Hi, I’m Brian, a former senior software engineer and now industry mentor at Pathrise. I have worked with hundreds of web developers and software engineers to help them land their dream jobs in tech. Check out my review of CodingNomads.
- What does CodingNomads do?
- Who is CodingNomads for?
- What does CodingNomads cost? How much work is involved?
- Ratings and reviews
- Alternatives to CodingNomads
- How does CodingNomads compare to Pathrise?
What does CodingNomads do?
CodingNomads is a flexible online bootcamp that helps people launch a new career as a software engineer, web developer, or data scientist. They offer 5 self-paced courses with mentoring opportunities. Courses are designed to teach students the technical and job search skills they need to find remote software engineering jobs, allowing them to live like “coding nomads.”
All courses are self-paced and extremely hands-on. Throughout the program, students build dozens of projects to showcase in their GitHub portfolios and help them get a software engineering job. Students in their basic “content + forum” program don’t face any formal deadlines or weekly time commitments and can ask questions via the course forum. Students in any course retain lifetime access to this members-only forum. However, only students who upgrade to the paid “intensive program” get weekly mentoring meetings and coding reviews. Their intensive programs usually require about 15 hours of work every week.
The Java course teaches students to read and write complex Java apps. Students get full access to about 180 hours of Java material, including 9+ hours of videos, 500+ pages of tutorials, 300+ exercises, and much more. The curriculum covers the command line interface (CLI), working with databases, querying databases with SQL, and soft professional skills to help students think like a developer. In addition to building 2 Java apps, students participate in video lessons, quizzes, and coding labs.
Students who enroll in the Python engineering course learn to write Python algorithms & apps to consume, analyze, and store data. The curriculum covers APIs, SQL, the command line interface (CLI), working with databases, how to think like a developer, and how to automate and optimize workflows. The course has over 120 hours of content with 9+ hours of video lessons, 500+ pages of tutorials, 300+ exercises, and 150+ custom video tutorials.
Their data science course teaches students to use machine learning algorithms, data modeling, and data analysis to make informed data-driven decisions. The curriculum covers essential machine learning stacks like Jupyter Notebooks, Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib, and Scikit-learn. Students learn to wrangle, clean, process, normalize, and extract data. The curriculum also teaches data training and testing with validation schemes and curves, baseline models, appropriate metrics, confusion matrices, and more. The course can also veer into conceptual areas, teaching students the “why” and “how” behind data science and machine learning methods. In addition to lots of projects, students get 180 hours of total course content, with 60 videos, 120+ written documentation pages, 24 quizzes, and 12 data science/machine learning labs for even more hands-on learning.
The Django web dev course teaches students how to build web apps and APIs. The curriculum covers the full suite of Django web dev tools, including VSCode editor, venv, pipenv, bpython, Git, Github, sqlite3, Postman, and others. Students then learn fundamental Django skills like working with Django’s templating language, dynamic URL linking, writing automated tests, handling static files, styling with bootstrap, and much more. In addition to working with databases, students learn to deploy apps with Heroku and Azure. Throughout the program, students build 6 polished web development projects they can add to their portfolios. The course has about 180 hours of content, with 12+ hours of videos, 120+ written documentation pages, 45+ Git assignments, 25 quizzes, and 25 labs.
In addition to their technical courses, CodingNomads offers a remote work masterclass to help students find a remote job or excel as a freelancer. The course helps students find their niche, optimize their online profiles, automate job notifications, craft compelling proposals, plus how to close and maintain clients. The entire course has about 50+ hours of content, with 7+ hours of videos, 5+ assignments, and 5+ quizzes. The masterclass comes with templates and resources for crafting your online profile, proposals, and phone call scripts.
Who is CodingNomads for?
People with very little to no experience in software engineering, data science, or web development could benefit from CodingNomads. The program is especially helpful for people seeking a flexible, self-paced learning experience and for people who want to land a remote tech job to live the “digital nomad” lifestyle.
What does CodingNomads cost? How much work is involved?
Their remote work masterclass costs $599. All other courses cost $49 and come with lifetime access to the material. The intensive course option costs $750 per month, which includes 1-on-1 mentoring every week and custom code reviews. Students can also select the “intensive 3-moth option” for $2,100, which has the same perks as the intensive course option. Students who choose this option promise to work 10 to 15 hours per week to graduate in 3 months, in exchange for a slightly discounted price of $700 per month instead of $750. Students can also sign up for a free trial, which gives them access to the first module of any course they choose.
Unlike many other coding bootcamps, CodingNomads does not have any formal admissions. Anyone can sign up for any course and no prior experience is required.
Ratings and reviews
CodingNomads has mostly positive reviews. They hold a 4.95/5 star rating on Course Report, where grads rave about their hands-on curriculum and supportive, accessible mentors. In the top review, a student described the staff as “great people who care about your success” and lead a well-crafted curriculum. However, he did warn that “class takes up a lot of time” and students should “expect to work hard.” Another grad praised the hands-on curriculum, impressed with the “inspiring lectures” and the “many practical assignments.” Other students appreciated the low pricing, especially as past cohorts met in countries like Thailand to both lower the overhead costs and give students a taste of the digital nomad lifestyle. Although all courses are now remote, pricing remains relatively low.
The course also holds a 4.8/5 star rating on Career Karma. Grads liked that the course had “personal mentors” and a strong “community connection.” However, some felt rushed, reporting a “lack of time”, especially in the 3-month program. One student was also disappointed that “the final project was a little too ambitious and we couldn’t finish it.” CodingNomads also hosts positive reviews on their own website. Although some felt projects were rushed at times, most reviewers were extremely satisfied by the remote career training, 1-on-1 support, and low pricing.
Alternatives to CodingNomads
If you decide not to enroll in CodingNomads, there are a number of other bootcamps and resources that can help aspiring web developers, data scientists, and software engineers learn the skills they need to land their dream tech job.
- The full-time bootcamp Kenzie Academy offers in-person and remote courses in 2 tracks: front-end engineering and software engineering & UX design. Like CodingNomads, their program can be intense with lots of opportunities to build portfolio projects. Learn more about Kenzie Academy in our review.
- Another popular bootcamp, General Assembly offers 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. They have 19,000+ hiring partners and a very hands-on curriculum. Learn more about General Assembly in our review.
- Bloc helps aspiring web developers and designers launch their careers through flexible, online courses. Students in their program build portfolios they can add to their portfolios and meet with mentors every week, just like in CodingNomad’s intensive courses.
- The remote program Thinkful has tracks in web development, UX/UI design, and data science. Like CodingNomads, their program features 1-on-1 mentoring and instructors who are available almost 24/7. If Thinkful graduates don’t land a job in 6 months, they get a full refund.
- Similarly, Springboard is a flexible online learning program that teaches data science, software engineering, machine learning, and other subjects. Students in their career tracks build 14 portfolio projects and participate in weekly meetings with experienced mentors. They also offer a 6 month job guarantee. Learn more about Springboard in our review.
- For people with an interest in data science, Metis has part-time introduction courses as well as onsite and online bootcamp options. Learn more about Metis in our review.
- For students seeking an entry level job, Coding Dojo has tracks in software engineering and data science that focus on fundamental skills. They have both on-campus and online options with over 6,000 alumni.
- Both Rithm School and Lambda School teach students the fundamentals of web dev and data science. Students can also choose an income share agreement (ISA), so they pay with a percentage of their income after they land a great tech job.
- Aspiring software engineers and web developers can also consider CodeX Academy, which is a self-paced coding bootcamp. Learn more about CodeX Academy in our review.
- The bootcamp BrainStation offers programs in web development, web design, data science, marketing, and product management. Like CodingNomads, BrainStation emphasizes project-based learning with collaboration and they have mentors to offer immediate feedback for students.
- One of the most popular online learning platforms is Codecademy. They teach courses in web development and even data science for free. For expanded course options and support, students can buy a membership for $20-$40. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
- The online learning platform Udemy hosts 100k+ courses on both tech and humanities subjects. Like CodingNomads, their program is extremely flexible, self-paced, and offers lifetime access for a single flat fee.
- Likewise, edX is another popular online learning platform. They host thousands of courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Their courses cover a wide variety of tech and even humanities subjects, including web dev, software engineering, data science, and much more. Read more about edX in our review.
- Similarly, Coursera has thousands of tech courses taught by professors from accredited universities. Their curriculum features hands-on assignments, video lectures, and community discussions similar to CodingNomads’s forums.
- Students seeking a flexible, hands-on curriculum with 1-on-1 mentoring can check out Udacity’s nanodegrees. They offer free and paid courses on a wide variety of tech topics, including web development, software engineering, and more. Many of their courses come from top tech companies like IBM and Google. Students in their nanodegree program build portfolio projects as they meet 1-on-1 with both a technical mentor and a career coach. Read more about Udacity in our review.
How does CodingNomads compare to Pathrise?
CodingNomads is a tech bootcamp for people who want to land a remote job as a software engineer, data scientist, or web developer. Their courses don’t require any experience and are designed for beginners. Pathrise job-seekers should already have at least some background in their chosen field to get the most out of our technical curriculum.
While CodingNomads does offer coaching, mentors focus on answering technical questions and helping with projects, not the job search. As a full service organization, Pathrise helps fellows in our program with all phases of the job search including portfolio and resume optimization, cold emailing and reverse recruiting, technical and behavioral interviewing, and salary negotiation. Our expert mentors have years of experience on both sides of the hiring table and have already helped 700+ people land great tech jobs.
The Pathrise program is flexible. There are only 2-4 hours of group sessions per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. We offer a 9% income share agreement (ISA) so fellows in our program can pay with a percentage of their first-year salary after they land a great tech job. Program fellows land a job in just 3-5 months, on average.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps students and professionals land their dream job in tech. With our tips and guidance, fellows have seen their interview scores double and their application responses triple. If you want to optimize your job search by working with any of our mentors, become a Pathrise fellow.
Apply today.
