Professor Messer's pricing model is unusually honest. The free tier is not a stripped-down teaser — it's the entire course. The paid tier exists for learners who want supplements: printed notes, three practice exams, and a bundle that combines both. The question candidates ask is whether the paid bundle moves the needle on pass rates or just adds polish.
This breakdown walks through exactly what's free, what costs money, who each paid product is for, and the cheapest path to first-try success.
Professor Messer's free videos and weekly live study group are genuinely complete — you can pass a CompTIA exam without ever spending a dollar with him. His paid products (Course Notes $25, Practice Exams $25, Success Bundle ~$45–65) are nice-to-haves, not requirements. Skip the bundle if you're on a budget; buy the practice exam set if you want a final readiness check from the same voice that taught you.
What You Get For Free
Free with no signup required: - Full video course for A+, Network+, and Security+. - Weekly live study group on YouTube with Q&A. - Pop quizzes — short topic-focused question sets posted on the site. - Exam objective tracker showing where each objective is covered.
This is genuinely the complete curriculum. The free tier is not crippled.
What Costs Money And Who It's For
Course Notes ($25 digital / $45 physical) — a 94–120 page PDF that mirrors the video curriculum in text form. Worth it if: you learn from text, want a single document to highlight and review, or want to study without watching videos. Skip if: you're a pure visual learner who will only watch the videos.
Practice Exams ($25 per cert) — three full-length 90-question multiple-choice exams with answer explanations. Worth it if: you want one final readiness check from the same teacher's voice, or you don't want to pay for Udemy. Skip if: you're using Jason Dion or another practice source.
Success Bundle (~$45–65) — notes + practice exams + video downloads. Worth it if: you want the offline package and Messer is your only resource. Skip if: you'll use additional sources (most people).
The Right Path For Each Budget
$0 budget — Messer free videos + free adaptive practice questions + free PBQ samples on CompTIA's site. Total: $0. Pass rate: solid if you put in the active recall hours.
~$20 budget — Messer free videos + Jason Dion's Udemy practice exam pack on sale. Total: $15–20. Pass rate: highest per dollar in the market.
~$50 budget — Above stack + Messer Practice Exams as a final check. Total: ~$45. Pass rate: high; you're paying mostly for confidence.
$100+ budget — Adds an official CompTIA study guide and CertMaster Practice. Diminishing returns past this point.
Most successful candidates land in the $20 tier. The Success Bundle is not where the money is best spent.
Pro Tips
Buy the Course Notes only if you've already decided you're a text learner — videos cover the same ground for free.
Wait for Udemy sales before buying any Dion product — full price is never worth it.
Use Messer's free pop quizzes as your daily 10-question warmup before video sessions.
Don't buy the Success Bundle unless you specifically need offline video downloads.
If you only have $25, spend it on Dion's practice exam pack — not Messer's — because Dion includes PBQs.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Buying the Success Bundle assuming the paid tier teaches "more" — it doesn't.
Skipping the free study group recordings — they're some of his most valuable content.
Paying $25 for Messer's practice exams when free adaptive tools cover the same MC ground.
Buying the printed Course Notes for $45 when the digital version is $25.
Assuming "free" means "incomplete" — it doesn't with Messer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — his full video courses and weekly live study group are 100% free with no signup required.
Only if Messer is your only resource and you want the offline downloads. Most candidates skip it.
They're fine but multiple-choice only. For the same money, Jason Dion's pack on Udemy includes PBQs.
No. They're a supplement for text learners, not a requirement.
Free Messer videos + free adaptive practice + free CompTIA PBQ samples. Total cost: $0.
Only if you study better on paper and will annotate by hand. Otherwise the $25 digital version is the smarter buy.
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