Best GMAT & GRE Prep Courses (2026): Magoosh, Manhattan Prep & Kaplan Compared

Last updated: August 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

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Both the GMAT and the GRE are coachable, standardized tests — which means the course you choose genuinely affects your score. But the market is crowded and the marketing is loud, so this guide cuts through it: three providers we’d actually recommend, who each one is for, and how to decide. We’ve focused on the prep options that earn their place on merit, and noted honestly where a cheaper choice does the same job.

GMAT vs GRE: does it change your prep?

Quick context, because it affects your choice. The GMAT is the traditional business-school exam; the GRE is the broader graduate-school exam that most MBA programs now also accept. If you’re business-school-only and aiming high, the GMAT’s quant is more specialized and rewards dedicated GMAT prep. If you’re keeping options open across grad programs — or your quant is shaky — the GRE is often the friendlier route. The good news: the three providers below cover both exams, so you can pick a provider on quality and then choose the right test-specific course. (Already admitted, or brushing up on business fundamentals before day one? See our guide to the best MBA courses online.)

What to look for in a prep course

• A large, realistic question bank. These are practice-driven exams; question volume and quality matter more than lecture hours.
• Full-length, timed practice tests. Stamina and pacing are half the battle, especially on the GMAT.
• Explanations you actually learn from. The best providers explain why an answer is wrong, not just which one is right.
• A guarantee or clear refund policy. A score-improvement guarantee lowers your risk on a meaningful purchase.
• Format that fits you. Self-paced video (Magoosh) is cheaper and flexible; live classes (Kaplan, Manhattan Prep) add accountability and cost more.

The 3 best GMAT & GRE prep providers

1. Magoosh — best value

For most self-studiers, Magoosh is the one to beat. You get a large bank of practice questions with video explanations for every one, lesson videos covering both exams, and a score-improvement guarantee — all for a fraction of what the premium brands charge. It won’t hold your hand with live classes, but for a motivated candidate it covers everything you need to lift your score. Checked at Magoosh’s own checkout in August 2026: GRE Premium is $149 for one month or $179 for six, and GMAT Premium is $249, with a score-improvement guarantee on both (up to 70 points on the GMAT, +5 total on the GRE).

Magoosh GMAT  ·  Magoosh GRE

2. Manhattan Prep — best for top scores

Manhattan Prep built its reputation on rigor. Its practice questions are famously harder than the real test, which is exactly what you want if you’re chasing a 700+ GMAT or a high-percentile GRE — train on tougher material and test day feels manageable. The strategy guides are a genre standard, and the live and on-demand classes are taught by high-scoring instructors. It’s a premium choice, priced accordingly, and best suited to ambitious scorers rather than budget-first studiers.

Manhattan Prep GMAT  ·  Manhattan Prep GRE

3. Kaplan — best for structured, live instruction

Kaplan is the biggest name in test prep, and its strength is structure: live online and in-person classes, a clear curriculum, official-style practice, and the reassurance of an established brand with a higher-score guarantee. If you study better with a schedule, a teacher, and accountability than alone with videos, Kaplan is the natural fit. Like Manhattan Prep, it’s a premium-priced option — you’re paying for the live instruction and the breadth of resources. Worth knowing: Manhattan Prep is a Kaplan-owned brand, and Kaplan’s own GMAT course pages are now Manhattan Prep-branded — so these two are corporate siblings rather than independent rivals, even though they still sell separate courses at separate prices.

Kaplan GMAT  ·  Kaplan GRE

GMAT & GRE prep compared

Best GMAT prep, specifically

If you’re GMAT-focused and aiming for a top score, the strongest combination is Manhattan Prep for rigor (its quant practice is harder than the real thing) backed by official GMAC practice tests. If you’re cost-conscious or scoring well already, Magoosh delivers most of the value for a fraction of the price. Note that the GMAT’s structure has changed: it now runs three sections — Quantitative Reasoning (21 questions), Verbal Reasoning (23) and Data Insights (20) — over 2 hours 15 minutes, and data sufficiency now sits in Data Insights rather than the quant section. Older prep material that drills data sufficiency as a quant topic is out of date, so check any course you buy targets the current format.

Compare GMAT Courses →

Best GRE prep, specifically

The GRE is the more forgiving test for most people, and the value math tilts even harder toward Magoosh — its GRE course is a long-standing favourite for self-studiers and starts at $149 with a score guarantee. If you want live instruction or you’re targeting a very high quant score for a competitive program, Kaplan or Manhattan Prep add structure and tougher practice. Pair any of them with the free official ETS PowerPrep tests.

Compare GRE Courses →

GMAT vs GRE: how the two exams actually differ

Most comparisons stop at “the GRE is easier on quant.” The structural differences matter more than that, because they change how you should prepare. Both exams were overhauled in recent years and a lot of prep advice still describes the old formats.

Two of these have real prep consequences. First, the GMAT no longer treats data sufficiency as a quant topic — it sits in Data Insights alongside table analysis and multi-source reasoning, so a course that drills DS as pure algebra practice is teaching to a retired format. Second, the GRE is section-level adaptive: your performance on the first Verbal section determines the difficulty of the second. You cannot safely coast through section one and make it up later, which is exactly the mistake self-studiers make when they treat a practice test as a warm-up.

The practical read: if you are business-school-only and confident on quant, the GMAT’s shorter, essay-free format is efficient. If you want to keep other graduate programmes open, or writing is a strength you would rather be scored on, the GRE’s structure suits you better. Both are accepted by most MBA programmes now, so this is a genuine choice rather than a formality.

What the tests themselves cost

Course prices get all the attention, but the exam fee is a real part of the budget — and on the GRE it is now larger than a Magoosh subscription.

GRE fees

ETS publishes a flat fee schedule, effective 1 August 2026: $249 for the General Test everywhere except China ($231.30). Rescheduling or changing your test centre costs $55, and additional score reports are $40 per recipient — a cost people forget when they apply to six programmes.

⭐ The fee reduction almost nobody mentions: ETS runs a Fee Reduction Program that lets eligible test takers register for $100 instead of $249. It also includes free access to prep materials ETS values at $100 — POWERPREP PLUS Practice Tests 1 and 2 ($45 each) and ScoreItNow! Online Writing Practice ($20). If you are a student or on a low income, check your eligibility before you pay full price or buy a paid course; the free PowerPrep PLUS tests alone cover a chunk of what a budget provider sells you.

GMAT fees

GMAC deliberately does not publish a single flat GMAT price. Its own fees page states that current fees appear during registration and on the GMAT pricing page, and that they "may vary by country, currency, and exam delivery format," with extra charges for rescheduling, cancellation and additional score reports. Rather than quote a number that would be wrong for most readers, we would point you at GMAC’s own pricing page for your country and format.

GMAC does run vouchers and fee waivers, but they are distributed by third parties — business schools, scholarship organisations and test-prep organisations — rather than applied for centrally, and each issuer sets its own eligibility and expiry. If you are applying to a school, ask its admissions office directly whether it issues them; that is where they come from.

Retakes: how many attempts you actually get

Both tests are retakeable, and planning for a second attempt is sensible rather than pessimistic. The limits are tighter than most people assume:

• GMAT: at least 16 calendar days between appointments, and a maximum of five attempts in a rolling 12-month period. Online and test-centre sittings count against the same limit, and so do exams where you cancelled your score. Appointments you cancel in advance or miss entirely do not count.
• GRE: once every 21 days, up to five times in any rolling 365-day period — and this applies even if you cancelled your scores on a previous sitting. ETS enforces it retroactively: if a violation surfaces after scores are reported, those scores are cancelled, recipients are notified, and the fees are forfeited.

The planning implication is straightforward. If your application deadline is three months out, you realistically have room for two sittings, not four — so book the first one early enough that a retake still fits, rather than leaving it as late as possible and having only one shot.

Understanding GMAT and GRE scores

Knowing what you’re aiming for shapes how much prep you need. The GRE scores its Verbal and Quantitative sections on a 130–170 scale each (260–340 combined), plus a separate Analytical Writing score. The GMAT Total Score runs from 205 to 805, and it is built from the Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights section scores — which GMAC states are equally weighted. That equal weighting is the single most under-appreciated fact about the current exam: Data Insights is a third of your Total Score, not a bolt-on, yet it is the section candidates most often leave until last because it did not exist in the old format. If you are choosing a course on quant reputation alone, check what it actually offers on Data Insights before you buy. For both tests, the number that matters isn’t an absolute ‘good score’ — it’s the percentile your target programs expect. Pull up the published class profile or median scores for the schools you’re applying to and work backwards from there; a score that’s competitive for one program may be below median at another.

This matters for your course choice. If your target percentile is modest, a value provider plus consistent practice is plenty. If you need a top-decile score, the extra rigor of Manhattan Prep or the structure of Kaplan can be worth the premium — the last few percentile points are the hardest to earn alone.

Free official resources worth using

Whatever paid course you choose, pair it with the free official materials — they’re the most accurate practice you can get because they come from the test makers themselves:

• GRE: ETS PowerPrep — two free official full-length practice tests that mirror the real interface and scoring.
• GMAT: official GMAC starter practice exams — free official-format tests that are the best gauge of where you actually stand.
• Official guide question sets — retired real questions; the gold standard for realistic practice.

A smart approach: take a free official test cold at the start to set a baseline, do your paid-course study, then take the second official test near the end to confirm you’re ready. The paid courses give you teaching and volume; the official tests tell you the truth about your score.

Building a GMAT or GRE study plan

Most successful candidates study consistently over two to three months rather than cramming. A plan that works for either test: spend the first third learning content and strategy, the middle third drilling the question bank by topic and fixing weak areas, and the final third taking full-length, timed practice tests under realistic conditions. Review every missed question and write down why you missed it — careless error, content gap, or timing — because the fix is different for each.

Protect your timing especially on the GMAT, where pacing pressure sinks more scores than content gaps do. When your practice-test scores land in your target range across two or three consecutive attempts, book the real exam while you’re sharp. Don’t keep delaying for a perfect practice score that never comes — readiness is a consistent range, not a single peak.

How to choose

Start with two questions: what’s your budget, and how do you study best? If you’re disciplined and cost matters, Magoosh will get you there cheaply. If you need a schedule and a teacher, pay up for Kaplan’s live classes. If you’re chasing a top-percentile score and money is secondary, Manhattan Prep’s rigor is worth it. Whichever you choose, the providers matter less than the habit: consistent, timed, explained practice over several weeks beats any single course feature.

Other providers worth knowing

Our four picks are the ones we’d actively recommend, but they aren’t the only serious options — and being honest about the alternatives is part of helping you choose well:

• Target Test Prep — widely regarded as one of the best for GMAT and GRE quant specifically. If a low quant score is your bottleneck, it’s worth a look alongside our picks.
• e-GMAT — particularly popular with non-native English speakers and known for a structured, data-driven approach to verbal and quant.
• The Princeton Review — another large, established brand with live classes and score guarantees, comparable to Kaplan in format and positioning.
• AnalystPrep — we recommended AnalystPrep here until 2026, but the company has discontinued its GMAT and GRE products; its own site now states it “no longer offers dedicated GMAT preparation products.” Its finance-exam prep is still excellent, so if you landed here researching AnalystPrep, see our best CFA courses guide instead.
• Official GMAC and ETS materials — not a course, but the official practice from the test makers should be part of every study plan regardless of which paid option you choose.

We don’t have affiliate relationships with these providers, so we’re not steering you toward them — but a good comparison names the strong alternatives honestly, and these are genuinely strong. If quant is your weak point in particular, Target Test Prep is the name that comes up most often among high scorers.

Frequently asked questions

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