Colibri vs The CE Shop: which is better for multi-state agents?
If you hold licenses in two or more states, managing your continuing education is its own part-time job. Different renewal cycles, different hour requirements, different mandatory topics. Miss a deadline in one state and your license goes inactive — and with it, any pending deals in that market.
Both Colibri Real Estate and The CE Shop serve multi-state agents, but they approach the problem differently. I’ve used both across multiple license renewals, and the honest answer is that neither one is perfect. Each has a clear advantage depending on what you need most.
Disclosure: We earn affiliate commissions from both Colibri and The CE Shop. That’s how we keep this site running. But the comparison below is based on actual use, not commission rates. If one of them were garbage, I’d tell you.
State coverage
Colibri offers pre-licensing courses in about 36 states plus D.C. For continuing education, they route you through their sister company McKissock Learning, which covers all 50 states.
The CE Shop covers pre-licensing in 41+ states and continuing education in all 50 states, all under one roof. No sister company handoff.
For agents juggling multiple active licenses, The CE Shop’s single-platform approach is simpler. With Colibri, you’ll end up with a McKissock account for CE and a separate Colibri account for pre-licensing. Two logins, two dashboards, two sets of receipts to track. It works, but it’s more fragmented than it needs to be.
Pre-licensing pricing by state
Pre-licensing costs vary wildly by state because each state requires different hours. Here’s what the basic packages look like for the five most popular states:
| State | Required hours | Colibri (basic) | The CE Shop (basic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 63 hours | ~$150 | ~$125 |
| Texas | 180 hours | ~$270 | ~$295 |
| California | 135 hours | ~$140 | ~$150 |
| New York | 77 hours | ~$260 | ~$230 |
| Georgia | 75 hours | ~$280 | ~$265 |
Both providers run constant promotions (20-40% off is common), so check both sites before buying at full price. The sticker prices shift every few weeks.
Colibri also offers tiered packages — their mid-tier bundles exam prep materials, and their top tier adds career coaching and resume tools. The CE Shop’s tiers are structured similarly: basic course, course plus exam prep, and course plus exam prep plus business-building resources.
If you’re an experienced agent adding a second or third state, you probably don’t need the career coaching bundle. Stick with the basic course or the course-plus-exam-prep tier.
Continuing education pricing
This is where multi-state agents spend the most over time, because CE renewals happen every one to four years depending on the state.
Colibri/McKissock CE packages typically run $60-$140 per state, per renewal cycle. Texas CE (18 hours) costs about $140. California (45 hours) runs about $69. These prices include the mandatory state-specific courses like legal updates.
The CE Shop CE packages generally cost $20-$80 per state. Florida CE (14 hours) runs about $30. New York (22.5 hours) is around $40. Texas (18 hours) is about $45.
On pure CE pricing, The CE Shop is cheaper in most states. Not by a trivial amount — you can save $50-$100 per state per renewal cycle. Over two or three states and multiple renewal cycles, that adds up to real money.
Course format and learning experience
Colibri uses a mix of video lectures, text content, and interactive quizzes. Their standout feature is live online classes — actual instructor-led sessions you can attend in real-time with a Q&A component. Not every state has live options, but where they’re available, they’re solid. If you learn better by listening than reading, Colibri has the edge here.
The CE Shop is entirely self-paced and leans heavily on text-based lessons with embedded quizzes, videos, and interactive elements mixed in. No live classes. The upside is complete flexibility — you can knock out a CE course at midnight on your phone if that’s when you have time. The downside is that if you zone out reading dense regulatory content, there’s no instructor to snap you back.
For pure efficiency (get in, get the hours, get the certificate), The CE Shop’s format is faster. For retention, Colibri’s video and live class options work better for some learners.
The dashboard: managing multiple states
This is the make-or-break feature for multi-state agents, and it’s where The CE Shop pulls ahead clearly.
The CE Shop’s dashboard shows all your active states in one view. You can see your renewal deadlines, completed hours, and remaining requirements for each state at a glance. When you finish a course, the completion shows up in your dashboard immediately, and they report to the state (where electronic reporting is available) within a few days.
Colibri/McKissock’s dashboard is functional but less intuitive for multi-state tracking. Because pre-licensing lives on Colibri and CE lives on McKissock, you’re toggling between platforms. McKissock’s CE dashboard does track your progress by state, but the interface feels older and requires more clicks to get the information you need.
I missed a renewal deadline once because the McKissock dashboard didn’t surface the deadline as prominently as I expected. That was partly my fault, but the platform didn’t help. The CE Shop sends more aggressive reminder emails as deadlines approach, which is annoying until the day it saves your license.
Reporting speed
When you finish a CE course, the provider reports your completion to the state licensing board. How fast that happens matters — especially if you’re renewing close to your deadline.
The CE Shop reports electronically to most states within one to three business days. In states with real-time electronic reporting, it can be same-day.
Colibri/McKissock reporting varies more. Some states get electronic reporting within a few days. Others still require manual processing, which can take a week or more. If you’re cutting it close on a deadline, ask their support team about reporting timelines for your specific state before you enroll.
Mobile experience
Both have mobile-responsive websites and dedicated apps, but the quality gap matters if you’re doing coursework on your phone during downtime between showings.
The CE Shop’s app is cleaner and more consistent with their web experience. Course progress syncs reliably between devices, and the text-based format actually works well on smaller screens.
Colibri’s app works but feels like a mobile wrapper around a desktop experience. Video courses play fine, but navigating between sections and tracking progress is clunkier on a phone.
If you do most of your coursework on a laptop, this won’t matter much. If you’re reading through CE modules on your phone during lunch breaks, The CE Shop’s mobile experience is noticeably better.
Customer support
Colibri offers phone, email, and chat support. Response times are generally good during business hours. They have a reputation for being helpful with technical issues and enrollment questions.
The CE Shop offers email and chat support. Phone support exists but is harder to reach. Their chat is responsive during business hours, and their help center is well-organized for common questions. Where they shine is proactive support — automated deadline reminders, enrollment confirmations, and completion notifications that reduce the number of times you need to contact support in the first place.
Neither platform has bad support, but Colibri’s phone support is easier to access if you prefer talking to a human.
So which one should you pick?
For pre-licensing in a new state, it’s roughly a toss-up. Compare the specific pricing for your state, check for current promotions, and consider whether you want live classes (Colibri) or self-paced flexibility (CE Shop).
For ongoing CE across multiple states, The CE Shop wins. Lower prices in most states, a better multi-state dashboard, faster reporting, and a smoother mobile experience. When you’re managing two or three renewal cycles simultaneously, those differences compound.
If you’re only licensed in one state and plan to stay that way, either platform will serve you fine. Pick the one with the better price in your state and move on.
For a broader look at how licensing transfers work and where you might need these courses, check out our reciprocity guide. And if you’re dealing with the insurance side, our NIPR walkthrough covers the non-resident application process step by step.