Treehouse Review [Is Treehouse Worth it in 2023?]

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🚨 ALERT 🚨

As of September 2021, Treehouse has laid off 90% of its staff. The future of Treehouse is unknown.

On January 5th, 2022, they released this statement.

In today’s Treehouse review, you’ll discover its features, learning paths, cost and more.

Is Treehouse worth it this year? Read on to find out.

TLDR: Treehouse Review:

Treehouse is a platform for code newbies.

They offer:

🧭 Courses – videos, workspaces and quizzes.

🛤️ Skill Tracks – combination of courses and workshops.

📜 Techdegree – combination of courses, real-world projects, and code reviews to master specific disciplines.

Our favorites:

😍 Course – React Basics
😍 Skill Track – Java Web Development
🤩 Techdegree – Front End Web Development

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What is Treehouse?

Treehouse is an online learning platform that uses videos, interactive lessons and quizzes to teach various programming languages.

In addition to courses, Treehouse offers career tracks and Techdegrees.

There are three subscription tiers:

1. Basic
2. Courses Plus
3. Techdegree

Let’s take a closer look at what each of these has to offer.

You can also watch my video review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSuv0QaALZM

Who is Treehouse for?

Treehouse is for beginners who have little or no programming experience.

Therefore, courses tend to go a bit slower and reinforce concepts throughout each lesson.

Jumping out of the Treehouse

Around this time last year, we didn’t have a lot of great things to say about Treehouse.

But that was our fault.

We didn’t spend as much time as we should have on the platform.

Instead we relied on reviews from others without vetting the information ourselves.

However, this year is a little different.

Rather than rely on strangers’ opinions on the ol’ Twitter, we thoroughly investigated Treehouse for ourselves.

In fact, we even signed up for a Python Techdegree (review here).

Long story short, we have a new perspective on the platform.

Treehouse Review: First Impressions

The landing page of Treehouse is like most other online coding platforms. You can browse courses, check out a few preview videos, and sign up.

But the first big thing that stood out are the video production values.

For example, Treehouse has a certain way of filming and editing, even using multiple camera angles for the lectures.

The instructors are trained “the Treehouse way” so there is a consistency throughout the courses.

(Instructors have a similar wardrobe and vocal delivery regardless of course. This predictability was reassuring.)

This is in contrast to platforms like Udemy where it’s truly anyone’s guess what’s inside.

Secondly, the other big thing that immediately stood out was the individual video lengths.

By brief I mean, most Treehouse videos are less than 3 minutes – even if a course is a few hours. This makes it quite manageable for new developers to take in the material.

Treehouse Review: COURSES

There are over 300 courses on Treehouse, with new courses added regularly.

Some programming languages include:

• JavaScript
• C#
• Go
• Java

And more.

In addition, they cover specific disciplines like:

• Computer Science
• Machine Learning
• Data Analysis

And beyond.

For example, there are over 100 courses related to JavaScript.

This includes front end developer courses and backend developer courses.

Therefore, you’ll find frontend courses like React and Vue. And backend courses related to Node.

To illustrate, Treehouse React Basics is a 136-minute video course.

There are 4 modules with dozens of videos. And here you’ll learn the fundamentals of React, a JavaScript library.

So in this Treehouse React course, you’ll learn how to:

• create components
• organize your UI code
• manage application state

And work with other features of React.

Then you’ll reinforce concepts with quizzes.

And if you get stuck, there’s a questions tab where you can get help from other students.

Treehouse Review: Skill Tracks

In addition to courses, there are skill tracks.

Skill tracks are a curated combination of courses to help you focus on a specific discipline. Skill tracks are included with a basic membership.

There are over 40 skill tracks which include:

🧭 Beginning C#

☕ Beginning Java

🐘 Intermediate PHP

📚 Full Stack JavaScript

🧮 Data Structures and Algorithms

And that’s just for starters.

For example, let’s peek at the Treehouse Java track Java Web Development.

It contains a combination of 17 courses and workshops. And it takes approximately 34 hours to complete.

It covers everything from HTTP basics to Git, Spark to Java annotations, and debugging existing Java applications to unit testing a Spring operation.

Treehouse Courses and Skill Tracks: Certificates

❌ There are no certificates for Treehouse courses.

Treehouse Pricing: Courses

With a monthly subscription, you’ll get access to:

• 300+ Treehouse courses
• 270+ workshops
• skill tracks
• Treehouse community

For $25 per month.

But if you opt for the yearly subscription, you’ll save 33% and pay only $19.99 per month.

🔥 Geena’s Hot Take

Treehouse is a good platform for code newbies looking to get into the world of programming.

Treehouse video courses are informative. In addition, they take their time explaining concepts, and the interactive exercises help reinforce those concepts.

Courses Plus Subscription

Courses Plus is a little different than a regular Courses subscription.

In addition to courses, you’ll get bonus content.

Also, you can download videos for offline learning.

You can get a Courses Plus subscription for $49 per month.

Treehouse Review: TECHDEGREE

First off, what is a Techdegree?

A Techdegree is kind of like a career track on steroids.

It’s a high-volume, protein-packed combination of courses, projects, quizzes and exams to accelerate you towards mastery of a particular discipline.

Basically, a Techdegree is like a bootcamp.

But it’s only a fraction of the cost.

Instead of paying $5-10-15-20 or even $30 thousand dollars, you can get a similar education for as little as $200-$2000 dollars.

What Techdegrees does Treehouse offer?

There are 5 Treehouse Techdegrees:

1. Front End Web Development
2. Full Stack JavaScript
3. Web Development
4. Data Analysis
5. Python Development

And if you’re not sure where to start, you can take Treehouse’s assessment quiz.

Can I switch Treehouse career tracks?

Yes. On your subscription page, you can select the option to change tracks.

Let’s take a look inside the Front End Techdegree to see what we’re working with.

Treehouse Techdegree: Front End Web Developer

In the Treehouse Front End Web Developer Techdegree, you’ll learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Also, you’ll learn skills to build websites.

In addition, you’ll build 9 real-world projects that are mobile and tablet responsive.

And from there, you’ll build:

• interactive web pages
• an interactive photo gallery
• a video player
• closed captioning

Furthermore, you’ll communicate with other websites using JavaScript.

Finally, you’ll build your very own portfolio to showcase the project you’ve built in the Web Development Techdegree.

At the completion of the Treehouse Techdegree, you’ll take an hour long exam.

Treehouse Review: Techdegree Job Search

When you’re enrolled in the Techdegree, you’ll also be able to access 30 videos to help you find and land a job.

Topics include things like:

• LinkedIn Basics
• Find a Local Tech Meeting
• Drafting a Cover Letter
• Handling Job Rejections

And more.

In addition to videos, there are documents like sample cover letters.

Treehouse Review: Do I get a Treehouse Certificate of Completion?

✅ Yes. Treehouse awards you a certificate for every completed Treehouse Techdegree.

Treehouse Pricing: Techdegree

You can purchase a Treehouse Techdegree for $199 per month. This will give you all the perks of a Courses Plus membership.

Plus you’ll:

• fill your portfolio with 12 real-world projects
• get step-by-step help finding a job in your field
• gain exclusive access to the Treehouse Slack community

And more.

There is a 7-day free Techdegree trial, so it costs nothing to check it out.

Treehouse Review: Techdegree Extras

There are a few other perks included with the Treehouse Techdegree option:

Resume Help

Get your resume ready for employers with this service. Polish it up and start getting callbacks, interviews and job offers as a new developer.

Support Center

If you get stuck, help is here for you via the Treehouse support center. They also offer office hours so you have the opportunity to connect with Treehouse personnel & ask them specific questions about the courses.

Treehouse Review: Conclusion

So is Treehouse worth it? We think so.

Treehouse is a top platform for learning programming. Especially if you’re a code newbie, this platform should be on your radar.

To recap, the three options for learning include:

• Courses – videos, workspaces and quizzes teaching programming concepts.
• Skill Tracks – combination of courses and workshops to teach specific programming skills.
• Techdegree – combination of courses, real-world projects, and code reviews to master specific disciplines.

So however you learn best, Treehouse has something for most programmers.

Up Next: What is Codecademy and is it legit?