A review of The Odin Project as a web dev bootcamp

Hi, I’m Brian, a former senior software engineer and now industry mentor at Pathrise. I have worked with hundreds of software engineers to help them land their dream jobs in tech. Check out my review of The Odin Project.

What does The Odin Project do?
Who is The Odin Project for?
What does The Odin Project cost?
Ratings and reviews of The Odin Project
Alternatives to The Odin Project
How does The Odin Project compare to Pathrise?

What does The Odin Project do?

Sponsored by Thinkful, The Odin Project is a free online bootcamp that helps people learn the necessary skills to become a web developer from scratch. Their free curriculum is supported by the bootcamp’s open source community. They have tracks in full-stack (JavaScript or Ruby on Rails) and front end (JavaScript, HTML, and CSS).

The self-paced curriculum makes use of online tutorials, blogs, videos, and other learning resources. Students learn and build dozens of portfolio-worthy projects, including basic scripts, full programs, games, and websites. By learning through modules, students focus on mastering 1 skill at a time. There are no instructors for The Odin Project. But, they have a community of beginner and experienced software engineers to whom students can reach out if they need support. The curriculum takes about 1000 hours to complete.

In addition to lessons on Git, databases, NodeJS, and more, the program offers job-seeking resources. Using videos, blogs, and readings, students learn how to build their resumes and portfolios, prepare for behavioral and technical interviews, and more. However, they do not receive 1-on-1 guidance or feedback from career coaches.

Who is The Odin Project for?

Beginners who are looking to develop the necessary skills to land a job as a web developer could benefit from The Odin Project.

What does The Odin Project cost? How much work is involved?

The Odin Project is free. Students can access the content without making an account. But, they should sign up in order to keep track of their progress and access the community of peers.

Ratings and reviews

As a free bootcamp, The Odin Project has been well received by beginners who are self-motivated. Similarly, people looking to land a job as a web developer or junior software engineer have enjoyed the program.

Users on SwitchUp said that the curriculum covered everything that students needed to learn to land a job in web dev or entry level software engineering, with one student noting that “Odin tries to find and organize the best free resources around the net into an easy-to-follow curriculum [that is] more complete, up-to-date, and consistently high-quality.” The reviewer also pointed out that “the community in their chat rooms are helpful and consistently friendly.”

On describing the course materials, one Reddit user said that The Odin Project “does a great job of putting topics into layman’s terms and exhibits how the topic is used in the real world”. Another reviewer on Reddit said the program “prepared me very well”. They reported that “I did well at my first interviews, and managed to do well at my job.”

Alternatives to The Odin Project

There are a fair number of alternative educational tools and bootcamps if you decide not to use The Odin Project.

Like The Odin Project, freeCodeCamp helps people learn to code for free by offering certifications in responsive web design, JavaScript, algorithms and data structures, front-end libraries, and more.
You can check out Udacity and Springboard. These online educational platforms let students brush up on the basics or advance their current tech skills. Read more about Udacity and Springboard in our reviews.
edX is one of the largest online learning platforms. They have courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
Codecademy is one of the most popular coding programs online. They provide free courses on many different programming languages. They also offer membership options ranging from $20 to $40. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
Those who are interested in using online education tools to advance their current tech skills can also check out Udemy and Pluralsight.
One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly. They offer full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics like software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, product management, and more. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
Those looking for additional in-person or online software engineering bootcamp options can also check out App Academy, Nucamp, Hack Reactor, Codesmith, Actualize, The Tech Academy, T u ring, Launch Academy, and Flatiron School.

More alternatives

Students can also consider Kenzie Academy. This full-time tech bootcamp offers in-person and online courses in 2 tracks: software engineering & UX design and front-end engineering. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
Similarly, Lambda School, Codeworks, Eleven Fifty Academy, and BrainStation offer programs in software engineering and other topics.
Another option is Grand Circus, which teaches courses on Java, front-end, and C# .NET. Their campuses are in Michigan, but they also offer online options.
Austin Coding Academy and DevPoint Labs have full-time and part-time web dev courses available onsite and online.
Or, consider Kal Academy, which works with women and underrepresented groups on software engineering, web dev, and data.
People who are looking to prepare for a bootcamp can enroll in First Step Coding, a software engineering prep course.
SoloLearn, freeCodeCamp, egghead, GoRails, Coder Foundry, and W3Schools are online learning tools with tracks in Ruby on Rails, as well as other languages.
You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
Merit America is a nonprofit that teaches tech sales and software engineering to people without college degrees.
Aspiring software engineers and web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, a self-paced coding bootcamp with mentorship opportunities. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
Similarly, Nashville Software School, Clarusway, and Codeup have courses in full stack web dev and data science.

How does The Odin Project compare to Pathrise?

The Odin Project is a free online bootcamp with courses for people who are looking to learn the necessary skills to land a job as a web developer or junior software engineer. While they provide job-seeking guidance on resumes, portfolios, and technical interview prep, The Odin Project does not offer feedback or 1-on-1 support.

Pathrise is a full service organization that helps fellows with every component of the job search. Our mentors have years of experience on both sides of the hiring table. Fellows receive 1-on-1 guidance every step of the way and participate in workshops and personalized sessions that focus on technical and behavioral interviewing, as well as resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, negotiation, and more.

Our program is flexible. There are only 2-4 hours of sessions. Fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions when they need help.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps people land their dream job in tech through 1-on-1 mentorship. If you are interested in optimizing your job search, join Pathrise.