--- title: Mastering Reviews meta_title: 'Mastering Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 18 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Mastering works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 3.0 review_count: 18 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-05-05' parent_category: name: Education url: https://www.g2.com/categories/education --- # Mastering Reviews **Vendor:** Pearson **Category:** [Online Learning Platforms](https://www.g2.com/categories/online-learning-platform) **Average Rating:** 3.0/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 18 ## About Mastering Mastering is a collection of online homework, tutorial, and assessment products designed with a single purpose in mind: to improve the results of all higher education students, one student at a time. ## Mastering Reviews ### 1. Extremely useful and valuable **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 27, 2020 **What do you like best about Mastering?** I like that teachers are able to offer material through this medium and also test students through it. It helps students better understand the material overall. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Sometimes the website can be slightly buggy, but this is a very minor issue. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** I think this is great option if you’re looking into it, but I would keep in mind the slight bugginess of the user interface. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mastering helps a lot with the transition to online learning since COVID-19 started. As a student who’s been struggling with this transition, I find that these online tools that Mastering offers can help many students who may also be struggling. ### 2. Do not buy or use, just about anything is better. **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Benjamin C. | Mathematics Student, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 22, 2021 **What do you like best about Mastering?** Nothing it is flat out terrible I would not recommend it to anyone ever. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Everything about mastering is terrible it does not give you any feedback, and when it does, it is not helpful. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** There are not benefits in mastering except if you just want to spend money for no reason. ### 3. Mastering has a huge question bank **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nick D. | Teacher, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 25, 2020 **What do you like best about Mastering?** I like the variety of questions and the detailed information about a question's topic, difficulty level, and standard. With some question sets, the system will calculate an estimated time it might take for a student to complete the assessment you have built. You can either use the assessment right within the Mastering interface (if your students have paid access) or you can export the assessment items to an assessment management tool of your choice. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** The inability to easily retrieve saved assessments. In addition, if you would like to combine assessment items from more than one textbook or service provider, you're stuck! You can only build an assessment based upon assessment items from one textbook. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** If you are looking to refresh your assessment items for a summative exam or formative tool, consider using something like Mastering. Its connection to the most popular textbooks, easy way to sort through the assessment items by topic, difficulty level, and standard make it a very valuable resource. It is best to connect your Mastering account with the textbook(s) to which your course is aligned. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Mastering to ensure that my assessments are proportionately varied in topic, difficulty, and skill. When I revise my older assessments, I first turn to Mastering to renew my assessment items to reflect updated NGSS standards. ### 4. Mastering vs MyLab **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 15, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** The integration of Mastering with the textbook is nice. The hints (when they are AVAILABLE) are helpful. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Everything else. MyLab is so easy to use, you can try similar problems, and you can at least reverse engineer the process to the answer (if you know your formulas/etc). None of that is true with Mastering and it's extremely irritating. There are no walk throughs, there are answer attempt limits, there is no explanation for answers. Essentially the process you would be taught to use for, say Physics, where there would need to be explanation and a showcasing of your process, is thrown out the window. The system sucks and the only reason I use it is because it's required, and even then I don't want to. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** Don't use this unless you have to. The system is overpriced for the service it provides, since it can only tell you whether your answers are correct, but not explain why they are incorrect or the process towards the correct answer. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** None. There are no benefits to using it, because it can only tell you that you have the right answer. There is no benefit to that, because that does not mean your process is correct. There's no way to know that though because THERE IS NO EXPLANATION. ### 5. Expensive and unhelpful **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 05, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** It streamlines the homework grading process for professors/TAs, which is probably the only reason it is used instead of other programs. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** This program abuses its monopoly to charge students (that are already paying for tuition, housing, etc.) ludicrous prices for a homework completion and turn-in system that could be done on a website like Canvas. Mastering does not teach you anything; you will have to buy the textbook and study it for yourself or look for another website that actually teaches you. Mastering does anything but its name. You won't master anything with this service. It doesn't even let you know what you did wrong and penalizes you instead. It is a complete scam. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** Do not use it. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mastering is frankly pointless to students. It steals money from them and does not give anything in return. Professors and TAs are the only ones who reap benefits of not having to grade. ### 6. Works but a bit finicky **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** It's easy to navigate and the design is nice **What do you dislike about Mastering?** It can be hard to get the right answer and it's finicky **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** It's nicely integrated **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** It's easy to get things graded and reduces time in the classroom ### 7. A powerful resource for academic monitoring **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 04, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** The system works hand in hand with the required course readings. This allows students to reinforce content that they are reading about in a more hands-on and active manner. They can do practice problems of various types and the ability to assign these practice problems can be a useful too for an instructor. My students were also very fond of the videos available. They were able to see the abstract concepts rather than simply trying to imagine them. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** The greatest dislike is the overall price of the package. It is simply too expensive for me to require in good conscience. While the review questions are a great tool for instructors, the quality of the questions is uneven. Many seem to be arbitrary and address odd "facts" from the lesson, rather than hammering home core concepts. And with some of the written responses requiring exact answers, the grading time was extended as exceptions for correct (though slighted differently worded) answers is required. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** The best case scenario allows for me to actively engage and monitor my student's learning in real time. I could require certain materials to be completed and keep them on task with reading and studying. However the entire program has too many negatives to outweigh the positives. ### 8. Good learning tool for student **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jason F. | Student, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** I have personally been in multiple classes in which quizzes and homework submission goes through Mastering software. Most of the time the software is quite flexible and understood answers or give out hints that really helps. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Print function needs improvement, navigation is outdated, e-text feature is unnatural, some might prefer a physical textbook. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** If the cost or accessibility weren't the issues, this can be a great service to use for leaning. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Great tool for monitoring academic progress. ### 9. My Lab & Mastering Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Grant L. | Business Banking & Global Finance Intern, Civic & Social Organization, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** I like how easy it is to stay on top of school work through the platform **What do you dislike about Mastering?** I feel like it is easy to breeze through assignments without understanding the material **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am using this as a student, but I am able to apply what I learned when tackling business case studies in different classes ### 10. Efficient and reliable **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 23, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** The platform is extremely reliable and intuitive. I teach in an entirely digital classroom, so it's incredibly important that tools are not "down for service." In the grew years I've used Mastering, it's never been unavailable. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Creating assignments can be a bit cumbersome, but primarily because there are many customizable options. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Streamlines my classroom management tremendously. ### 11. Good for learning, but could use some more organization **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** Mastering contains many videos explaining and visualizing scientific concepts and ideas, which are extremely helpful for students learning difficult subject matters. Additionally, there are many study tools that aid in memory and concept retention. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** There's (almost) too many resources on Mastering, and it's not organized efficiently. It would also be helpful if the content was more customizable to fit the professor's lectures and notes, rather than leaving it up to the student to sift through an overwhelming large amount of material. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mastering provides a 24-7 learning resource for students, along with easy access for the college textbook. Additionally, it caters to different learning styles (auditory, visual, etc.) by offering videos, quizzes, audio recordings, and more to engage student learning and retention. ### 12. Very flexible student tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** dashuri p. | Technical Support Specialist, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 28, 2018 **What do you like best about Mastering?** There are many choices in terms of supplemental textbooks that students find very helpful when they are struggling with learning the material. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** The grading options could be more well defined and offer more room to adjust and modify grading policy and procedure. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** Consult tech support for grading adaptations **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Increase in student retention and mastery of the material ### 13. Useful software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ibra K. | Reporting and Data Analysis Assistant, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** It has all the necessary concepts in one place and it can be used for many many subjects like biology, physics, chemistry etc. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** There aren’t really clear instructions for beginners on how to do certain things. I think that’s something they can improve on. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** I would use it to learn concepts for my classes and do homework and quizzes. ### 14. Mastering is such a frustrating software **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2018 **What do you like best about Mastering?** It is somewhat convenient for instructors to use because it frees them gettin grading homework assignments. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Extremely frustrating grading system. Highly inconsistent between instructions and the correct answer. For example, in Mastering Chemistry: drawing a molecule correctly, but starting at the wrong end of the molecule, renders the entire answer incorrect with full point deduction. Similarly, Mastering Physics often displays the correct answer when prompted with a different number of decimal places than the question asked for. Answering the question with the requested number of digits marks the problem incorrect. Our instructors often had to go back and manually check answers to reinstate credit, negating much of the time saving benefits this software intended. The UI is tedious, it is full of broken links and it is hard to open new tabs with a problem rather than a new popup window. The design looks ancient. Objectively worse than similar learning tools such as Sapling. Horribly expensive burden for students. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Saves paper and allegedly saves time for instructors who do not have to grade paper assignments. ### 15. Mastering Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 02, 2018 **What do you like best about Mastering?** I love this technology! As an ambassador, I have had the opportunity to advise on the development and user interface that has gone into this product. Personally, I have used this technology (Biology and Chemistry) to advance my academics. The flashcards and quizzes that are offered really help me prepare for my college exams, and untimely held me understand the material that was covered. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** I do not like the audio component offered -- I am a visual learner so this aspect does not benefit me specifically. Also, I think the voice over person talks to slow/fast at times. Which makes following along with the content difficult at times. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** It is great if you are looking for supplemental study material. It allows you to breeze through complicated contact much faster than the traditional way. The interactive tutorials, quizzes, flashcards, and more really benefit the user/student. This software really helped me in my academic career -- and has also benefited colleagues of mine. It is an investment in money and time, but has paid of for myself and others. I especially recommend this if you are struggling in any academic course. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Adapting the software to be the best it can be, and proving a supplemental learning tool to students outside of the traditional materials (books, lectures, presentations) ### 16. Nice Software for Students to Learn Concepts **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 17, 2019 **What do you like best about Mastering?** The number and variety of features and the ease of use of this product is good. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Sometimes can be buggy and slow. The support form Person should improve. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** It allows students to do homework and learn concepts taught in class. ### 17. Great resources for mastering a subject! **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 18, 2018 **What do you like best about Mastering?** Plenty of resources given to master a subject. Some resources include: quizzes, flashcards, and practice exams. You can even test yourself based on a chapter in the book. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** Maybe if they had sections for main/key points for each chapter. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mastering college level courses. ### 18. Too expensive, too restrictive **Rating:** 1.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Seth J. | Senior Lecturer of Biology, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Mastering?** Pearson integrates its learning system with its textbooks. I like that there are a variety of different question types (multiple choice, matching, labeling, interactive widgets). The videos have great production values and the animations are clear and well-made. **What do you dislike about Mastering?** The textbooks have way too much content and this failure bleeds over into the learning activities. Although the videos are great, the questions following the videos focus on details rather than the main concepts. Interactive activities, likewise, have too much focus on minor points and cannot be edited. Other questions are very oriented on memorization of facts and terms, which is fine for a few questions but not helpful when you need to test higher-level understanding. **Recommendations to others considering Mastering:** If you want to use Pearson textbooks, it's fine, but consider many of the cheaper and free options out there. You can do just as good and your students will thank you for not having to buy a $200 license. **What problems is Mastering solving and how is that benefiting you?** We' were educating a class of 150+ students in Biology. We realized that we were writing or editing so many questions that finally decided to switch to using our own questions on Canvas and do away with Mastering. ## Mastering Discussions - [What does a mastering plugin do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-does-a-mastering-plugin-do) - [What tools are used in mastering?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-tools-are-used-in-mastering) - [What are the basics of mastering?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-basics-of-mastering) - [What is a mastering software?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-a-mastering-software) - [View Mastering pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/mastering/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-26+02%3A46%3A51+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=a134e7d6-bd95-4941-8325-f17d713b8a28&secure%5Btoken%5D=ae726bf607f2df354fa07ad132570aedeaa3baea06f47b86a379a59403d5b440&format=llm_user) ## Mastering Features **Reporting Analysis** - Progress Reports - Course Completion **Course Management** - Course Authoring - Course Access **Integration** - Education ERP System - Learning Management System **Customer Assistance** - Help and Support **Platform Customization** - White Labeling **Agentic AI - Online Learning Platform** - Adaptive Learning ## Top Mastering Alternatives - [WileyPLUS](https://www.g2.com/products/wileyplus/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (76 reviews) - [TalentLMS](https://www.g2.com/products/talentlms/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (752 reviews) - [360Learning](https://www.g2.com/products/360learning/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (578 reviews)