Becker CPA Review stands out as one of the most popular prep providers for CPA candidates. The company reports having served ~two million aspiring finance pros, a 94% pass rate for Exam Day Ready℠ students, and producing over 90% of Elijah Watt Sells Award winners since 2007.
But are Becker’s statistics a marketing trap, or are these pricey prep courses worth the investment?
I passed the CPA exams myself, and I know how intimidating it can be to choose the right course (and spend thousands of dollars to do so). Through extensive research and firsthand experience with Becker CPA prep packages, I’ll share my insights to help you decide whether you should splurge or save your money for a different course.
Is Becker the Right CPA Review Course for You?
- If you need structure and don’t want to second-guess your study plan, then Becker’s guided schedule and milestone tracking will keep you focused without the guesswork.
- If live interaction helps you stay motivated or clear up confusion, then Becker’s live classes and tutoring sessions give you opportunities to ask questions and stay accountable.
- If you’re someone who learns better with visual cues and personality-driven instruction, then Becker’s lecture videos—especially their use of metaphors and mnemonics—make tough topics easier to remember.
- If staying engaged is a struggle, then Becker’s mobile app can turn review sessions into something less mind-numbing and more manageable.
- If you’re strictly focused on cost and just need a basic, no-frills course to get by, then a lower-priced provider like Surgent or Gleim might be a better fit.
Course Overview: Is Becker CPA Worth the Price?
Becker offers an impressive reputation, as you read about in the intro. However, Becker’s courses are also feature-packed and, based on my experience with the course, designed with CPA exam success in mind, regardless of your learning style. The Pro Package is the most popular, so it’ll be the one I focus on in this guide. It includes helpful tools to help you pass the CPA exam, such as:
- Up to $1,000 back pass guarantee
- Five success coaching and five tutoring sessions
- Unlimited academic support, access, and personalized practice tests
- AI tech tools and top-rated mobile apps
- Live online and in-person classes
And these are just a few of the highlights. However, these products can feel like luxury goods, especially if you want the Concierge Package. As a result, one of Becker’s most common complaints is the price. One student explains:
“Becker is the best in my opinion based on other people i have talked to. However, it is also the most expensive.”
However, others describe that the price can be much more affordable if you wait for the right sale:
“Across my 10 years of studying on and off, Becker ended up being what worked best for me, alongside Ninja as a supplement. Definitely wait for a sale though, I got my access for like $1.8k I think.”
So, whether you should invest depends on several factors. To figure out if you’re the kind of student who could benefit from what Becker has to offer, let’s uncover the pros, cons, features, and, of course, the current discounts.
Pros
- Study app with a 4.8-star average rating
- Has the highest CPA exam pass rate in the industry at 94%
- Most popular package includes 10 personalized tutoring/coaching sessions
- One of the only CPA exam preparation providers to include an AI study assistant
- Tough questions lead to an increase of 10 to 20 points on the actual CPA exam
Cons
- Without a sale or discount code, Becker can be much pricier than the competition
Becker CPA Review
Course Package Options
Becker Concierge: Most Support
Concierge is the Lamborghini of CPA exam prep packages. Some of their exclusive study materials include 25 study coaching sessions, 25 personalized tutoring sessions, deep dive workshop videos, ExamSolver videos, and a 100% money-back pass guarantee.
🧩 Concierge is the best match if: you value high-touch support and will spare no expense to ensure your success.
Becker Pro: Most Popular
Becker Pro is Becker’s most popular CPA exam review course, featuring some of Concierge’s benefits like live online and in-person classes, the final review capstone course, a one-year CPE subscription, and a partial money-back guarantee. Plus, this package includes five sessions each of success coaching and tutoring.
🧩 Pro is the best match if: you want the most bang for your buck, including live classes, tutoring, success coaching, and valuable bonuses.
Becker Premium
Premium is practically the same as Advantage; however, Premium offers unlimited access and printed textbooks, both of which Advantage lacks.
🧩 Premium is the best match if: you want the affordability of Advantage, but you’re willing to upgrade for access until you pass, and physical copies of your textbooks.
Becker Advantage
Becker Advantage is the lightest and least expensive package of the bunch. However, you’re still getting Becker’s fundamental prep tools, including:
- 24 months of access
- AI exam review study assistant, Newt™
- A study companion mobile app
- Unlimited customizable practice tests using adaptive learning technology
- One discipline section included
- 8,000+ MCQs, 500+ TBSs, and 900+ video lectures
- 12 mini exams and eight full-length simulated exams
- 1,400+ digital flashcards
🧩 Premium is the best match if: Becker is the prep provider for you, but you can pass with the basic tools and are looking to save more on your purchase.
| Becker Package | Concierge | Pro | Premium | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 24 Months |
| Pass Guarantee | 100% Money-Back | Partial Money-Back |  | |
| Discipline Sections | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Printed Textbooks |  | | | |
| Success Coaching/Tutoring Sessions | 25 Each | 5 Each | | |
| Live Online and In-Person Classes | | | | |
| Capstone Course for Final Review | | | | |
| 1-Year CPE Subscription | | | | |
| Price | $6,349 | $3,799 | $3,099 | $2,499 |
| Financing | Options Available | Starts at $205.75/mo | Starts at $129.12/mo | Starts at $104.12/mo |
| Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Get Started | LEARN MORE | LEARN MORE | LEARN MORE | LEARN MORE |
Becker CPA Discount Codes
Save $1,350 on Becker’s CPA review courses, including Becker’s mock exams, practice tests, video lessons, final review capstone course, adaptive learning technology, and mobile apps.
$1,350 Off Becker CPA + $300 Amazon Gift Card Bonus
Course Details: My Experience
User Experience and Practice Materials
Becker has a user interface that’s striking, soothing, and simple. It’s easy to figure out how to get from one section to the next, and the highly structured nature of the course means you’ll never have to guess what to do next. Becker feeds their strategic study schedule to you on a silver platter, and I enjoyed the ability to “turn my brain off” and just trust the process.
As for practice materials, Becker’s are deliberately difficult. I compared them to sample questions from the AICPA and competitive providers, and Becker’s are longer, more complex, and sometimes cover more niche concepts that other providers ignore. Naturally, if you can understand practice exams that are much more challenging than the actual exam, the real thing should be a breeze. Having taken the real exams, I found the difficulty level a little frustrating at first, knowing it wasn’t reflective of the actual exam. However, the longer I studied, the more confident I felt in the material—and that’s the entire point.
One student describes Becker’s difficulty, writing:
“Yes, I have taken and passed 3 of the 4 and Becker practice tests are harder than the real exam. There’s something widely referred to as the “Becker bump” which is the difference in score on a Becker mock versus the real exam. There’s a spreadsheet floating around online that keeps an average of Becker mock scores vs actual scores for many test takers and the differences can be pretty big.”
Tech and Mobile Apps
Whereas Surgent CPA Review has historically been considered the most tech-forward prep course, Becker is quickly reclaiming that title. At the time of writing, Becker includes the following tech features:
- Becker’s CPA Exam Review study companion app (4.8-star average rating)
- Adapt2U Technology, Becker’s proprietary adaptive learning technology
- Newt™, an AI exam review study assistant comparable to CPA-specific ChatGPT
Newt™ was a pleasant surprise for me. Initially, when I heard Becker was creating a ChatGPT “lookalike” for CPA candidates, I wasn’t particularly thrilled or impressed. That is, until I got to try it. One of the problems with ChatGPT is that when the entire internet is at your fingertips, you can make a lot of errors. Newt™, on the other hand, focuses on only the subjects it’s used for, all of which are accounting or finance themes. This means Newt™ is much more reliable (and yes, I fact-checked; Newt™ gets it right).
Video Lessons and Live Lectures
Becker’s lecture-style content can be delivered in a number of ways, including:
- Live in-person classes in Dallas, Texas
- Live online classes in Becker’s “virtual classroom”
- 900+ on-demand video lectures
In all fairness, I didn’t attend the in-person classes. However, I’d like to talk a bit about my experiences with the live online and on-demand classes.
The live virtual classes are separated by CPA exam section and the specific course module. Most of the classes are two hours long each and occur between one and three days every week. They often begin at times like 8:30 AM, 12 PM, or 6/7 PM CST, spread across both weekdays and weekends. The instructors go out of their way to keep everyone engaged, and the opportunity for real-time Q&A not only kept me interested in the material but also allowed me to ask for clarification if something wasn’t clicking with me.
As for the on-demand option, these are not your average prep course videos. The industry standard is honestly pretty dismal: monotone teachers reading the words off a slide before moving to the next. However, Becker delivers something more interesting, personable, and authentic. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Becker’s instructors drop the thesaurus-style vocab (why say “good” when you can say “unparalleled,” right?) and talk like actual human beings addressing another human being. Not higher than them, not lower than them, just person to person. Plus, the teachers used fun, memorable mnemonics to help me remember the concepts that’d be on the exam.
The only “negative” point worth mentioning is that these videos won’t prep you on their own, but for a broad overview, I’d recommend these to visual learners.
Success Coaching and Tutoring
Support matters. Historically, auto-didacticism (teaching yourself without the guidance of a teacher) was a badge of honor. However, with so many resources available, there’s no real reason to go it alone. In the Pro Package, students receive five 1-on-1 tutoring meetings and five success coaching sessions to help them get clarity on the subjects they’re struggling with and create an effective study plan to keep going.
I found both team members to be kind, patient, compassionate experts with a lot of experience and mastery to back up their recommendations. Though I’m not really studying for the CPA exams, they didn’t know that, and asked about my learning style before giving me ideas to make sure they made sense with what I knew worked for me. Ultimately, I think these sessions could be invaluable to students who thrive with extra support.
Pass Guarantees and Value
We’ve covered practice tests, video lessons, and personalized coaching. Now, it’s time to bring back the question from earlier: Is Becker worth it?
First, let’s address pass guarantees, because a free course is obviously a safe investment. There is a 100% money-back pass guarantee available, but only in the Concierge Package, which is probably too expensive for most candidates. However, the Pro Package, the most popular, offers a money-back pass guarantee that provides up to $1,000 back. It’s not full, but it’s still valuable.
As for value, I’d argue that Becker CPA Review is a sound investment for most future CPAs. It caters to every learning style, and if you can catch it during a sale, you can get a pretty sweet deal.
Comparing Becker to CPA Competitors
Becker vs. Gleim
Gleim is often seen as the go-to course for students who prefer drilling over discussion. Their massive test bank—over 13,000 questions—easily outpaces Becker’s in volume, and for kinesthetic learners who improve through endless practice, this can be a real asset. Gleim also includes audio lectures, which Becker doesn’t, making them a rare find for auditory learners who want a lower-stimulation study experience. However, Gleim doesn’t offer live instruction or an AI study assistant, and the overall experience leans more traditional, both in interface and teaching style.
Becker, by contrast, offers fewer practice questions but puts more emphasis on structure, support, and tech. The platform is cleaner, the adaptive learning tools are more refined, and their AI assistant Newt™ adds a layer of CPA-specific intelligence that Gleim just doesn’t match. Plus, Becker’s inclusion of live classes and one-on-one support options can be crucial for students who want a more guided experience.
- Choose Becker if… you want structured support, tech tools, and a modern interface to help keep you engaged and on track.
- Pick Gleim if… you prefer drilling thousands of questions with minimal distractions and thrive with audio-based learning.
Check out my full comparison of Becker vs Gleim here.
Becker vs. Surgent
Surgent’s standout feature is efficiency. Their entire system is designed to help students pass faster, and their adaptive learning tools prioritize time-saving strategies. ReadySCORE™ is a great example—it gives students a running prediction of how they’d score on the real CPA exam, based on their performance across all content areas. Surgent is also significantly more affordable than Becker, which makes it an attractive option for students trying to minimize upfront costs.
Becker brings more depth to the table. The Pro and Concierge packages include live online or in-person classes, AI-powered tools, a slick user interface, and even a mobile app. While Surgent focuses on speed, Becker leans into strategy, support, and polish. If price isn’t the primary concern, Becker generally offers a more immersive and well-rounded learning environment.
- Choose Becker if… you want high-quality instruction, personalized support, and a track record of producing top CPA performers.
- Pick Surgent if… you’re looking for an efficient, lower-cost program and feel confident with a more self-paced, exam-focused structure.
Find out more details in my review of Becker vs Surgent in this article.
Becker vs. Lambers
Lambers is one of the oldest CPA review providers out there, but in recent years, they’ve struggled to keep pace with the more tech-forward companies. Their focus is mostly on self-paced exam simulation and test prep materials, without the modern bells and whistles like mobile integration. That said, Lambers does appeal to traditional learners who want a straightforward, no-fluff approach, particularly if they have industry experience and want a quick, cheap route to CPA exam success.
Becker, meanwhile, builds on the fundamentals Lambers emphasizes but adds layers of tech, live instruction, and strategic support. Their adaptive learning path isn’t just cosmetic—it tailors your study experience to address weak areas. And while Lambers offers a familiar old-school feel, Becker’s infrastructure is simply more advanced, which can make a difference when you’re balancing study with a demanding schedule.
- Choose Becker if… you want a prep course with built-in coaching, modern tech, and extensive resources to match how you learn best.
- Pick Lambers if… you’re a self-sufficient learner who prefers a no-frills approach and doesn’t need mobile apps or live guidance.
Becker vs. UWorld
UWorld CPA Review is best known for its high-energy video lectures, especially from Roger Philipp and Peter Olinto, who’ve become industry names. If engaging instruction is what keeps you focused, UWorld might have the upper hand there. However, reviews suggest that Roger isn’t as present as he used to be, and some students feel the course leans too heavily on long lectures that lack pacing. UWorld also includes solid practice questions and detailed answer explanations, but it seems like their merger with Roger and Wiley may have made the three worse, not better together.
Becker may not be as personality-driven, but their video content is more concise, well-paced, and paired with a broader ecosystem of tools. The live classes, structured coaching, AI assistant, and polished mobile apps provide a more complete prep experience. While UWorld is still strong in the lecture department, Becker gives students more ways to engage with the material—and ultimately, more ways to succeed.
- Choose Becker if… you want balance: smart tech, guided support, and polished instruction across multiple formats.
- Pick UWorld if… dynamic lectures are your primary learning tool and you can stay focused through longer videos.
Read more about my reviews of Becker and UWorld in this comparison.
Also, find out where Becker ranks with the rest of my top CPA prep courses.
Final Verdict
Becker can be pricey, but they’re still one of the most popular CPA prep providers out there for a reason. Their track record proves that their study materials and course structure work, and students can get more personalized support from Becker than from anywhere else. Throw in effective mobile apps, tricky practice tools, unlimited access, pass guarantees, and live classes, and it’s obvious what’s made Becker such a hit with aspiring accountants.
Is Becker right for you? Click below to learn more.
FAQ
Becker reports a 94% pass rate for students who are Exam Day Ready℠, meaning students must have watched at least 80% of the video lectures, answered at least 80% of questions correctly, and scored at least 50% in the mini exams and simulated exams.
Becker’s high pass rate, live classes, and proven record of producing award-winners make them worth it to many students, as they’re one of the most popular providers out there.
Yes, Becker’s practice questions are more difficult on purpose to help overprepare students for each CPA exam section and, hopefully, earn their certified public accountant license.
Becker is used by all of the top 100 accounting firms, and some may be willing to pay for the program for their employees. Check with your specific employer for details.
Yes. Unlike top competitors like Gleim and Surgent CPA Review, Becker offers both live online and in-person class options in the Concierge and Pro Packages.
