No bundles, no upsells, no enterprise tier. One person grades every submission · Michael · and the prices below reflect what an hour of his time is worth versus a private tutor's $200 hour or a $250 scored practice test that nobody reads.
Full refund on monthly & annual within 14 days of purchase. No-questions-asked policy.
The single submission is one-time. No saved card, no auto-renew, no surprise charge.
Michael grades every attempt himself. No teaching assistants. No outsourced graders. No AI.
No retention call, no hoops. The cancel link lives in your account dashboard.
Three honest comparison rows. The competition is real. The numbers below are pulled from current public pricing on each platform's site.
| Better TOEFL Scores | Self-study test prep (Magoosh, Princeton Review) |
Private TOEFL tutor (Hourly, online) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal feedback on attempts | Every submissionParagraph-by-paragraph, by Michael | Auto-scored onlyRubric matched by algorithm | Live on the callPer hour, while you watch the clock |
| Cost for 8 weeks of practice | $198Two months of unlimited feedback | $100–$250One-time content + scored practice | $1,600–$4,8008–24 sessions at $200/hr |
| Turnaround on a graded attempt | 24–48 hoursSame on monthly & annual | InstantBut it is a machine score | Scheduled sessionDepends on tutor calendar |
| 2026 TOEFL iBT rubric update | Rewritten May 2026New format, new rubric | Varies by platformUpdate timing depends on vendor | Depends on tutorAsk before booking |
| Real student data behind it | 9,231 attemptsGraded personally since 2002 | AggregatedNo named instructor | Tutor-dependentWhatever they have personally seen |
| Verdict | Right for stuck-at-22 studentsWho need diagnosis, not more content | Right for early-stage prepWhen you need content + practice volume | Right if budget > $2,000And calendar matches yours |
I had spent four months with Magoosh, then 90 minutes a week with a $200 tutor. Neither moved my Speaking score. Eight rounds of Michael's feedback at $99/mo moved it six points.K.H. · Foreign-trained Pharmacist · 2025
Better TOEFL Scores starts at $19 for a single submission with full personal feedback from Michael Buckhoff. The unlimited subscription is $99 per month or $899 per year. Private TOEFL tutors typically charge $150 to $300 per hour, and self-study test-prep platforms charge $100 to $250 for scored practice tests with no human feedback.
One Speaking attempt or one Writing task graded personally by Michael Buckhoff. You receive a paragraph-by-paragraph diagnosis, an estimated TOEFL score against the 2026 rubric, and three targeted fixes. Turnaround is 24 to 48 hours. There is no card on file and no auto-renew.
Yes. Cancel anytime in one click from the account dashboard. There is no minimum term, no cancellation fee, and no retention call. If you cancel mid-month you keep access until the end of the current billing period.
The annual plan saves 24% versus monthly billing ($899 versus $1,188 over twelve months). It is the right choice for students who already know they need three or more months of feedback. If the test is in 4 to 8 weeks, the monthly plan is the better starting point.
Annual and monthly subscriptions: 14-day no-questions refund from the date of purchase. The $19 single submission is fulfilled within 48 hours and is not refundable once the feedback report has been delivered.
Michael Buckhoff personally grades every Speaking attempt and every Writing task. No teaching assistants. No outsourcing. No AI. The same English lecturer who has been teaching at California State University, San Bernardino since 1997.
No card on file. No auto-renew. Receive a full feedback report inside 48 hours. If the diagnosis is useful, the monthly subscription is one click away. If it is not, you have a single submission you can use and you owe us nothing more.
Buy a $19 Submission →