Best GRE Prep Courses of 2025 – Honest Review 

Whether you're a first-time GRE test taker or you've taken the GRE before, studying with a GRE prep course that's the best fit for your learning style is essential to your success. 

So, to help you find a GRE course that's well suited to your prep needs, we've purchased and spent weeks thoroughly reviewing several GRE prep courses on the market. 

After reading this in-depth review article, you'll be able to identify a GRE prep course that can help you achieve a high GRE score on the shortened version of the GRE.

And ultimately gain an admission to your dream graduate program.

Our GRE Prep Course Winners

• Best Overall: The Princeton Review
• Best for Live Instruction: Manhattan Prep
• Best Budget: GregMat

Use the helpful jump links above to navigate to our top 3 picks for the best GRE prep courses. 

Detailed Video Review

Watch the video below to see a comprehensive first hand review of each of these GRE prep courses.

Unlike other review websites, we actually purchase the products we recommend and spend weeks vetting these courses before we make our recommendations.

Best Overall: The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review offers GRE prep programs in various formats, both online and in-person.

These include an exclusive personalized tutoring program, two live class programs taught in small groups over durations as short as five weeks or as long as nine weeks.

And two self-paced programs with 4-month access periods that form the foundation for all their instructor-led programs.

Access to all their programs comes with about 66 engaging on-demand video lesson modules, covering a broad range of GRE topics and teaching effective GRE section-specific strategies.

Additionally, there is a pool of over 2,500 GRE-like practice questions, three single-section GRE practice tests, and 8 full-length GRE practice tests that are section adaptive like the modified GRE.

A strong positive about this course is how well the practice material is designed. GRE practice questions can be completed using The Princeton Review’s exclusive Drill Smart technology feature.

Where they serve you a series of GRE practice drills calibrated at your exact level of difficulty, and depending on your performance on the calibration drill section, the proceeding drill in the series will adapt to your skill level.

By either presenting you with a more difficult or a less complicated drill, just like in the actual GRE.

In addition, after completing a full-length GRE practice test, you get a detailed diagnostic report capturing insightful data about your performance.

Which is the best practice test diagnostic report I came across in this review.

Regarding customer policies, they stand out from the competition with the best score and increased money-back guarantee.

Which goes as high as a +6 points increase on the Verbal AND a +6 points increase on the Quant. 

As for the cons, most of the complaints we had about The Princeton Review GRE course were in the design of their practice material.

While their text-based answer explanations are pretty detailed, they could be supplemented with video answer explanations, which visual learners can get benefit the most from, as is done is some other courses in this review.

Check out our detailed review on The Princeton Review GRE.

Best for Live Instruction: Manhattan Prep

Manhattan Prep offers three main GRE prep packages.

A self-paced GRE course called GRE Interact, which lays the foundation for all their other GRE prep packages.

A live course tailored for business school prospects called GRE for MBA, designed for those who elect to take the GRE instead of the GMAT.

And a private GRE tutoring package for those who seek the most customization in their GRE prep.

The self-paced GRE Interact course is available for purchase with options for a 1-month, 3-month, or 6-month plan.

Their small group live class, GRE for MBA course, consists of 27 hours of structured learning spread over nine weekly sessions.

As for the practice material in this course, it includes about 600 GRE-like practice questions and six full-length GRE practice tests on the platform that have been modified for the shortened GRE.

Check out our comprehensive review on Manhattan Prep GRE.

Best for Budget: GregMat

Compared to other GRE prep courses in this review, this course is the least recognized from a branding perspective. 

The GregMat+ GRE course is precisely what you get when you strip out all the bells and whistles typically found in premium prep courses and focus on the most essentials. 

This course gives you access to live GRE online classes - where live sessions covering different areas of the GRE are held multiple times weekly. 

You also get access to an extensive library of recorded GRE live classes, allowing you to prep on time.  

As for practice material, the course has a library of over 900 GRE practice questions, 15 complete section Quant and Verbal tests, and 25 mini GRE exams - where each mini exam consists of 10 Quant and 10 Verbal questions.

It also provides other resources like Quant flashcards and study plans. As well as a community forum where you can interact with other users and find an accountability group or partner.

Plus, you get all these features with a monthly subscription of just $8/month. Which beats a Netflix subscription!

Other Good GRE Prep Courses

There are several other GRE prep courses available out there, and even though we tried to objectively rank the best options, not everyone might fit that mold.

Below we include a couple of honorable mentions that fell short of making it in the "best" category but are nonetheless good-quality GRE prep courses:

Magoosh

Currently, Magoosh provides only self-paced or self-directed GRE courses, available with access periods of either one month or six months.

Users can utilize around 1,600 GRE-like practice questions to create up to three unique full-length GRE practice tests.

One of Magoosh's standout features is the unlimited on-demand access to a GRE expert for assistance with course material, a support feature not commonly found in many other GRE self-paced platforms.

Furthermore, Magoosh distinguishes itself with its exclusive access to 160 licensed official GRE® Quant and Verbal questions from ETS, offering unique practice opportunities not available elsewhere at the time of this review.

However, there is room for improvement in the quality of Magoosh's lesson material.

Specifically, in the Quant section, the focus appears to be excessively on refreshing general concepts rather than tailoring lessons to be more GRE-focused.

This approach might not offer much value to those already proficient in the general concepts tested on the GRE.

Despite this, Magoosh's GRE prep packages offer competitive pricing, starting at under $180 for a six-month plan.

This makes Magoosh a compelling option for those seeking a budget-friendly, self-paced GRE course.

Check out our comprehensive review on Magoosh GRE.

Target Test Prep

Target Test Prep now offers GRE prep options in Self-paced, Live Class, and Private Tutoring formats.

Pricing begins at $179 per month for a subscription model, but there's also an option for a one-time payment of $499, which grants six months of access.

Key features of the course include an adaptable GRE study plan that guides users through the self-paced course content, tailored based on performance in a diagnostic quiz taken at the outset of the course.

Additionally, the platform boasts a substantial reserve of GRE practice questions and detailed video explanations for these questions.

A standout resource from Target Test Prep is their detailed GRE Equation Guide, which I found immensely helpful.

Given the comprehensive nature of their practice materials, I regard Target Test Prep as one of the premier platforms for drilling GRE practice questions.

However, you may prefer GRE prep courses with engaging video lessons. This platform is lacking in that case, as it primarily offers text-based lesson content.

Furthermore, despite the extensive question bank, the platform does not provide full-length GRE practice tests created by its authors.

For a limited time, you can save 30% on all Target test Prep GRE plans using our exclusive discount code SojourningScholarGRE30.

Checkout our review of Target Test Prep GRE.

Kaplan GRE Prep Courses

Kaplan, a leading name in test prep, offers a comprehensive suite of GRE prep options, including self-paced courses, live classes, and private tutoring.

Their live online course delivers 21 hours of instruction across seven sessions. In contrast, the self-paced course, the foundational course from which their live class package is developed, is available with six months of access.

The self-paced course features over 20 video lesson modules, more than 2,500 practice questions, and seven full-length GRE practice tests that closely simulate the actual GRE.

Kaplan sets itself apart in simulating the actual GRE experience by offering users the option to take one of the seven practice tests at an official GRE test-taking center run by Prometric, available in 83 countries.

This provides the most realistic in-person GRE practice test experience available.

However, there are some areas where Kaplan could improve. I didn’t find their GRE practice questions to be as realistic as other competitors. 

Furthermore, compared to other companies offering live GRE classes, Kaplan provides relatively little information about the qualifications of their instructors. 

This lack of transparency is a concern, especially considering the high price point of their instructor-led courses, with prices starting as high as $1,000.

Check out our review of Kaplan GRE Prep

How We Picked the Best GRE Prep Courses

We chose the best GRE prep courses based on certain criteria. We considered all of the following factors when ranking the courses:

• Cost - Some students want to find the most affordable GRE prep course (the most bang for their buck). 
• Structure/Format - Whether students prefer in-person classes or online, there is certainly a GRE prep course that will meet their needs. 
• Flexibility - The number of course options/plans available to students is also an important factor in rating GRE prep courses.
• Score Guarantee - Everyone loves when there's a score guarantee. Many of the courses that we rated will guarantee some sort of improvement in a student's score.
• Specialization - Depending on what you studied in undergraduate and what you’re looking to study in grad school, you might need to focus more on specific aspects of the GRE. Some of these courses have paths geared towards different areas of study.
• Personalization - How does the course adapt based on your progress? If you’re struggling in a specific area, does this GRE prep course allow you to personalize your study plan?
• Resources Available - Practice tests, question banks, online classes, videos, textbooks, and more
• Time Commitment - These courses can range from one month to a year depending on the path a student chooses.

More About GRE Prep

At Sojourning Scholar, we know that the GRE can be a barrier to attending graduate school.

So many students get overwhelmed by the difficult exam and the amount of prep they need to put in to get a good enough score for their dream schools.

In fact, lots of students will try to look for grad schools that don’t require the GRE first, which can limit your options a lot, because the test is daunting. But, it doesn’t have to be.

It is also worth noting that the GRE is not the only factor that contributes to grad school admission decisions.

Admissions counselors consider everything, from undergraduate grades, recommendations, and research experience, to work experience and more. 

Whether you decide to study on your own, check out the best GRE YouTube channels, use one of the best GRE prep books, get a tutor, or enroll in one of the best GRE prep courses, there are plenty of ways to boost your score on the GRE.

Set the bar high for yourself and learn what you are capable of achieving.

If you are trying to figure out what your optimal GRE score should be for your target graduate program, check out our article on What is a good GRE score?

In this article, we review and analyze the average GRE scores by year, state, school, and more.

Best of luck in your GRE preparation!