Lauren Mobertz is a New York-based freelance writer and editor who specializes in startups, labor, and digital nomadism. When she’s not writing about the career moves of gutsy millennials, Lauren is usually running in strange places or trying to dance Brazilian zouk. You can find more of her work on Medium.
Web and software developers are among the most sought after on the job market today, so it’s no wonder that learning to program can pay off big. But if you’re looking for a piece of the Raspberry Pi, your cost of entry can be quite steep: intensive programming courses can cost upwards of $15,000!
If you’re serious about learning to program, your luck hasn’t yet run dry. Industry leaders around the world are teaming up to help you join their ranks. Even if you’re on a budget, scholarships, innovative financing options, and affordable online coding bootcamps are waiting to prepare you for your coding destiny.
Below you’ll find a review of the best coding academies for coders on a budget.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
CareerFoundry
Cost: $2999 for 3-6 months (depending on completion time) with a 5-day free preview.
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: Three or six months (student choice) with courses starting every Monday.
Subjects: Web development, UX Design, UI Design, iOS Development
Selling point: Though CareerFoundry’s courses are self-paced, your personal mentor will help keep you on track with daily task reviews and weekly Skype sessions.
Trade-off: CareerFoundry is building its portfolio of international connections, but currently its strongest contacts for recruitment are in the EU.
App Academy
Cost: Free upfront; if you are hired as a developer after the program, 18 percent of your first year’s salary will be due back to the Academy as a placement fee, payable within your first six months on the job. The Academy also requires you to pay a $5,000 initial deposit that will be returned if you show up on time and keep with the course.
Format: In-person
Location: San Francisco, New York
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: 90-100 hours/week for 12 weeks
Subjects: Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone.js, HTML5/CSS3
Selling point: App Academy doesn’t get paid unless you get a job after completing the program, making it highly incentivized to place you. In 2014, 98 percent of App Academy graduates received offers in tech jobs with average starting salaries of $105,000 in San Francisco and $89,000 in New York.
Trade-off: You’ll owe a percentage of your income, which could ultimately cost you more money than a fixed tuition price.
Apprentice.io by thoughtbot
Cost: Free tuition with a $500/week stipend
Format: In-person
Location: Various in US; London, Stockholm
Level: Intermediate to experienced
Duration: 40 hours/week for three months
Subjects: Web and graphic design, web development, iOS development
Selling point: Work on real projects with guidance from your own mentor; high potential to be hired on as a full-time developer at thoughtbot once your apprenticeship ends.
Trade-off: You must have some experience as a developer to be accepted.
Craftsmanship Academy by RoleModel
Cost: Scholarship or $15,000 bond with paid apprenticeship and residency.
Format: In-person
Location: Holly Springs, NC
Level: Beginner
Duration: 48-80 hours/week for 1 year, with holidays
Subjects: Software development
Selling point: Potential to be hired as a junior developer at RoleModel.
Trade-off: Work for minimum wage during later stages of program to pay back your scholarship.
Brainstation
Cost: $6,000 with early bird pricing and full scholarships available.
Format: In-person
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Location: Chicago, Costa Rica, New York, Ottowa, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo
Duration: 11 hours/day for 10 weeks
Subjects: HTML 5, CSS3, Boostrap, JavaScript, JQuery, Git, Ruby on Rails, SQL, Angular JS
Selling point: A “flipped” education model where students work on projects in the classroom and experience course material on their own time.
Trade-off: No built-in job fairs.
Treehouse
Cost: $25 or $49/month with 14-day free trial
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: 45 hours of self-paced learning (7-8 hours/week for 6 months).
Subjects: Ruby on Rails, PHP
Selling point: Treehouse for Groups helps organizations offer professional development courses to their members.
Trade-off: Courses are based heavily on video lectures.
Udacity
Cost: $200/per month with 1 week free trial; scholarships available through third parties.
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to experienced
Duration: 10 hours/week or more for 6-12 months, depending on the program selected.
Subjects: Development, programming, software engineering, data analytics
Selling point: Courses designed to lead to “nanodegrees” respected by industry professionals.
Trade-off: Self-pacing means you could take longer to complete a course and, ultimately, pay more than expected (but in the end you’re likely to pay MUCH less than you would for most in-person bootcamps).
Tealeaf Academy
Cost: $475, $610, or $1,485 per course with a free introductory prep course
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: Self-paced, 15-20 hours per week (20-30 if you’re new to programming) for 4 months, with the option to condense or stretch the duration of your studies depending on your pacing needs.
Subjects: Ruby on Rails
Selling point: Sweet money-back guarantee if you don’t find the courses helpful; kinda like a university offering to refund you a course that led you nowhere.
Trade-off: You’ll need a decent amount of self-discipline to succeed at Tealeaf (hence their money-back guarantee).
General Assembly’s Web Design Circuit
Cost: $1,500 with payment plans available.
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: 8-10 hours/week for 12 weeks
Subjects: HTML, CSS, web design basics, email design, responsive web design principles
Selling point: Meet one-on-one with your class mentor each week.
Trade-off: Curriculum cannot be tailored to individual student needs.
Firehose
Cost: $4,000 or $4,500, depending on your payment plan, with a free two-week intro course.
Format: Online
Location: Remote
Level: Beginner to intermediate
Duration: 15 weeks
Subjects: HTML & CSS, Ruby on Rails
Selling point: One-on-one mentorship and a group project, so you can experience what it’s like to code as part of a team.
Trade-off: One of the costliest online coding bootcamps.
Read Next: The skills gap is widening – but here’s how you can close it
Image credit: Shutterstock
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.