PharmCon freeCE

PharmCon freeCE is an online continuing education service for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and APRNs. The About page says that "since 1990 we have made it our mission to provide health professionals with access to free, quality based, continuing education," and describes the service as "a subsidiary of Pharmcon, an ACPE-approved provider of continuing education." The PTCE Review page adds that Pharmcon is "part of KnowFully Learning Group." Despite the name, the catalog now runs on paid memberships, and the company has published a page explaining exactly why.

The home page sums up the offer as live and on-demand CE, simplified, with separate shops for pharmacist CE, pharmacy tech CE and APRN CE, a Florida CE path for pharmacy technicians, exam preparation, and group sales for employers. Its counters read 1K+ learners, 1M+ certificates and 1M+ credit hours.

What a learner gets

The catalog comes in three forms: live webinars, webcasts, and self-study (home study) monographs. The About page says the live event calendar and home study catalog "regularly include programs on medication errors, patient safety, and law," and that modules "are periodically sponsored by various companies in the pharmaceutical industry and other organizations." The membership FAQ adds Florida-approved activities to the list of specialty topics.

Credit works differently for each format. For a live webinar, "participants must click on the attendance verification pop-ups during the session and complete the post-activity evaluation." For home study, a learner must "score no less than a 70% on the activity's test and complete a program evaluation," with "unlimited attempts" at the test. In both cases credit goes to CPE Monitor and is viewable within 48 hours at nabp.pharmacy. The FAQ is clear that "CE Provider-printed certificates will no longer be valid. Official Statements of Credit must be obtained from CPE Monitor," so a pharmacist's official record lives there rather than on the freeCE site. Credits are also submitted automatically to CE Broker for licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who have entered their license number in their profile.

Live webinars run in a browser classroom with a toolbar for downloading slide handouts. The FAQ lists the supported systems (Windows, macOS, iOS 10+ and Android 4.3+, with Chrome or Firefox recommended) and asks learners to log in locally rather than through a VPN or remote desktop. The home page promises "fully online, self-paced training" that learners can take "from any device."

Memberships and prices

The core product is the unlimited membership. The FAQ says it "includes 12-months of unlimited access to all live and home study CE activities on PharmCon freeCE, excluding specialty CE Series Certifications." Live events sit in the higher tiers: the live CE page says "All events Are included in UNLIMITED CE Gold & Platinum Membership Packages," and the FAQ says Gold tiers give "unlimited access to our entire live CE catalog and calendar without blackouts or registration restrictions."

The site's own explainer gives the starting prices. "Pharmacy technician plans start at $47/year with access to ACPE-accredited coursework." Pharmacist memberships "can include unlimited access to on-demand and live CE." For nurse practitioners, "APRN Pharmacology CE runs $97/year for unlimited access to 90+ courses accepted by both ANCC and AANP." The same page answers its own headline question: "The membership itself isn't free; pricing starts at $47/year and varies by profession and state requirements."

Memberships are "set by default to automatically renew upon its expiration date," charged to the card on file, and auto-renewal can be turned off at any time under My Account, Subscriptions. The footer links a Money Back Guarantee policy, and a newsletter signup offers 10% off a purchase.

The free trial

The free trial is the one part that is still free. The FAQ says it "allows pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses to earn up to 3 CEs at no cost," drawing on "some of our most popular on-demand CE content." It is "only valid for new customers who do not have an existing account or CE profile set up with PharmCon freeCE," and starts at freeCE.com/free, where the learner picks the package for their profession.

Why it stopped being free

The page "Why PharmCon freeCE Isn't Actually Free, and Why That's the Point" explains the change. Grant-funded CE, it says, is paid for by an outside sponsor, often a drug maker, which "typically has some hand in selecting the therapeutic area or topic." Topics such as pharmacy law, medication safety and human trafficking recognition get little sponsorship, so "grant-funded libraries tend to be thinnest exactly where state boards require the most." The company says it "moved away from that on purpose, so the catalog would answer to the practitioners using it rather than to a sponsor's priorities," and that the catalog "across all professions is now funded through membership revenue instead."

PTCE Review and technician training

For pharmacy technician candidates, the PTCE Review costs "$19.00 / month." The product page describes it as an adaptive online test prep system that helps aspiring Certified Pharmacy Technicians (CPhTs) study more efficiently and pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE). It offers "unlimited access to 1000+ practice questions, continually updated for accuracy," a study plan that "adjusts in real time to your strengths and weaknesses," and ReadySCORE, which "predicts exam readiness based on practice performance across exam domains." The content is "updated to align with the PTCE 2026 content outline and exam changes" and was "developed by an experienced pharmacist and certified pharmacy technician educator (CPTEd)."

The shop menu shows more technician training around it: Pre-Pharmacy Technician, 101 Pharmacy Technician CareerStart, Florida Pharmacy Technician CE, Florida Consultant Pharmacist, a Student section, MasteryRx and Specialty Certificates. The home page promises to "Get Certificate & Unlimited CE For Same Price or Less!"

Teams and support

Employers get an Organization Portal, "used by organizations from independent pharmacies to national chains to add, manage, and track team-member CE," and the company says it builds "discounted CE packages" for organizations "large and small" through Group Sales. A State Requirements page lists each state's Board of Pharmacy CE rules, offered "as a guide." Support runs through a help center, the FAQ, email and phone.

The About page notes that Pharmcon has worked "with nearly every major pharmaceutical manufacturer and wholesaler, numerous state and national professional organizations, and hospitals and universities," and that it is developing co-sponsoring relationships with CME and nursing accrediting bodies. Learner reviews on the home page are short and specific; one pharmacist, Stacie Miller, calls a session "critical info that we use on daily basis in LTC setting."

Who it suits

PharmCon freeCE suits pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who want one yearly membership to cover live and on-demand CE, with credit sent to CPE Monitor and CE Broker without extra steps. Technicians in Florida have a dedicated path, technician candidates get an adaptive PTCE Review, and APRNs can cover pharmacology hours with a 90+ course package. Pharmacy owners and chains can run team CE through the Organization Portal.

It is narrower for other professions, since the catalog is built around pharmacy. Learners who want live webinars need a Gold or Platinum tier, and memberships renew automatically unless switched off. For anyone weighing it up, the 3-CE free trial shows how the courses are built before any money changes hands.