Best Arizona Notary Exam Prep, Compared: 8 Options on Price, Depth, and Currency
Two disclosures before anything else. First: we publish AzNotaryClass.com and sell one of the courses compared here. We rank it first on the criteria below and say plainly why, including its weaknesses. Second: every competitor fact in this article was verified on the provider’s live website on September 30, 2026. Prices and features change; confirm before you buy. And one thing that applies to every company on this list, including us: the State of Arizona does not designate an official trainer or endorse training companies. Arizona requires an exam, not a course.
The short answer
- Most complete prep: our course at AzNotaryClass.com, with 26 lessons, 295 questions, a timed 45-question simulation, and the only curriculum we can find covering Arizona’s 2025 exam mandate, the testing-vendor transition, and the SB 1479 thumbprint law. $69, with lifetime access to this edition. Newest course on the list, no accumulated reviews yet, more below.
- Safest brand-name default: the National Notary Association (NNA), $69: mandate-aware, trusted nationally, but only 6 lessons and 120+ questions.
- Best free option: Open Exam Prep, 102 short videos and 200 free questions, though its testing info is already out of date.
- Best budget test bank: the American Association of Notaries’ $11.95 standalone 140-question test.
- Two to be careful with: one provider’s FAQ and one app both claim Arizona requires no exam, which has been false since July 1, 2025.
Why “currency” is a criterion at all
Arizona notary rules moved three times in roughly fourteen months:
1. July 1, 2025: passing a notary exam became mandatory for every new commission and every renewal (A.R.S. § 41-270). Before that date, Arizona required no exam, which is why older web pages still say it doesn’t.
2. 2026: the Secretary of State began moving the exam from Prometric to Pearson VUE: a new $35 fee, a Candidate ID registration path, and a 3-attempts-then-30-days retake rule; the October 2026 manual and azsos.gov agree on all of it.
3. September 12, 2026: SB 1479 took effect, adding a required right-thumbprint journal entry for deeds, deeds of trust, other real-property documents, and powers of attorney (A.R.S. § 41-254(C)).
A prep course that doesn’t know about change #1, a rule live for well over a year, is telling you something about its maintenance habits. So the table below tracks who is current on each change, verified on each provider’s Arizona pages September 30, 2026.
The criteria
We compared every option on five things, in this order of importance:
1. Currency: does it reflect the 2025 exam mandate, the vendor transition, and SB 1479?
2. Question volume and quality: how many practice questions, and are they explained?
3. Structure: a sequenced curriculum versus a pile of material.
4. Simulation: is there a timed, 45-question, 80%-bar practice exam like the real thing?
5. Price and terms: sticker price, access period, refund policy as published.
The field at a glance (verified September 30, 2026)
| Option | Price | Format | Practice questions | 2025 mandate | Vendor transition | SB 1479 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AzNotaryClass.com (ours) | $69 / $79 list, lifetime-this-edition | 26 video lessons (~2h 54m), interactive activities, PDFs | 295 (5 module quizzes, 80-question final pool, 2 timed 45-Q practice exams) | Yes | Yes, dated advisory | Yes, the only coverage we found |
| NNA | $69 | 6 lessons, format unspecified | 120+ | Yes | No | No |
| Open Exam Prep | Free (+ paid AI-tutor credits, price unpublished) | 102 micro-videos (~2-3 min), flashcards, cheat sheet | 200 | Yes | No, Prometric only | No |
| AAN | $25 course / $11.95 test-only | “3-hour” course, format unpublished | 140 (test-only product) | Not mentioned | No | No |
| Notary.net | $25 / 12-mo access | 2.5-hr streaming video | None published | Not mentioned | No | No |
| Notary Public Association | $45 | Unpublished | Unpublished | FAQ says no test required, false since 7/1/2025 | No | No |
| “Arizona Notary Public Prep” app | $6.99 | Question bank | ~500 + 50-Q mock | Not addressed | No | No |
| “AZ Notary Exam Prep 2026” app | Free + in-app purchases to $69.99 | Question bank | 100+ | Description claims no state exam is required, false | No | No |
Nobody on this list offers a pass guarantee that outlives their access window. The NNA “guarantee” is a returns policy, AAN offers a 30-day refund, and the rest publish nothing we could verify. Ours is the access itself: it never expires while this edition is current, so you take the exam as many times as you need to pass. And when the state manual eventually changes, this edition stays readable as the historical reference rather than vanishing. No competitor’s guarantee survives its own expiry date.
The ranking, one by one
1. AzNotaryClass.com (ours, and first on these criteria)
What you get for $69 at launch: 26 video lessons walking the official Reference Manual (October 2026 edition, the document the exam is drawn from), a verified 295-question bank with per-answer manual page cites, five module quizzes, a Study Lab (flashcards, crossword, true/false drills), two timed 45-question practice exams at the real exam’s 80% bar, printable reference PDFs, and a drive-to-exam audio review. The curriculum carries advisories on the Pearson VUE move and SB 1479, both now part of the current manual, so you learn each rule the way the exam tests it, with the current-law framing.
The honest weaknesses: we are the newest entry here, with no years of accumulated reviews, no brand history, and a list price ($79 after launch) that will be the highest on this list. If a long track record matters more to you than depth, buy the NNA. And no course, including ours, is “state-approved”; Arizona doesn’t designate trainers.
2. NNA, the national default
The National Notary Association’s $69 Arizona exam course is the incumbent: 6 lessons, 120+ multiple-choice questions, a downloadable Reference Manual, and a useful day-of-exam summary sheet. It correctly cites the July 1, 2025 mandate, and if you want a big brand behind your purchase it is a reasonable buy. Full fair review here. Where it trails on our criteria: six lessons is thin against a 66-page manual, no timed-simulation claim, and no vendor-transition or SB 1479 guidance as of September 2026.
3. Open Exam Prep, the best free floor
Open Exam Prep gives away 102 micro-videos, 200 practice questions, 50 flashcards, and a cheat sheet, and it knows the 2025 mandate exists, which beats most of the paid field. Its weakness is structural, not stinginess: the videos sit behind a Prometric-era framing that predates the Pearson VUE transition, there’s no SB 1479 material, and 200 unscored web questions is a drill, not a timed simulation. Full review: Open Exam Prep, reviewed. If $0 is your budget, this plus the free manual at azsos.gov is a legitimate stack.
4. AAN, the budget test bank
The American Association of Notaries has sold bonds and supplies since 1994, and its $25 Arizona course (format unpublished) plus $11.95 standalone 140-question test keyed to the 2025 manual is honest loss-leader pricing, with a 30-day refund. As of September 2026, though, its Arizona pages don’t mention the mandate’s timing, the vendor transition, or SB 1479. Details: AAN and Notary.net, reviewed.
5. Notary.net: budget video, no practice
$25 buys a 2.5-hour streaming video with 12 months of access and a completion certificate, which is a course courtesy, not a state credential. No practice tests are published, and no mandate mention as of September 2026. Fine as a lecture; insufficient as exam prep on its own.
6. The caution tier: NPA and the apps
The Notary Public Association’s $45 course publishes no lesson or question counts, and its FAQ states that Arizona does not require a test to become a notary. That was true once. It has been false since July 1, 2025, when A.R.S. § 41-270 made the exam mandatory for new commissions and renewals; azsos.gov’s exam registration pages are the authority. And in the app stores, “AZ Notary Exam Prep 2026” (in-app purchases up to $69.99) makes the same false claim in its own description, selling prep for an exam it says doesn’t exist. The $6.99 “Arizona Notary Public Prep” app at least exists for the right exam (~500 questions), though its lone App Store review as of September 2026 complains of repeated questions.
Which one should you actually buy?
- If you want the highest first-attempt odds and don’t mind a new provider: ours. That is why we built it.
- If brand history is non-negotiable: NNA at $69, then supplement with our free 24-question practice test.
- If you can’t spend anything: Open Exam Prep’s videos plus the free manual at azsos.gov, then test yourself free here.
- If you only need question volume: AAN’s $11.95 test is the cheapest credible question bank.
Frequently asked questions
Is a prep course required to become an Arizona notary?
No. The state requires passing an exam: 45 questions, 60 minutes, 80%, open book with the manual built into the exam interface. Courses are preparation, not a requirement, and no provider is state-endorsed.
Why do some sites still say Arizona has no notary exam?
Because it didn’t until July 1, 2025. Pages written before that date, and never updated, still carry the old answer. Any prep provider making that claim today is more than a year out of date, and you should treat the rest of its material accordingly.
What’s the exam itself like?
45 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, 80% to pass, drawn from the October 2026 Reference Manual, which is built into the exam as a searchable PDF. Score valid 90 days. Full breakdown: Arizona Notary Exam Day, Explained.
Does the vendor transition change what I should study?
No. The exam content follows the manual either way. It changes how you register and what you pay. See Prometric or Pearson VUE? The Transition, Explained.
Where the ranking lands
Two providers on this list are factually wrong about whether Arizona has an exam at all. Most of the rest are current on the 2025 mandate but silent on everything since. On the criteria we laid out (currency, question volume, structure, simulation, price), our course ranks first, and we’ve shown the arithmetic so you can re-rank it yourself with your own weights.
See the full course: 26 lessons, 295 verified questions, $69 at launch →
*AzNotaryClass.com*
