A+ is a help desk exam wearing a hardware costume. The hardware questions matter, but the exam keeps asking what you would do next for a user: which tool, which order, which note. The best resources give you tickets to work, not just slides to watch. We make SecLern, so it is first here; the disclosure is at the top because a recommendation from the seller is not a neutral review.
| Option | Best for | What it costs | Skip it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| SecLern | Help desk tickets, bench labs and exam simulation | Free tier; Pro $15/month or $99/year | You want one long video course |
| Professor Messer | A free first pass over both cores | Videos free; notes paid | You need graded ticket practice |
| Dion Training | A structured course per core, or cheap practice packs | $229 Core 1, $259 Core 2; packs from $29.99 | You want one purchase for both cores |
| CompTIA CertMaster | Official Learn, Labs and Practice | Paid per exam | You are paying yourself |
| Total Seminars | One long course covering both cores | $329 for A+ TotalVideo | You need tickets rather than lectures |
| Pocket Prep | Phone-sized daily questions | Free starter set, then subscription | You need hardware or help desk practice |
| ExamCompass | Free topic quizzes | Free | You need teaching explanations |
Two exams, two bookings, two scores
A+ is two separate exams. Core 1 (220-1201) covers mobile devices, networking, hardware, virtualisation and cloud, and troubleshooting, with a pass mark of 675. Core 2 (220-1202) covers operating systems, security, software troubleshooting and operational procedures, with a pass mark of 700. Both are a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, and both scores stand alone.
That structure changes how you buy. A course that covers only Core 1 is half a product, and a practice pack for the wrong core is money wasted. Check the exam code on the product page before you pay; the Core 1 page and Core 2 page carry the current facts and domain weights. The Windows tools objective shows the wording the exam uses.
The short answer
Use a free video course for the vocabulary, one question bank for recall, and a ticket-based lab for the part the exam actually rewards: doing the next step in the right order. The table compares the options on those jobs.
1. SecLern: our pick for ticket practice
The Core 1 path holds 1,178 questions, 37 performance-based questions, 61 labs and 44 lessons. The Core 2 path holds 1,296 questions, 39 performance-based questions, 69 labs and 33 lessons. The labs are the reason to use it: a help desk queue and a Windows desktop where you unlock an account and force a new password, apply a lockout policy and prove it arrived, clear a print spooler, remove malware in the right order, or give Finance edit rights while auditors get read-only.
Core 1 lab titles are bench work: finish the bench build and prove POST, clear a repeat tray jam, trace a dead wall jack without interrupting a live desk. That is closer to the job than a multiple-choice question about POST beeps. The labs hub lists every ticket, and the Core 1 objectives show what each one is testing.
The free tier gives you 30 study questions a day, three labs and unlimited flashcards. Pro is 15 dollars a month or 99 dollars a year; the 29 dollar Exam Sprint covers 90 days. Full exam simulations are Pro-only.
The same practice layer exists for every certification in the lab catalogue. Good for: someone who can name the parts but has never worked a queue. Skip it if you want a 30-hour video course; we do not sell one.
2. Professor Messer: the free course, both cores
Messer's Core 1 course is 63 free videos, 10 hours and 11 minutes. Core 2 is 74 free videos, 13 hours and 41 minutes. Both follow the objectives in order, and the paid course notes are a compact revision aid.
Good for: a free first pass over both cores, especially if you have no IT background. Skip it if you need to be graded; the course cannot tell you that your malware removal order is wrong.
3. Dion Training: courses and practice packs
Dion sells Core 1 and Core 2 as separate complete courses, priced at 229 and 259 dollars, and separate practice exam packs from 29.99 dollars each. The practice packs use randomized sets with explanations, and the courses include video, PDF guides, quizzes and labs.
Good for: a structured course for one core, or cheap exam-feel questions if you already learned the material. Skip it if you want one purchase to cover both cores; A+ is sold as two products here, which is honest but doubles the cost.
4. CompTIA CertMaster: the vendor's own materials
CertMaster Learn is CompTIA's e-learning with flashcards and performance-based questions. CompTIA Labs provides virtual environments and lab guides aligned to the objectives, and CertMaster Practice is the official knowledge assessment. CertMaster Perform bundles all three.
Good for: employer-funded study and official alignment. Skip it if you are paying yourself or want one subscription across several certifications.
5. Total Seminars and Mike Meyers: the classic long course
Total Seminars sells the A+ TotalVideo course at 329 dollars: 30-plus hours covering both 220-1201 and 220-1202, taught by Mike Meyers and Dakota Snow, with hands-on labs and exam question reviews. It is the closest thing to the classic A+ classroom experience.
Good for: people who want one long course for both cores and like Mike Meyers' teaching style. Skip it if your budget is under 100 dollars, or if you learn by doing and need tickets rather than lectures.
6. Pocket Prep: questions in your pocket
Pocket Prep gives a free starter set of A+ questions, then a subscription for the full bank, with a mock exam, a question of the day and weak-subject quizzes. It is the best use of a commute.
Good for: daily recall reps when you are away from a desk. Skip it if you need hardware identification or a help desk simulation; a phone screen is not a bench.
7. ExamCompass: free topic quizzes
ExamCompass publishes free A+ quizzes by topic, covering hardware, networking, operating systems and security. They are short and free.
Good for: a quick check on one objective. Skip it if you need explanations that teach the wrong answers.
How we chose
We ranked on five jobs: explaining both cores, drilling recall, hardware and ticket realism, exam simulation, and price. We checked every competitor fact on the vendor's page on 28 October 2026 and linked it below. We did not include leaked question sets or anything that promised live exam content.
We also did not rank a single "A+ bundle" from a reseller, because the contents change too often to verify. If a bundle is your only budget option, check that it names both exam codes and includes practice questions, not just videos.
What A+ actually rewards
Three habits, in order. First, the troubleshooting method: identify the problem, establish a theory, test it, plan the fix, implement, verify, document. Most scenario questions are asking which step comes next, and the answer is usually the cautious one.
Second, order. Malware removal, laser printing, boot sequences and change management are all order questions. Rehearse the order out loud until you can recite it without looking.
Third, the note. A+ scenarios increasingly ask what you should record or escalate. A technician who fixes the machine but leaves no note has not finished the ticket.
A ten-week plan that fits around work
Weeks 1-5: Core 1. Hardware, networking, mobile, virtualisation, troubleshooting, with one bench lab a week. Book Core 1 at the end of week five.
Weeks 6-10: Core 2. Operating systems, security, software troubleshooting, procedures, with one ticket lab a week. Keep a one-page command sheet of everything you actually typed.
If you only have four weeks, do two weeks per core and stop adding new material after day 12 of each block. The A+ study plan and the Core 2 plan have the week-by-week version. Use one lab a day instead of reading about the procedure. Book both exams up front, with at least a week between them.
Bench work with no bench
You do not need a machine to practise Core 1 hardware. You need the order of operations and the ability to read a symptom. Laser printing has a fixed sequence, and the exam asks which stage a defect belongs to: a mark that repeats down the page at the same interval is a drum problem, a page that fades a week after a new cartridge is a transfer or fuser problem, a jam at the registration roller is a pickup problem. Learn the stages as a chain, then say where each fault enters it.
Boot and POST questions work the same way. Know what happens between power-on and the operating system loading, which component reports a failure, and what a blank screen with spinning fans tells you that a beep pattern does not. RAID levels reward the same habit: state what survives which failure before you read the options, and the answer usually falls out.
Then rehearse the physical steps in words, out loud, in order: unplug, ground, remove, replace, verify, document. The bench labs in the Core 1 lab catalogue exist for people who have no hardware to open, and they grade the end state rather than the vocabulary.
Two cores, two vocabularies
Core 1 and Core 2 are separate exams with separate pass marks, 675 and 700, and separate vocabularies. Core 1 speaks in components, ports, cabling and virtualisation hosts. Core 2 speaks in accounts, permissions, policies, malware order and procedure. A single "A+ course" that covers both is not automatically a bargain, because it usually covers one core properly and tours the other.
Check a product against the core you are sitting this month. Does it name the exam code, 220-1201 or 220-1202? Does it have a practice set per core, or one shared bank? Does its lab list look like bench work or like ticket work? If the answers are "one core, plus a tour", buy it for the core it covers and get the other from free video. The Core 2 plan assumes the Core 1 vocabulary is already yours, which is the practical reason to finish one exam before starting the other.
What a free tier has to include to be useful
A free tier is only worth your time if it lets you do the thing you cannot do alone. Thirty questions a day keeps a streak and does not finish a domain. Three labs is enough to meet a task type and not enough to get comfortable with it. Judge a free tier by whether it includes a graded task, not by how many questions it gives away.
Our own free tier includes three labs and every free tool, and full simulations are Pro-only. That is the honest shape of it: free for the first look, paid for the rehearsal. If a free tier has no graded task at all, it is a sample, and you should plan to buy practice somewhere.
What to do this week
Pick your core. Download the objectives and rate each domain from one to five. Watch the Messer section for your weakest domain, then answer 20 questions on it. Work one ticket lab the next day. On the weekend, take a 45-question timed set and review every miss.
Book the exam when two fresh timed sets land above 80 percent and you can work a lockout, a printer queue and a malware cleanup without notes. A+ rewards the person who has done the ticket, not the person who has watched the most videos. If you are unsure whether to start with A+ or Network+, the starter comparison is the honest version.