Last updated 15 August 2026
Getting a real estate licence is a state-by-state process, and almost every question a beginner has starts with "what does my state require?" This site answers that, then compares the schools approved to teach the required courses.
We are not a real estate school. We do not provide courses, teach classes, issue certificates of completion, or hold education-provider approval from any state agency. Every course linked from this site is provided by a third-party school that holds the relevant state approval. When you enroll, your agreement is with that school, not with us.
Why this site exists
Licensing requirements differ enormously between states. California requires 135 hours across three separate courses. Other states require as few as 40. Fees, exam formats and passing scores all vary, and the official sources are scattered across fifty different agency websites written in very different styles.
Meanwhile, most of the information you find when searching is published by the schools themselves. That isn't necessarily wrong, but a school has an obvious interest in what it emphasises. We publish the requirements as the state publishes them, and we compare the schools alongside each other rather than one at a time.
How we make money
We earn a commission when a reader enrolls in a course through a link on this site. That commission is paid by the school. It never increases what you pay — the price is the same whether you use our link or go direct.
We think you should know three further things about that arrangement:
- The rates differ between schools. We do not earn the same amount from every provider listed.
- We set our ordering before commercial terms are considered, and we say so on every page that ranks anything.
- Every paid link is labelled. You will see the words "Paid link" beneath each outbound button, not buried in a footer.
Our advertiser disclosure sets this out in full, and our methodology explains what we actually compare.
Where our information comes from
Licensing requirements — required hours, exam format, passing scores, application and exam fees — are taken from the relevant state agency's own published material, such as the California Department of Real Estate or the Texas Real Estate Commission. We link to the source on each state page and record the date we checked it.
We do not copy these figures from other comparison sites. Doing so propagates their errors, and in this subject an out-of-date fee or hour requirement can cost a reader real money.
Course prices and package contents come from each school's published pricing. These change frequently — schools in this category discount heavily and often — so treat any price here as a guide and confirm on the school's own site before you buy.
What we don't do
- We don't publish fabricated student reviews or testimonials.
- We don't claim to have tested courses we haven't taken.
- We don't accept payment for placement or for a higher position in a comparison.
- We don't provide legal advice. Licensing law is state-specific and changes; the state agency is always the authority.
Who runs this site
Joshin Joseph runs a digital marketing agency and built this site after finding that comparing real estate schools meant piecing together requirements from fifty different state agencies and a great deal of marketing copy. Contact: josh@alticllc.com.
Commercial pages will carry a named licensed agent as reviewer. We will add that credit here once the reviewer is in place, rather than before.
Corrections
If you find something on this site that's wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll fix it. Requirements change and we would rather hear about it from you than leave an error in place. Contact: josh@alticllc.com.