Best AI GRE Prep Tools (2026): 3 Compared, Plus the $20 ETS Essay Scorer

AI has arrived in GRE prep, but not everywhere. Magoosh, Target Test Prep and Achievable all sell an AI tutor inside their courses, and two of them add an AI essay grader. Several well-known GRE brands, including Kaplan, The Princeton Review and Manhattan Prep, showed no AI on their GRE course pages when we checked on 27 October 2026.

Two things get lost in the “best AI GRE prep” lists we read, many of which are published by the prep companies themselves. First, ETS, the organisation that writes and scores the GRE, already sells an automated essay scorer built on its own e-rater engine, the same engine that contributes to every real GRE essay score. Second, the GRE changed shape on 22 September 2023. It is now about 1 hour and 58 minutes long, with one essay instead of two, and some prep pages still describe the old test. This guide compares three AI GRE prep tools against ETS’s own prep, on what the AI actually does, what each costs on 27 October 2026, how current the content is, and what the score guarantees really promise.

How we put this together. We have not used these tools ourselves; this is a research-based comparison. Every price, rating and feature below comes from the vendor’s own website, ETS’s website, or the app’s US App Store and Google Play listing, read on 27 October 2026, and each source is linked. Some sites blocked automated reading, so we read them in a normal browser. All prices we saw were in US dollars. Score claims and guarantee terms are the vendors’ own, and we quote the fine print where it matters. None of these companies paid to appear on this page.

Start with what ETS gives you

ETS writes the GRE, runs it and scores it. That makes its own prep the reference point for every AI tool on this page, and some of it costs nothing.

The shorter GRE, in ETS’s words

ETS’s test structure page sets out the format “beginning September 22, 2023”: “The overall test time is about 1 hour and 58 minutes. There are five sections.” Analytical Writing comes first and is a single “Analyze an Issue” task of 30 minutes. Verbal Reasoning has two sections, of 12 questions in 18 minutes and 15 questions in 23 minutes. Quantitative Reasoning also has two sections, of 12 questions in 21 minutes and 15 questions in 26 minutes. That is 54 questions plus one essay. Both Verbal and Quant are “section-level adaptive”, so how you do on the first section sets the difficulty of the second.

The same page keeps the old design for comparison. Before 22 September 2023 the test took “about 3 hours and 45 minutes”, had six sections with a 10-minute break, and its writing section had two tasks: an Issue essay and an “Analyze an Argument” essay. It also carried an unscored section and a research section. The Argument task, the unscored section and the scheduled break are all gone. Any tool that still has you writing Argument essays or sitting a four-hour mock is preparing you for a test that no longer exists.

The free and low-cost official prep

ETS’s POWERPREP page lists two free practice tests. POWERPREP 1 is untimed and gives you correct answers but no Verbal or Quant scores, because “scores are not provided because the test is untimed”. POWERPREP 2 is timed. Both include scored sample essays with rater commentary and a performance report. POWERPREP PLUS Online costs $44.95 per practice test, with three different tests on sale, and adds instant scoring, explanations and difficulty levels. ETS’s books page lists The Official Guide to the GRE General Test, Fourth Edition at $45 plus shipping, with two practice tests in the book and two POWERPREP Online tests through your ETS account.

The ETS prep store also sells the Official GRE Mentor Prep Course at $149, described as self-paced with “500+ authentic GRE practice questions”, and three bundles on 27 October 2026: Essentials at $169, Complete Prep at $199 and Total Access at $249, with a promo code running to 31 October. The store still lists previous editions of the Official Guide and the practice question books further down the page. If you buy official books, make sure you pick the Fourth Edition of the Guide, which ETS describes as updated for the current test.

ETS’s own automated essay scorer

This is the part that AI prep marketing leaves out. ETS’s score guide says GRE essays “are evaluated on a 6-point holistic scale, including receiving a score from the e-rater® scoring engine, a computerized program developed by ETS that is capable of identifying essay features related to writing proficiency.” Every essay is also “reviewed by trained analysts using ETS essay similarity detection software and by experienced content experts.”

ETS sells practice access to that engine. Its ScoreItNow! page says the service is designed for the GRE “administered beginning on September 22, 2023” and that “Using ETS’s e-rater technology, the automated scoring system provides immediate essay scoring”. The fee is US$20, which covers two GRE essay topics with an e-rater score for each, and after those you can submit essays on six free bonus topics. ETS adds a fair warning: ScoreItNow! is “not an exact predictor” of your real Analytical Writing score.

So when an AI course says its grader scores “like a real GRE rater”, the official version of that idea already exists, from ETS, for $20. A third-party grader can still be useful, especially if you want unlimited essays or line-by-line feedback, but ScoreItNow! is the one to check it against.

What ETS says about AI on test day

ETS’s prep pages do not mention AI study tools. Its test security page does talk about AI, from the other side of the screen. For the at-home GRE, ETS says it uses “both real-time human monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) technology”, including “facial recognition, gaze tracking and video recording of the entire session”. It lists “opening a new browser, running unpermitted software and using unpermitted objects, such as a cell phone” among the things its AI will flag as possible cheating. Use AI tutors to study. Keep every one of them closed on test day.

AI GRE prep tools compared

Prices read on 27 October 2026, including any sale price shown on the page at that time. Guarantee summaries are simplified; the full conditions are in each section below.

How we chose and ordered these

Every product had to describe a real AI feature for GRE prep in its own words, cover the shorter GRE, and have been updated within the last 12 months on at least one platform. We ordered them by how much AI help you get for the money, how clearly the vendor explains it, how current the content is, and how fair the billing and guarantee terms are. Big prep brands with no AI on their GRE pages, very small apps, and products whose prices we could not confirm are listed further down with the reason they were left out.

1. Magoosh GRE: an AI tutor and essay grader from $99

Magoosh puts AI at the centre of its GRE pitch. Its homepage promises “official GRE questions, an AI tutor, video lessons, and top-rated mobile apps”, and describes three AI features. The AI tutor lets you “Chat with an AI expert trained on lessons and content and ready to explain whatever you don’t grasp.” Under “5,000+ Similar Practice Questions” it says that if you miss a question you can “Get similar, high-quality AI-generated problems to practice again.” And its AI essay grader “grades your essay like a real GRE rater, then provides feedback to boost your score,” with detailed grading and suggested edits.

Magoosh also claims “We’re the only GRE prep course licensed to use official ETS practice questions”. We could not confirm that claim independently, so treat it as Magoosh’s own. Its plans page lists “8 full sections of official GRE® questions” in every Premium plan, alongside more than 290 video lessons, over 1,600 practice questions with a video explanation for each, up to six practice tests and a score predictor.

On 27 October 2026 Premium cost $99 for one month or $129 for six months, and Premium plus admissions support cost $159. The six-month plan can be split into four payments of $32.25. Billing is simple: “Magoosh plans do not renew or auto-renew”, and you can get a full refund if you email within seven days of purchase. Magoosh also sells Verbal plus writing and Math-only plans for six months. One detail to note: the plan cards list content and features but do not list the AI tutor, and the plans page mentions the AI grader only in its FAQ, so check what your plan includes at checkout.

Magoosh’s shorter GRE page says its “lessons, practice questions, and practice tests have already been updated” for the 2023 changes, and notes that “The current GRE only has 1 essay,” with the Argument task gone.

Read the score guarantee closely. Magoosh guarantees a 5-point increase “if you originally scored a 320 or below.” You must have taken the GRE before studying with Magoosh, your old score must be under five years old, and you must email your “Before” score report when you sign up. If you have never sat the GRE, Magoosh says “you just won’t be eligible for the score guarantee.” So the guarantee is for retakers with a 320 or lower, not for first-time test takers.

The Magoosh GRE iPhone app had 4.8 from 11,114 US ratings, but its last update was on 30 May 2024, about 29 months before we checked. Its description says the app is “updated and ready for the new Shorter GRE format” and does not mention AI. The Android app is current: 4.5 from 7.34K reviews, 500K+ installs, updated on 24 October 2026.

Choose it if you want an AI tutor and essay grader at the lowest price in this lineup, with no subscription to cancel. Skip it if you are a first-time test taker who wants a score guarantee, or you plan to study mainly on an iPhone.

2. Target Test Prep GRE: the AI GRE Coach

Target Test Prep (TTP) builds its AI into a large self-study course. It calls the feature “TTP AI GRE Coach, a personalized AI study assistant integrated into your course”, and lists what it does: lesson recaps, “Personalized study recommendations to bridge your knowledge gaps”, instant answers about “any GRE topic, concept, problem, or technique in the course”, and explanations of why answer choices are right or wrong. On practice, TTP says you get “4,000+ GRE questions crafted by experts, plus practice with unlimited AI-generated questions”, with “AI-adjusted question difficulties based on your needs” and AI quizzes built around specific topics or error types.

The feature that sets it apart in this lineup is feedback on your own working. TTP says you can “Snap a photo, paste a screenshot, or upload your work in any format”, and the AI Coach “instantly shows you what you did well, what went wrong, and exactly what to do next.” That suits Quant students who solve on paper and want to know where a method broke down, rather than just which answer was right.

The plans page on 27 October 2026 showed a Halloween sale. The monthly plan was $179 a month, down from $229, with “Monthly recurring billing”. Four months cost $449 (from $549) and six months $499 (from $599), both “One-time billing”. A six-month plan with 40 hours of live online classes cost $1,299 (from $1,599). Every plan includes the AI GRE Coach, more than 2,000 videos, a practice test builder and the Quant, Verbal and writing courses. There is a five-day free trial, and TTP says you will “Never” be billed automatically when it ends.

The score guarantee page is headed “320+ Score Guarantee”, but the terms are narrower than the headline. You must email an official GRE score report from a test you took before enrolling, within 30 days of signing up. You must “complete 100% of the TTP GRE Course” and “meet or exceed the accuracy benchmarks” in your study plan, accelerated study plans do not qualify, and neither do Quant-only or Verbal-only students. If your score has not improved, the remedy is “a free course subscription equivalent to your previous purchase.” That is more study time, not your money back.

We found no TTP GRE app in the US App Store or Google Play, and TTP’s site links to none, so plan on using it in a browser.

Choose it if you want AI feedback on photos of your own working and unlimited AI-generated practice. Skip it if you want a refund-backed guarantee, or you might forget to cancel a monthly plan.

3. Achievable GRE: one payment, a year of access

Achievable sells its GRE course as a single $199 payment for a full year of access. It describes “The adaptive study platform, personalized scheduling tools, and AI-powered tutor” working together. Its AI tutor, it says, “replies immediately with clear explanations and relevant examples”, and “Ask Achievable AI is fine-tuned to the exam’s structure, content, terminology, and common pitfalls”. For writing, “Our proprietary GRE essay grading system uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to instantly score your GRE Analytical Writing essays, similar to the scoring mechanisms used by the ETS,” and the plan lists “Unlimited essay grading”.

The rest of the course leans on generated practice rather than a fixed question bank. Achievable says its system “generates millions of unique quizzes with randomized text and variables from over 200+ GRE quantitative question templates”, and lists 30+ verbal sections and 250 vocabulary words. Achievable says the course is mobile friendly; we found no Achievable GRE app in either store.

Its guarantee comes with no study conditions. Achievable promises 8 more points for starting scores below 300, 6 more for starting scores between 300 and 315, and 4 more for starting scores between 315 and 330, “or your money back”, and says “No study time requirements or study progress thresholds are needed to qualify.” The page does not say how the starting score is measured, so ask before relying on it.

Now the content problem. On 27 October 2026 Achievable’s GRE page still said “Practice your writing with hundreds of GRE essay prompts for the GRE issue essay and the GRE argument essay.” The Argument essay was removed from the GRE on 22 September 2023. The same page and its exam info page say the test has “56 multiple-choice questions and 1 essay”, while ETS’s section counts add up to 54, and Achievable’s own section table on the exam info page also adds up to 54. Its timing and section table are otherwise correct, so this looks like stale marketing copy, but it is a reason to check that any essay prompt you practise on is an Issue task.

Choose it if you want a year of access and AI help for one payment, with a guarantee that has no study requirements. Skip it if you want a course whose own pages fully reflect the shorter GRE.

The big names with no GRE AI

Some well-known GRE courses are missing because their own pages described no AI feature on 27 October 2026. Kaplan listed On Demand from $240 with a promo code (listed at $299), Live Online from $880 and tutoring with a “325+ GUARANTEE” from $2,000, with no AI mention. The Princeton Review listed a Self-Paced course at $199 (from $499), a 10 Points+ course at $699 and a LiveOnline 162+ course at $1,899, with money-back score guarantees on the 162+ and 10 Points+ courses and no AI on any of them. Manhattan Prep‘s GRE page contains no AI wording, and its GRE practice app (4.7 from 1,729 US ratings, updated 3 September 2026) does not mention AI either. These may be good courses, but by their own description they are not AI tools.

What we left out, and why

GregMat is a popular low-cost option at US $11.99 a month, but its site makes no AI claim and its iPhone app was last updated in May 2025. PrepAiro advertises an AI tutor, AI flashcards and an AI study planner, but its pricing page did not load a price for us, its Android app had 100+ downloads, and the company’s own site says it has “500+ paying subscribers” across four different exams. Grezi, an iPhone app with an AI tutor, had four ratings and launched in February 2026. Prep4GRE’s website did not resolve, and the listings we found for it date from 2018 and make no AI claim. Several generic “GRE Prep 2026” apps in the App Store make no AI claim or have under 100 ratings.

How to choose an AI GRE prep tool

Get a free baseline first

Take ETS’s free timed POWERPREP test before you buy anything. It is the real interface, it gives you a Verbal and Quant score, and it tells you whether you need a few points or twenty. Magoosh’s seven-day refund, TTP’s five-day trial and Achievable’s no-card trial are low-risk ways to look at the AI tutors once you know your gap.

Check the essay grader against ETS

Magoosh and Achievable both sell AI essay grading and compare it with real GRE scoring. ETS’s ScoreItNow! uses e-rater, the engine ETS itself uses, for $20. A sensible approach is to write a couple of essays in ScoreItNow!, then see whether your course’s AI grader gives similar scores before you rely on its feedback.

Make sure the tool teaches the current test

The GRE has one essay, five sections, 54 questions and no unscored section. Skip any Argument essay prompts, ignore four-hour mock tests, and be wary of older books. If a course’s own pages still describe the pre-2023 test, ask support whether the material behind the paywall has been updated.

Decide what you want the AI to do

All three tools let you ask an AI tutor questions in your own words. TTP adds feedback on photos of your handwritten working and unlimited AI-generated questions. Magoosh adds AI-generated look-alike questions after a miss. Achievable relies on randomised question templates. Pick the one that matches where you are losing points.

Read the billing and guarantee terms

Magoosh and Achievable are one-time payments. TTP’s monthly plan keeps billing until you cancel, so put your test date in your calendar. On guarantees, Magoosh’s covers retakers who scored 320 or below, TTP’s pays out more course time rather than money, and Achievable’s has no study requirements but does not define the starting score. Kaplan and The Princeton Review also sell guarantees, without AI.

Keep AI off on test day

At home, ETS’s AI monitoring flags running unpermitted software, and every essay is checked with similarity detection software. Use AI to practise on released and practice material only.

Weighing law school too? Our guide to AI LSAT prep tools covers the same ground for the LSAT. For other exams, see our comparisons of AI MCAT prep tools and AI SAT prep apps.

Sources

• ETS: GRE General Test structure, Analytical Writing, Understanding your scores, POWERPREP practice tests, Prep books and services, Official prep store, ScoreItNow! Online Writing Practice, GRE fees, GRE test security.
• Magoosh: GRE home, plans and pricing, score guarantee, shorter GRE, US App Store listing, Google Play listing.
• Target Test Prep: GRE home, plans and pricing, score guarantee.
• Achievable: GRE course, GRE exam info.
• No GRE AI found: Kaplan GRE, The Princeton Review GRE, Manhattan Prep GRE, Manhattan Prep GRE app.
• Left out: GregMat, GregMat app, PrepAiro GRE, PrepAiro Android app, Grezi.
• All store listings and web pages read 27 October 2026.

Written by

Faz

Faz is the founder of AIToolsBakery. Some tools here are tested hands on. Others are assessed from vendor documentation and pricing verified on the live page, and every review says which one it is. Sponsors can buy a position in a guide. They cannot buy the score, the criticism, or silence about a better option.

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