Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Free Code Camp VS Codecademy

Compare Free Code Camp VS Codecademy and see what are their differences

Free Code Camp logo Free Code Camp

Learn to code by helping nonprofits.

Codecademy logo Codecademy

Learn the technical skills you need for the job you want. As leaders in online education and learning to code, we’ve taught over 45 million people using a tested curriculum and an interactive learning environment.
  • Free Code Camp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-23
  • Codecademy Homepage
    Homepage //
    2024-05-01

Free Code Camp features and specs

  • Comprehensive Curriculum
    Free Code Camp offers a wide range of topics, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and even back-end development, ensuring a well-rounded education.
  • Project-Based Learning
    The platform emphasizes learning by building projects, which helps students gain practical experience and build a portfolio.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community provides support, encouragement, and networking opportunities through forums, chat rooms, and local meetups.
  • Real-World Non-Profit Projects
    Students have the opportunity to work on real projects for non-profit organizations, gaining real-world experience and contributing to meaningful causes.
  • Accessibility
    Completely free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection, making it an excellent resource for individuals who cannot afford paid courses.

Possible disadvantages of Free Code Camp

  • Self-Paced Nature
    The self-paced format requires a high level of self-discipline and motivation, which can be challenging for some learners.
  • Lack of Formal Certification
    While Free Code Camp offers certificates for completing certain sections, these are not as formal or widely recognized as degrees or certificates from accredited institutions.
  • Limited Personal Interaction
    Absence of personalized instruction can make it difficult for learners to get immediate help with specific problems or questions.
  • Basic Coverage of Advanced Topics
    While the curriculum is comprehensive, some advanced topics are only covered at a surface level, which may require learners to seek additional resources.
  • Technical Challenges
    Some users have reported technical issues and bugs on the platform, which can disrupt the learning process.

Codecademy features and specs

  • Interactive Learning
    Codecademy provides interactive coding lessons that allow users to write code directly in the browser and receive instant feedback, which can enhance learning and retention.
  • Wide Range of Courses
    Codecademy offers a variety of courses across several programming languages and topics, including web development, data science, and computer science, catering to a diverse set of learners.
  • Beginner-Friendly
    The platform is designed with beginners in mind, offering step-by-step instructions, guided projects, and comprehensive explanations to help new learners get started with coding.
  • Flexible Learning Paths
    Codecademy provides learning paths and career tracks that guide users through a series of courses to build specific skills or prepare for certain tech roles, offering a structured learning experience.
  • Community Support
    Codecademy has a strong community forum where users can ask questions, share knowledge, and collaborate with other learners, providing additional support and motivation.
  • Certificate of Completion
    Upon finishing courses or career tracks, learners receive a certificate of completion, which can be added to their resumes or LinkedIn profiles to showcase their achievements.

Possible disadvantages of Codecademy

  • Limited Free Content
    While Codecademy does offer some free courses, many advanced and specialized courses are locked behind a Pro subscription, which may be a barrier for some users.
  • Lack of Deep Dives
    Some users may find that Codecademy's courses do not go into great depth on advanced topics, which might require learners to seek additional resources to fully master certain subjects.
  • Dependence on Interactive Environment
    Codecademy's reliance on an in-browser coding environment means that learners may not gain experience setting up and using real-world development tools and environments.
  • Pro Subscription Cost
    The cost of Codecademy Pro can be relatively high for some learners, which may be a drawback considering that there are other platforms offering similar content at different price points.
  • Periodic Updates and Bugs
    As with any online platform, Codecademy occasionally has bugs or requires updates that can impact the user experience or temporarily disrupt learning.
  • Assessment and Quizzes
    Some users have noted that the assessments and quizzes may not be as challenging as they could be, potentially limiting the evaluation of a learner's true understanding.

Analysis of Free Code Camp

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Free Code Camp is considered a good resource for both beginners and more advanced learners looking to enhance their coding skills. Its accessibility and well-structured course offerings make it a popular choice among those who wish to learn programming at their own pace without financial barriers.

Why this product is good

  • Free Code Camp is widely regarded as a valuable resource for learning coding and web development due to its comprehensive and free curriculum, community support, and project-based learning approach. It covers a range of topics including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, data visualization, and more. The platform also emphasizes hands-on projects, which help reinforce learning and provide a portfolio of work for users to showcase to potential employers.

Recommended for

  • Individuals new to programming and web development looking for a structured yet free learning platform.
  • Aspiring developers who prefer learning through hands-on projects and real-world applications.
  • Self-learners who need a comprehensive curriculum that they can follow at their own pace.
  • Professionals in other fields seeking to transition into tech-related roles.

Analysis of Codecademy

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Codecademy is a reputable and effective platform for learning to code. It is particularly well-suited for beginners who appreciate interactive learning and need structured guidance. However, some advanced learners might seek additional resources to deepen their understanding beyond what Codecademy offers.

Why this product is good

  • Codecademy is considered a good platform because it offers interactive learning experiences, a wide range of programming languages, and real-world projects that help learners understand coding concepts better. It provides a hands-on approach and immediate feedback in its exercises, which is beneficial for reinforcing learning. Additionally, the platform caters to different skill levels, from beginners to more advanced programmers, along with a supportive community and resources.

Recommended for

  • Beginners interested in learning how to code
  • Individuals looking for interactive and engaging learning experiences
  • Students wanting a flexible learning schedule
  • Career changers aiming to acquire new technical skills
  • Those who appreciate structured, step-by-step tutorials

Free Code Camp videos

Free Code Camp Review - Is It Worth Your Time?

Codecademy videos

Should You Sign Up For CodeCademy?!

More videos:

  • Review - FreeCodeCamp vs CodeCademy | Which One is Better? Which One Should You Learn With? | Ask a Dev
  • Review - Is Codecademy Good? [REVIEW]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Free Code Camp and Codecademy)
Online Learning
47 47%
53% 53
Education
46 46%
54% 54
Online Courses
48 48%
52% 52
Online Education
45 45%
55% 55

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Free Code Camp and Codecademy

Free Code Camp Reviews

  1. Enriching Your Portfolio

    freeCodeCamp grants certificates to candidates after they finishing a topic/chapter which can enrich your portfolio However, if you are looking/preparing for jobs, leetcode is better


How to Learn Coding in 2024: 18 Great Ways to Do It
Free Code Camp is a web development bootcamp that has helped tens of thousands of their graduates find a job at tech companies.

Codecademy Reviews

10 Pluralsight Alternatives & Competitors (2024) – Our Picks
Codecademy emphasizes programming and helps users understand coding with hands-on practical projects. It is a beginner-friendly platform offering 15 programming languages in more than 20 categories. Codecademy provides free resources like videos, cheat sheets, documents, and PDFs. It offers a skills path if one wants to get job-ready. It has a supportive and active community...
10 Best Treehouse Alternatives in 2024
Comparing all the features, pros, cons, and pricing of these Treehouse alternatives, Codecademy turns out to be ideal for coding learners. This online platform offers courses for beginners, intermediates, and advanced learners. Here is the list of reasons that Codecademy is the best Treehouse alternative:
Top 11 Coursera Alternatives 2024
Community support: Students at Code Academy are part of a tight-knit community where they may interact with instructors, classmates, and subject matter experts alike.
Source: freshlearn.com
14 Best Free and Paid Coursera Alternatives For Creators (2024)
Codecademy promotes themselves as a place for beginner coders to learn the basics of programming for free but they do offer a Pro version of the platform that students need to pay for. The platform also offers a Codecademy Creator Program that pays instructors for their work.
How to Learn Coding in 2024: 18 Great Ways to Do It
With its students including the mayor of NYC, Michael Bloomberg, Codecademy made a name for itself with its Code Year that drew in a large portion of its one million users.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Free Code Camp should be more popular than Codecademy. It has been mentiond 577 times since March 2021. 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.

Free Code Camp mentions (577)

  • The Best 100 Free UI/UX Resources for Every Designer & Developer
    FreeCodeCamp Freecodecamp.org Free coding tutorials, including responsive design and JavaScript. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to start learning web development for free
    Freecodecamp provides 10+ free web development courses in JavaScript, Python, front-end, and back-end that are more than enough to kickstart any developer's career.  You learn through interactive coding exercises and articles, and can participate in forum discussions when you get stuck or need help. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Would doing a coding bootcamp be a horrible idea?
    Don't do bootcamp. Start with something like https://freecodecamp.org and take a few lessons. Try to build something from that and see how motivated you are. If you see some progress and this thing still excites you, then may be find an engineer (a friend/co worker etc) who can guide you a bit as you continue to build something. Start small and stay away from bootcamps (my 2 cents). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How did you first get into being a digital nomad?
    Self-learning after hours to code: freecodecamp.org. Source: over 1 year ago
  • 6 Key Tips for Beginners Learning JavaScript
    An effective way to improve your JavaScript skills is working through coding challenges and exercises. Sites like ReviewNPrep, FreeCodeCamp, and HackerRank have tons of challenges that allow you to practice JavaScript concepts by building mini-projects and solving problems. These hands-on challenges force you to apply what you learn. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Codecademy mentions (113)

  • Career Transition at 31: How I Became a Front-End Developer
    However, a little research was enough to dispel that misconception. Yes, there was a technical aspect to programming, but most developers weren't doing complex calculations all the time. So, my preconceptions faded away and turned into great curiosity and interest. I started studying JavaScript, HTML, and CSS on YouTube and also studied on Codecademy platform. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • How to start learning web development for free
    Codecademy is a freemium platform with high-quality content.  Their courses range from web development to data science, and are interactive and text-based. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Scratch is Addictive: How to get rid of your Scratch addiction
    If you really have decided to become the next Guru on Scratch then you should learn at least one real programming language like JavaScript. I found this JavaScript course very useful: https://learnjavascript.online/. You can also learn Java and Python on codecademy.com. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Recommend a website to learn a programming language
    Codecademy.com makes use of a similar approach to the one you mentioned in order to teach JavaScript (and HTML and CSS), giving immediate feedback for the code you write on your browser (except that it uses the browser, as mentioned, instead of an IDE). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I want to learn how to program
    Codecademy offers interactive coding courses for various programming languages, including Python and JavaScript. It provides a hands-on learning experience and offers a free trial to get started. codecademy.com. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Free Code Camp and Codecademy, you can also consider the following products

The Odin Project - How it works. This is the website we wish we had when we were learning on our own. We scour the internet looking for only the best resources to supplement your learning and present them in a logical order.

Udemy - Online Courses - Learn Anything, On Your Schedule

Treehouse - Treehouse is an award-winning online platform that teaches people how to code.

Coursera - Build skills with courses, certificates, and degrees online from world-class universities and companies

edX - Best Courses. Top Institutions. Learn anytime, anywhere.

Khan Academy - Khan Academy offers online tools to help students learn about a variety of important school subjects. Tools include videos, practice exercises, and materials for instructors. Read more about Khan Academy.