Updated in 2023
- What does DataCamp do?
- Who is DataCamp for?
- What does DataCamp cost?
- Ratings and reviews of DataCamp
- Alternatives to DataCamp
- How does DataCamp compare to Pathrise?
What does DataCamp do?
DataCamp offers a variety of courses on topics that live under the data science umbrella. Students can choose to take courses or enroll in a skill or career track. There are 357 courses on a variety of topics, such as data engineering, reporting, probability, and others. Courses are typically 4 hours long.
Skill tracks guide students to proficiency in a specific technology, methodology or domain, like R/Python programming, machine learning, modeling, and more. These skill tracks include multiple courses on the subject and typically take between 12-28 hours to complete.
The career tracks curriculum is meant for students who are looking to start a new career in data science. Students choose what type of role they are interested in (ex: data analyst, data scientist, R programmer, etc). Then, they do that career track. Depending on the technical nature of the role, the program varies in length and number of courses needed. R programmer is the shortest option – it has 9 courses and takes 43 hours. Data scientist with Python is the longest – students in this program take 26 courses over 100 hours.
They also have a community forum for people to talk about the latest data science news, technologies, and tools. People can also connect to work on open source projects through the forum and projects.
Who is DataCamp for?
Current and aspiring data scientists can both benefit from the courses and programs offered by DataCamp. With the community forum and the projects, data scientists of all levels can learn and contribute.
What does DataCamp cost? How much work is involved?
DataCamp works on a subscription model. There are a number of options. To start, users can get the first chapters of all tracks, 3 data literacy courses, 7 projects, 3 challenge sets, and unlimited skill assessments for free. Otherwise, they can choose the standard option, which includes everything in the free plan as well as 335+ courses, 14 career tracks, 50+ skill tracks, unlimited challenges, code-alongs, mobile courses, and community chat for $25 per month. Finally, if they choose the premium option, they receive everything in the standard package plus 90+ projects, additional content, and priority support for $33.25 per month.
Users just sign up for the option they want and begin learning.
Ratings and reviews
The reviews online for DataCamp are mixed. A lot of people find the content useful and interesting, but there are a fair number of people who object to the way it is taught. Usually, they are referring to the fact that a lot of the work is done for them. For example, in the assignments, most of the code is already written. This makes it easier to get the right answer but harder to learn by doing. They also explain that a lot of the lessons include giant walls of text. People feel that this essentially “tells” rather than “shows” how to do a task.
To combat the above issues, reviewers explain that DataCamp is very helpful as an introduction to these subjects. Students can learn a lot from the courses and tracks offered. Then, they should go off on their own to work on open source projects as well as additional courses. The lower price point, when compared to other bootcamps, is also a benefit for a lot of people.
Alternatives to DataCamp
For aspiring data scientists and those who are looking to continue their education on the subject, there are a fair number of alternatives.
- Metis has part-time introduction courses as well as onsite and online bootcamp options. Learn more about Metis in our review.
- Current and aspiring data scientists can also consider Dataquest, Promotable, Zip Code Wilmington, and Data Science Dojo. They offer individual courses, as well as in-depth tracks.
- Aspiring data scientists with graduate degrees in data-centric fields can check out The Data Incubator and Insight.
- If you are starting from scratch, you can consider the self-paced course at Data Science Dream Job. Or, try the part-time and full-time classes offered by Divergence Academy and K2 Data Science.
- You can check out Udacity and Springboard, which are online educational platforms that students can use to 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.
- Students can also check out Udemy, Coursera, and Pluralsight, which have thousands of data science resources and classes.
- Free online resources, SoloLearn and the Mode tutorials have tracks in SQL, as well as other programming languages. Similarly, QuickStart has courses in web dev and data.
More alternatives
- Similarly, 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 per month for more course options and greater support. Learn more about Codecademy in our review.
- Coding Temple and RMOTR are Python data science and web development bootcamps, focusing on the fundamentals.
- Likewise, 365 Data Science is a low-cost and low commitment option to learn data fundamentals.
- For people looking to find a community of data scientists and projects to work on, Kaggle is a good alternative. They have 19,000 public datasets and 200,000 public notebooks for people who are looking to get started or contribute to data science projects in order to advance their skills or build up their portfolios.
- One of the most well known bootcamps is General Assembly, which 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. Read more about General Assembly in our review.
- People with experience who are looking to do machine learning projects as they look for jobs can consider SharpestMinds. In the same vein, FourthBrain has part-time, online machine learning courses.
- If you prefer in-person classes, check out Magnimind, University of Arizona Bootcamps, or Principal Analytics Prep, which have full-time and part-time data science courses.
- Or, consider Kal Academy, which works with women and underrepresented groups on software engineering, web dev, and data.
- The Menon Labs fellowship helps people learn the skills to get a job in web dev, data, and product management.
How does DataCamp compare to Pathrise?
DataCamp offers courses for people who are interested in learning how to become a data scientist or people who want to advance their knowledge significantly. At Pathrise, job-seekers in our program should already have a background in the field they are interested in so that they can participate in and fully benefit from our technical workshops, where we provide a more specific curriculum based on what they will see in their interviews.
All of our workshops and sessions at Pathrise are live, as well as recorded, so that job-seekers in our program can review them afterwards and continue learning. Our program is flexible, with only 2-4 hours of group sessions per week and 1-on-1 sessions that can be scheduled whenever job-seekers need them. In addition, the topics are personalized to work on the skills that people struggle with the most.
Specifically, Pathrise focuses on technical and behavioral interviewing as well as resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building and strengthening, cold email and reverse recruiting lessons, and negotiation templates and guidance. Job-seekers in Pathrise find a job, on average, within 3-5 months of joining the program.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. If you want to work with any of our mentors to get help with your technical and behavioral interviews or with any other aspect of the job search, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
