Bionic Turtle's FRM packages were $400 to $700 per part in the May 2026 price record, with Part I and Part II sold separately. FreeFellow's FRM banks, 1,076 Part I questions and 1,242 Part II questions with written lessons, are free with an account. Bionic Turtle is the most established FRM-only prep provider. David Harper, CFA, FRM, founded it over 15 years ago, and when someone on r/FRM asks who to study with, it's the most common answer along with Schweser and AnalystPrep.
I built FreeFellow as a free and low-cost alternative to courses like this one, so this is a comparison with my own product. FreeFellow LLC isn't listed on garp.org/frmepp yet.
Packages and prices
Bionic Turtle sells its packages per part. In the May 2026 price record, Part I and Part II packages each ran $400 to $700, with materials depending on the package. If you want both parts, check the current bundle offer separately, since a per-part band doesn't tell you the bundle price, and check current prices, availability and access periods before you buy. You get written study notes mapped to GARP's Learning Objectives, David Harper's video library covering the quantitative topics in depth (Heath-Jarrow-Morton, copulas, Vasicek, Hull-White, Black-Scholes derivations, volatility modeling), thousands of practice questions across both parts, full mock exams and a member forum.
FreeFellow's free tier gets you 1,076 Part I and 1,242 Part II practice questions with step-by-step solutions, written lessons, a formula sheet for each part, mixed practice and the readiness score. Fellow costs $39 a month or $79 a quarter per track and adds timed practice exams, SM-2 spaced-repetition flashcards, analytics and a study plan keyed to your exam date. The annual plan is Fellow Plus at $199 a year per track, which also adds Common traps. Prices are in USD, and each subscription covers one credential track, which for FRM means both parts. Check pricing for your track and country.
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| Feature | FreeFellow Free | FreeFellow Fellow Plus | Bionic Turtle (Part I) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $199/yr per track | $400 to $700 per part (May 2026 price record) |
| Practice questions (Part I) | 1,076 | 1,076 | ~2,000+ |
| Practice questions (Part II) | 1,242 | 1,242 | ~2,000+ |
| Written lessons | Yes | Yes | Hull-style notes |
| Video lectures | None | None | David Harper library |
| Mock exams | None | Multiple, timed | Pro tier includes |
| Flashcards | None | SM-2 spaced repetition | None |
| Analytics | Readiness score | Topic-level + trends | Forum-based |
| Study plan | Manual | Personalized | Self-directed |
| Forum / community | None | None | Active member forum |
| Track record | Newer (since 2024) | Newer | 15+ years |
| GARP EPP listing | Pending | Pending | Listed |
Bionic Turtle's May 2026 record quotes each part separately. One FreeFellow annual plan covers both parts, and each extra year needs another annual payment.
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| Option | Price (USD) | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Bionic Turtle | $400 to $700 per part in the May 2026 price record | Each part sold separately; current prices and terms unverified |
| FreeFellow Fellow Plus | $199 per year | FRM track, both parts |
| FreeFellow Free | $0 | Full banks with an account, practice usage limits apply |
Budget for GARP's registration fees on top of either one.
Where each one is stronger
What Bionic Turtle does better
Video on the quantitative topics is Bionic Turtle's main strength. David Harper's library covers the quant-heavy parts of the FRM in depth: Heath-Jarrow-Morton models, Vasicek and Hull-White short-rate models, copula theory, Black-Scholes derivations from first principles, volatility surface modeling and credit-VaR. If you have a finance background but not much stochastic calculus, his videos are a big step up from reading Hull or Jorion alone, and if you need to watch someone derive the Black-Scholes PDE, Bionic Turtle is where to get it.
Its question bank runs roughly 4,000-plus questions across both parts. FreeFellow has 2,318 (1,076 in Part I and 1,242 in Part II), so Bionic Turtle has more raw volume.
The member forum is active, and David Harper answers threads himself. If you learn through Q&A and discussion, that's a real advantage, and FreeFellow has no forum.
Bionic Turtle also has 15-plus years of FRM track record, and the community knowledge and usual study routines on r/FRM all assume it, while FreeFellow's FRM tier launched recently. Bionic Turtle is on GARP's Exam Preparation Provider list. FreeFellow LLC isn't listed yet, and the application is pending.
What FreeFellow does better
Both FreeFellow banks are free, with no trial and no credit card. Bionic Turtle's free trial is much narrower, so you can start on FreeFellow's questions now and decide about a paid course later.
The paid tier costs less. Fellow Plus is $199 a year for the track, which covers both parts. Buying Bionic Turtle's two parts separately would cost $800 to $1,400 at its May 2026 prices, so check the current bundle price before you decide.
On Fellow, focus practice targets your weakest topics based on how you've done so far, and the analytics show your accuracy by topic, by GARP Learning Objective and by difficulty. Bionic Turtle's tracking is more forum-based.
Bionic Turtle's interface is desktop-first, and FreeFellow was built to work on a phone or tablet.
What FreeFellow doesn't have is video, a member forum or 15-plus years of track record, and its written lessons won't substitute for David Harper's videos on Heath-Jarrow-Morton.
Which one I'd pick
If your employer reimburses you, get Bionic Turtle Pro for both parts and use FreeFellow's free bank for extra questions. The reimbursement covers it, and Harper's videos are worth having on the quant topics.
If you're paying yourself for a first attempt, I'd handle the two parts differently. For Part I, which is more quantitative and has more first-time candidates, I'd use Fellow Plus ($199 a year for the track covering both parts) as my main platform, with the GARP Study Guide and Learning Objectives that come with registration and Hull's textbook for reading. If my Heath-Jarrow-Morton or copula understanding felt thin, I'd check which Bionic Turtle package covers those videos and how long access lasts. For Part II, which is more applied and more about risk management, Fellow Plus and the GARP Study Guide are usually enough, because the applied material rewards practice more than extra video.
If you come from math or physics, Fellow Plus is enough. You can teach yourself the stochastic calculus from text and get more out of FreeFellow's question volume and analytics than out of video.
If you're coming from a non-quant background, take Bionic Turtle for the structured video, since Heath-Jarrow-Morton and copulas are much harder to learn from text when you're seeing them for the first time. Add FreeFellow free for question volume.
If you failed Part I or Part II and you're retaking, get Fellow Plus. You already know what GARP tests, so skip the full course bundle and put the time into practice, timed mocks and analytics to find the gap that caught you.
If you learn well straight from Hull or Jorion, FreeFellow free and the GARP Study Guide will do, and you don't need video.
Buy only what you'll use. Half of a Bionic Turtle package does less for you than all of Fellow Plus at $199 a year per track.
On r/FRM and r/financialrisk over the last 18 months, the consistent comments are that Bionic Turtle's videos are good on the quant topics and that David Harper's forum answers are a real advantage. Some people say it's expensive but the videos justify it for the quant material, and a recurring counterpoint is that you can pass with Hull, the GARP curriculum and a question bank. FreeFellow's FRM tier is newer, so there's less feedback on it, and it isn't on GARP's EPP list yet. Which provider you use matters less than doing 2,000-plus practice questions per part and taking GARP's practice exams under timed conditions, which is what candidates who pass tend to do.
Sample questions on the FRM Part I practice page don't need an account. A free account opens all 1,076 Part I questions and the written lessons, plus the 1,242 questions in Part II. Fellow Plus is on the pricing page.