Selecting the right CFA study material is the single most important decision you will make on your journey towards becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst.
You will be spending hundreds of hours studying, so it’s critical to find the course that best fits your learning style and background.
So here’s the great news – we have researched and reviewed every major online CFA exam prep course on the market so you don’t have to! The comparison chart below will help you determine which course best fits your needs.
Helpful CFA Course Comparisons
| CFA Online Courses |
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| COMPANY | Wiley CFA | Apptuto | AdaptPrep CFA | Fitch Learning |
| VIDEO LECTURE HOURS | 110+ | 54 | 42 | 120 |
| PRACTICE QUESTIONS |
2,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| FULL MOCK EXAMS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| COURSE FORMATS | Online Self-Study & Virtual Classes | Live Online, App, Online | Online Self-Study | Live Online, App, Online |
| PASS GUARANTEE |  |
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| FREE TRIAL | |
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| LEVEL 2 COURSE OPTION |
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| LEVEL 3 COURSE OPTION |
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Coming Soon | |
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| INSTRUCTOR SUPPORT | |
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| EBOOK | |
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| FINAL REVIEW | |
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| MOBILE APP |
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| COURSE EXPIRATION |
Until You Pass | Until You Pass | Until You Pass | After Exam |
*This chart highlights the features from the CFA Level 1 online course offerings from each company.
Wiley CFA Review (Rank: #1)
OVERALL RATING:
Unlimited Access: Candidates have unlimited access to their Wiley CFA course materials. Not only do you receive access to the course until you pass, all online content updates and software upgrades are free. These are great features for a CFA course; most other companies are not so generous and access typically ends on exam day.
Bite-Sized Lessons: Wiley knows that there is a ton of material to learn for the CFA Exam, which is why this course is organized into clear and concise lessons. Shorter lessons allow students to stay engaged, retain more information for a longer period of time, and better monitor their progress.
Exam Planner: If you are worried about how to cover all of the course material in time, don’t be! Wiley’s Exam Planner allows you to enter the date of your exam and will provide you with a personalized study plan so you’ll know what to study each day until the test.
Mobile Device Friendly: This course is optimized for tablet use and allows students to study from a smartphone or other mobile device. Lessons on your devices are synchronized,so you can pick up wherever you left off from any device. There’s nothing like the convenience of studying at home, at work, or while you are commuting to get in those crucial 300 study hours.
Quality Material: Wiley’s continuous content updates mean that you are always getting the most recent, relevant content for the CFA Level 1 Exam. Top-notch lectures by experienced instructors, fantastic written guides, and the inclusion of every Learning Outcome Statement (LOS) in the CFA exam curriculum make this one of the most comprehensive courses on the market.
Apptuto CFA Review (Rank: #2)
OVERALL RATING:
Extensive Question Bank: Apptuto gives students access to 3,000+ questions and detailed explanations. All questions are written by CFA qualification holders. Their unique Similar Question Generator allows you to work on specifically those questions you need to practice the most.
Number of Customizable Practice Tests: Create as many practice tests as you want with questions chosen from specific readings, by question-type or difficulty level and then decide how they should be weighted on your practice exam. Check your performance on tests on the course dashboard while you track your progress in the course and see how you stack up against your peers.
Advanced Course Analytics: The course dashboard provides detailed feedback on your performance. Check your overall proficiency, progress points, leaderboard ranking, your medals or achievements, the number of questions you’ve tried, and the percentage of questions you’ve answered correctly, all from one central location. Performance Graphs also chart your weekly test scores.
Live-Online Courses: Apptuto now offers Live-Online courses for CFA Level 1 and II exams and has plans to release Level 3 at the end of 2016. Their Premium Course offers 54 hours of live-online CFA classes over an 18 week period and includes 1 on 1 coaching with an instructor as well as a 100% Pass Guarantee. Students can also take the Intense course which includes over 100 hours of live instruction.
AdaptPrep CFA (Rank: #3)
OVERALL RATING:
Bite-Sized Video Lectures: The instructors clear and concise lectures only average about 10 minutes each! You’ll have access to over 40 hours of instruction per level that have been broken down into more manageable chunks of time so you can learn and retain information more efficiently.
Adaptive Learning Technology: AdaptPrep increases its difficulty as you progress through the course. You will build confidence as you start with a beginner level of difficulty and then once you are able to score above 70% on a practice exam the problems will begin to get harder. The questions will become easier once again if you score lower than 50% on any practice test.
Fast Loading Speed: Adapt Prep has worked hard to make the their course software and videos have a faster response time. They’ve put in additional databases and servers to ensure that students won’t be bogged down due to video buffering or lag time. As we tested out their course we were amazed at how quickly the software performed.
Affordable Price: AdaptPrep CFA is the most affordable prep course on the market. Their Complete course package costs less than half as much as the industry standard making them the most affordable comprehensive CFA study materials you will find anywhere.
Fitch Learning CFA (Rank: #4)
OVERALL RATING:
Online Learning Portal: With Fitch Learning CFA, users get access to a great learning portal that features more than 120 hours of recorded video lessons, progress tests, and progress tracking that determines strengths and weaknesses. A study planner also helps guide students through the course.
Instructor Support: International faculty around the world and 24/7 access to the help desk guarantees that students will receive prompt answers to their questions, regardless of time zone. Mentors also check in with students regularly to ask how the course is going.
Money-Back Guarantee: Fitch Learning offers their students a 100% money back guarantee if they don’t pass the exam after meeting certain milestones. Only CFA Level I students are eligible for the guarantee, so make sure to check out the full list of requirements on their website.
Mobile App: A mobile app enables students to access key course features on the go. You can download it in both the iTunes and Google Play stores. Course content can be searched and downloaded prior to offline studying. This allows busy professionals to study for the CFA exam from anywhere on their smartphone or tablet, whenever they have a few minutes.
Top 5 Best CFA Study Materials
| CFA Review Courses | Course Formats | Discount Codes |
| Wiley CFA Review | Online & Virtual Classes | 10% Off Discount Code |
| Adapt Prep CFA | Online Self-Study | 10% Off Promo Code |
| Apptuto | Live Online, App, Online | 20% Off Coupon Code |
| Fitch Learning | Live Online, App, Online | No |
| Kaplan Schweser CFA | Self-Study & Online | No |
CFA Study MaterialsWritten by: Crush Reviews5 / 5 stars
