SketchyMedical

What is Sketchy and who sells it?

The company is Sketchy Group LLC. Business Wire reported that four medical students (Saud Siddiqui, Andrew Berg, Bryan Lemieux and Aaron Lemieux) founded it in 2013, and that The Chernin Group made a $30 million majority investment in September 2020. Most sources give the headquarters as Los Angeles, while CB Insights and PitchBook give San Francisco.

Sketchy's own site says its lessons, interactive cases and practice questions are "created by clinicians" and "trusted by 500K+ students" (sketchy.com). Both are vendor statements. Baylor, UT, Yale and Touro appear among the institution logos on the home page.

What does it include?

The pricing page splits the product by program. In the first program block, All access bundles the lessons and the question bank. The lessons cover preclinical and clinical courses with end-of-lesson quizzes, and the question bank allows unlimited custom tests. All access also includes interactive patient cases, which walk through full patient encounters across core rotations so a student can practice clinical skills (sketchy.com/pricing).

A cheaper "Cases only" plan, marked new, sells just the patient cases for board prep and the wards. The MCAT program adds a separate Science Review product.

How much does Sketchy cost?

As of October 2026, sketchy.com/pricing lists All access in its first program block at $349.99 for 6 months ($58.33 per month), $449.99 for 12 months ($37.49 per month, marked most popular) and $649.99 for 24 months ($27.08 per month). That block is probably the Medical program, but the tab mapping is not stated. Cases only costs $19.99 for one month or $119.99 for 12 months. The PA, NP and MCAT blocks are cheaper, from $249.99 for 12 months of All access up to $399.99 for 15 months. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and Klarna pay-in-4 is offered but not on trials.

Where does it fall short?

Price is the loudest complaint. Trustpilot reviewers call it very expensive, and one says it is "so high it should be illegal" (ca.trustpilot.com). Others report a $2 charge after activating the free trial, a refund dispute, slow customer service, a slow app, uneven illustration quality, and sketches redone with new terminology. One reviewer says a question bank was removed from paying members in an update. Trustpilot also skews toward unhappy customers.

Reviewers who like Sketchy talk about memorization of microbiology and pharmacology and retention after exams. All of that is self-reported, and no independent score data exists. A student blog recommends Sketchy for microbiology and pharmacology and prefers Pathoma for pathology (zhighley.com).

How does it compare?

Pathoma's Pro tier runs $99.95 for 12 months (pathoma.com), so a student who only needs pathology pays less than a quarter of Sketchy's 12-month price. Pathoma's terms say payments are nonrefundable. Anki's desktop app is free (apps.ankiweb.net), and the AnKing Step Deck comes through AnkiHub from $6 a month (ankihub.net). Sketchy's edge is the picture format.

Who is it for?

A second-year student who is weak on microbiology and pharmacology and has tried flashcards without success is the clearest fit. A third-year on rotations might use the Cases only plan at $119.99 a year and skip the lessons. A student on a tight budget can start with the 7-day trial on one topic.

The verdict

Buy the 12-month plan if microbiology and pharmacology are your weak subjects and text and flashcards have not stuck. Skip it if you want a large question bank as your main resource, or if pathology is the gap, since Pathoma costs a fraction of the price.