How much does Barbri cost? 2026 bar review pricing

Barbri costs $2,099 for its Premium Bar Review (original price $2,999) and $3,099 for its Elite Bar Review (original $3,999). Those are the only two courses on Barbri's 2027 and 2028 pricing pages, checked on September 29, 2026. Each includes 4+ months of access, 1,000+ NCBE-licensed MBE questions, essay feedback and an adaptive study plan; Elite adds the AdaptiBar, CriticalPass and Quimbee supplements. For comparison, Themis costs $1,895 paid in full. Barbri runs promotions, so confirm the figure at checkout.

Barbri does not put a price on its main "Bar Exam Prep" pages. Those route to a Shop page, and that is where the tiers and dollar figures live. For years the company routed everyone to an enrollment advisor instead, so the fact that it now publishes tiered prices is a real change. Here is what those prices are, what you get for them, and how to think about the cost against everything else it takes to get licensed.

How much does Barbri cost in 2026?

Barbri sells its self-pay bar review in two tiers, Premium and Elite, and prices them per exam cohort. These are the figures on Barbri's own 2027 pricing page on September 29, 2026, and the 2028 page shows the same numbers. Some older reviews, and even a competitor's comparison page, still describe an "Essentials" tier or an Elite list price of $4,199; neither appears on Barbri's current pricing pages.

So the long-quoted "$2,000 to $3,000 and up" range for Barbri is now backed by the company's own published Premium and Elite prices rather than hearsay. The Barbri Bar Review Guarantee lets you repeat the course without paying tuition again if you complete it and do not pass; exam supplements are excluded. The main competitor comes in lower: Themis Bar Review is $1,895 paid in full for a 2027 exam and includes the UWorld MBE QBank. Our Themis vs Barbri comparison lines the two up feature by feature, and the Themis bar prep cost breakdown has every Themis plan.

What is included at each tier

Every Barbri course is built around the same core: a large bank of NCBE-licensed MBE questions, short lecture videos, simulated practice exams, and the Personal Study Plan, an adaptive calendar that rebuilds itself around your performance and includes a Pass Predictor. The two tiers share that core and differ in the supplements bundled in.

• Premium: adds unlimited graded essays with feedback from attorney legal-writing experts, the full study plan, and the complete NextGen Bar Review. This is the tier most full-time bar takers choose.
• Elite: adds supplemental tools such as the AdaptiBar MCQ simulator, a writing guide, flashcards, and short concept videos on top of everything in Premium. Bought separately, the simulator alone is $495 for a new user, as our AdaptiBar cost page shows, and the AdaptiBar vs UWorld comparison covers the cheaper rival.

Access runs roughly four months, with an option to extend to six. Barbri markets its essay grading as unlimited and its question bank and simulated exams by feature rather than by a fixed count, so if a specific number matters to you, confirm it for your jurisdiction before you pay.

Is Barbri worth the price?

For a lot of candidates, yes. Barbri is the dominant bar review, it says more than 1.43 million law students have passed using its course, and its graded essays and structured study plan are genuinely useful if you want a guided, do-this-today framework. Those are Barbri's own figures, so read them as an interested party rather than an audited result, but the scale and the graded writing are real advantages.

The honest caveats are cost and intensity. Premium at around $2,099 and Elite at around $3,099 are among the most expensive options in bar prep, the best features sit in the higher tiers, and the Personal Study Plan is famously demanding, with condensed schedules that can run near 40 hours a week. If you learn well from a rigid, high-volume plan and you want graded essays, the price can be worth it. If you mostly need thousands more multiple-choice reps and clear explanations, you are paying full course price for something you can get far cheaper.

The NextGen bar exam and Barbri's course

Timing matters this year. The NextGen bar exam begins its first administration on July 28 to 29, 2026, in an initial group of jurisdictions, and the legacy exam runs through its final administration in February 2028. Barbri opened enrollment for a fully built NextGen Bar Review in March 2026 and bundles it into its Premium and Elite courses, describing it as a complete course rather than a preview. If you are sitting the NextGen exam, that first-mover course is part of what you are paying for, and it is a legitimate reason some candidates pick Barbri over a cheaper option that has not finished rebuilding for the new format. For a fuller breakdown of the new exam, see our guide to which states are using the NextGen bar exam.

What bar prep costs beyond the review course

The review course is the biggest single line, but it is not the whole bill. Depending on your state, you also pay a bar exam application fee, a character and fitness investigation fee, the MPRE fee, and often a laptop or exam-software fee, which together commonly run several hundred to well over a thousand dollars before the review course. Those fees are set by each jurisdiction, so check your state board of bar examiners for exact numbers rather than trusting a national figure. Once you pass and start practicing, the tools change again: instead of memorizing rules for a closed-book test, you lean on AI-assisted legal research to find the controlling authority fast. Budgeting for the whole path, not just the course, keeps the review-course price in perspective.

How to spend less on bar prep

You do not have to choose between a $2,000 course and nothing. A cost-effective setup for many candidates is a full course such as Barbri for the graded essays and structured plan, plus a cheap, high-volume question source for the multiple-choice drilling that decides the MBE. An AI tutor generates fresh bar exam questions on the exact subjects you keep missing, explains every answer choice, and answers follow-up questions at any hour, for a few dollars a month rather than a few thousand. If the full course is out of budget, the tutor can carry more of the load. See how the numbers compare on our Barbri alternative page, or start drilling now with fresh bar exam practice questions.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Barbri cost?

Barbri Premium Bar Review costs $2,099 (original price $2,999) and Elite costs $3,099 (original $3,999) on Barbri's 2027 and 2028 pricing pages, checked September 29, 2026. Both include 4+ months of access, and a 6-month access upgrade is sold as an add-on.

Is Barbri worth it?

For many candidates, yes. It is the dominant bar review, with a large NCBE-licensed question bank, unlimited graded essays, an adaptive study plan, and a fully built NextGen course. The caveats are cost, since Premium is $2,099 and Elite $3,099, and a demanding, high-volume schedule that some candidates find rigid.

Does Barbri offer a payment plan?

Yes, three. The Reserve and Pay Plan locks your tuition with a small deposit. The Barbri Payment Plan finances tuition through Affirm in fixed monthly payments and requires a US Social Security number. The Installment Plan spreads tuition over three or more monthly payments, and at least $1,000 must be paid before the course opens.

How much does it cost to take the bar exam in total?

Beyond the review course, expect to pay a state bar application fee, a character and fitness fee, the MPRE fee, and sometimes exam-software fees, which together commonly run from several hundred to more than a thousand dollars depending on your jurisdiction. These fees are set by each state, so check your state board of bar examiners for exact amounts.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Barbri?

Yes. Cheaper full courses exist, and many candidates pair a course with an inexpensive high-volume question source. An AI tutor starts around $24 a month billed yearly and generates fresh bar exam questions with every answer choice explained, which covers most of the multiple-choice drilling that decides the MBE at a small fraction of Barbri's price.