FreeFellow vs Kaplan Schweser CFA: 2026 Comparison

Kaplan Schweser's CFA Level I packages run from $429 for Basic to $1,499 for Ultimate, and each one covers one level for a selected exam window (package page, checked September 7, 2026). FreeFellow's full Level I bank of about 1,800 questions and its 105 written lessons are free with an account. Schweser is the default in CFA prep. The orange SchweserNotes have been around for over 25 years, and Schweser comes up in r/CFA study threads every week.

I sat all three CFA levels while working full time as an actuary, using a mix of providers and the curriculum. I built FreeFellow because I thought there was room for a free option that takes practice volume seriously. It competes with Schweser, so I'm not a neutral party here. This post is about Level I in 2026.

Packages and prices

Kaplan Schweser's Level I package page lists Basic at $429, Essential at $799, Premium at $1,099 and Ultimate at $1,499, each per level for the selected exam window (checked September 7, 2026). You get condensed SchweserNotes mapped to the CFA Institute curriculum, a large question bank, full-length mock exams, recorded video lectures and, in the higher tiers, live instructor support.

FreeFellow has a free tier and two paid ones. Free gets you all 1,800+ Level I questions with step-by-step solutions, 105 written lessons, a formula sheet, mixed practice across topics and the readiness score. 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.

Here's how the free tier and Fellow Plus line up against Schweser Premium:

The access periods differ too. Schweser sells each CFA level for a selected exam window, and FreeFellow sells annual access to the whole CFA track.

Where each one is stronger

What Kaplan Schweser does better

The OnDemand video library is deep. If you're a visual learner fighting quantitative methods, derivatives or the more abstract parts of fixed income, watching an instructor work through a whole topic helps a lot. FreeFellow has no video, so if you need someone at a whiteboard explaining duration and convexity, Schweser is better.

The SchweserNotes are five books that condense the curriculum from roughly 3,000 pages to roughly 1,500, with worked examples and end-of-section problems. FreeFellow's lessons cover the curriculum as standalone topic lessons rather than one condensed book set, so if you'd rather read a textbook front to back, Schweser fits that better.

Schweser's QBank has roughly 4,000-plus Level I questions to FreeFellow's 1,800+, so it wins on raw volume.

The Level I Ultimate package includes a choice of live online or OnDemand classes, and Premium lists live classes as an optional paid upgrade (package page checked September 7, 2026). FreeFellow has nothing like that. If you learn well in a live classroom and want to ask questions in real time, buy Schweser.

Schweser also has 25-plus years of CFA candidates behind it, and the alumni network and the usual study routines on r/CFA all assume it. FreeFellow launched in 2024, so if brand certainty and a deep base of past-candidate testimonials matter to you, Schweser has the edge.

What FreeFellow does better

All 1,800+ Level I questions are free, with no trial period and no credit card. Schweser's free trial is much narrower, so if you want to start working questions before you decide what to buy, FreeFellow is the easier place to start.

The paid tier costs a lot less. Fellow Plus is $199 a year per track, and Kaplan Schweser's Level I package page lists Premium at $1,099 per level for the selected exam window (checked September 7, 2026).

On Fellow, focus practice sends you questions from your weakest topics based on how you've done so far, and the analytics show your accuracy by topic, by Learning Outcome Statement and by difficulty. Schweser's QBank tracks performance too, but it's less granular and doesn't adapt to you.

FreeFellow was built for phones and tablets, while Schweser's interface is desktop-first and its mobile experience is thinner.

The big thing FreeFellow doesn't have is video, and 105 written lessons won't replace an OnDemand library for someone who learns from video. If that's you, factor it in, or pair the free bank with a video provider.

Which one I'd pick

If your employer reimburses you, get Schweser Premium and use FreeFellow's free bank for extra questions. The reimbursement covers the cost, the videos are good, and at that point saving study time matters more than saving money. Schweser plus the free bank gets you more than either one on its own.

If you're paying yourself for a first attempt, I'd use Fellow Plus as the main platform, the CFA Institute curriculum that comes with your registration for reading, and Schweser videos only for topics where you need to see it taught (for me, probably derivatives and parts of quant). That's $199 on top of your CFA Institute fees, plus whatever you spend on Schweser material for a weak topic, and with 250 to 300 hours of consistent work it covers what you need.

If you learn best from video, or you're coming from outside finance and learning the concepts cold, get Schweser Premium, make the OnDemand library your main teaching source, and use FreeFellow free for more practice.

If you're retaking and already know the material, get Fellow Plus. You've had the teaching, so put the money into practice, timed mocks and analytics that show you the gaps that caught you the first time.

If you're an international candidate on a tight budget, use FreeFellow free with the curriculum. That covers it, as long as you practice steadily.

Whatever you buy, plan to use all of it. I'd rather see someone finish a year of Fellow Plus at $199 than get halfway through Schweser Ultimate ($1,499 on its package page, checked September 7, 2026).

On r/CFA over the last 18 months, the Schweser comments I see most often are that the videos saved people on Quant, that the SchweserNotes are great if you read all five books and bad if you only skim, and, as a recurring criticism, that the QBank questions are easier than the real exam. "I passed using only Schweser" and "I failed using only Schweser" are both common. For FreeFellow, the feedback I've seen is positive on the free question volume and the analytics, and the recurring complaint is that there's no video. Candidates who pass tend to do 2,000 to 3,000 practice questions and 3 to 4 full mocks, and whether those come from Schweser, FreeFellow, AnalystPrep or a mix matters less than doing them.

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