Pros & Cons
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- Educational tracks for kids, adults, and teachers
- Built-in text editor and quizzes
- Responsive customer support
- Free demo courses
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- Potentially more expensive for slightly fewer features than the competition
- Lacks community forums
Code Avengers Specs
| Built-in Tools | |
| Free Courses | |
| Free Trial | |
| Quizzes | |
| Starting Price | $29 per month |
| Video Tutorials |
Code Avengers is a flexible service for learning how to code, thanks to built-in tools that make it a breeze to check and correct your lines, test your knowledge, and see your work come to life. On top of that, Code Avengers has online courses, helpful live chat support, and in-person code camps around the world where you and other students gather for one to three days to learn together. The coding service is simple enough for learners of all ages, and its colorful interface and large buttons mean even young kids can follow along. Code Avengers is a compelling starting point if you want to learn to code, although it lacks the rich video features and community tools found in Editors' Choice winners Codecademy and Treehouse, our top picks for free and paid coding platforms.
Price and Courses
A Code Avengers subscription costs $29 per month, $150 for six months, and $240 for a year. Each subscription includes access to more than 100 guided projects, 100 quizzes, 500 lessons, and course certificates. Code Avengers provides course libraries targeting children under 12 (Junior), adults (Pro), and educators. Educator pricing requires a quote. Junior pricing starts at $60 for three months, $84 for six months, and $96 for 12 months.
(Credit: Code Avengers/PCMag)Depending on the plan, that's pricier than Treehouse ($25 per month) and the paid version of Codecademy ($15 per month). Both of those highly rated coding services include community forums, something that Code Avengers lacks.
Code Avengers has a free, 7-day trial, and you needn't supply payment information—a nice touch. During the trial period, you can try up to five lessons per course, and you get unlimited access to brief demo courses.
Teachers can sign up for a free, 30-day trial that includes access to all courses, plus several intro lessons to use with their class. The cost of an annual license depends on the number of students. Custom plans are available if you want to roll out Code Avengers to your entire school. After taking the proper courses and paying the fee, you become certified to teach the computer science curriculum in elementary, middle, or high school.
Code Avengers has eight tracks, including HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Python, as well as broader offerings, such as Computer Science, Design, and Web Dev. Each track consists of multiple course levels made up of digestible lessons. As you progress, you can take quizzes that test what you've learned; completing lessons and quizzes earns you points and badges (more on those in a bit).
(Credit: Code Avengers/PCMag)Dashboard, Features, and Help
It's easy to navigate the site. Once you've registered, you're directed to your profile page, which acts as a dashboard that shows your progress in each course, projects and challenges you've completed, and badges earned. Accessing support is simple; your dashboard includes a prominent link to FAQs and support contact information. Code Avengers has project areas where you can write your own code and build programs.
The first HTML course lasts 15 hours and is spread across 20 lessons. Code Avengers also has a feature called Hour of Code that walks you through one-hour projects, such as creating a video game, building an app, and learning graphic design.
Like Codecademy and Treehouse, Code Avengers' courses provide a mix of challenges and quizzes so you can test your skills. The Intro to Python course starts with simple commands you build upon as you progress. After each lesson, you take a quiz; the 10th lesson recaps all you've learned in the course.
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Code Avengers has a powerful built-in text editor, where you can write your code, check its accuracy, and see it in action. If you get stuck, you can access hints and compare your code against the solution to see if you forgot to close a bracket, for example. Hints and solutions cost points, though, so you should use them judiciously.
(Credit: Code Avengers/PCMag)In the HTML & CSS intro classes, you watch videos that give you a basic overview of each lesson or simply rely on the text instructions. You can switch between video and text mode at any time, which is a helpful feature for improving your understanding. However, CodeAvengers must up its overall video quality if it wants to match the category's leaders, Codecademy and Treehouse. The former's videos explain the various topics in greater detail, while the latter's videos have higher production value and more interactivity.
The first HTML lesson truly starts at the basics. Where other learn-to-code services, including Codecademy and Treehouse, dive right into title and style tags, Code Avengers demonstrates how, in HTML, spaces and line breaks don't show up as they do in a text editor. In fact, it tasks you with typing two sentences without using the line-break tag. This is useful guidance for beginners who may be used to a WYSIWYG interface.
Code Avengers walks you through different mastery levels but mainly focuses on teaching beginners. For example, you won't find advanced courses covering other programming languages or web technologies, such as Java or Ruby. However, Code Avengers previews upcoming courses in beta form, like PHP quizzes in the responsive blog design course, so be on the lookout for future changes.
(Credit: Code Avengers/PCMag)While taking lessons, you can view the whole curriculum, take notes, and access coding tools. The HTML track also has a reference guide to HTML tags. Some lessons are devoted to identifying and fixing mistakes in your code—an excellent tool for coders of all levels.
Unlike Treehouse and Codecademy, Code Avengers lacks course-specific forums. That's a letdown, because they can be terrific resources if you're struggling with learning to code. Code Avengers has a responsive support team that answers tech support queries and programming help requests when you send in a message.
Code Avengers runs the Digital Navigators program, which provides in-person workshops for underprivileged children around the globe. To make this happen, Code Avengers partners with various private and government entities. With Free Code Camp turning away from its nonprofit focus, Code Avengers is still a helpful way to remind students how coding is a part of real life, not just a computer screen.
Molly McLaughlin contributed to this review.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Code Avengers)
Code Avengers
Code Avengers is a well-rounded tool for learning programming at any age, thanks to a wide course selection, helpful customer support, and several free demo classes.