Codecademy vs Treehouse: The Complete Guide

Table of Contents

• Curriculum Comparison
• Codecademy Cost vs. Treehouse Cost
• Time Commitment
• Learning Style
• Community + Support
• Codecademy Reviews vs. Treehouse Reviews
• Further Reading

Codecademy and Treehouse are both on-demand coding classes that run on monthly subscriptions and are delivered entirely on an online platform. Both schools offer multiple career tracks which include portfolio projects. If you complete them in full, these tracks can take students from complete beginners to entry-level, job-ready developers. So, which should you choose – Codecademy or Treehouse? Let’s break down how Codecademy and Treehouse compare to each other in terms of curriculum, cost, focus, and learning style.

Codecademy vs Treehouse: What You Need to Know

• Codecademy and Treehouse have different price points but are both delivered entirely online and self-paced.

• Both teach Web Development. Treehouse offers a User Experience Design career Techdegree while Codecademy offers a Data Science career path. 

• Both Codecademy and Treehouse use interactive coding challenges and tutorials along with projects to deliver their curriculum through different online platforms. While Codecademy has automated code evaluation in every lesson, Treehouse offers code analysis from a real person for each project.

• Treehouse offers access to its active Slack Community and weekly office hours with its paid subscription. Codecademy offers a private Facebook group, forums on their site, and 30-minute sessions Code Coaches for an additional cost that students may book on their own.

The Deep Dive: Treehouse vs. Codecademy

Curriculum Comparison

Codecademy Pro and Treehouse Techdegrees are both paid, career-focused paths, which are designed to prepare students for entry-level positions with no prior experience required. Codecademy offers 3 career paths (Web Development, Computer Science, and Data Science) and Treehouse runs 4 Techdegree programs (Web Development, PHP, and User Experience Design). Let’s explore what they teach:

Codecademy

• Web Development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

• Programming & Computer Science: Python

• Data Science: Python & SQL

Treehouse

• Front End Web Development: HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript

• PHP Programming

• User Experience Design

• Full Stack JavaScript

Treehouse offers certificates upon completion of its Techdegree program while Codecademy shows badges for completed courses. Codecademy also offers skill paths including which range from specialized data analysis, video games, front end and back end apps, machine learning, websites, and more.

Our Takeaway: Both schools offer similar Web Development and Computer Science programs but if you’re interested in UX Design, go to Treehouse. And if you’re interested in Data Science, go to Codecademy. If you’re interested in upskilling with shorter courses, try Codecademy.

Codecademy Cost vs. Treehouse Cost

Codecademy and Treehouse operate on monthly subscriptions and both offer free trials. A free 7-day trial is available from both schools. You can pause or cancel your subscription at any time with both of these subscriptions.

Codecademy Pro: $39.99/mo

• Interactive lessons and daily practice

• Unlimited mobile practice on Codecademy Go

• Real-world Codecademy projects

• Step-by-step guidance

• Peer support via private Facebook group and Codecademy forums

• Members-only content

• Codecademy discount for longer commitments: $19.99/month for a 12-month commitment

Codecademy Free vs Pro 

Codecademy also offers free basic courses and limited practice exercises on their mobile app. 

Treehouse Techdegree: $199/mo

• Access to all guided learning paths

• Treehouse Projects

• In-depth code reviews from peers

• Slack community and weekly office hours for live support

• Treehouse Basic costs $25/month and Treehouse Pro costs $39/month

Codecademy projects are not graded unless you pay for a session with a Code Coach. Treehouse projects are uploaded to GitHub by the student and are graded by a real person, included in the monthly subscription cost.

Our Takeaway: Codecademy offers a great value if you’re on a budget, just trying to upskill, or don’t have a specific timeline set for your career change. Treehouse, while more expensive, offers more focused courses with built-in weekly support and is great for someone on a deadline trying to make a career change.

Time Commitment

Both Codecademy and Treehouse are self-paced. You can take the courses anytime, anywhere, and on-demand.

Codecademy offers hourly estimates for all of their career tracks.

• Web Development: ~300 hours

• Programming and Computer Science: ~350 hours

• Data Science: ~350 hours

Treehouse offers estimates of their Techdegress in months. Their Techdegrees are designed to be worked on for ~3 hours per day for the duration of their recommended time for completion. We’ve also translated that into hours for you here for you to compare.

• Web Development: 4 months or ~360 hours

• PHP: 4 months or ~270 hours

• Full Stack JavaScript 5 months or ~450 hours

Our Takeaway: Treehouse and Codecademy estimate similar completion times for their career paths.

Learning Style

One major difference between Codecademy and Treehouse is the way the curriculum is delivered.

Codecademy’s curriculum is delivered via an online platform. The platform splits the browser into three columns: documentation, a code editor, and a virtual browser. Most lessons are text-based. You’ll read through the documentation and do an exercise with each lesson, filling in the blanks in the code editor. The platform will automatically check your code. When you get it right you move on to the next lesson. There are occasional video lessons as well. Codecademy also offers Codecademy Go, their mobile app, to help students practice on the go.

Treehouse delivers its curriculum through video tutorials. After each video, you’ll take a quiz, coding challenge, or assessment.

Both Codecademy and Treehouse include practice projects in their curricula. There are some differences in the practice projects that these schools offer. Codecademy’s projects are downloaded to your terminal and allow you to practice the language your learning in a basic way with some code and a mockup provided. Treehouse’s projects do not offer any code but do offer a detailed mockup. They’re designed to build the student’s portfolio, starting with building a portfolio site.

Our Takeaway: Codecademy is great for verbal learners while Treehouse is better for audio and visual learners. Try the 7 day trial at each school to understand which is better for your learning style!

Community + Support

Community and support are a point of difference between Codecademy and Treehouse. In this category, you get what you pay for.

Codecademy recommends you meet with a Code Coach once per week for code analysis, answers to questions, and general support. Students can book an appointment with a code coach through Codecademy’s website. Code Coaches cost $29.99 per 30-minute session. These sessions can be text only, video call, or voice only. Codecademy Pro also gives students access to private Facebook groups with other Codecademy students and staff.

Treehouse provides students with weekly office hours for live support and a dedicated team of Techdegree specialists. Treehouse students also gain access to their active Slack community with over 50 thousand current students and Treehouse staff to answer questions and give advice 24/7. These community perks are included with the cost of a Treehouse Techdegree.

Our Takeaway: If you schedule an appointment with a Code Coach weekly and add that to the monthly subscription cost, the complete cost of Codecademy rings in at $139.59. 

Codecademy Reviews vs. Treehouse Reviews

You can read more Codecademy and Treehouse reviews on Course Report. After scouring reviews, we’ve found the most helpful reviews from students!

Treehouse student Christopher says, “This is great for anyone on a tight budget or who just wants to get their feet wet. The videos are superb quality and the teachers are very encouraging.”

Bootcampers who used Codecademy

• Tommy Gaessler of Galvanize

• Joe Reed of Thinkful

• Sean Witt of Dev Bootcamp

• Bethany Qiang of Fullstack Academy Remote

Bootcampers who used Treehouse

• Sergio Gomez of Fullstack Academy

• Christina D’Astolfo of Startup Institute

• Joe Reed of Thinkful

• Marisa Akers of Tech Talent South

Further Reading

• Learning to Code Before Coding

• 7 Developer Tips Before Learning To Code