Learning code can be tricky but it’s also a great way to boost your employability.
Thanks to the wonders of online learning, it is not easier than ever for anyone to take up coding through an online course – but with the market flooded with so many course providers, which one is the best?
Here, we are going to be taking a look at Skillcrush review, an online learning platform that offers courses and resources specifically to help others learn about coding.
If you’re thinking of signing up with them, check out our review of their services, features, and prices below first!
About Skillcrush
As we mentioned in our introduction, Skillcrush is an online learning platform with courses specifically designed and tailored to teach about coding.
It was first founded back in 2012 and is based in the United States, although it accepts students from all around the world.
As a company, Skillcrush believes that anyone can learn coding and should have equal access to support and resources.
As a result, Skillcrush has strong commitments to helping more marginalized groups access industries through coding.
On their website, they pledge support to and claim to focus on promoting more women, people of color, members of the LGBT+ community, people with disabilities, and more.
Skillcrush also wants their services to help those who have taken long breaks from the workforce to get back into it and to help those who did not have access to a proper education find the tools they need to boost their employability.
So, Skillcrush is a platform with a lot of morality and humanity behind it. They are all about coding and using it to help fill spaces in the tech workforce and help others land higher paying jobs.
This can be seen in how they offer both free and paid programs to help encourage all kinds of people to learn how to code.
Features
Overall Skillcrush offers 8 total courses, including their free Coding Camp program and their Break Into Tech Program.
At first, this number of courses may seem pretty limited when compared to Skillcrush’s biggest competitors, but it’s not a bad range regarding how Skillcrush specifically focuses on subjects around coding.
So, let’s take a look at each one detail to see what Skillcrush has to offer.
Free Coding Camp
One of Skillcrush’s goals as a company is to make coding more accessible to more and more people, and so they offer a program known as Coding Camp which offers to teach the very basics of coding for no cost at all.
The lessons can be done in the student’s own time, allowing for complete flexibility around other duties or schedules.
There’s no qualifications needed, no credit card details required – just sign up with an e-mail address and Skillcrush will help you take your first step into coding.
The course itself is pretty thorough. Not only does it teach the basic essentials of Javascript, HTML, and CSS, but it also touches on topics such as web design and user experience (UX).
So, it also teaches how to apply coding as well as how to get started.
Overall, it’s a good quality course for one that’s available to anyone for free – and it just goes to prove how Skillcrush takes its values seriously.
Break Into Tech (+ Get Hired)
Skillcrush’s ultimate course is its Break Into Tech course.
This course is made to help people change careers and literally ‘break’ into the tech industry.
As a result, the course helps its students build a portfolio for the career track they desire (with a choice between the Front End Developer Track or the Designer Track) and the choice between 5 bonus skill lessons ranging from how to work as a freelancer to learning to develop WordPress websites.
On top of all this, students also receive unlimited email support, 1 on 1 mentorship and weekly live Q&A sessions with instructors.
Students can also opt to add the additional Get Hired second part of the course, which offers more support for job searching and applying.
Students have access to a weekly coaching session, 1 on 1 mentorship with a Careers Coach, and support and guidance when it’s time to write your resume and sign up to LinkedIn.
Both parts of this course offer a range of useful tools students can use to their advantage to help change careers.
But, the best feature we loved was the full refund offered to those who fail to get hired into a coding career 24 weeks after completing the course.
This means you have nothing to lose – sign and get everything you need to get the job you want, or get a full refund!
Skillcrush’s Skill Courses
Skillcrush also offers five other smaller skill courses which students can take up to learn more about certain areas of coding.
These courses cover subjects such as front end development, visual design, languages such as python, and teaches its students how to use tools such as Adobe, Relp.it, and Atom.
Each course comes with 24 hour email support, weekly Q&A sessions with instructors and classmates, and you can get valuable feedback privately from your instructor.
This kind of support is a rare find with online learning, so students can use these features to help boost their confidence in the subject and also make friends with like minded people in their classroom communities.
This can help combat the kind of isolation and loneliness many people struggle with when it comes to online learning.
Skillcrush also offers a 14 day money back guarantee if you are dissatisfied with the quality of any of your courses – so you can sign up, try it out, and get a refund if you are not impressed!
Pricing
| Course | Price | Low Monthly Payments Through Affirm? |
| Coding Camp | Free | NA |
| Break Into Tech | $1,599 | Yes |
| Break Into Tech + Get Hired | $2,599 | Yes |
| Front End Development | $549 | Yes |
| Front End Development + React JS | $699 | Yes |
| Python For Web Apps & Data | $549 | Yes |
| User Experience (UX) | $549 | Yes |
| Visual Design | $549 | Yes |
The Pros Of Skillcrush
So, we know what Skillcrush’s values are as a company, what courses it has to offer, and the prices they are available at.
Now it’s time to go through the pros of Skillcrush and discuss all the best bits we found when we tried out Skillcrush’s services for ourselves.
Ease Of Use
From the sign up process to accessing our resources, we loved using Skillcrush due to its ease of use.
Skillcrush does not require its students to have any previous experience or qualifications (unlike some universities) so anyone can sign up.
They take a range of payment methods from PayPal to Visa, and also offer lower monthly payment installments through Affirm.
This means that if you can’t pay the lump sum upfront, you can still access the course through smaller monthly payments.
As for layout, the dashboard of your Skillcrush account is super easy to navigate.
Everything you need is laid out before you – your classes, milestones, and even progress bars to see how close you are to finishing certain lessons.
Your resources are clearly labeled on the left hand side bar, with links to access support and your Slack community immediately.
So, we never had any trouble trying to find something on our dashboard. Our lessons, resources, and contacts were all there for us to access at just the click of our mouse.
Great Student Support
A common challenge online students face is isolation and a lack of support.
Courses are designed to be flexible and completed in the students own time – which often means that students do not get access to a tutor, instructor, or anyone to talk face to face about questions they have or issues they are facing.
With Skillcrush, they have provided additional support beyond what their competitors do.
Not only do you get access to an instructor in 1 on 1 meetings and in group meetings, but you also have the opportunity to talk to other students on your course through Slack.
This gives students an abundance of support from fellow students and mentors.
Plus, Skillcrush also offers methods students can use to get in contact with the company for customer support.
Whether it’s through email, phone call, or on social media, Skillcrush’s customer support service is just as great as the support they provide through its learning communities.
Good Quality Courses
Although Skillcrush may lack the wide range of courses other online learning platforms offer, they make up for this in quality.
Each course comes with a syllabus which plainly explains what each student will be learning.
There are numerous lessons which come with resources, projects you can use to build a portfolio, and teaches how the things you learn in each class applies to everyday use in the tech industry.
Each course also offers multiple support avenues students can take for feedback, advice and encouragement.
So while some competitors offer more range in courses but lack the quality to back them up, Skillcrush focuses on giving its students high quality courses to actually provide them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a tech career.
The Cons Of Skillcrush
Unfortunately, nothing is perfect and we have a few issues we would like to address. Take a look and see if they are make or break issues for you and your decision to sign up to Skillcrush.
Cost And Hidden Fees
Although Skillcrush’s main courses are relatively affordable and they do offer a free basics course through Coding Camp, their Break Into Tech course (plus the additional Get Hired bonus) is extremely expensive.
Sure, we can see the value in such a course but these prices are seriously high compared to some of their competitors courses relating to employability and application processes.
Plus, Skillcrush’s prices also hide hidden fees. When you go to enroll for your course, there will be a one-time $49 ‘processing fee’.
This drives up the costs even further and a lot of students wouldn’t even notice until it’s time to pay.
Another ‘hidden fee’ comes with softwares and tools. Skillcrush provides its students with what apps it can and does help students find the best deals and free trials to access certain softwares.
However, you need to be prepared to pay an additional few dollars a month to access softwares such as Adobe and hosting services.
However, Skillcrush does state on its website that it is willing to make discounts for students who are unemployed, a full time student, or is a current or former military service member – so certain people might be able to access lower prices for the course they choose.
However, you will have to discuss this with Skillcrush directly and there’s no blanket discount that they offer.
Limited Number Of Courses
This is honestly a relatively minor complaint as Skillcrush is very clear that it is a learning platform dedicated to coding.
As a result, most of its courses revolve entirely around this concept – limiting the number of courses available overall.
Despite this, we do have to praise how Skillcrush offers a free Coding Camp course to help people find an interest in coding, and the Get Hired additional part of their Break Into Tech course is centered around helping their students find the right job after their education.
Most learning platforms put up a paywall to access even the basics and offer no support to help their students get into the industries they have learnt for, while Skillcrush does go that extra step forward to support its students.
Should You Sign Up To Skillcrush?
If you want to start a tech career, then we would seriously recommend you check out Skillcrush.
Even if you just try their free coding program, it’s definitely worth a go because if you find a new passion for coding and tech development, Skillcrush is the platform which will support and guide you through your growth.
Their courses are great quality even though they can be costly, but they offer so much support and face to face interaction which a lot of Skillcrush’s competitors lack.
This can be a huge motivator for you and allows you to access more support and guidance than you would with another online learning platform.
So, Skillcrush is definitely a platform we would recommend to those looking to get into the tech industry through coding!
