FreeFellow vs AnalystPrep CFA: 2026 Comparison

AnalystPrep's CFA Level I Practice package costs $349 and its Learn plus Practice package costs $499, each with 12 months of access, and its Unlimited bundle is $799 for lifetime access to all three levels (pricing page, checked September 7, 2026). FreeFellow's whole Level I bank of about 1,800 questions is free with an account. AnalystPrep is the closest competitor to FreeFellow on price, and on r/CFA and 300Hours it's the name that comes up when someone wants a solid question bank without paying premium-provider money.

I sat all three CFA levels while working full time as an actuary. I built FreeFellow because I thought the whole question bank should be free, not behind even a budget paywall, which also means one of the two products here is mine. This post is about Level I in 2026.

Packages and prices

AnalystPrep's pricing page lists these Level I packages and the all-levels Unlimited bundle (checked September 7, 2026):

• Practice Package: $349 for Level I, 12-month access. Question bank, computer-based mock exams and performance tracking.
• Learn plus Practice Package: $499 for Level I, 12-month access. Adds video lessons, study notes and review summaries.
• Unlimited: $799, lifetime access across all three levels. Everything in Learn plus Practice for Levels I, II and III, plus ask-a-tutor and free annual curriculum updates.

It's a well-rounded budget lineup, with video, written notes, a deep question bank and full mocks, and Unlimited is strong value if you're committed to the whole charter.

FreeFellow has a free tier and two paid ones. The full original question bank is free with an account, subject to usage limits. Worked solutions, written lessons, mixed practice, and your readiness score stay free. For CFA Level I that's 1,800+ questions across all 10 topics with step-by-step solutions, 105 written lessons, a formula sheet, mixed practice and the readiness score, with no trial and no credit card. Fellow costs $39 a month or $79 a quarter per track and adds timed full-length mock exams, SM-2 spaced-repetition flashcards, analytics by topic and a study plan keyed to your exam date. The annual plan is Fellow Plus at $199 a year per track, which also adds licensed curriculum practice and Common traps. Prices are in USD, and each subscription covers one credential track. Check pricing for your track and country.

One FreeFellow track includes all three CFA levels, so the number of annual payments depends on how long you want the paid features, not on how many levels you study. Over the full charter it looks like this:

At $799, AnalystPrep Unlimited is good value for a paid product. FreeFellow's free tier is $0, and Fellow Plus costs less than that over three years, with no video and no tutor.

Where each one is stronger

What AnalystPrep does better

Learn plus Practice and Unlimited include video lessons. FreeFellow has written lessons and no video, so if you learn best by watching an instructor work through quantitative methods or derivatives on screen, AnalystPrep has something FreeFellow doesn't.

Unlimited is a one-time $799 purchase that covers all three levels for life, with annual curriculum updates. If you plan to take all three levels over several years, that's real value, and it's one decision instead of a renewal every year. FreeFellow's free tier never expires, but Fellow Plus renews each year, so it's a recurring choice rather than one purchase.

Higher AnalystPrep tiers let you ask a tutor questions. FreeFellow has no human tutor, so if you want a person to clarify a concept, AnalystPrep is the one that offers it.

AnalystPrep has also been the go-to budget recommendation on r/CFA and 300Hours for years, and that community knowledge is worth something. FreeFellow is newer.

What FreeFellow does better

The whole question bank is free. All 1,800+ Level I questions, with step-by-step solutions, cost nothing, with no trial and no credit card. AnalystPrep's bank, like every paid provider's, sits behind a paywall that starts in the low hundreds, so FreeFellow is the only one of the two you can start on today without spending anything.

The 105 written lessons are free too, so you can read a whole topic without paying. AnalystPrep's study notes and video lessons are in its paid tiers.

Fellow Plus is cheaper over several years. It's $199 a year for the CFA track, which covers all three levels and every Level III pathway, so a three-year plan is three annual payments at the price in effect at each renewal, against $799 once for Unlimited. The free bank stays available without a paid subscription.

On Fellow, focus practice targets your weakest topics automatically, and the analytics break down your accuracy by topic, by Learning Outcome Statement and by difficulty. AnalystPrep tracks performance too, but the targeting and the per-Learning-Outcome view are more granular on FreeFellow.

FreeFellow was built for phone and tablet study, with written lessons you can review on a phone. AnalystPrep works on mobile but was built desktop-first.

What FreeFellow doesn't have is video or a human tutor. Written lessons don't replace video for everyone, and if video is what you need, AnalystPrep's tiers include it.

Which one I'd pick

If you're paying yourself, I'd start with FreeFellow free and the CFA Institute curriculum. Work the full question bank, read the lessons and watch the readiness score, then add Fellow Plus ($199) when you want mocks and a study plan. That's $0 to $199 beyond your CFA Institute fees. If you need video on one hard topic, a targeted AnalystPrep purchase makes more sense than a full bundle.

If you learn best from video, get AnalystPrep Learn plus Practice or Unlimited, since the video lessons are what FreeFellow doesn't have, and add FreeFellow free for extra questions at no cost.

If you're committing to all three levels up front and want video throughout, AnalystPrep Unlimited ($799 lifetime) is a reasonable buy. It's one purchase with video and tutor support. Fellow Plus is a decision you make every year, since it renews at $199 a year at the current price, and it adds more detailed analytics and a study plan. Think about how many years of paid access you'll need and whether video or a tutor would help, and use FreeFellow free for extra questions either way.

If you're retaking and know the material, get Fellow Plus. At that point questions, timed mocks and analytics that find the gaps will help you more than another round of teaching, and the free bank plus Fellow Plus analytics is built for that.

If you want a person to answer your questions, go with AnalystPrep. FreeFellow doesn't have a tutor channel.

If you're not sure you'll use video lessons, start with FreeFellow free and add what you need later, so you're not paying for a tier you won't finish.

On r/CFA and 300Hours over the last 18 months, the comments about AnalystPrep are pretty consistent: it's the best value if you don't want to pay Schweser prices, the question bank is solid and the explanations are clear, the video lessons are decent but not as deep as Mark Meldrum's, and the lifetime Unlimited bundle is worth it if you're doing all three levels. The FreeFellow feedback I've seen likes the free question volume and the analytics and knocks it for having no video and no tutor. CFA Level I pass rates have hovered around 43% in recent sittings (CFA Institute), and the candidates who pass tend to have done 2,000 to 3,000 practice questions and 3 to 4 full mocks, whichever provider the questions came from.

FreeFellow is a CFA Institute Prep Provider, independent of CFA Institute, and does not promise a passing score. The CFA Level I practice page has sample questions you can try without signing up. A free account opens all 1,800+ questions and 105 lessons, and Fellow Plus is on the pricing page.

AnalystPrep is a trademark of its respective owner and is named here for identification and comparison only.