DataCamp Review: Is DataCamp Worth It in 2024? [DataCamp vs Codecademy vs Educative.io]

Is DataCamp worth it this year? Well, that all depends on how far along you are on your data science journey.

DataCamp is a learning platform geared towards people interested in pursuing a career in data science.

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TLDR: Is DataCamp Worth it?

⚡ DataCamp is arguably the premier destination for data courses. ⚡

🧮 They offer over 350 courses related to data science, machine learning, data engineering and deep learning. 🤖

💾 Technologies include Python, SQL, Tableau, Power BI and more. 💻

💥 DataCamp also offers a free tier so you can explore the platform without spending a dime. 💥

DataCamp vs Codecademy vs Educative.io

	DataCamp	Codecademy	Educative.io
Data Science Courses	✅	✅	✅
Data Science Skill Paths	✅	✅	✅
Data Science Career Paths	✅	✅	❌
Projects	✅	✅	✅
Support	✅	✅	✅
Community	✅	✅	✅
Certificate of Completion	✅	✅	✅
Cost	$300/year	$239.88/year	$199/year

🌠 What is DataCamp?

DataCamp is a text and video-based platform that focuses primarily on data science courses. They currently offer over 300 courses to develop your data science skills.

There are also programming courses. However, these are limited and focus on basic programming concepts. So you won’t get a deep foundational programming knowledge from DataCamp.

❤️ Another one for the Pros column: DataCamp offers a free tier, so you can explore the platform without spending a dime. 🪙

📹 Our DataCamp review (video)

Don’t have time to read? Here’s our video version that shows you Datacamp’s features, courses, pros and cons, pricing and more :

https://youtu.be/Xaw7ZKaiOCw

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DataCamp Overview: Structure and Layout

Here’s the student homepage for DataCamp. Based on courses or tracks you choose, this page will be customized to guide you:

Once customized, DataCamp recommends practice problems, other relevant courses to take, and more.

You can also look for courses in the search bar.

On the left of the page is the menu bar with:

• your progress
• courses
• career tracks
• skill tracks
• projects

And beyond.

When you click on courses or skill tracks here, you can browse DataCamp’s offerings by technology:

And from there you’ll get recommendations for courses, skill tracks, career tracks and more.

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DataCamp Review: Courses

DataCamp courses are organized into 12 technologies:

R	Python	SQL
Git	Shell	Spreadsheets
Theory	Scala	Tableau
Excel	Power BI

And from there you can choose what specific course you’d like to take.

Let’s use Python as an example.

DataCamp has over 130 Python-related courses(!):

They’ve got everything from introductory Python courses to more complex topics like parallel programming with Dask.

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Now lets see what’s inside one of these courses: Introduction to Python.

🩺 Stats:
⏰ Estimated completion time: 4 hours
📹 Videos: 11
🏃‍♀️ Exercises: 57

The Introduction to Python course landing page shows you what to expect in the course.

And then you’ll see the subject of each chapter and what will be covered.

Let’s crack open Chapter 3: Functions and Packages:

This chapter contains 11 lessons using videos, instructions and coding exercises to cover:

• functions
• string methods
• packages
• different ways of importing

And more.

Typically a concept will be introduced in a video:

And from there, you’ll apply what you’ve learned by working on a series of exercises and quizzes:

Note the embedded code editor. You can do all your work on one page instead of toggling to a code editor in another tab.

And once you complete the course, you can download a Statement of Accomplishment. 🎖️

DataCamp Review: Skill Tracks

If you want to focus more on a particular topic, a skill track may be a better option than taking individual courses.

What is a skill track?

Skill tracks are a curated list of courses, lessons, quizzes, and projects. They’re designed to help you learn real-world skills.

⏲️ DataCamp skill tracks typically take about 2-3 months to complete. ⏲️

You can choose from 51 skills tracks covering:

• Python Fundamentals
• Data Manipulation
• Applied Finance
• Deep Learning for NLP
• SQL for Business Analysts

And much more:

Let’s stick with the theme of Python and look a little closer at the Python Fundamentals skill track.

🩺 Stats:
📚 Courses: 4
⏲️ Estimated completion time: 15 hours

This skill track is a collection of 4 Python-related courses:

• Introduction to Python
• Intermediate Python
• Python Data Science Toolbox (Part 1 and 2)

At the end of each course, you can take quizzes to test your concept knowledge.

In addition, you’ll be able to take a Skill Assessment. It will have you solve a series of 15 timed challenges:

And then you’ll get personalized recommendations of how to grow and improve your skills.

And from there you can get that Statement of Accomplishment, of course. 🤓

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DataCamp Review: Career Tracks

If you know you want a career in data science, a DataCamp career track is the way to go.

First off, what’s a career track?

Like skill tracks, career tracks contain courses, lessons, quizzes and projects.

But career tracks are designed to give developers a foundational knowledge of concepts in a specific career discipline.

However, it’s a heavier workload that takes months longer to complete.

⏲️ DataCamp career tracks aren’t for the faint of heart. Are you up to the challenge? ⏲️

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DataCamp has 14 career tracks such as:

• Data Scientist with R
• Data Analyst with SQL Server
• Statistician with R

And more:

🐍 Let’s check out a Python career track: Python Programmer. 🐍

🩺 Stats:
📚 Courses: 16
⏲️ Estimated completion time: 62 hours

Just like the skill tracks, you’ll complete a series of courses.

16 in this case. 👀

It starts with Introduction to Data Science in Python and works its way up to Object-Oriented Programming in Python:

After each course you’ll take a quiz.

And once you finish the career track, you’ll get that coveted Statement of Accomplishment. 🏆

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DataCamp Review: New Courses

DataCamp has over 350 courses that are a blend of text and video learning. Plus, new courses are added regularly.

In addition, DataCamp has a Trello board. It’s an online sticky board where you can keep up to date with their upcoming courses and progress:

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Is there a DataCamp certificate?

Yes.

You can download a Statement of Accomplishment for every completed course:

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💰 Cost

There are 3 subscription tiers on DataCamp:

	Free	Standard – $25 per month	Premium – $33.25 per month 🤩 Best Deal!
Course Access	1st chapter	✅	✅
Skill Assessments	1	✅	✅
Projects	7	✅	✅
Skill Tracks	❌	✅	✅
Career Tracks	❌	✅	✅
Mobile App Courses	❌	✅	✅
Community	❌	✅	✅
Tableau, Power Bi & Oracle	❌	❌	✅
Priority Support	❌	❌	✅

So, is DataCamp worth it?

If you already have a strong foundational knowledge of programming languages, DataCamp is worth it.

However, if you have little to no coding experience, we recommend you explore the fundamentals elsewhere, like Codecademy or Educative.io.

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🌠 What is Codecademy?

Codecademy is an interactive platform that offers coding courses in 14 different programming languages. This includes some of the most in demand for data science:

🔹Python 🔹R 🔹C 🔹C++ 🔹Java

And more.

In addition, they offer data science skill paths and career paths.

❤️ Save yourself some money! Codecademy Pro also features a 7-day free trial.

To get a better idea of the layout, let’s take a closer look at their course Learn Python 3.

Course: Learn Python 3

⚠️ Level: Beginner

The Codecademy Pro course Learn Python 3 is broken down into 11 modules:

Syntax	Functions	Control Flow
Lists	Loops	Strings
Modules	Dictionaries	Files
Classes	Function Arguments

Each module contains lessons, quizzes and projects.

And for more complex concepts, you’ll also find videos, articles and other relevant resources:

Plus you can interact with the community for further support.

Lessons

Lessons give you a brief concept explanation. And from there, you’ll follow a set of instructions to practice in the embedded code editor:

Finally, there’s a concept review section to go over what you’ve just learned. This is helpful with retaining information.

Bonus: if you still need some help, you can hop on over to their community forums.

Quizzes

Codecademy Pro has multiple choice quizzes in every module. These are helpful in confirming your understanding of what you’ve just learned:

Projects

Codecademy Pro is unique because they offer multiple projects per module:

Most other platforms offer one or two projects per course. So this gives you plenty of practice.

Code Editor

The built-in code editor in Codecademy Pro is convenient, though its features are limited. However, you’ll be able to run your code just like you would in a regular old Python interpreter:

💰 Cost

Codecademy has 3 subscription tiers:

	Free	Monthly – $39.99	Yearly – $239.88 🤩 Best Deal!
Access to courses	✅	✅	✅
Skill Paths	❌	✅	✅
Career Paths	❌	✅	✅
Real-world Projects	❌	✅	✅
Step-by-step Guidance	❌	✅	✅
Peer Support	❌	✅	✅
Members-only Support	❌	✅	✅

👉 Sign up for your 7-day free trial of Codecademy Pro.

So, is Codecademy worth it?

Codecademy is worth it for programmers interested in pursuing a data science career. It provides programming fundamentals alongside data science skill paths and career paths.

The benefit of Codecademy is the extensive programming language offerings. So this platform would be best paired with DataCamp for a more complete data science education.

Want to learn more about Codecademy? Check out our full review.

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🌠 What is Educative?

Educative.io is a text-based learning platform with media-rich courses. They feature diagrams, code snippets, illustrations and more.

And while there’s an emphasis on programming languages, there are ample data science-related courses.

❤️ Oh yes, it’s true. Educative.io also has that sweet 7-day free trial.

Let’s take a look at one of their introductory courses, Full Speed Python.

Course: Full Speed Python

⚠️ Level: Beginner

Full Speed Python contains 9 modules:

• Basic Data Types
• Lists
• Modules and Functions
• Iteration & Loops
• Dictionaries
• Classes
• Iterators
• Generators
• Asynchronous Programming

And each module contains:

✅ Lessons

✅ Code Snippets

✅ Playgrounds

✅ Quizzes

✅ Challenges

And more.

Lessons

Each lesson provides written explanations and instructions. And sometimes code snippets.

From there you’ll practice the coding concept in the embedded interactive playground:

There are also plenty of illustrations to help aid in concept explanations:

Quizzes

Yes, Educative.io has them!

Challenges

The challenges on Educative.io are somewhat complex, but well explained:

💰 Cost

There are 3 subscription tiers for Educative.io:

	Free	Monthly – $59.99	Yearly – $199 🤩 Best Deal!
Access to 20+ free courses	✅	✅	✅
Unlimited access to 320+ courses	❌	✅	✅
Unlimited access to 32+ learning tracks	❌	✅	✅

Whereas there aren’t as many bells and whistles attached to an Educative.io subscription… The courses are jam-packed with information from quality instructors.

So whether you just want to take a few data science courses or delve deep into programming languages, Educative.io is an excellent choice.

So, is Educative.io worth it?

Similar to Codecademy, Educative.io focuses heavily on programming languages. But it does have a few data science courses sprinkled throughout the platform.

So it’s great for bulking up your foundational knowledge of programming languages. And for getting your feet wet in the realm of data science.

📚 Want to learn more about Educative.io? Check out our full review.

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Is DataCamp Worth It? Conclusion

Is DataCamp worth it? Well, as we noted, there are benefits to DataCamp vs Codecademy vs Educative.io:

DataCamp is ideal for those already equipped with a coding background. It contains courses teaching minimal programming fundamentals, but it does focus heavily on data science.

Codecademy is a solid intermediate platform. They offer plenty of programming language courses from beginner to advanced. They also have data science-related skill paths and career paths.

Educative.io is the best platform for absolute beginners. With Educative.io, you can build a solid foundation of programming fundamentals. And from there, you can dabble in some data science courses and decide if data science is right for you.

So is DataCamp worth it? Well to ensure you have access to a mashup of programming language courses and data science courses, we recommend combining either Codecademy and DataCamp, or Educative.io and DataCamp.

Data scientists are also reading:

• The Complete Python Developer: Zero to Mastery by Andrei Neagoie [review]
• Introduction to Tableau [DataCamp Tableau Course]
• 4 Best Data Science Courses [Educative, DataCamp, Zero to Mastery, Codecademy]
• DataCamp Introduction to R Programming [R Basics Course Review]
• 15 Best SQL Books in 2022 [Learn SQL for Beginners and Beyond]