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The Pragmatic Engineer Review

Worth it

Should I use The Pragmatic Engineer?

Observations across the software engineering industry. - blog.pragmaticengineer.com

· 1 month ago

If you are a practicing software engineer or engineering manager, $150/year is a cheap, expensible subscription for some of the best independent deep dives in the industry. Non-engineers and anyone wanting tutorials or free-only content should skip it.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~90 public sources; user-quote snippets were truncated in capture, so no verbatim quotes included.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo evidence in sources
  • Security postureNo security data for a newsletter

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Paid newsletter$150/year ($15/month)

Best for

  • Big-tech and startup engineers
  • Engineering managers
  • Engineers weighing job moves
  • Teams with L&D budgets

Not for

  • Non-engineers wanting general tech news
  • Beginners seeking step-by-step tutorials
  • Anyone unwilling to pay for industry commentary
  • People who only read free content

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Free posts are intros; paywalled-article sharing requests are common among readers.

medium

Pricing has changed before ('reduced price' post); rates move at the author's discretion.

low

Discount window runs roughly once a year; otherwise you pay full $150.

low

No team plan surfaced; teams buy individual seats, sometimes via Learnerbly.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Deep dives into real engineering orgs, like Reddit's mobile team
  • Cheap and expensable; author publishes a reimbursement request template
  • Multi-format: newsletter, podcast, and YouTube
  • Regularly cited and respected in dev and EM communities
  • Timely AI-in-engineering coverage, e.g. how Claude Code is built

Cons

  • Most deep dives sit behind the $150/year paywall
  • Solo author; the whole product depends on one person
  • Discounts appear only once a year

Sources & method

- 9 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x5review x1security x1news x2

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 9

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Deep dives cost less than one conference ticket
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Email delivery, zero setup
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Newsletter plus podcast and YouTube
  • Support quality. No evidence in sources
  • Security posture. No security data for a newsletter
  • $2.8M ARR Estimated revenue 2024 estimate
  • $150/year Paid tier $15/month
  • Yes Free tier Free posts, podcast, YouTube

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Free posts and The Pulse
  • Podcast and YouTube

Paid newsletter

$150/year ($15/month)

  • Full deep dives
  • Full archive access

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Engineers and managers across Reddit and communities consistently cite it as one of the top engineering reads.

Full analysis

Based on ~90 public sources; user-quote snippets were truncated in capture, so no verbatim quotes included.

$150/yr newsletter by Gergely Orosz: credible, deep engineering-industry coverage. Great for engineers; useless for non-tech readers.

Methodology

Based on ~90 public sources; user-quote snippets were truncated in capture, so no verbatim quotes included.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. The Pragmatic Engineer (official site)pragmaticengineer.com
    official
  2. Request to expense The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletterblog.pragmaticengineer.com
    official
  3. The Pragmatic Engineer Revenue 2024: $2.8M Est. ARRgetlatka.com
    news
  4. Building Reddit's iOS and Android appnewsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
    official
  5. Looking for Paywall Article Share (Pragmatic Engineer)reddit.com
    review
  6. How Gergely Orosz Built the #1 Technology Newslettergrowthinreverse.com
    news
  7. That one time in the year deal threadthreads.com
    official
  8. Security pageblog.pragmaticengineer.com
    security
  9. The Pragmatic Engineer on Learnerblylearnerbly.com
    official

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