIE Prep Courses by Price and Format, 2026

SIE prep courses occupy clear price bands. SIE Exam Ready provides a complete course free. Achievable starts paid self-study at $99. STC and ExamFX occupy the $129 to $293 range. Kaplan lists packages from $99 to $229 before temporary discounts. Knopman Marks sits at the coaching end, from $265 to $895.

Our pick for the best SIE course in 2026 is the one on this site, and it is completely free. SIE Exam Ready's course covers all four exam sections in 30 written lessons, pairs with a free study guide and free practice tests, and needs no signup. The paid tier adds 750 explained questions and 10 full mock exams for $5.99 a week or $29.99 once, backed by a pass guarantee.

We build it, so treat the ranking as an informed but interested take. The rest of this page gives every competitor its full section, its real strengths, and its own links, so you can check the claim yourself.

SIE Exam Ready. Best overall: the most comprehensive free SIE course, and the best value paid practice. Free course, free study guide, free practice tests; $5.99 a week or $29.99 lifetime for the full bank and mocks, with a money-back pass guarantee.
Achievable. Best paid reading course. $99 for 12 months, spaced-repetition textbook, a real conditional guarantee.
STC. Clearest written refund path. $129 to $293, six-month window.
Kaplan. Best question-drilling tool in a paid course. Regular package prices from $99 to $229, with temporary discounts when checked.
ExamFX. Video plus a printed book. $129 to $249.
Knopman Marks. Coaching and accountability. $265 to $895 with named faculty.

Every price and term below came from the provider's own page on August 28, 2026. Prices and discounts change often, so check the link before you buy. The exam itself costs $100, paid to FINRA, whatever prep you choose.

Price positions at a glance

Free complete course: SIE Exam Ready. The 30 lessons, study guide and starter practice are free without a card.
Lowest regular price for a paid course: Achievable and Kaplan both start at $99. Achievable gives one package for 12 months. Kaplan splits its tools across three packages with five months of access.
Mid-priced packages: STC runs from $129 to $293. ExamFX runs from $129 to $249. Their higher tiers add live or video instruction.
Coaching-priced option: Knopman Marks runs from $265 to $895. The higher price buys faculty access and, at the top tier, weekly adviser calls.

That is the market position on price. Format and access time decide whether the cheapest listed package is actually useful to you.

What actually separates SIE courses

Four things matter when you compare SIE exam prep. We used these for every provider below.

Question bank quality. Size gets advertised. What you want is a written explanation on every question and the ability to build a drill on one weak topic.
Price and access window. A $129 course you lose after 90 days can cost more than a $199 course. Check the window, not only the price.
Format. Reading, video, live class, or phone. Pick the one you will actually open on a Tuesday night.
Guarantee terms. Read the conditions. Most guarantees pay back the course price only, never your $100 exam fee.

SIE prep compared, August 2026

Provider	Price	Access	Format	Pass guarantee
SIE Exam Ready	Course free; $5.99 weekly or $29.99 lifetime for full practice	Lifetime option	30 free lessons, 750 explained questions, 10 full mocks, iOS, Android and web	Yes, money back
Achievable	$99 one-time	12 months	Online textbook, adaptive quizzes, 35+ practice exams	Yes, conditional
STC	$129 to $293	6 months	Manuals, on-demand lectures, readiness exams	Yes, on Premier tiers
ExamFX	$129 to $249	90 or 180 days	Video course, printed textbook, live webinars	Not stated for SIE
Kaplan	$99 to $229 regular price	5 months	QBank, exam manual, on-demand or live class	Not stated
Knopman Marks	$265 to $895	12 months	Video lectures, textbook, 1:1 faculty calls	No

Achievable, $99

Achievable is the best value on this list if you learn by reading. One payment of $99 buys 12 months of access. You get an online textbook, 2,000+ chapter quiz questions, 35+ practice exams, narrated audio, and 32+ bonus videos. The review engine tracks what you get wrong and brings those topics back.

Its guarantee is real and it has rules. You qualify if you pass a full-length practice exam in the allotted time and then fail the real exam. You send your score report and a valid ID, and Achievable refunds you. There is a free sample with no credit card, so you can read a chapter first.

Source: achievable.me

STC, $129 to $293

STC (Securities Training Corporation) writes the clearest guarantee in this group, and that is its strongest feature. The Digital E-Course is $129, Premier is $141, and Premier Plus is $293. All three run for a six-month enrollment. Premier Plus adds instructor-led virtual classes and Q&A sessions.

The guarantee covers Premier and Premier Plus. You complete the Progress Exams and average 75% or better across the finals. You also score 75% or better on one of the two Green Light Exams.

If you then fail the real exam and send the score report, STC refunds the course price less any discount. Shipping and tax stay non-refundable.

Sources: stcusa.com packages, STC Pass Guarantee terms

ExamFX, $129 to $249

ExamFX suits people who want video plus paper. Every tier ships a hard-copy textbook.

The Textbook package is $129 for 90 days. The Online Course is $149 for 180 days. Live Online is $249 for 180 days. Live Online adds three-hour interactive webinars with an instructor.

The 90-day window on the cheapest tier is the shortest here, and it is tight if work gets busy. ExamFX advertises a 93% pass rate as a company-wide figure, and its SIE package page does not spell out guarantee terms. Ask support for those terms in writing before you pay.

Source: examfx.com

Kaplan, $99 to $229 before discounts

Kaplan's SecuritiesPro QBank is the reason to pick Kaplan. You build your own exams by topic and length. Attempts are randomly generated and unlimited. Every question carries a written rationale, and the tool times you per question.

Kaplan's official page listed a regular package range of $99 to $229 when checked. It also showed a temporary discounted range of $84.15 to $194.65. Access runs 5 months, and another 5 months costs $49. Check which tools sit in the Basic, Essential and Premium tiers before buying. The page did not state a pass guarantee.

Source: kaplanfinancial.com

Knopman Marks, $265 to $895

Knopman Marks sells coaching, and it is the only provider here that puts a named person on your prep. Gold is $265, Platinum is $495, and Diamond is $895, each with a year of access. Gold includes one 1:1 faculty call, Platinum three plus unlimited live classes. Diamond assigns a faculty advisor for a three-month term with weekly calls.

Be clear-eyed about the trade. Knopman advertises a 98% first-time pass rate, which is the company's own figure. Its terms state that completing the course does not guarantee passage.

Refunds are limited to requests within 30 days of delivery, and strategy advising is non-refundable. You are buying accountability here, so price it that way.

Sources: knopman.com SIE, Knopman terms

SIE Exam Ready: the free course, and the best value practice

We built this one, so read this section knowing that. Then check it against the free material, which is the point: the entire course is open before you pay anything.

The 30-lesson course covers all four sections of FINRA's content outline in plain English, free, with no signup. The study guide is free. Full-length practice tests open free without an account. No provider above gives away that much, because they sell the teaching. We give the teaching away and charge for the drilling.

The paid tier is the practice engine: 750 questions, each with a written explanation, 10 mock exams at the real 75-question, 105-minute format, and section-level readiness tracking on iOS, Android and the web with one account. $5.99 a week while you need it, or $29.99 once for life. Every paid course above costs more and expires sooner.

We are new, so we print no pass rate. What we do back is the pass guarantee: finish your preparation, sit the exam, and if you do not pass we refund your purchase.

Source: SIE Exam Ready pricing

Read the guarantee before it sells you

A pass guarantee sounds like insurance. Each one here is a conditional refund of the course price, and you earn it by proving you did the work. Achievable wants a passed practice exam; STC wants 75% on the finals and a Green Light Exam. Ours asks that you complete your preparation before sitting the exam. None of them, ours included, refunds your $100 FINRA fee or pays for a retake.

Timing matters too. You currently wait 30 calendar days to retake after a first or second failed attempt. A third failure inside two years means 180 calendar days in FINRA's candidate guidance. FINRA has approved shorter waits, but its July 1 announcement says they are not yet in effect.

A guarantee cannot give you those weeks back. Get your practice testing done early instead of buying reassurance.

Which one fits you

Most people: start with our free course and free practice tests. Add the $29.99 lifetime tier when you want the full bank and mocks. That path costs less than every course below it.
Tight budget, you read well, and you want a paid alternative: Achievable at $99.
You want a written refund path: STC Premier at $141.
You want to drill questions hard: Kaplan for the QBank.
You need video and a printed book: ExamFX Online Course at $149.
Your employer pays and you want a coach: Knopman Marks Platinum or Diamond.
You study in 15-minute gaps on a phone: choose an app with short question sets and synced progress.

Whichever you pick, your study method matters more than the brand. Our guide on how to study for the SIE exam sets out a plan you can copy.

Check these before you pay

Total cost. Add the $100 exam fee to the course price.
The access window. Match it to the weeks you actually have.
Temporary discounts. Compare the regular price and the checkout price. Do not let a sale move you into a package that lacks the format you need.
Pass rate claims. FINRA does not publish an official SIE pass rate, so every percentage you see is the provider's own number.
The passing score. It is 70, reported as an equated score. FINRA does not publish a percent-correct equivalent, so treat any "70%" claim as shorthand. Confirm the current rules on the FINRA SIE exam page.
Your next exam. The SIE alone does not register you. You still need a firm sponsor and a top-off exam, so check whether a bundle saves money.