OnlineMedEd vs Boards and Beyond Step 2 price and which one to buy

For Step 2 CK, OnlineMedEd costs $79 for a month, $288 for six months or $360 for a year and covers the whole clinical library with 600+ videos, 3,000+ note pages and 3,300+ questions. Boards and Beyond Step 2-3-Clinical costs $89, $149 for three months, $199 for six months or $249 for a year and covers 260+ videos and 1,300+ questions. Both were read from the vendors on October 19, 2026. Boards and Beyond is cheaper for a short dedicated period; OnlineMedEd gives more content per dollar across a full clinical year.

Most third-year students end up choosing between these two in the first week of their first rotation, when the shelf exam suddenly feels close and the group chat splits into OME people and B&B people. The styles are different. OnlineMedEd teaches on a whiteboard with a set of notes for every topic, and Boards and Beyond is Dr. Jason Ryan's slide lectures, with a separate clinical product built on top of the preclinical one. The prices are different too, and the gap changes with how long you need access. Here is what each costs today, what you get, and which one to put on the card for the year you are in.

OnlineMedEd vs Boards and Beyond price side by side

OnlineMedEd figures come from onlinemeded.com/pricing and Boards and Beyond figures from the plan feed that fills its own pricing page, both read on October 19, 2026. Boards and Beyond's prices were the same when we first read them on September 21. OnlineMedEd is now sold as OnlineMedEd, powered by Archer Review, so checkout and login happen on Archer Review's platform; our OnlineMedEd cost breakdown covers what that changes for refunds and renewals.

On sticker price Boards and Beyond wins at every term it shares with OnlineMedEd except one month. A year is $249 against $360, so $111 less. The catch is scope, which the next table shows.

What each plan includes for Step 2 CK

This is where the comparison flips. OnlineMedEd sells one library that runs from basic science to clinical medicine, so the $360 plan covers Step 1 review, every clerkship and Step 2 CK at once. Boards and Beyond splits the same span into two memberships with separate video libraries and question banks. A student who wants both Boards and Beyond products for a year pays $249 twice, which is $498, against $360 for OnlineMedEd. For DO students the difference grows: the OMM Series adds $99, so the full Boards and Beyond setup is $597 a year.

Is OnlineMedEd or Boards and Beyond better for Step 2?

For a full clinical year, OnlineMedEd is usually the better buy for Step 2 CK, because its clinical library maps to each clerkship and comes with notes you can review on the wards in ten minutes. Boards and Beyond's clinical videos go deeper on mechanism and treatment reasoning, which suits students who already used Boards and Beyond for Step 1 and want the same teacher. Both are learning tools, not your main question bank.

The way students actually use them supports that split. OnlineMedEd's short case-based videos and notes fit the rhythm of a rotation: watch the topic the night before, skim the notes before rounds. Boards and Beyond's clinical lectures are longer and more conceptual, which works well during dedicated study when you have whole days to fill. The most common mistake is buying both. They cover the same ground, and the money is better spent on a question bank.

Is OnlineMedEd enough for Step 2 CK?

No, not on its own for most students aiming for a competitive score. OnlineMedEd's 3,300+ questions are useful for checking each topic, but Step 2 CK is scored and residency programs now weigh it heavily, and the standard plan is a large NBME-style bank plus self-assessments. UWorld's Step 2 CK QBank costs $349 for 30 days, $459 for 90, $519 for 180 and $579 for 360 days, read from UWorld on October 19, 2026.

The same is true of Boards and Beyond's 1,300 clinical questions. Whichever video resource you pick, budget for a bank. If price is the problem, a year of USMLE-Rx Qmax is the usual cheaper first bank, and our Amboss price breakdown shows how its $448 yearly membership with unlimited Qbank compares with a single UWorld term.

Which one to buy for each stage

Starting third year, with six or more rotations ahead: OnlineMedEd's annual plan at $360. It covers every shelf, it is the cheaper way to get both preclinical review and clinical content, and $30 a month is less than most single-rotation resources.

You used Boards and Beyond for Step 1 and liked it: Boards and Beyond Step 2-3-Clinical for a year at $249. You already know the teaching style, and the clinical product builds on the same preclinical lectures. Our Boards and Beyond price guide has every term for both products.

Dedicated period only, three months or less: Boards and Beyond's three-month plan at $149, or skip a video resource and put the money into a bank. OnlineMedEd has no three-month plan, so the cheapest way to cover three months there is three monthly payments at $237.

DO student taking COMLEX Level 2: OnlineMedEd's DO plan, because the OMM course is included and Level 2 prep is built in, where Boards and Beyond charges $99 extra for its OMM Series.

Step 2 CK scores now carry a lot of the weight in residency applications, which is why so many students start thinking about specialty choice around this exam. If you are still deciding where you want to match, it can help to talk it through with a career mentor before the application season, when you still have time to change rotations.

Refunds and renewals before you pay

Neither vendor is generous about refunds, so pick the term you will actually use. Archer Review, which now sells OnlineMedEd, refunds question bank and content review purchases only if you contact it within 24 hours and have not completed the baseline assessment, and its subscriptions renew automatically. Boards and Beyond offers a free trial on its product pages, and renewals cost exactly the same as new purchases, so there is no penalty for buying a shorter term first and extending later.

Where Aspirants.ai fits

Video libraries teach the topic; what they cannot do is give you a fresh vignette every time you get one wrong. Aspirants.ai writes new Step 2 CK style questions on the exact topic you choose, explains every answer choice, and answers follow-up questions at any hour, so you can test a rotation topic the same night you watch the video. Students use it alongside OnlineMedEd or Boards and Beyond for the practice in between. Try it with the USMLE practice questions tool, from $24 a month billed yearly or $49 month to month.