iRacing can be an expensive hobby. It offers a subscription based model and in-game content purchases. So how much does iRacing really cost? Here is a full breakdown including the cost to compete in each license.
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To get on track and start racing in iRacing, all you need is an active subscription. A subscription costs $13 full price. However, new members can use discounts to lower this price. Currently, the cheapest iRacing promo code is 3 Months for $4.78. View all active iRacing promo codes.
While iRacing will almost always prove to be more expensive than other racing simulators. There aren’t many other racing sims that offer the same combination of competitive online racing across such a wide number of racing disciplines.
However, to access iRacing and participate in both online and single-player races, you will require an active subscription. This subscription is billed on a monthly basis, charging you a fixed amount every month for access to iRacing.
Your monthly subscription does include a variety of content included. This intro content includes a selection of cars and tracks. Moving forward, if you’re looking to purchase additional content, you’ll then have to buy them using real currency.
Purchasing additional content is required to participate in some racing series, especially as you progress through the license classes. Although, the initial content that you get included is enough to see you through all of the rookie racing series.
Currently, you’ll have access to 16 cars and 22 track layouts in your initial iRacing subscription.
Read our guide on how to start iRacing on a budget for some top cost saving tips!
iRacing is home to a lot of content, over 100 cars and 100 tracks including more than 300 track layouts. A variety of these are included in your membership as mentioned above. However, the majority of content will require additional purchases.
The cost of these additional purchases are;
Every additional car in iRacing will cost you $11.95 to purchase individually. That price will allow you to race your new car in any series that it is eligible for.
There are some cars that are classed as legacy cars. These are cars that are either not used in official race series any more or have been in iRacing so long that newer models have been released.
Legacy cars normally carry a large discount on the price as they aren’t as desirable or usable as normal cars. Typically, a legacy car will cost you between $2.95 and $4.95 to purchase.
Tracks in iRacing fall into two price categories. Depending on the track itself as well as the number of configurations, an iRacing track will cost you either $11.95 or $14.95.
When you buy a track, it will include all configurations, meaning you’ll be purchasing multiple track layouts each time. For example, buying Watkins Glen would include the Cup track layout, Boot track layout and Classis layout.
This pricing structure does seem steep compared to other sim racing games. But you can make use of some discounts when buying to reduce the cost a little.
If you purchase multiple pieces of content at the same time, you’ll receive a discount on your whole order. On top of that, if you purchase all content in the game at any point. You’ll then receive a larger discount on all future content that is released.
The iRacing bulk discount structure is as follows;
Just because iRacing costs $13 per month as standard, doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to reduce this cost. There are a variety of ways that you can either lower your initial cost of purchasing iRacing, or earn back credit from iRacing directly.
Below are a few of the best ways you can reduce your cost of iRacing. Some of these methods also allow you to make money from iRacing, allowing you to spend it on additional in-game content or to pay for your future subscriptions.
One of the best ways to minimise your initial cost of purchasing iRacing is to make use of new member discounts and promotional offers. These allow you to purchase your first iRacing subscription for a much lower amount than normal.
The introductory offers are available year-round, and give new members the chance to purchase a subscription at a reduced cost. You can purchase a variety of durations from a single month through to a full 24 months of discounted iRacing. Fantastic if you know you’re going to be committed to iRacing for a long period of time.
Typically these offers and discounts are only for new iRacing members, however, some do work for those with existing or lapsed memberships.
One great way of earning back iRacing credit is through participating in races every season. Imagine earning in-game credit simply by racing regularly. That’s exactly what the race participation credit program does.
iRacing offers credit back every season if you complete a set number of races within a series. For example, all seasons have 12 weeks. As long as you participate in at least 8 races within an individual series, you’ll receive credit.
As mentioned, competing in at least 8 races within a single series within a season will net you in-game credit. The credit is applied during the 13th week of a season.
To be eligible to earn the credit there are a few requirements.
As long as you meet the criteria above within a single season, you’ll qualify for in-game credit. Depending on the license class the series is in, you’ll earn a different amount of credit each season.
You can stack these bonuses and earn participation credits for multiple series as long as you meet the criteria above for each individual series. This allows you to earn the bonus in multiple race series each season.
However, there is a $10 maximum credit limit. So you can only ever earn $10 each season, no matter how many series you race in.
Even so, this method of earning in-game credit can net you up to $40 back every year. This credit can be applied to your membership cost, giving you just over 3 months of free iRacing each year. Or you can use it to purchase additional content.
Another great way of earning in-game credit is to refer friends to iRacing. For every friend you refer to iRacing who signs up as a new member earns you $10 in-game credit.
There is no limit to how many friends you can refer, so if you know enough people you can earn a fair bit of in-game credit this way.
Here is more information on referring friends to iRacing.
So with all of the information about how iRacing works from a cost point of view. I thought it would be a good idea to showcase the cost of competing in iRacing across a variety of seasons including different license classes. Below I have summarised the cost to compete in each license class.
The costs below are the minimum costs required to proceed out of each license class. In these samples, I’ll be using the racing series that offers the highest amount of free content. This approach will require us to purchase the lowest number of cars and tracks possible through each license class.
Below is a quick overview of the minimum cost of racing in each license class. I’ve based this on the road racing discipline as that is one of the most popular. Read on further to read the full breakdown and why I’ve chosen each series.
D Class | C Class | B Class | B Class | |
Series Name | USF 2000 Championship | Kamel GT Championship | GT3 Fanatec Challenge | European Sprint Series |
iRacing subscription | $13 per month $39 per season | $13 per month $39 per season | $13 per month $39 per season | $13 per month $39 per season |
New Tracks | 5 ($14.95 each) $74.75 | 9 ($14.95 each) $134.55 | 11 ($14.95 each) $164.45 | 12 ($14.95 each) $179.40 |
New Car | 1 $11.95 | 1 $11.95 | 1 $11.95 | 1 $11.95 |
Bulk Discount | 15% (-$13.01) | 15% (-$21.98) | 15% (-$26.46) | 15% (-$28.70) |
Race participation credit | $4 credit | $4 credit | $7 credit | $7 credit |
Total Cost | $108.70 | $159.53 | $181.94 | $194.64 |
These calculations are based on a full-priced iRacing membership, with the assumption that you don’t own any of the in-game content required for each series. Although chances are, as you progress through the license, you will find some of the higher series are racing at tracks you have already purchased. This will lower the cost from the above slightly.
When you first start iRacing, you’ll be in the Rookie license class across all disciplines. To be promoted out of rookie, you’ll need to complete 4 races and have a safety rating over 3.00.
The good news is that everything you need to race in each of the rookie series is included with your membership. You won’t need to spend an extra penny above your monthly subscription to race in the rookie series.
You don’t even need to spend a whole season waiting for a promotion like you would in the other classes. Instead, as soon as you complete 4 races and have a 3.0 safety rating, you’ll be instantly promoted. Because of this, you don’t need to spend much to get promoted into a D class license.
Below is the cost breakdown of getting out of rookie class.
Total cost to be promoted from rookie = $13
When you get to D class, a lot more events will open up to you. These events include a wide variety of racing formats and cars to choose from. Some of these series include cars that you already own from your membership. While others require you to buy new cars.
To race a full season in D class at the minimum extra cost to you, we need to find the series that features the most included content. This will reduce how much we’re buying to complete this season.
There are two series that fit the criteria here. The USF 2000 Championship features a 175bhp open-wheeled car. This is the perfect choice for those looking to move towards IndyCar or Formula 3. While the car does need to be purchased, the series features 6 free tracks.
The second series that is an option is the Production Car Challenge. This series features a car that is included in the membership, the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup. It also features 4 free tracks.
Out of both of these options, the USF 2000 features the most amount of free content, so I’ll use that for the calculation below. It also races on the same track in two layouts, saving us an additional track purchase.
Total cost to be promoted from D class = $108.70
The above calculation includes racing at every race in the series. However, there may be some races you wish to skip. As long as you meet the minimum number of races for a promotion, you don’t need to race at every event throughout the season.
For the C class license, I’ve chosen an extremely fun series to race in. I’ve picked the Kamel GT Championship which uses two very different IMSA cars in 40-minute multi-class races.
This series includes 3 tracks that are included in your iRacing subscription. And the other tracks once again are widely used across a range of series.
Total cost to be promoted from D class = $159.53
By the time you get to B class you should already own a good selection of tracks. This will limit the number you need to buy to run a full series.
Most of the racing series at B class will require you to purchase most of the content to run a complete series. Not many feature free tracks at this level. However, you’ll find a few series offer 1 free track, normally Laguna Seca.
By this stage, choosing which series to race in really comes down to personal preference, and the content you’ve already owned. There are 5 series that include a free track. This means you’ll have to purchase 1 car and 11 other tracks to race a full season.
Those series are the LMP2 Prototype Challenge, IMSA iRacing Series, GT3 Fanatec Challenge, GT Sprint VRS Series and the Formula 3.5 Championship.
All series run on very similar tracks. Choosing your racing series at this point is up to you. I have chosen the GT3 Fanatec Challenge to race GT3 cars.
Total cost to be promoted from D class = $181.94
When you reach the pinnacle of iRacing which is A class (other than proceeding to Pro), you should own a lot of the content required for a full series.
None of the series in A class feature any free content that was included with your subscription. Instead, every piece of content required in A class needs to be purchased.
At A class in the road discipline, you’ll be racing either GTE, LMP2, LMP1 or Formula 1 cars. You may have previously purchased any of these for series in lower licenses. If so that could save you a little money.
The choice of series here is completely up to you, based on your preference. I opted for the European Sprint Series to further delve through the GT style of racing.
Total cost to be promoted from D class = $194.64
You may spend a lot of your time in iRacing running in the same series across multiple seasons. If that is the case, it’s a good idea to know how much running a full series will cost you.
Below are a few of the most popular series in iRacing, along with the total cost for running in each one. For these cost breakdowns, I’m going to assume that you are paying full price for your monthly subscription. And that you currently don’t own any tracks.
As you start to participate in more series and purchase more tracks, you will find crossovers. These are where tracks appear in multiple series. Meaning you won’t always need to purchase every track for every series, as you may already own it.
The Global Mazda Mx-5 Series is one of the most popular racing series in iRacing. It is helped by the fact that it is a Rookie-level series, meaning almost everyone looking for a D license in road racing will need to pass through this or the Formula Vee series. If like me, I participated in both to speed up my ascension out of Rookie.
Because the Global Mazda Mx-5 Series is one of the Rookie series, all content to compete through a whole season is included in your membership. This means you don’t need to purchase any additional content to compete in this MX-5 series.
Total price for a full season = $39
The same is true of the Formula Vee series as it is with the Global Mazda Mx-5 series above. Formula Vee is included in your membership so there are no additional costs to complete a series.
Total price for a full season = $39
The Ferrari GT3 Challenge is a D class series that is available as soon as you progress out of your rookie license. This gives sim racers their first chance to jump straight into a GT3 car. For this reason, the Ferrari GT3 Challenge is one of the most raced series in iRacing.
The problem with the Ferrari GT3 Challenge is that there isn’t much free content included in the series. To race a full 12 week season you will need to purchase 9 new tracks and the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.
This means you’ll need to purchase 10 individual pieces of content. In the cost breakdown for this series, I have assumed that you will be buying all pieces of additional content together to make the most of the bulk discount.
Total price for a full season = $159.53
The European Sprint series is one of the main series for racing GTE cars, the other series being the Endurance series. Being an A class series, you’ll have had to race iRacing for quite a while to reach this series.
With this series you’ll be able to race both GTE and LMP2 cars, giving you a wide range of cars to choose from. This series allows any of the following cars to enter, all costing $11.95 each; Ford GTE, Ferrari 488 GTE, Porsche 911 RSR, BMW M8 GTE, Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTE, Audi R18, Porsche 919 or Dallara P217.
It will normally take at least 9 months to achieve an A class license. That is assuming you haven’t had any automatic promotions and are being promoted every season.
Over this time, you may have already purchased a range of tracks, giving you a headstart to being able to run a complete European Sprint series. However, for this calculation, I’ll show the total cost if you need to purchase everything.
Total price for a full season = $194.65
There are two Formula 3 series in the class C license. Both run on the same tracks. One is the open series which allows custom car setups. The other is a fixed series meaning you’ll have to use a preset setup.
These series are extremely fun to race in if you like open-wheel racing. However, both series only feature one free track. The other 11 tracks all require purchasing.
Most of the tracks are extremely popular and feature across a wide number of series. These include Monza, Silverstone, Watkins Glen, Imola and more. So purchasing them here would also allow a lot of crossover.
Total price for a full season = $184.94
The last series I’ll mention is possibly the most popular GT3 series. The Fanatec Challenge is a B class series that races on some of the most popular tracks in the game.
This series is designed to emulate a similar experience to running a real-world GT3 season, visiting many of the same tracks the official series does.
If you already raced the Ferrari GT3 Challenge series that I mentioned above, you can re-use that car. Or you can purchase any of the other GT3 cars including the recent BMW M4 GT3.
There is also a lot of crossover in tracks, with this series racing on around 50% of the same tracks as the Ferrari GT3 Challenge series. This again would save money if you are racing in both series. There is also 1 free track included in this series currently.
Total price for a full season = $181.94
The base price for iRacing each year is $13 per month, totalling $156 per year. This is the cost of just the subscription, not including any discounts or promotions.
On top of this price, you may need to purchase some in-game content to participate in your chosen race series. These are charged as extra in-game content and are billed at the time of purchase.
The cheapest price you can get a full year of iRacing is for $59.70. This price is only available if you are a new member and purchase a complete 2-year subscription for iRacing on their membership page.
Unlike many racing games, iRacing is a racing sim that almost always requires a racing wheel. You can play iRacing with a controller, however, the difficulty of controlling some of the cars due to their realistic physics doesn’t make a controller an overly viable option.
You’ll need an extremely high amount of control to race iRacing, and a controller doesn’t quite give you enough control and flexibility. For this reason, I would suggest investing in a sim racing wheel and some way of mounting it.
A racing wheel doesn’t have to be an overly expensive investment. Budget racing wheels such as the Logitech G923 and Thrustmaster T248 can be purchased for just $250-$300 / £250-£300.
If you are looking for a more immersive racing wheel, one with a bit more power or that offers more features. You could consider a wheel from Fanatec. Their a German sim racing wheel manufacturer with a wide range of products across a range of budgets.
Their racing wheels and products are more focused on the higher end of the sim racing market. But there are products such as the CSL DD and GT DD Pro that are built with budget in mind.
Almost any racing wheel can be used with iRacing, with the examples above being great options for budget-conscious sim racers. You will also need somewhere to mount your racing wheel. You can pick up dedicated wheel stands or sim rigs, but a sturdy desk or table will certainly do the job.
If you are uncertain which racing wheel is best for you, check out our Best Budget Racing Wheel Guide.
You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.
Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
View all articles written by Rich
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