shouldiuse.io

Report

Should I Use Codecademy?

codecademy.com·Analyzed 1 hour ago·Based on 12 sources

It's never too late to learn a new skill, and Codecademy Pro is free to try! See pricing options for our Basic, Pro, Student, and Teams plans here.

Depends

Depends

Start free if you're an absolute beginner wanting structured, interactive lessons — multiple sources say it works well for that.

Great free start for total beginners; Pro subscription is contested — critics call it shallow, with billing and support complaints.

Confidence: Medium

2.3/5

SmartCustomer rating

40 reviews

169

G2 reviews

listed on G2

Yes

Free tier

Basic plan

50M+

Users

freemium case study

Value for money3

Free tier strong; Pro subscription worth is contested.

Ease of use4

Beginners praise structure and interactive format.

Feature depth4

Broad catalog: web, data, cybersecurity, career paths.

Support quality2

Trustpilot cites customer service and billing complaints.

Security posture3

No breaches found; bug bounty reports patched.

Pros

  • Free Basic tier lets you start without paying²
  • Beginners praise the structured, interactive lesson format
  • Broad catalog spanning web, data, and cybersecurity
  • Some G2 users consistently praise the product
  • Student plan offers discounted Pro access¹

Cons

  • Just 2.3/5 on SmartCustomer from 40 reviews
  • Trustpilot reviewers report billing and support complaints³
  • Reddit critics openly question whether Pro is worth it
  • Review sites publish long alternative lists instead of endorsements12

Gotchas

  • mediumTrustpilot users complain about subscription billing and customer service responsiveness³
  • mediumReddit threads repeatedly ask if Pro is worth it — answers are mixed; try free first
  • mediumCritics say exercises stay shallow; motivated learners outgrow it quickly
  • lowGuess: Teams/enterprise pricing requires a sales conversation, not self-serve checkout

Best for

  • Absolute beginners learning to code
  • Self-paced career-path learners
  • Students (discounted Pro plan)
  • Teams upskilling non-engineers

Not for

  • Experienced devs — Reddit critics find exercises too basic
  • Anyone needing mentorship or job guarantees — it's self-paced
  • Buyers allergic to auto-renewing subscriptions
  • Young kids — purpose-built platforms exist

Pricing

Basic

Free

  • Limited course access
  • Intro lessons only

Pro

Paid subscription; ~$60/mo cited in older user threads

  • Full course catalog
  • Career paths and practice

Student

Discounted Pro

  • Pro features at student rate

Teams

Not disclosed

  • Business upskilling plans

Security

No major breaches found in reviewed sources; Open Bug Bounty lists reported vulnerabilities marked patched.

  • Open Bug Bounty disclosureslisted with at least 5 reported vulnerabilities; reports indicate fixes were applied.

What users say

Beginners often praise the structured interactive lessons, while detractors call Pro overpriced, shallow, and backed by weak support.

I enjoy their structure
Reddit, r/learnprogramming
Not a fan of Codecademy
Reddit, r/learnprogramming

Alternatives

Compare Codecademy with each alternative.

freeCodeCamp

Free, project-heavy curriculum with stronger portfolio outcomes.

Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources (G2, Trustpilot, SmartCustomer, Reddit, official pricing pages). Source snippets were truncated; quotes are verbatim fragments.

Sources

  1. Pricing | Codecademycodecademy.com
    official
  2. official
  3. review
  4. review
  5. review
  6. review
  7. review
  8. security
  9. Is Codecademy Safe? | Nudge Securitysecurity-profiles.nudgesecurity.com
    security
  10. news
  11. news
  12. review

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Ask a follow-up

Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.