Seven principles shape what FreeFellow builds and what it refuses to build. The core question bank, the worked solutions, the topic lessons, and the readiness score stay free forever. Fellow is an optional upgrade for the candidates who want it, never a paywall on passing.
A CFA charter, a CPA license, an actuarial credential. Each opens a real career, and the path in is gated twice: first by the exam, which is fair, then by the prep, which is not. Four-figure courses quietly price out the people a finance career would change the most. Talent and discipline are everywhere; the money to pay for prep is not. FreeFellow takes the second gate down, so the exam is the only one left.
Not a free trial. Not free with an email gate. Not free for the first 30 days. The core question bank, the worked solutions, the topic lessons, and your readiness score stay free, forever, and they are genuinely enough to pass. Fellow adds AI essay grading, spaced-repetition flashcards, full-length mock exams, analytics, and a study plan that adapts to your progress. It multiplies the free tier. It never puts passing behind a paywall.
FreeFellow was built by Jeffrey Ting, CFA, FSA, a credentialed actuary and CFA charterholder who passed all of his own credentialing exams on the first attempt. He paid the four-figure prep fees, found nothing he respected, and built the prep he wished had existed. Not a marketing team that has never sat the exam.
You are a working professional or a serious student, and the product talks to you that way. No condescension, no hype, no fake "tips and tricks" videos, no breathless onboarding tours. Plain language, every time.
A $2,500 prep package is an insurance product. It survives because candidates are scared, not because it teaches. FreeFellow refuses to compete on fear. No "are you really ready?" emails, no countdown timers, no artificial urgency.
The founder reads and answers every email, and fixes bugs in days, not quarters. Report a typo or a wrong answer and you are helping shape the question bank, and earning points toward Fellow access. Most prep platforms ignore you when you find a mistake. Here, finding one counts for something.
Worked solutions. Per-choice rationale. Math typeset properly with KaTeX. Lessons that explain instead of summarize. Content kept current as the syllabus and the tax law change each year. AI earns its place where it genuinely helps, narrated audio and essay grading, and stays out where it would only be a gimmick.
Saying no defines a brand more than saying yes. FreeFellow will not build live Zoom classes (lectures help speakers, not learners), support chatbots (the founder reads every email), "pass or your money back" guarantees (outcomes depend on the candidate, not the prep), countdown timers or "ends Friday" pricing, paid affiliate quotas (reviewers should not be paid by what they review), or anything that sells your study history (your data is yours, not a marketing asset).
I am Jeff. I sat for these exams, could not find prep I respected, and built FreeFellow instead. If something on this site contradicts one of these principles, that is a bug. Write jeff@freefellow.org and I will fix it.
CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, or warrant the accuracy or quality of products or services offered by FreeFellow LLC. FreeFellow is not affiliated with the SOA, CAS, CFP Board, AICPA, GARP, FINRA, NASAA, IRS, or IMA. All credential names and acronyms are trademarks of their respective owners.