Professor Messer vs Jason Dion: free videos, paid practice exams, and which to use for A+, Network+ and Security+

What each one gives you for free

Professor Messer's site states that all of his training videos are completely free. His index pages list free courses for A+ Core 1 (220-1201), A+ Core 2 (220-1202), Network+ (N10-009) and Security+ (SY0-701). The Security+ course is 121 videos with a total run time of 15 hours 11 minutes, organised by exam objective number, so 1.1 Security Controls is followed by 1.2 Security Concepts and so on. He also publishes monthly study group replays and pop quizzes for each exam.

Dion Training sells its courses, but its course pages mark several lessons as free previews. On the Security+ SY0-701 course those include the introduction, exam tips and the first lessons of the fundamentals module. That is enough to judge whether Jason Dion's teaching style suits you before you pay.

In practice, Messer can carry you through the learning phase on his own for nothing. Dion's free material is a sample, not a course.

Free also covers official material. CompTIA publishes 10 free Security+ V7 practice questions with an answer key, and both instructors' content maps to CompTIA's published objectives, so download those objectives from CompTIA and tick them off as you go.

What each one costs, exam by exam

Messer prices are the same pattern on every exam: course notes $30 as a PDF or $50 printed, and a Success Bundle at $119 that adds audio, downloadable video, his Exam Hacks eBook and priority answers in his monthly study group. Practice exams are $30 for Security+ and for A+ Core 1. His N10-009 Network+ bundle page lists notes, audio and the Success Bundle, and no practice exam book.

Dion's practice exam packs are $29.99 each for Security+ SY0-701, Network+ N10-009, A+ Core 1 (220-1201) and A+ Core 2 (220-1202). Dion's complete courses on diontraining.com list at $349 for Security+, $315 for Network+, $229 for A+ Core 1 and $259 for A+ Core 2.

A few totals make the choice clearer:

• Security+ the lean way: Messer's free videos plus Dion's practice pack, $29.99.
• Security+ with two banks: add Messer's practice exams, $59.99.
• Security+ in one package: Dion's complete course, $349.
• A+ the lean way: Messer's free videos for both cores plus Dion's packs for both, $59.98.
• A+ in one package: Dion's two complete courses, $488.
• Network+ the lean way: Messer's free videos plus Dion's pack, $29.99.

Those figures exclude the exam vouchers, which are the bigger cost. CompTIA voucher discounts covers bundles, student pricing and other ways to pay less for them.

How the teaching differs

Messer's courses follow CompTIA's objective numbering one video at a time. Videos in the Security+ index run from about 2 to 17 minutes; Security Controls is 11 minutes 48 and The CIA Triad is 5 minutes 17. The structure makes it easy to find the video for an objective you missed on a practice exam, and to re-watch only that.

Dion's complete Security+ course is organised into 28 modules with more than 31 hours of content. Each module mixes short videos with hands-on labs, such as configuring a firewall, performing a vulnerability scan or using hashing and salting, and ends on a checkpoint quiz. The package also includes the official CompTIA Security+ study guide and eBook.

The labs are the real difference. Messer demonstrates on screen; Dion's course gives you a lab environment to do it yourself. For Security+ and Network+, both of which include performance-based questions, hands-on practice helps with the simulations. You can also get it for free with your own virtual machines, at the cost of setup time.

If you learn well from short lectures and self-directed revision, Messer's structure is enough. If you need deadlines, labs set up for you and one place for everything, Dion's course is built for that.

Practice exams head to head

This is where Dion's products are strongest. The Security+ SY0-701 Practice Exam Pack lists 1,100+ questions, randomised question sets on each attempt, unlimited attempts, five performance-based questions and 12 months of access. Randomisation keeps the pack useful through repeated attempts. Dion also sells a separate PBQ Practice Pack for Security+ at $29.99, drawing on a 100-question PBQ bank.

Messer's practice exams are fixed. His Security+ set is three 90-question exams over 380 pages, with multiple-choice and performance-based questions and explanations; his A+ Core 1 set is also three 90-question exams, over 387 pages. A fixed exam is a clean full-length rehearsal the first time and a memory test after that.

The practical answer is to use both on Security+, if your budget allows $59.99. Sit one Messer exam as a baseline, drill weak domains with Dion's randomised sets, and keep the other two Messer exams for the final fortnight. On Network+, where Messer lists no practice exam book, Dion's pack is the default.

Whatever you buy, check the exam code in the product title. CompTIA launches Security+ V8 (SY0-801) on or around 17 November 2026, and on 2 November both creators sold SY0-701 practice exams. SY0-701 or SY0-801 explains which version to sit, and Security+ practice tests compared covers Boson, CertMaster and Pocket Prep as well.

Guarantees and pass-rate claims

Dion's Security+ complete course lists a 60-day pass guarantee, described on the course page as "pass your exam or we pay for your retake", and Dion's CompTIA training collection says all of its course bundles include a pass guarantee that can also be added to practice exams. Read the terms on Dion's guarantee page before relying on it.

Dion's practice exam page also states that students who pass two of its practice exams have a 96% pass rate on the real exam. That is Dion's self-reported figure. The page does not say how it was measured or over what period, so treat it as marketing.

Messer's product pages list no pass guarantee and no pass rate. His pitch is the price of a failed exam: on the Security+ page he points out that a candidate who fails has already spent over $330 on the voucher and has to spend it again.

CompTIA itself publishes no pass rates for any version of any exam, so no one can verify either creator's results independently.

A buying plan for A+, Network+ and Security+

Watch Messer's free Core 1 course, then buy Dion's Core 1 pack ($29.99) for practice. Sit Core 1. Repeat for Core 2 with the Core 2 pack. Two packs total $59.98. Add Messer's Core 1 practice exams ($30) if you want a fixed full-length rehearsal. The A+ exam guide has both exams' domains, and A+ jobs covers what the certification gets you.

Messer's free N10-009 course plus Dion's Network+ pack ($29.99). Messer lists no Network+ practice exam book, so Dion is the bank. The Network+ exam guide has the format and domains.

Messer's free SY0-701 course, Messer's practice exams ($30) and Dion's practice pack ($29.99), plus Dion's PBQ pack ($29.99) if simulations are your weak spot. Decide on SY0-701 or SY0-801 before you buy. The Security+ exam guide has the full study plan.

Buy the complete course if you have not studied IT before and want labs and a fixed path, if your employer reimburses training but not free videos, or if you want the guarantee. At $349 for Security+, it is still a fraction of Boson's $2,495 instructor-led Security+ Training.

Whichever route you take, the cost to avoid is the second voucher. CompTIA charges the full exam price on every attempt and requires 14 days before a third attempt.