<p>University students are reporting feeling overwhelming levels of stress, which poses a risk to their well-being and academic success. To meet growing demands, universities are adopting self-guided (e.g., videos, infographics) and guided (e.g., online workshops) stress management resources to complement existing therapeutic services. However, few studies have directly compared these modalities to evaluate their relative impact. Thus, this randomized controlled trial compared the effectiveness and acceptability of self-guided (i.e., video and infographic) and guided (i.e., live online workshop) modalities of online stress management resources and an inactive control group. University students (<i>N</i> = 258; 83.3% women; <i>M</i>_<i>age</i> = 21.12) received identical stress management psychoeducation and strategies via a self-guided format (video recording or infographic), a guided online workshop, or an inactive control (i.e., no support until the end of the study). All participants completed the same wellness outcome measures at baseline, 2-week post, and 6-week follow-up. Additionally, participants in the active resource groups completed an acceptability measure at post and follow-up. Findings advance the growing literature on self-guided instructional approaches by demonstrating that while all active resource groups improved on wellness outcomes, self-guided approaches may lead to quicker benefits. Moreover, both self-guided and guided resources were rated as highly acceptable, with no significant group differences in participant satisfaction, suggesting that such modalities can be tailored to diverse student preferences without compromising engagement. These insights are particularly valuable for addressing common barriers to mental health support, such as time constraints, by offering scalable and accessible tools.</p>