AceableAgent vs The CE Shop 2026: Published Pass Rates, State Prices and Continuing Education

There is one number that separates these two companies more clearly than price, coverage or course design, and I want to put it at the top rather than bury it. The CE Shop publishes its students’ state verified exam pass rates, by state, with sample sizes and date ranges, including results where it merely ties the state average. AceableAgent publishes no pass rate percentage at all. At E-Commerce Paradise I care about verifiable numbers more than marketing language, and that difference in posture is the spine of this comparison.

Everything else still matters. Coverage matters most of all, because AceableAgent sells pre-licensing in 17 states while The CE Shop lists it in 49 states plus the District of Columbia. Price matters in the states where both compete, and the winner there switches depending on which state you live in. And continuing education deserves its own section rather than being crammed into a pre-licensing comparison, because that is the category where The CE Shop is strongest and where the coverage gap is at its widest.

Before I go further: Aceable the drivers ed brand is a different business from AceableAgent the real estate brand. No drivers ed prices appear on this page. If that is what brought you here, my guide to checking whether an online drivers ed course is state approved is the more useful read.

Coverage: seventeen states against nearly all of them

AceableAgent’s course listing index names 16 states with starting prices, plus a Utah course page, which makes seventeen. Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

The CE Shop’s Get Your License navigation lists pre-licensing in 49 states plus the District of Columbia. I counted that menu this session rather than trusting the marketing: only Wyoming is absent. In several states it lists multiple licence paths rather than one, such as separate salesperson, broker and reciprocal routes. If you live in a state AceableAgent skips, The CE Shop is the broadest pre-licensing provider I checked.

That is worth stating precisely, because the other national name in this category is routinely credited with more coverage than it has. Colibri lists pre-licensing in 40 states plus the District of Columbia, not the 50 you will see quoted. So The CE Shop covers ten states Colibri does not, and every state AceableAgent does not, with Wyoming the single gap.

That is the whole decision for around two thirds of readers. For the rest, keep going.

Pre-licensing price in the states where both compete

Here is the entry tier from each school in five overlapping states, with required hours taken from the schools’ own state pages and cost per required hour worked out. The CE Shop calls its entry tier Courses Only in most states and Career Starter in Texas. AceableAgent calls its entry tier Basic.

The result splits three to two and it splits by state rather than by brand. The CE Shop is cheaper in California and Florida, by $60 and $40 respectively at the entry tier. AceableAgent is cheaper in Virginia, Texas and Ohio, by $90, $66 and $150 respectively. Anyone telling you one of these schools is simply the cheaper option has not priced more than one state.

The per hour column makes the California result stark. The CE Shop delivers 135 California required hours for $139, which is $1.03 per required hour, the lowest figure I found anywhere in this cluster across three schools and seventeen states. In Virginia the same school charges $3.98 per required hour, nearly four times as much, for a course that has to clear the same kind of state board approval.

The pass rate difference, which is the real story

The CE Shop maintains a dedicated pass rates page. It states that the pass rates listed are based on first time exam attempts from verified data sources, and that a minimum of twenty five tests per licensing exam in a quarter is required before a figure is published, which is a sample size floor rather than a marketing choice.

The aggregate numbers are that The CE Shop students recorded 65 percent on combined exams against a state average of 57 percent, 67 percent on the national portion against 50 percent, and 58 percent on the state portion against 50 percent.

The state breakdowns are where the credibility is. Texas Salesperson shows a combined rate of 56 percent against a state average of 56 percent, drawn from 1,077 exams taken and 608 exams passed over the period 12/1/2023 to 11/30/2025. That is a tie with the state average, published voluntarily, with the sample size attached. Missouri Salesperson shows 35 percent against a state average of 35 percent. Hawaii Salesperson shows a state portion figure of 38 percent against a state average of 33 percent, which is a weak absolute number reported anyway.

They also publish the flattering ones. Virginia Salesperson shows 71 percent on the national portion against a state average of 49 percent, and 63 percent on the state portion against 57 percent. Kentucky Salesperson shows 88 percent on the national portion against 62 percent. And the page carries the disclaimer that past performance is no guarantee of future results, which is the correct thing to say.

Now the other side. AceableAgent markets “some of the highest student passing rates on state licensing exams” and, on its homepage, “Our industry-leading pass rates mean you’ll be ready before you ever sit down for the exam.” I searched its own site this session and found no pass rate percentage anywhere. Not aggregate, not by state, not with a sample size. The AceableAgent pass rate is Not published.

What AceableAgent does publish on its state pages is a different measurement that reads like a pass rate at a glance: “Based on the PrepAgent proprietary exam readiness assessment of over 2000+ students from hundreds of pre-license providers, AceableAgent students scored an average of 74%, while other real estate school students scored an average of 64%.” That is a score on an internal readiness assessment run by the company’s own exam prep brand. It is not a state verified exam outcome and the two should never be quoted interchangeably.

I am not saying AceableAgent’s students do badly. I am saying that one of these two companies volunteers its results and the other does not. Which makes what happens in Texas genuinely interesting.

Texas, the one state where a regulator scores them both

Texas law requires the Texas Real Estate Commission to publish first time sales agent exam pass rates by education provider, on a provider passage rate page backed by a machine readable data file. No school gets to opt out of that one. For exams taken between 12/1/2023 and 11/30/2025, the whole Texas field recorded 29,980 exams taken and 16,824 passed, a first time rate of 56.12 percent, against a published minimum performance benchmark of 44.94 percent.

Two findings sit in that table and they cut in opposite directions.

The first is that AceableAgent wins Texas outright, by nearly ten percentage points, on 8,516 exams, the second largest provider sample in TREC’s file behind Champions School of Real Estate. Its own marketing has never given you a number that good, because its own marketing has never given you a number at all. In the one state with an audit, the regulator makes a better case for the company than the company makes for itself.

The second is a quiet endorsement of The CE Shop’s honesty. TREC’s file records 1,077 Texas exams taken and 608 passed for it. The CE Shop’s own pass rates page records 1,077 exams taken and 608 passed. Those match line for line, which means the self published figures I quoted earlier are the regulator’s figures reported accurately, including the unflattering part where the company merely ties the state average. That is what verifiable disclosure looks like, and it is why I would extend some trust to its numbers in the states no regulator audits.

The gap between those two TREC benchmarks is also worth understanding, because it is where a lot of misleading marketing lives. The minimum performance benchmark is 44.94 percent and the field average is 56.12 percent, roughly eleven points apart. A provider sitting anywhere in that band can truthfully say it exceeds the state’s required minimum while performing below the average of its competitors. Kaplan Real Estate Education at 53.20 percent is exactly there. Whenever a school tells you it beats a state minimum, check what the field average was, because the two claims are not the same claim.

Then hold the limit firmly. This is Texas. There is no equivalent per provider dataset for the other sixteen states AceableAgent sells in, so a Texas result stays a Texas result and tells you nothing about Ohio or New York.

Package ladders compared

AceableAgent runs three tiers everywhere. The CE Shop runs four. That structural difference means the entry tier comparison above is not the whole picture, because the two schools load their tiers differently.

Ohio is the neat coincidence: both top tiers land on $1,799 for the same 100 required hours. Texas is nearly the same story at $1,119 against $1,169. In California and Florida The CE Shop keeps its lead all the way up the ladder, and in Virginia AceableAgent keeps its lead all the way up.

What The CE Shop puts into those upper tiers is itemised with values attached, which I appreciate because it lets you decide whether the upgrade is worth it. Its packages list Exam Prep Edge at a $135 value, a Pass Guarantee at a $64 value, a Kickstarter professional development programme at a $99 value, and a Career Companion eTextbook at a $79 value. The top tiers also bundle the post licensing education you will need at your first renewal, which is a genuinely useful inclusion: a $165 value 30 hour Virginia post licensing package, a $245 value 20 hour Ohio post licensing course, an $85 value California first renewal package, and in Texas a $455 value covering the 98 hours of required Sales Apprentice Education.

AceableAgent’s upper tiers add an AI powered course assistant and advanced exam prep at Deluxe, then one on one tutoring, live webinars and a career coaching course at Premium. Post licensing is sold separately rather than bundled.

If you know you will need post licensing education, price the bundle rather than the course. In Texas, The CE Shop’s top tier at $1,169 including a $455 value Sales Apprentice Education package is a different proposition from AceableAgent’s $1,119 top tier without it.

Guarantees and refund terms, read carefully

The CE Shop’s money back guarantee is specific: your money back within 30 days of purchase if your course is not yet 50 percent complete. That is a clean, checkable condition, and the completion threshold is the part most people miss.

Its pass guarantee is narrower than it sounds and the company is upfront about the size of it. The wording is that The CE Shop offers pre-licensing students a reimbursement of the cost of the initial licensing exam in case a retake is required. It is listed at a $64 value in the package contents. So it reimburses your exam fee, not your course fee.

AceableAgent runs a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee described on its state pages as a 30 day course trial with your money back, listed on every tier. Its Deluxe and Premium tiers additionally carry the line “Pass the test or your money back!” The entry level Basic tier does not carry that pass line in the package grid.

A third provider is worth knowing about here for contrast. Colibri reimburses the cost of the whole pre-licensing package if you do not pass on your first attempt, which is the most generous version of the three, but its own site says that guarantee is unavailable in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee. All three schools qualify their guarantees. Read the terms rather than the headline.

Continuing education, where the gap is widest

This deserves its own section because it is a different product with a different buying cycle, and because it is the category where the two companies are least alike.

Continuing education is not optional. Every state requires some form of it to keep a licence active, and it recurs for as long as you practise. So the provider you pick for a one time pre-licensing course may matter less than the one you end up using every renewal cycle for the rest of your career.

The CE Shop’s continuing education navigation lists all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, which is actually broader than its own pre-licensing menu, where Wyoming is missing. In many states it lists separate sales and broker tracks. AceableAgent’s continuing education navigation lists five states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Texas. Its post licensing navigation lists Florida, Georgia, Illinois and the Texas Sales Apprentice Education requirement.

That is a five state offering against a national one. If you are licensed anywhere outside those five, AceableAgent cannot sell you continuing education at all, regardless of what it sold you for pre-licensing.

Where they do overlap, Texas is the cleanest comparison. Texas requires 18 hours of continuing education to renew an active sales agent licence, and The CE Shop’s Texas page breaks that into 11 mandatory hours and 7 elective hours. The mandatory block includes four hours of Texas Legal Update I, four hours of Texas Legal Update II and three contracts hours, with the six hour Broker Responsibility course required on top for anyone made a supervisor by their broker.

On list price The CE Shop is cheaper at $145 against $179 for the same 18 hours. With the discount showing on the AceableAgent page at the time I checked, AceableAgent’s $134 was the lower number. Both figures are real and I have labelled which is which, because a promotional price is not a list price and treating them as the same thing is how people end up surprised at renewal.

One detail from The CE Shop’s Texas page that is worth more than either price. If your continuing education completion is not reflected in TREC’s records when you submit your renewal application, you must pay a $200 continuing education deferral fee or renew in inactive status. That fee is larger than either continuing education package. Renewal timing is a bigger financial variable than provider choice.

The CE Shop also sells exam prep separately, which is useful if you took your pre-licensing course elsewhere. In Texas its Exam Prep Edge is $79 for the national portion only, $79 for the Texas state portion only, and $135 for the combined national and state programme.

Building the business the licence sits inside

Continuing education is a recurring cost, and recurring costs are a business problem rather than a study problem. The people who handle them best already run their working life like an operation.

If you are building something commercial alongside the licence, start with the market. My guide to profitable high ticket niches is the screen I use before any money moves.

Then get the economics straight by reading how the high ticket model works, because margin discipline is what separates a business from an expensive hobby.

Sourcing is where most attempts stall, and my complete supplier sourcing guide is the detailed walkthrough.

Commission income usually belongs inside an entity, and my guide to business formation explains the structure choices in plain terms.

My working stack is deliberately small. Stores run on Shopify. Formation and registered agent filings go through Bizee.

Professional and general liability cover comes from Hiscox, which matters as soon as you hold a licence. Books run on QuickBooks, which is what keeps continuing education costs cleanly deductible year after year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which school publishes actual pass rates?

The CE Shop. It maintains a pass rates page with first time attempt data from verified sources, aggregate figures of 65 percent combined against a 57 percent state average, and state level breakdowns with sample sizes, including results where it only ties the state average. AceableAgent publishes no pass rate percentage on its own site, so that figure is Not published. The exception is not the company’s doing: Texas forces the issue, and TREC’s provider data puts AceableAgent at 65.81 percent on 8,516 first time sales agent exams against a 56.12 percent field, ahead of The CE Shop’s 56.45 percent in the same state.

Which is cheaper for pre-licensing?

It depends on the state. On entry tier pricing, The CE Shop was cheaper in California and Florida, and AceableAgent was cheaper in Virginia, Texas and Ohio. Neither school is universally cheaper and any article claiming otherwise has priced only one state.

Which one is better for continuing education?

The CE Shop, by a wide margin on availability. Its continuing education navigation covers all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, while AceableAgent lists continuing education for Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Texas only. In Texas, where both compete, The CE Shop’s 18 hour package is $145 against a $179 list price at AceableAgent.

What does The CE Shop’s pass guarantee actually cover?

The cost of the initial licensing exam if a retake is required, listed at a $64 value in the package contents. It reimburses the exam fee, not your course fee, which is a smaller promise than the phrase pass guarantee suggests. Read the current terms before relying on it.

Can I use one school for pre-licensing and another for continuing education?

Yes, and plenty of people do. There is no requirement to stay with the same provider, and since AceableAgent covers only five states for continuing education, many of its pre-licensing students will have to switch anyway. Just confirm any provider is approved in your state before you enrol.

Does either school guarantee I will pass or get licensed?

No. Both offer reimbursement style guarantees with conditions attached, which is a refund mechanism rather than an outcome promise. Licensure requires passing the exam, filing an application, fingerprinting, a background check and in many states a sponsoring broker. Confirm the current requirements with your own state real estate commission.

Bottom Line

If your state is not one of AceableAgent’s seventeen, The CE Shop is one of two national providers that can serve you and the decision is made.

Inside the overlap, price splits by state rather than by brand. The CE Shop takes California and Florida at the entry tier and holds the lead up the ladder in both. AceableAgent takes Virginia, Texas and Ohio, though in Ohio and Texas the two top tiers converge to within $50 of each other.

On transparency there is no contest. The CE Shop publishes state verified pass rates with sample sizes and a stated minimum sample threshold, and publishes the unflattering ones alongside the flattering ones. AceableAgent publishes a readiness assessment score from its own exam prep brand and calls its pass rates industry leading without ever attaching a number. If you weight voluntary disclosure, that is a real reason to prefer The CE Shop.

On measured outcomes, though, the one audited state goes the other way. TREC’s provider data puts AceableAgent at 65.81 percent against The CE Shop’s 56.45 percent on first time Texas sales agent exams over the same window. Both facts are true together: The CE Shop is the more transparent company, and AceableAgent is the better performing one in the only state where anybody can check. If you are buying in Texas that matters a great deal, and if you are buying anywhere else it is suggestive at most.

On continuing education it is not close. Five states against all 50 plus the District of Columbia, and continuing education is the purchase you will make repeatedly for as long as you hold a licence.

Whichever you choose, verify your current pre-licensing hours, renewal requirements and approved provider list with your own state real estate commission. Course completion is one step among several and never a guarantee of a licence or a job.

If the venture you want alongside the licence is an online store, my team runs a complete done for you high ticket dropshipping business build and launch service that covers the storefront, supplier relationships and launch systems end to end.

Related Articles

AceableAgent Review: The 17 State Gate and What You Actually Get

AceableAgent Pricing: Every State and the Real Cost of Licensure

AceableAgent vs Colibri: Coverage, Price and Refund Terms

How Long Does Drivers Ed Take in Each State

Best Online Drivers Ed: Comparing State Approved Courses

Trevor Fenner

Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.

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