Best Echocardiography & TEE CME: 2026 Comparison
By Gabriel Marian
Last updated: August 2026 · Prices checked: August 2026
If you need echo-specific AMA PRA Category 1 credits - for NBE recertification, MOCA, or state licensure - these are the realistic options in 2026, from daily-case platforms to the big institutional curricula. Our top pick for TEE practitioners is eEcho, for one plain reason: it's the only option built around a daily habit rather than a study session, and its 150+ credit library covers a full recert cycle in one subscription. But it's not the right answer for everyone - we ranked the field on credit availability, cost per credit, format, and how TEE-specific the content actually is (methodology below).
Disclosure: if you purchase a plan from eEcho through our links we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Every other platform here is linked directly with no affiliate relationship, and we recommend competitors for several reader profiles below.The Echo CME field at a glance
| Platform | Format | Credits | Price | TEE depth | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. eEcho | Daily + weekly TEE cases (0.25 cr/case), courses, exams | 150+ | $289-$749/yr | Highest - TEE is the product | Cardiac anesthesiologists, TEE practitioners |
| 2. EchoSAP (ACC) | Full curriculum, 100+ cases, 230 board-style Qs | 136.75 | $900-$1140/3yrs | Covered within a general echo curriculum | Cardiologists wanting the official ACC path + MOC |
| 3. BoardVitals | Question bank, 450+ case-style questions | 30 | $999/yr | Partial - general echo | Question-bank learners |
| 4. 123sonography | Echo MasterClass - Lectures & Quizzes | 43 | $1499/6months | Covered within broad echo curriculum | Structured video learners wanting comprehensive echo training |
| 5. Medmastery | Structured video course (TEE Essentials) | 6 | $449/year | Good teaching, small credit total | Trainees learning TEE from scratch |
| 6. StatPearls | Text activities incl. a TEE activity | 6 | $649/yr | Shallow | Budget filler credits |
| 7. ASE courses | Live/virtual conferences (Echo Hawaii, ASCeXAM Review…) | 15-30+ per event | $$$ + travel | Varies by event | Those who want the conference anyway |
How we ranked these echo CME providers
Four criteria, weighted in this order: echo/TEE specificity (NBE recertification requires echo-specific credits, so generic cardiology content scores zero here); credits available versus what you actually need (15 credits per NBE cycle, plus parallel state and MOCA totals); effective cost per credit, computed transparently below; and format fit for a clinical schedule. What we did: reviewed each option's public catalog and accreditation statements, compared published pricing on August 2026, and used eEcho hands-on - that one we have reviewed in depth. What we didn't do: pay for full subscriptions to all seven. Where we haven't used a product directly, we say so and stick to its published facts.
The Echo CME options, one by one
1. eEcho - best overall for TEE CME
A daily TEE case lands in your email: real imaging, four questions, 0.25 credits banked on completion. Weekly cases go deeper; behind them sits a 150+ credit library of courses and exams, an 8,000+ image atlas, and automatic credit tracking with certificates that stay downloadable after you cancel. It has run on this model for over 15 years, and for anesthesiologists it advertises MOCA-satisfying credits.
- Deepest TEE focus of anything on this list
- Habit model beats deadline cramming - and archives serve crammers too
- Affordable cost-per-credit at library scale
- No dedicated mobile app
- Design feels inconsistent in certain areas
- Emails pile up if you skip them for weeks
Best for: cardiac anesthesiologists and anyone maintaining TEE skills and NBE certification. Read the full hands-on review or visit eEcho.
2. EchoSAP - best for cardiologists who want the ACC curriculum + MOC
The American College of Cardiology's self-assessment program in echo: a comprehensive curriculum with 100+ cases, 230 board-style questions with rationales, thousands of images, and 136.75 CME credits that double as ABIM MOC points - the feature nothing else on this list matches. It's the institutional heavyweight, aligned to the ASCeXAM blueprint.
- CME + ABIM MOC points simultaneously
- Official ACC curriculum; strong exam alignment for ASCeXAM
- Enormous credit count in one product
- Priced accordingly, especially for non-ACC-members
- Didactic weight - it's a curriculum to work through, not a daily habit
Best for: cardiologists prioritizing MOC and the ACC stamp. LINK
3. BoardVitals Echocardiography - best pure question bank
A 450+ question echo self-assessment with evidence-based rationales, worth 30 AMA Category 1 credits, answered at your own pace with a 70% threshold you can correct as you go. It's a question bank first and a CME product second - which is exactly what some people want.
- Large, well-explained question set
- Buy once, work through it - no subscription mechanics
- General echo, not TEE-specific
- 30 credits caps it at two recert cycles' worth
Best for: question-bank learners covering NBE credits in one purchase. LINK
4. 123sonography - best comprehensive video curriculum
Vienna-based and echo-specific from the ground up - a meaningfully different profile than Mayo's general cardiology lecture series. Their flagship Echo MasterClass alone carries 43.5 AMA PRA Category 1 credits across 274 lectures, led by Prof. Thomas Binder (Medical University of Vienna) with an international faculty, and is aligned to current ESC/EACVI/ASE/ACC guidelines. Courses run in tiers - BachelorClass (foundational) through MasterClass (comprehensive) - plus focused single-topic courses (Right Heart, Speckle Tracking, Echo in Guidelines) and a newer AI-powered Q&A tool for on-demand questions.
Strengths
- Echo-specific
- Large, well-produced video library with real faculty depth and guideline alignment
- Free tier available to preview lectures before buying
Limitations
- Didactic video format, not case-interpretation practice - closer to Medmastery's model than eEcho's
Best for: clinicians who learn best from structured video curricula and want deep, guideline-current echo teaching rather than case-based practice. LINK
5. Medmastery TEE Essentials - best for learning TEE, not maintaining it
A tightly-produced video course teaching the standard TEE exam from indications through the aorta, completable in under five hours, worth 6 AMA Category 1 credits. As teaching, it's excellent; as a credit source, it's a snack - you'd need a stack of Medmastery courses to cover one recert cycle.
Best for: residents, fellows, and clinicians adding TEE to their practice who want structure before reps. LINK
6. StatPearls - best budget filler
Text-based activities including a TEE-specific one, priced low and bundled broadly. Nobody's first choice for depth, and we won't pretend otherwise - but if you need a few inexpensive credits to top off a total, it does the job honestly.
Best for: gap-filling on a budget. LINK
7. ASE courses & conferences - the traditional benchmark
The American Society of Echocardiography runs the field's flagship live and virtual events - Echo Hawaii, State-of-the-Art Echocardiography, the ASCeXAM Review Course - all carrying CME/MOC. As education and networking they're superb. As a credit-acquisition strategy they're the most expensive option here once registration, travel, and lost clinical days are totaled, which is precisely why the rest of this list exists.
Best for: clinicians who want the meeting experience and would attend regardless. LINK
Also worth knowing: genuinely free cardiology CME exists (FreeCME and similar aggregators), but the activities are scattered general-cardiology topics, rarely echo-specific and almost never TEE - usable for state totals, not for the NBE's echo-specific requirement in any practical quantity.
Which one should you pick?
Your ideal pick depends on your current career stage and primary compliance goal:
-
1
Cardiac anesthesiologist needing MOCA CME:
eEcho - the case mix is your OR, and the credits feed MOCA.
-
2
Cardiologist wanting ABIM MOC points above all:
EchoSAP. This is the one profile where we'd point you away from our top pick without hesitation.
-
3
PTEeXAM or ASCeXAM candidate:
eEcho for daily image reps (see our PTEeXAM study guide or ASCeXAM guide), EchoSAP or BoardVitals for the question-bank layer.
-
4
Sonographer (RDCS/RCS):
Case-based echo CME works for credential maintenance; dedicated CCI/ARDMS-targeted offerings also exist.
-
5
Trainee learning TEE from scratch:
Medmastery first, cases second.
-
6
Just need cheap filler credits:
StatPearls or free aggregators. No shame in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many echo CME credits do I actually need?
For NBE certification applications: 15 echo-specific AMA PRA Category 1 credits plus case documentation - and since July 2024, ongoing status runs through the NBE's annual MOCE/MOTE programs rather than a ten-year recert exam. State and MOCA totals run in parallel, and echo-specific credits count toward those too - details in our requirements guide.
Do these count for MOC or MOCA?
EchoSAP carries ABIM MOC points; eEcho advertises MOCA-satisfying credits for anesthesiologists; the others issue standard Category 1 credits that count toward CME totals but not automatically toward MOC points. Always check your board's current rules.
What's the cheapest way to get echo CME?
Free aggregator activities for general totals, StatPearls for cheap echo-adjacent credits - but for the echo-specific NBE requirement at any volume, the per-credit table above is the real answer, and the higher-credit plans win it.
Are fractional case-based credits legitimate?
Yes - 0.25-credit accredited activities are standard, and sixty of them total 15.0 credits on your certificates exactly like any other format.
The Bottom Line
For the TEE community this site serves, eEcho is the pick: deepest TEE content, the only daily-habit model, a library that outlasts a recert cycle, and per-credit pricing the alternatives can't match. If you're a cardiologist for whom ABIM MOC points are the priority, take EchoSAP instead and don't look back. Everyone else: start with the full eEcho review - including what we didn't like - and decide with the whole picture.
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