Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CodePen VS CheckIO

Compare CodePen VS CheckIO and see what are their differences

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CodePen logo CodePen

A front end web development playground.

CheckIO logo CheckIO

CheckIO is a web site with a mission: To teach JavaScript and Python coding skills through a game-playing interface. It is designed to teach new skills or improve existing skills through completing challenges.
  • CodePen Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • CheckIO Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-16

CodePen features and specs

  • Real-time Collaboration
    Developers can collaborate with others in real-time, making it easy to work on projects with teammates or seek help from the community.
  • Immediate Visual Feedback
    CodePen allows you to see the results of your code as you write it, which is highly beneficial for learning and debugging.
  • Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
    CodePen provides a comfortable and feature-rich online IDE environment with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and more.
  • Community-Driven
    Users can share their work with the CodePen community, receive feedback, and explore a wide range of projects created by others.
  • Extensive Resources
    CodePen offers a wealth of examples and templates for various web development tasks, making it a useful resource for learning and inspiration.
  • Cross-Device Accessibility
    Being an online platform, CodePen can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, making it convenient for developers on the move.

Possible disadvantages of CodePen

  • Limited Offline Functionality
    Since CodePen is primarily an online tool, it requires an internet connection for most of its features to work, limiting its usefulness in offline environments.
  • Performance Constraints
    Complex or resource-intensive projects may not perform as well on CodePen as they would in a full-fledged local development environment.
  • Subscription Costs
    While many features are free, advanced functionalities and additional storage options require a paid subscription, which may not be ideal for all users.
  • Limited Backend Capabilities
    CodePen is primarily designed for front-end development, so it offers limited support for backend technologies, making it less suitable for full-stack or server-side development.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies and libraries can be cumbersome compared to local development environments which have better tools for this purpose, like npm.
  • Security Concerns
    Sharing projects with the public can expose your code and assets to unauthorized use, posing potential intellectual property and security risks.

CheckIO features and specs

  • Interactive Learning
    CheckIO provides an engaging and interactive way to learn programming concepts through solving coding challenges. This hands-on approach helps reinforce learning effectively.
  • Community Support
    The platform has a strong community where users can share solutions, get feedback, and learn from others' code. This collaborative environment can be very beneficial for learning and improving coding skills.
  • Variety of Challenges
    CheckIO offers a wide range of challenges that cater to different skill levels, allowing users to progress from basic to advanced problems. This variety keeps users engaged and continually learning.
  • Gamification
    The platform includes gamified elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards, which can increase motivation and make the learning process more enjoyable.
  • Python and JavaScript
    CheckIO supports both Python and JavaScript, making it versatile for learners who want to improve their skills in either of these popular programming languages.
  • Educational Missions
    The platform offers educational missions that are designed to teach specific programming concepts or algorithms, providing a focused learning experience.

Possible disadvantages of CheckIO

  • Limited Language Support
    CheckIO currently supports only Python and JavaScript, which may be a limitation for users looking to practice other programming languages.
  • Requires Internet Connection
    The platform is web-based, so a consistent internet connection is required to access challenges and content. This may be a drawback for users with limited or unreliable internet access.
  • Pacing and Difficulty
    Some users may find the difficulty of certain challenges to be either too high or too low, making it harder to find problems that are appropriately challenging for their skill level.
  • Limited Career Development Features
    The site focuses primarily on coding challenges and lacks extensive resources for job placement or career development compared to other platforms like HackerRank or LeetCode.
  • Less Comprehensive Tutorials
    While CheckIO provides educational missions, it may not be as comprehensive in tutorials and explanations compared to other dedicated learning platforms like Codecademy or Coursera.

CodePen videos

What Is Codepen?

More videos:

  • Review - Learn to use CodePen from a co-founder of CodePen
  • Review - Using CodePen For Inspiration & Learning

CheckIO videos

Intro Video. How to get maximum from CheckiO

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodePen and CheckIO)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Online Learning
0 0%
100% 100
Programming
100 100%
0% 0
Online Education
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CodePen and CheckIO

CodePen Reviews

Best Forums for Developers to Join in 2025
Codepen is a social network for developers to show off their work, ask and answer questions, and exchange ideas. It's like a Reddit for coding and design, with a large community of talented web developers.
Source: www.notchup.com
Top 10 Developer Communities You Should Explore
Codepen is a social development environment that allows developers to showcase their work and experiment with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a collaborative space. Codepen’s focus on visual and interactive development makes it an excellent community for front-end developers and designers.
Source: www.qodo.ai
8 Best Replit Alternatives & Competitors in 2022 (Free & Paid) - Software Discover
Codepen is a social development environment for front-end designers and developers. Build and deploy a website, show off your work, build test cases to learn.
Best Online Code Editors For Web Developers
Probably the most popular online code editor. CodePen is fast, easy to use, and allows a web developer to write and share HTML/CSS/JS code online.
Source: techarge.in
Top 25 websites for coding challenge and competition [Updated for 2021]
CodePen is a cool online IDE that allows you to write code in your browser and see the result just as you build it. CodePen challenges is a place for leveling up your skills by building things. Each week, new challenges appear for you to tackle, and the best “Pens” get picked.

CheckIO Reviews

15 Best LeetCode Alternatives 2023
CheckiO is a platform with coding games created for different levels of programmers, from beginners to advanced levels. Using fun and engaging methods, you can use coding games to solve challenges in TypeScript and Python on the platform.
8 Best LeetCode Alternatives and Similar Platforms
CheckIO is available in English and Spanish. The platform was designed by a group of engineers and now has a number of customers all over the globe who may use it to improve their programming speed and abilities by following the instructions on the screen.
4 high-quality HackerRank alternatives (plus 7 honorable mentions)
Checkio is the most whimsical HackerRank alternative on this list. It’s also focused on two languages: Python and TypeScript. On this site you’ll be thrown into a gamer’s paradise that includes robot mollusks and coding your way off an island. But once you accept the coding challenges, you go straight into a serious coding environment.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CodePen seems to be a lot more popular than CheckIO. While we know about 503 links to CodePen, we've tracked only 46 mentions of CheckIO. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CodePen mentions (503)

View more

CheckIO mentions (46)

  • I am stuck!
    Have you heard of CheckIO (https://checkio.org/)? They have a gameified "Mario world" of coding challenges that are smaller and come with more explanation, tests to guide you through edge cases and provide hints. The challenges start from total beginner and progress to more advanced. And best of all, after you solve a problem they show you what other people do. I highly recommend this for you. Also consider... Source: over 1 year ago
  • I feel like I may not be smart enough to get into the cybersecurity space
    Cyber isn't gonna be a light switch, where you can flip it and be good. Don't be too hard on yourself. Start with some hands on stuff like https://tryhackme.com or checkio.org. You could look at certs like Security+ or CySA+ for some direction. It took me years to get into cybersecurity, and I still don't feel like I know anything. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I need some advice to learn Python.
    Much better to get your hands dirty than watching the videos. Try: https://checkio.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Where can i test my knowledge?
    When I was first learning python I like using https://checkio.org/ Checkio provides programming problems in a gamified environment. After you have solved a problem you can see how others have solved the problem. This really accelerated my learning. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Projects for beginners
    Look at checkio.org. Range of problems to solve ('missions') When you do you can see how others solved them too which ids very instructive. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CodePen and CheckIO, you can also consider the following products

JSFiddle - Test your JavaScript, CSS, HTML or CoffeeScript online with JSFiddle code editor.

Codewars - Achieve code mastery through challenge.

CodeSandbox - Online playground for React

CodinGame - CodinGame provides users with a fun and effective way to learn coding that eschews the rigid structure of traditional teaching methods.

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

CodeCombat - Learn programming with a multiplayer live coding strategy game.