Jason Dion and Mike Meyers are both household CompTIA names on Udemy, but they're strongest at different things. In 2026, the comparison comes down to "do you need content or do you need practice?"
Different products. Dion is best known for practice exams (six 90-question packs). Meyers is best known for video courses. The strongest combination is Meyers (or Messer free) for content + Dion for practice exams. Choose only one: Dion if you already know the material, Meyers if you're learning from scratch.
Where Dion Wins
Dion's practice exam packs are the most widely recommended on Reddit. Six 90-question exams per cert, calibrated harder than the real test. They build exam-day stamina and expose blind spots better than any other paid practice resource.
Where Meyers Wins
Meyers is an entertaining, story-driven teacher. His Udemy video courses are full A+/Net+/Sec+ teachings that compete head-to-head with Messer for first-time content delivery. If video lectures keep you engaged, Meyers is excellent.
Cost
Both are typically $15–25 on Udemy sale. List prices ($150–200) are rarely worth paying. Total for both: about $30–50 with patience for sales.
The Best Combination
Most successful candidates use Meyers (or Messer free) for video learning, then Dion practice packs for exam-day calibration. Used together, they cover content + practice without overlap.
Teaching Style Differences That Matter
Meyers leans heavily on storytelling, analogies, and personal anecdotes — his videos feel like a conference talk from an engineer who's seen everything. That works brilliantly for visual learners and people who retain through narrative. Dion is more clinical and exam-focused: he explains the concept, maps it to the objective number, and moves on. If you have unlimited study time, Meyers' approach builds deeper intuition. If you're working backward from an exam date, Dion's targeted approach wastes less time. Neither is universally better — match the style to your learning brain and your timeline.
Practice Question Quality Side-by-Side
Dion's six 90-question packs per cert are widely considered the gold standard for difficulty calibration. His questions intentionally run 5-10 points harder than the real exam — candidates scoring 80%+ on Dion consistently pass. Meyers' bundled practice questions are accurate to the objectives but tend to be easier than the real exam, which can produce false confidence. If you only buy one set of practice exams, Dion is the safer bet. If you want broad question exposure for spaced-repetition review, both together cover more ground than either alone.
Performance-Based Question Coverage
PBQs (drag-and-drop, simulation, scenario) are where most first-time candidates lose the exam. Dion explicitly teaches a PBQ approach in his test-taking strategies module and includes PBQ-style items in his practice exams. Meyers covers PBQs less systematically — they appear in his content but rarely as a focused module. For candidates anxious about PBQs (which is most candidates), Dion's practice exams are the single highest-leverage purchase. Pair them with CompTIA's free official PBQ samples for additional exposure to the exact interface you'll see on test day.
What Reddit Sentiment Actually Says
Scanning the last 12 months of r/CompTIA "passed!" threads: roughly 60% of successful Security+ candidates name Dion practice exams as their decisive prep resource. About 25% credit Meyers or Messer videos as primary. The remaining 15% used a mix. The pattern repeats across A+ and Network+ subreddits. Meyers fans are passionate but smaller in number than Dion fans, partly because Dion's practice-exam dominance gives him a more visible product on every pass post. Use the sentiment as a tiebreaker, not as a decision driver — your learning style still matters more than the popular pick.
Which to Buy First on a Limited Budget
If your budget is $20 total, buy Dion practice exams and pair with free Messer videos — that's the dollar-for-dollar best combination for a CompTIA pass. If your budget is $40, add Meyers' video course only if Messer's rapid pace doesn't fit your learning style. If your budget is unlimited, buy both and use Meyers for first-pass learning, Dion for last-week calibration. The mistake to avoid: buying every option assuming more is better. Beyond a video course + Dion practice, additional purchases produce diminishing returns.
Mobile and Commute Study Compared
Meyers' Udemy courses download to the Udemy mobile app for offline playback — useful for commute study or gym sessions where audio-only mode keeps the lesson going while screens are locked. Dion practice exams also work on the Udemy app but offline mode is less reliable for the timed exam interface; many candidates report syncing issues with attempt history. For mobile-first studiers, Meyers' video format is the better commute companion. Dion practice exams are best taken sitting down at a desk with a stable connection so the timer and scoring work as intended.
Update Frequency Compared
When CompTIA refreshes an exam version (typically every 3 years), both instructors update their content but at different speeds. Dion typically ships an updated practice pack within 30-60 days of a new exam version launching. Meyers tends to update video courses more gradually — sometimes the new content lands as a separate course rather than an update to the existing one, which can confuse buyers who want the latest objectives. Before buying either, check the last-updated date on the course page and verify it matches the current exam version listed on CompTIA's official objectives PDF.
Pro Tips
Buy Dion practice packs first — they reveal what you actually need to study.
If a Meyers explanation doesn't click, search the same topic on Messer for a second voice.
Don't buy both Meyers AND Messer video courses — pick one.
Always wait for Udemy sales.
Take Dion practice exams in timed 90-minute sittings.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating Dion as a video course — his strength is practice, not teaching.
Treating Meyers as a practice exam source — his strength is video teaching.
Paying full Udemy list price for either.
Skipping practice exams because the videos felt thorough.
Buying every Dion pack across multiple instructors when one is enough.
Dion and Meyers solve different problems. Use Meyers for content (or Messer free), use Dion for calibration. That split is more useful than treating them as either/or alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
They're strongest at different things. Dion for practice exams; Meyers for video teaching.
Possible if you already know the material from elsewhere. Most candidates pair with a video course.
If budget allows ($30–50 on sale), yes. Otherwise pair Dion practice with free Messer videos.
Not typically — they sell separately on Udemy.
Dion is calibrated harder. 80%+ on Dion usually predicts a comfortable real-exam pass.
Some Udemy bundles include them, but his practice pool is smaller than Dion's.
Dion. He explicitly teaches a PBQ approach and includes PBQ-style items in every practice exam. Meyers covers PBQs but not as a focused module.
Generally yes — Meyers leans on storytelling and humor. Whether that helps you retain depends on your learning style.
About 60% of r/CompTIA pass posts credit Dion practice exams as decisive. Meyers and Messer videos rank lower as primary resources but high as content sources.
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