Best AI SAT tutors and prep apps: what each AI does and costs

What is an AI SAT tutor?

An AI SAT tutor is software that uses a large language model to explain SAT questions, give hints, answer follow-up questions and sometimes suggest what to study next. Many sit inside a practice app or course, so the AI can see the question you are working on. A general chatbot can do some of this, but it does not know your practice history unless a provider builds that link.

An AI SAT tutor is not a College Board product. College Board’s free practice for the digital SAT happens in Bluebook, its testing app: full-length practice tests are scored, and you can review your questions and results in My Practice (College Board). The same College Board page lists the Student Question Bank, Khan Academy practice and live peer tutoring through Schoolhouse.world, and it does not list an AI tutor. Khan Academy remains College Board’s partner for SAT practice (Khan Academy, updated July 10, 2026), but Khanmigo, its AI tutor, is a Khan Academy product.

Three limits apply to every tool on this page:

• The AI can be wrong. Dolphin’s own tutor panel tells students that Pip can make mistakes and to double-check key steps. Compare any AI explanation with a worked solution.
• AI does not make questions official. Unless a provider uses College Board questions, its practice tests and score estimates are its own, not SAT scores.
• The AI cannot practice for you. The real test of a tutor is whether you can solve a new question alone after the explanation.

We checked each provider’s own pages on October 9, 2026, and did not measure score changes. Prices change often, so confirm the current offer before paying.

How do the AI SAT tutors compare?

Tool	Best for	What the AI does	Official-question access	Price (as published, checked Oct 9, 2026)	Platforms
Dolphin	Adaptive daily practice on a phone	Pip sees the question and whether you answered: hints and steps before you submit, a full explanation after; on the web it can also explain a score report	No: Dolphin’s practice tests are not College Board tests; 10,000+ SAT and ACT questions, each with a video explanation (Dolphin); use Bluebook for official tests	iOS app free; Dolphin Web is a paid subscription, price shown at checkout	iOS, web
Khanmigo	Lowest published price	Guides you toward the answer on Khan Academy exercises, videos and articles instead of giving it	Built on Khan Academy’s free Digital SAT courses, developed in partnership with College Board (College Board)	$4/month or $44/year; US residents only	Web
PrepScholar	A structured weekly program with live options	AI Learning Assistant guides you step by step with questions when you get stuck	Imports your results from up to 8 College Board practice tests taken in Bluebook	$495 with the AI assistant ($397 without)	Web
Acely	SAT and ACT in one subscription	An AI tutor for each test, alongside an adaptive study plan	SAT: Acely’s own questions. ACT: content from a partnership with ACT (Acely)	$149/month, $297/quarter or $588/year	Web
AlphaTest	A low-cost library of full-length tests	AI Tutor on free and paid plans; says SAT specialists review AI explanations	No: AlphaTest says its questions are not from the Bluebook app	$29.99/month, $99.99 per 6 months or $149.90/year; free plan	iPhone, iPad, Mac, web (AlphaTest)
OnePrep	Paying once through a test date	Preppy AI chat, question walkthroughs and question remixes, unlimited on Pro	No: OnePrep’s expert-written questions	Pro $99 one-time for access through the November 8, 2026 SAT; free plan	iPhone, Android, Mac, web (OnePrep)
Magoosh	Video lessons plus an AI tutor	AI tutor trained on Magoosh lessons; AI-generated similar questions after a miss	No: Magoosh questions	$49/month or $129/year at regular prices (Magoosh)	iOS, Android, web
UWorld	Detailed written explanations	No AI tutor listed on its SAT page	No: questions modeled on the SAT	Question Bank from $99; course from $299	iOS, Android, web
The Princeton Review	Tutoring hours added to a course	No AI tutor listed on its Self-Paced page; a free SAT app inside ChatGPT (The Princeton Review)	No: Princeton Review practice	$299 SAT Self-Paced; $699 with 10 hours of on-demand tutoring	Web
Google Gemini	A free AI-scored practice test	Scores a full-length practice SAT, explains answers and drafts a study plan	No: built on content from education companies such as The Princeton Review	Free	Gemini app

“Official-question access” means questions or tests written by College Board, the SAT’s maker. Every tool above can still be useful alongside Bluebook; the column tells you what to treat as practice and what to treat as the reference.

What do AI SAT tutors cost by plan?

Tool	Plans and published prices	Free option or trial	What to check
Khanmigo	Learner or family plan: $4/month or $44/year	No free learner plan (free for teachers)	Sales tax is extra; a US billing address is required (Khanmigo)
OnePrep	Plus $89 or Pro $99, one-time, each with access through the November 8, 2026 SAT	Free plan with 500 questions and 1 full-length test	The price changes with the test date and access length you pick; AI chat is listed under Pro
Magoosh	Premium SAT $49/month or $129/year; Premium + On-Demand Classes $149/month	7-day trial	Plans do not auto-renew; a 30% promo code on the plans page was set to end October 12
AlphaTest	One-Week Pro $9.99; One-Month Pro $29.99; Six-Month Pro $99.99; One-Year Pro $149.90	Free plan with selected questions and the AI Tutor; 3-day Pro trial	Each Pro plan covers both the SAT and ACT
UWorld	Question Bank from $99; Prep Course from $299; Study Guide from $59	7-day trial	The SAT page does not state access length
The Princeton Review	SAT Self-Paced $299; SAT and ACT Self-Paced $499; SAT and ACT with 10 tutoring hours $699	14-day trial	Each package lists 1 year of access
PrepScholar	$397 online prep; $495 with AI Learning Assistant; $895 with live classes; $995 shown for 1-on-1 tutoring	5-day trial on the online programs	Tutoring comes in 4, 10, 18 or 32 hours; confirm which package a price covers
Acely	Monthly $149; quarterly $297; yearly $588	Free skills assessment plus 1 SAT and 1 ACT practice test; 3-day trial with a card	The AI tutor comes with the paid plans and trial, not the free version (Acely)
Dolphin	iOS app free; Dolphin Web paid	Free iOS app	Dolphin Web plans and prices are shown at checkout
Gemini and Schoolhouse.world	Free	Free	Gemini’s tests are not College Board tests; Schoolhouse sessions follow a schedule

A monthly price is not the full cost. Count the months until your test. At the regular monthly prices above, four months costs $16 with Khanmigo, $119.96 with AlphaTest’s monthly plan, $196 with Magoosh and $596 with Acely’s monthly plan, before tax (our arithmetic from the published prices above). For a longer runway, a yearly plan can cost less than four monthly payments: Magoosh lists $129 a year and AlphaTest $149.90 a year.

Which AI SAT tutor fits which student?

Best for adaptive daily practice on a phone: Dolphin. Dolphin is an adaptive SAT and ACT study app. Its free iOS app draws from 10,000+ SAT and ACT questions, each with a short video explanation, and adapts to the topics you miss most (Dolphin). Its AI tutor, Pip, works on the question in front of you. Before you answer, Pip can give a hint, explain what the question is asking or walk through the steps without handing over the final answer. After you submit, it explains the full solution and why a wrong choice was wrong. On Dolphin Web, Pip can also explain a practice-test score report or your analytics. Pip is switched off during timed practice tests, so a test stays a test. Limits: Dolphin’s practice tests are not College Board tests, its phone app is on iOS, daily limits can apply to Pip chats in the free iOS app, and Dolphin Web, which adds full-length practice tests and deeper review, is a paid subscription with prices shown at checkout. Pair it with Bluebook tests; our Dolphin SAT prep page shows how.

Best low-cost AI tutor: Khanmigo. Khanmigo is Khan Academy’s AI tutor. Khan Academy says it offers tutoring on every exercise, video and article on its site and guides you to the answer instead of giving it (Khanmigo), and it promotes Khanmigo for Digital SAT Math and Digital SAT Reading and Writing (Khan Academy). Those two courses replaced the deprecated Official SAT Prep course (Khan Academy, updated July 10, 2026), and the course content is free (College Board). At $4 a month or $44 a year (Khanmigo), it has the lowest paid price on this page. Limits: you must live in the United States with a US billing address, and a parent or guardian must sign up anyone under 18. It is a tutor layered on lessons, not a full-length test simulator. Khan Academy itself says it would never claim Khanmigo is more effective than a great human tutor.

Best for a structured program with live options: PrepScholar. PrepScholar’s Complete Online SAT Prep builds a customized weekly plan from a diagnostic test. Its $495 tier adds an AI Learning Assistant that, when you get stuck, guides you step by step with questions rather than giving the solution (PrepScholar). You can also import results from up to 8 College Board practice tests taken in Bluebook and then target the skills those tests expose. If you need people, the $895 tier adds up to 36 hours of live classes in groups of up to 9 students, and the 1-on-1 tier, shown at $995, adds private tutoring. Limits: it costs more up front than a monthly app, it runs on the web, and its refund offer for a 160-point gain has conditions, including completing assigned work and sending an official SAT score. A 5-day trial covers the online programs. Our Magoosh vs PrepScholar comparison covers the course side.

Best for SAT and ACT in one subscription: Acely. Acely combines personalized study plans, an AI tutor, 15,000 expert-crafted questions and 50 full-length practice tests across both exams (Acely); its pricing page splits the tests into 30 SAT and 20 ACT (Acely pricing). The study plan adjusts as practice tests reveal weak areas, and you can upload an official score report to target a retest. For the ACT, Acely says it has partnered with ACT to bring official ACT content into the product. Limits: $149 a month is among the highest monthly prices here, though the yearly plan works out to $49 a month. The AI tutor is not part of the free version, the 3-day trial needs a card, and we found no mobile app on Acely’s site.

Best low-cost practice-test library: AlphaTest. AlphaTest’s Pro plans list 15,000+ questions, 30 adaptive full-length practice tests and 16 mini tests across the SAT and ACT, and its free plan includes the AI Tutor with selected questions (AlphaTest). It says SAT specialists review the explanations its AI generates. Pro costs $29.99 a month, $99.99 for six months or $149.90 a year, and runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web (AlphaTest). Limits: AlphaTest says its questions are not from the Bluebook app, so its adaptive tests are practice estimates, not College Board tests. AlphaTest does not list an Android app.

Best for paying once through a test date: OnePrep. When we checked, OnePrep’s Pro pass was $99 one-time for access through the November 8, 2026 SAT, with unlimited Preppy AI chat, question walkthroughs and question remixes, 4,000+ questions and 6 full-length practice tests (OnePrep). Its free plan includes 500 questions and 1 full-length test, and its apps cover iPhone, Android and Mac (OnePrep). Limits: the price changes with the test date and access length you choose, AI chat is listed under Pro rather than the free or Plus plans, and the questions are OnePrep’s, not College Board’s. Our Dolphin vs OnePrep comparison goes deeper.

Best for video lessons plus an AI tutor: Magoosh. Magoosh Premium SAT pairs more than 200 video lessons and 2,500+ practice questions with an AI tutor trained on Magoosh lessons, plus AI-generated similar questions after a miss (Magoosh). It lists $49 a month or $129 a year at regular prices, offers iOS and Android apps, and its plans do not auto-renew (Magoosh plans). Limits: the plans page does not say whether every plan includes the AI tutor or whether usage is capped, Premium includes up to 3 practice tests, and you should read the conditions of its 100-point money-back offer before relying on it.

Best for detailed explanations without an AI tutor: UWorld. UWorld’s SAT products focus on in-depth, visual explanations for 1,700+ SAT-level questions, with step-by-step breakdowns and wrong-answer analysis (UWorld). We found no AI tutor on its SAT page, so it serves here as a benchmark: if you learn best by reading a thorough explanation, you may not need a chat window at all. The Question Bank starts at $99 and the course at $299, with a 7-day trial and iOS and Android apps. Limits: questions are modeled on the SAT rather than written by College Board, and the SAT page does not state access length. See our UWorld SAT review.

Best for tutoring hours added to a course: The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review’s SAT Self-Paced course costs $299 for a year of access, and its $699 package adds the ACT course and 10 hours of one-to-one on-demand tutoring (The Princeton Review). Its Self-Paced page lists no AI tutor. Instead, the company offers a free SAT app inside ChatGPT for questions about the test (The Princeton Review, June 10, 2026) and contributed content to Gemini’s free practice tests. Limits: the ChatGPT app answers questions and points to resources; it is not a course or a College Board test. A 14-day trial is available. For lower-cost options, see Princeton Review SAT alternatives.

Best free AI-scored practice test: Google Gemini. Since January 21, 2026, the Gemini app has offered free, full-length SAT practice tests built on vetted content from education companies such as The Princeton Review (Google). After a test, Gemini highlights strengths and gaps, explains correct answers when you ask and can draft a study plan. Limits: these are not College Board tests or SAT scores, and Gemini is a general assistant, so check its explanations as you would with any AI. Use it as an extra checkpoint, not a replacement for Bluebook.

Best free human help: Schoolhouse.world. If you want a person rather than an AI, College Board’s practice page links to free, live, small-group tutoring through Schoolhouse.world (College Board). Its SAT bootcamps run on Zoom for 4 weeks, twice a week, 75 minutes per session, led by high school tutors who scored in the 95th percentile or above on the section they teach (Schoolhouse.world). Limits: sessions follow a schedule, and Schoolhouse recommends enrolling at least 4 weeks before your test date.

What should any AI tutor prepare you for?

The digital SAT takes 2 hours 14 minutes and has 98 questions. Reading and Writing is 64 minutes for 54 questions, and Math is 70 minutes for 44 questions; each section is split into two equal modules, with a 10-minute break between sections (College Board). The test adapts by section: how you perform on the first module sets whether the second module is more or less difficult (College Board, same page). Bluebook includes a Desmos calculator with graphing and scientific modes, and you may bring an approved handheld calculator instead (College Board).

That format should shape how you use an AI tutor:

• Learn with help, test without it. A module lasts 32 minutes in Reading and Writing and 35 minutes in Math (College Board), and no AI is available on test day. Use the tutor while learning a skill, then practice timed sets with it closed.
• Rehearse Desmos yourself. An AI tutor can describe a calculator method, but you need the clicks in your hands. Our Desmos guide covers the basics.
• Use Bluebook for the adaptive experience. Third-party adaptive tests may resemble the real one, but their scores are estimates. Read how adaptive testing works before trusting any predicted score.

How do you choose an AI SAT tutor?

1. Take a Bluebook practice test first. It is free, scored and reviewable in My Practice (College Board). Note whether your misses come from missing content, misreading the question or running out of time. That diagnosis tells you what kind of help to buy, if any.
2. If cost is the main limit, start free. Use Khan Academy’s Digital SAT courses with Bluebook, then add Khanmigo at $4 a month if you live in the US, or try AlphaTest’s free plan or Gemini’s free practice test. Pay for more only when a free tool leaves a specific gap.
3. If you study in short sessions on your phone, pick a phone-first app. Dolphin (free on iOS, with Pip and a video for every question), AlphaTest (iPhone and iPad), OnePrep (iPhone and Android) and Magoosh (iOS and Android) all fit. Try one real session and one review session in each before paying.
4. If you need structure or accountability, pick a program or a person. PrepScholar’s weekly plan and Acely’s adaptive plan give you a schedule. Schoolhouse.world, PrepScholar’s live classes or The Princeton Review’s tutoring hours add a human who expects you to show up.
5. If you might take the ACT too, check both exams. Acely, AlphaTest, Dolphin and The Princeton Review’s $499 package cover both; Khan Academy’s Digital SAT courses and Bluebook are SAT resources. Read SAT vs ACT first if you have not chosen.
6. Test the AI on one missed question. Ask for a hint, not the answer. Then try a new question on the same skill with the AI closed. If you can solve it, the tutor helped; if you only recognize the explanation, try a different tool or a person.

Once you have a pick, the SAT study-plan guide turns it into a weekly routine, and the practice-test review guide helps you get more from each Bluebook test.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI SAT tutor?

The best AI SAT tutor depends on how you study: Dolphin fits adaptive daily practice on a phone, Khanmigo has the lowest published paid price, PrepScholar fits a structured program with live options, and Acely or AlphaTest fit students who want many full-length practice tests. We have not measured which one raises scores most, so choose by fit and pair your pick with official Bluebook practice tests.

Is Khanmigo good for SAT prep?

Yes, Khanmigo is a good low-cost choice if you study with Khan Academy's free Digital SAT Math and Digital SAT Reading and Writing courses. It guides you toward answers instead of giving them, and it costs $4 a month or $44 a year (Khanmigo pricing page, checked October 9, 2026). It is available only to US residents, a parent or guardian must sign up students under 18, and it is not a full-length test simulator.

Does College Board offer an AI SAT tutor?

No. College Board's practice page lists full-length Bluebook practice tests, the Student Question Bank, Khan Academy practice and live peer tutoring through Schoolhouse.world, but no AI tutor (College Board, checked October 9, 2026). Khan Academy is College Board's partner for SAT practice, and its AI tutor, Khanmigo, is a Khan Academy product. Every AI tutor on this page is independent of College Board.

Can I use ChatGPT or Gemini as an SAT tutor?

Yes, for explanations and planning, as long as you check their work against a worked solution. Google offers free full-length SAT practice tests in the Gemini app built on content from education companies such as The Princeton Review (Google, January 21, 2026), and The Princeton Review offers a free SAT app inside ChatGPT (The Princeton Review, June 10, 2026). Neither produces College Board tests or SAT scores.

Will an AI SAT tutor raise my score?

No AI tutor can promise you a specific score, and we have not measured which product helps most. Some providers offer refunds tied to score gains, but those offers come with eligibility conditions. A useful check is whether you can solve a new question on the same skill, without help, after the AI explains a miss.

Does Dolphin's AI tutor give away the answer?

Not while you are still working on the question. Before you submit, Pip offers a hint or walks through the steps; after you submit, it explains the full solution and why a wrong choice was wrong. Pip is turned off during timed practice tests.

Is an AI tutor better than a human SAT tutor?

Not always: an AI tutor is available at any hour for less money, while a human tutor can notice patterns, keep you accountable and adjust your plan in conversation. Free human help exists through Schoolhouse.world, whose SAT tutors are high school students who scored in the 95th percentile or above on the section they teach (Schoolhouse.world, checked October 9, 2026).