Magoosh vs Kaplan TOEFL: Which Course Should You Buy? 

Magoosh and Kaplan are two popular test prep providers on the market. Unlike Kaplan that's more of a household name, Magoosh, while being a new-comer, has established itself as a strong competitor in the test prep market.

In this unbiased review article, we will be pitching the Magoosh TOEFL course against the Kaplan TOEFL course to help you determine which is the right fit and the best choice for your money. 

We understand that when it comes to studying for the TOEFL iBT exam, the learning resources you use - whether that's a TOEFL book or a TOEFL prep course - can make or break your target TOEFL score goals.  

Magoosh vs Kaplan TOEFL Overview

Magoosh offers two self-paced TOEFL course packages that mostly differ in terms of the length of access period. These TOEFL packages are titled appropriately as the 1 Month Premium and 6 Month Premium.

On the other hand, Kaplan on offers a single self-paced TOEFL course package with 3 months of access. 

Who Should Buy Magoosh TOEFL?

• Magoosh is an ideal choice for students who want to take more full-length TOEFL practice tests and receive quality answer explanations
• Someone who is looking for more student support features in a self-paced TOEFL course such as graded writing assessments and expert help with the TOEFL course content.

Who Should Buy Kaplan TOEFL?

• Kaplan would be a good choice for those students who want to complement their online TOEFL learning with a physical prep book.

Magoosh vs Kaplan TOEFL: Similarities and Differences

Now let's point out what these two TOEFL courses have in common and how they differ.

Main Similarities

• The TOEFL courses from Magoosh and Kaplan are 100% self-paced and offered entirely online.
• There are no live TOEFL classes or TOEFL tutoring from both companies. 
• The lessons on both of these self-paced TOEFL courses are video based.

Main Differences

• Kaplan provides a TOEFL prep book as a companion to its online course, while Magoosh does not offer any TOEFL prep book when you purchase their online course.
• Kaplan provides no clear point score increase guarantee promise, while Magoosh presents a +4 point score increase guarantee promise.
• There are no student support features on the Kaplan TOEFL course, while Magoosh provides several student support features such as graded writing assessments and access to an on-demand TOEFL expert. 

Magoosh vs Kaplan TOEFL: Performance Comparison

Now that we've highlighted the broad similarities and differences between both courses let's discuss how both courses performed in our review.

TOEFL Lessons

As described earlier, the lessons from both Magoosh and Kaplan are 100% self-paced. When you sign up for both courses, you get access to their full library of video lessons and practice material. 

The video lessons on both courses are quite similar in structure, in the sense that the lesson modules are broken down into the 4 TOEFL sections: TOEFL Reading, TOEFL Listening, TOEFL Speaking, and TOEFL Writing. And within each of these modules, you'll find lessons introducing the different question/task types as well as strategies for answering each question/task type. 

Although the Magoosh and Kaplan TOEFL courses are video-based (in the format of presentation slides with a voice-over from an instructor), there are some subtle differences in the design of the video lessons worth highlighting. 

On the Magoosh TOEFL platform, the instructors frequently take notes on the slides as they speak, while those on Kaplan do not have any annotations or visuals. This subtle difference makes the learning experience on Magoosh stand out from that of Kaplan.

Because your eyes are constantly drawn to the visuals that appear on the screen, it's much easier to engage with the video lessons on Magoosh than those of Kaplan. 

Furthermore, the videos on Magoosh are designed with closed captions and also include a complete audio transcript. This is very helpful for English as Second Language (ESL) learners who might struggle with understanding Western English accents and prefer to read a transcription of the lessons. You can see the image above for an example of a Magoosh video lesson with closed captions turned on. In contrast, the video lessons on Kaplan don't have any closed captions. 

But most importantly, where the Magoosh TOEFL lessons beat Kaplan is in the depth of the TOEFL test-taking strategies. We found the test-taking strategies for all TOEFL sections to be the best of all the TOEFL prep courses we reviewed. 

So, given the more engaging TOEFL lessons and in-depth test-taking strategies for all sections, Magoosh TOEFL has the advantage over Kaplan TOEFL in lesson quality.

TOEFL Practice Material

Your TOEFL prep won't be complete until you've spent some time reviewing realistic TOEFL practice questions and completing at least one simulated full-length practice test. This is why it's crucial to choose a TOEFL prep course with quality TOEFL practice material as you begin your prep. 

On that note, the practice material on Kaplan and Magoosh is excellent, both having a comparable number of practice questions and full-length practice tests. When we compared the difficulty of the practice questions on both courses to those you will find on the actual TOEFL iBT exam, we found them quite similar. 

So, from that perspective, you'll be just fine if you decide to go with either Magoosh or Kaplan for realistic practice questions.

However, where the Magoosh TOEFL practice material separates itself from Kaplan is in the quality of answer explanations. No other TOEFL prep course provider does a better job than Magoosh in the area of answer explanations. None! Only on Magoosh TOEFL will you find a detailed video explanation and text explanation for each TOEFL practice question.

For example, in the multiple-choice reading and listening sections, the instructors explain why each answer choice is either incorrect or correct, but they also reveal any answer traps that exist in the choices, some of which you may not be aware of. With this level of detail in the answer explanation, you will quickly learn from your mistakes as you study the practice material. 

In contrast, the answer explanations on Kaplan are all text-based. They don't go into great detail explaining why each answer choice is either correct or incorrect. 

The winner in the area of TOEFL practice material goes to Magoosh TOEFL.

Student Support

One of the main advantages of studying for the TOEFL with a prep course is the access to an expert for feedback in the TOEFL speaking and writing sections or any other part of the TOEFL course content. 

Magoosh beats Kaplan in this area by default, as Kaplan provides no student support features. In contrast, Magoosh provides unlimited on-demand access to a TOEFL expert who can help answer any question you have about the Magoosh TOEFL course material. 

In addition, students also receive graded writing feedback when they submit their responses to a grader via the platform. In both instances, you can expect a response from Magoosh between 24 -48 hours. 

Admittedly, the TOEFL student support features from Magoosh are not the best on the market. From our review of other competing TOEFL courses, such as BestMyTest TOEFL and E2Language TOEFL, we found the student support features better than Magoosh, especially in the speaking and writing feedback.

So, consider these other TOEFL prep courses if you're looking for a course with high-quality feedback for the speaking and writing section. 

In the area of student support, Magoosh TOEFL beats Kaplan TOEFL.

Pricing

The Magoosh TOEFL course is priced at $109 for the 1-month premium package and $129 for the 6-month premium package. The Kaplan TOEFL course is priced at $349 for just 3 months of access.

In addition, Magoosh occasionally discounts its TOEFL courses by 20% and offers a payment plan for the 6-month premium TOEFL course when there are not running discounts.

Kaplan provides payment plans for the TOEFL course in 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month installments.

In terms of pricing, you don't need to be a math whiz to see that the Magoosh TOEFL is far more affordable than Kaplan. 

Customer Policies

Magoosh has a far more outstanding customer policy for its TOEFL product than Kaplan. You can get a free 7-day trial of the Magoosh TOEFL course before purchasing. And if you decide to buy the course and determine that you don't like it, you can request a full refund from Magoosh within 7 days of purchase, no questions asked. 

Compared to Kaplan, which does not have any free trials for the TOEFL course and has no money-back refund for customers who are not satisfied with their purchase. 

In terms of score increase guarantees, Magoosh has an explicit +4 point score increase guarantee for eligible students. Subject to the Magoosh terms and conditions, if you complete the Magoosh TOEFL course and your overall TOEFL score does not increase by at least 4 points, you can get a full refund of your purchase. 

Kaplan, in contrast, only promises to give you a higher TOEFL score. So, if you receive a 1-point increase, that qualifies as a "higher TOEFL score." 

Magoosh has the edge over Kaplan in the area of customer policies.

Final Recommendation

Given that the Magoosh TOEFL course clearly dominates the Kaplan TOEFL course in every area, we firmly believe that Magoosh is the better choice for most students. 

Summary