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🚨 SPECIAL ALERT! 🚨
Treehouse just fired 90% of their staff.
Because the future of Treehouse is uncertain, we can no longer recommend Treehouse to aspiring developers.
If you’re looking for a good alternative to Treehouse that isn’t Codecademy, check out Zero to Mastery by Andrei Neagoie. Most of these video courses are beginner-friendly. There’s also some stuff for FAANG-level developers, too.
Treehouse vs Codecademy Pro
Treehouse and Codecademy Pro are two well-known coding platforms.
But which one reigns superior?
Today we’ll look at their similarities and differences. And you are going to decide which is better. 😮
Spoiler alert: Depending on your learning style, there can only be one winner.
TLDR: Treehouse vs Codecademy
👨🏫 Treehouse and Codecademy are both reputable coding platforms.
🍰 But which one takes the cake?
🏫 Both offer beginner and intermediate courses and skill paths.
🌳 Treehouse is primarily video-based with minimal interactive lessons. Most courses are geared towards beginners.
Also, Treehouse has a Techdegree program.
🔢 On the other hand, Codecademy Pro teaches with interactive lessons and minimal videos. Courses are a good fit for beginner and intermediate students.
Codecademy Pro also has career paths.
✅ Other than that, they are similar in terms of community, support and cost.
📝 But if you prefer interactive lessons, we think Codecademy Pro is the clear winner. 👀
📰 Read on to learn more.
| Treehouse | Codecademy Pro | |
| Text-Based | ❌ | ✅ |
| Video-Based | ✅ | ❌ |
| Skill Paths | ✅ | ✅ |
| Career Paths | ❌ | ✅ |
| Techdegree | ✅ | ❌ |
| Integrated Code Editor | ✅ | ✅ |
| Certificate of Completion | ✅ (for Techdegrees only) | ✅ |
| Courses | 300+ | 75+ |
| Cost | $19.99–$299 (See below) | $240/year to access all curriculum |
🔥 Geena’s Hot Take
Treehouse vs Codecademy…
🎖️ When it comes to courses for absolute beginners, Treehouse definitely wins the prize.
🛣️ But for skill paths, Codecademy has a lot more, and they’re much more specific than Treehouse’s.
👨🏫However, the Treehouse Techdegree is nothing to shake a stick at. The Techdegree is meant to give you a full education to prepare you for an entry-level career in web development.
🥊 Personally, I’d go for the one-two punch and start with Treehouse, strengthen my intermediate skills with Codecademy, then go back to Treehouse for that Techdegree.
Codecademy vs Treehouse: Treehouse
I accidentally signed up for a monthly subscription to the full stack JavaScript Techdegree. I have to say the Team Treehouse curriculum is excellent! …
Todd, Web Developer
Treehouse is geared towards absolute beginners.
This online coding platform is video-based with over 300 courses.
This means that the majority of lessons in the course are in video format.
However, there are some interactive exercises and quizzes.
With 1 or 2 hours of video per course, they appear to be short. However, you’ll spend tens of hours more working off-platform.
Treehouse offers 3 types of learning:
- courses
- tracks
- Techdegrees.
We’ll get more into the differences below.
Finally, Treehouse has a 7-day free trial. So it costs nothing try out their courses, tracks or Techdegrees.
Treehouse Courses
Treehouse offers over 300 courses. They’re primarily geared towards beginners.
Courses contain ample videos and minimal interactive challenges and quizzes.
Let’s take a look at the Python Basics Treehouse course and see what’s inside.
With 234 minutes of video in this Python beginners course, you’ll learn:
- fundamental programming concepts
- loops
- conditional branching
- exception handling
- input and output
And much more.
The course is broken down into 4 sections:
- Meet Python – running scripts, syntax
- Types and Branching – numbers, strings, booleans
- Functions and Looping – and exceptions
- All Together Now – final project: building a ticket purchasing app
Each section contains a series of videos, exercises and quizzes.
So by the end of Python Basics, you should have a strong understanding of Python fundamentals.
From there you can move onto more of Treehouse’s Python courses, skill tracks, or Python Development Techdegree.
Treehouse Skill Tracks
Treehouse has over 40 skill tracks.
Skill tracks (or skill paths) are a curated combination of courses to help developers learn a specific programming language or discipline.
So instead of a few hours of learning, you’re looking at dozens of hours of video content.
And that doesn’t include the work you’ll be doing on your own.
So you can expect these skill paths to take months to complete.
Examples of some some skill tracks include:
- Beginning Python
- Beginning Data Science
- Learn React
- Object-Oriented PHP
And beyond.
Techdegree
A Treehouse Techdegree is not an actual college degree.
Rather, it’s similar to a bootcamp. But it uses a combination of multiple courses, workshops, quizzes and projects to reinforce concepts and help you master a specific discipline.
And it’s a fraction of the cost of a college degree.
But if you don’t know which Techdegree to take, there’s a quiz to assess which Treehouse Techdegree is right for you.
The 5 Treehouse Techdegrees include:
- Front End Web Development
- Full Stack JavaScript
- PHP Development
- UX Design
- Python Development
Community
Treehouse has a robust community forum where you can chat with other students and get help.
Certificate
There aren’t certificates for courses or skill tracks.
However, Treehouse awards Certificates for all Techdegrees.
💰 Treehouse Cost
Treehouse has a 7-day free trial.
Course subscription: $19.99 per month
Courses plus subscription: $49 per month
Treehouse Techdegree: $199 per month
Treehouse vs Codecademy: Codecademy
I’ve used training platforms before but found Codecademy’s platform perfect for me and how I learn best (learn-by-doing). I’ve already recommended the course to several of my friends.
Codecademy is an interactive learning platform.
This means you’ll be doing all of your work in one web browser. Included are interactive lessons with embedded code editors, mini projects and multiple choice quizzes.
Also, sometimes there are videos to introduce new concepts. Or clarify more difficult ones.
Not sure if Codecademy’s style is right for you?
No worries – they have some free courses.
So if you want to check out Codecademy’s learning style, give those a try.
Codecademy Courses
Codecademy offers over 75 courses. They’re primarily geared towards beginner and intermediate coding students.
Courses are interactive with minimal videos. On Codecademy, videos are usually used to introduce new concepts or clarify difficult ones.
Let’s check out the course Learn Python 3 and see what we’re working with.
Here you’ll start by learning the fundamentals of Python 3 programming.
By using a series of lessons, mini projects, quizzes and videos, you’ll learn:
- syntax
- functions
- control flow
- lists
- loops
- strings
And much more.
The interactive learning environment is unique. For example, you can read the objective, instructions and use the embedded code editor.
This means you can do all of your work in the same browser.
Why is this a good thing? Because it saves you a TON of setup time.
Whereas on a platform like Udemy, you have to set up everything yourself. In other words, you have to download all the packages, tools, and environments. You also have to integrate everything and get it to play nice with your machine . . .
And that’s assuming everything works right the first time (it never does)! Aaaaand it’s assuming you’re downloading the same version of tools as your instructor (that never happens)!
So yeah.
That’s the number one reason why we’re big fans of the “in-browser” coding platforms.
Everything just works.
Moving on…
At the completion of Learn Python 3, you’ll understand the fundamentals of Python. Therefore, you can move onto one of the many beginner or intermediate Python courses on Codecademy Pro.
Likewise, you can take one of their many Python-related skill paths.
And if data science is your thing, you may want to consider the Codecademy Pro Data Scientist career path.
Codecademy Skill Paths
Skill paths contain curated content to help students learn particular skills. But they typically take a few months to complete.
For example, some Codecademy Pro Python skill paths include:
- Build Python Web Apps with Flask
- Visualize Data with Python
- Analyze Financial Data with Python
- Build Chatbots with Python
Skill paths are only available with a Codecademy Pro subscription.
Codecademy Career Paths
Career paths are like skill paths… But bigger. So they’re similar to Treehouse Techdegrees.
But instead of focusing only on skills, you’ll take a path of courses which will guide you towards a specific career.
These career paths typically take about 6 months to a year to complete.
Codecademy Pro offers 6 career paths:
- Front-End Engineer
- Back-End Engineer
- Full-Stack Engineer
- Code Foundations
- Computer Science
- Data Scientist
In addition to interactive exercises, you’ll work on mini projects and several portfolio-ready projects.
Furthermore, just like skill paths, you must have a Codecademy Pro subscription to take career paths.
Community
Codecademy has an active community where you can get help, share your projects and get help to frequently asked questions.
Certificate
Codecademy Pro awards certificates for courses, skill paths and career paths.
💰 Codecademy Cost
Basic subscription: Free
Codecademy Pro subscriptions –
Monthly: $39.99 per month
Yearly: $19.99 per month
🔥 Sign up for Codecademy here. 🔥
Treehouse vs Codecademy: Conclusion
So which is the better platform: Treehouse or Codecademy?
It all depends on how you learn.
If you learn better watching videos and then working on exercises and projects, we think Treehouse may be a good fit.
Courses are primarily video-based with few interactive lessons and quizzes.
However, Codecademy is where you’ll find interactive learning. Also, videos are minimal and you’ll be spending most of your learning time with embedded code editors.
Up Next: Codecademy vs Udacity: A Bare Knuckle Brawl
Which is better Treehouse vs Codecademy?
It all depends on your learning style and level. Treehouse is geared towards absolute beginners while Codecademy is for beginner and intermediate students. If you’re a visual learner, Treehouse courses are video-based with some interactive exercises sprinkled in. But if you learn better by doing, Codecademy has an interactive learning environment with minimal videos. And if you prefer videos and interactive learning, you can take a blend of courses from both platforms.
What’s the cost of a Treehouse Techdegree?
Treehouse Techdegrees cost $199 per month. But Techdegrees take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years to complete. This depends on how quickly you learn and how much time you can dedicate to the Techdegree. You can learn more about Techdegrees and Treehouse in today’s post.
How many courses does Codecademy have?
Codecademy offers over 75 courses. They’re geared primarily towards beginner and intermediate students. In addition to courses, Codecademy offers skill paths and career paths. Skill paths are aimed at strengthening particular programming skills. And career paths are for preparing students for a career in programming. To learn more about what types of courses Codecademy offerns, be sure to check out today’s post.