Treehouse Review 2023: Pros, Cons & Alternatives

Team Treehouse is a complete repository of online coding classes in PHP, JavaScript, CSS, and more. You can explore the Team Treehouse content library or go through their Techdegree path — a legit, monthly online coding bootcamp complete with a portfolio.

At-a-glance:

• Team Treehouse has an extensive library of programming courses, including front-end web development, beginning Python, and full-stack JavaScript. 
• The Team Treehouse Techdegree could be the perfect program for a full bootcamp experience.
• Team Treehouse is slightly more expensive than many online coding camps and may not offer much more than free versions.
• Team Treehouse’s most significant differentiating factor is that its lessons are provided through video, not just text.
• Courses are extremely self-directed, so you shouldn’t expect a lot of guidance from instructors. 

But there are a lot of coding bootcamps out there — is Team Treehouse right for you? We’ll cover everything you need to know, from common complaints in Team Treehouse reviews to whether certificates from Team Treehouse matter.

What Does Team Treehouse Offer?

Team Treehouse offers 104 practice courses, 283 courses, 205 workshops, 24 bonus series, and three conferences. Practice courses, courses, and workshops are the cornerstones of the project.

• Practice courses. These courses are interactive exercises that you can complete to sharpen specific skills. If you already know a little about a technology (such as a programming language), you can use these practice courses to brush up.
• Courses. These are in-depth courses about specific technologies and programming languages, such as an Introduction to Python Programming. The courses are detailed yet brief and specific. 
• Workshops. These are workshops on specific technologies, like Enabling Dark Mode in CSS. If you have a specific question, a workshop can help you learn the answer.

Of course, all these exercises, courses, and workshops are worthwhile. But most students are interested in the courses, which are complete lesson plans. 

Additionally, Treehouse offers tracks — collections of courses. Moreover, the platform’s Techdegrees are suitable for those who want a certification. You can earn a Techdegree in five disciplines, including Front End Web Development and Full Stack JavaScript.

Who is Team Treehouse For?

Team Treehouse is ideal for learning:

• Web development
• JavaScript 
• UX design
• UI design
• Python development
• Data analysis

While Team Treehouse has other courses, exercises, and workshops, it's the absolute best for those interested in front-end web development.

How Does Team Treehouse Work?

Team Treehouse includes an extensive array of modules (exercises, classes, tech paths) you can sign up for. Once you sign up, you are enrolled in a self-paced course full of exercises you can take on your own time. 

Courses combine on-demand video, interactive sessions, and community support. But you shouldn’t expect a lot of interaction with an instructor. For the most part, you’ll be handling the course content independently.

Courses are paid for by subscription, so the amount you will ultimately pay is based on how long it takes you to complete the course.

How to Open a Team Treehouse Account

You can sign up for Team Treehouse for a free 7-day trial. You will need to select what type of account you want first (Courses, Courses Plus, or the Techdegree program). This will automatically renew if you don’t cancel it.

The free trial is a great way to determine whether you enjoy Team Treehouse’s content. Remember, you need to cancel before it automatically renews, or you’ll be charged for the monthly Treehouse coding cost. According to most Team Treehouse reviews, though, it’s not hard to get a refund if you don’t cancel on time.

Team Treehouse’s Subscription Options

When you sign up for Team Treehouse, select your subscription type. There are three types of subscription services:

• Courses. For $25/month, you gain access to all the courses, exercises, and workshops on Team Treehouse.
• Courses Plus. For $49/month, you can access additional course content and download videos for offline learning. 
• Techdegree. For $199/month, you can participate in any Techdegree programs, which take 3 to 9 months, depending on how rigorous the program is.

Most people will be able to get by with the Team Treehouse courses. But if you want to do a Techdegree path, the cost is quite reasonable compared to many other bootcamps.

Team Treehouse Classes: Learn the Basics

Team Treehouse classes are small, discrete courses in an individual or independent technology, such as Technical Interviewing, Basic Object-Oriented Python, or Intro to Design Thinking. These classes tend to be only one or two hours long and can be sorted based on difficulty, such as “Beginner,” “Intermediate,” and “Advanced.”

The Most Popular Team Treehouse Classes

Here are some of the most popular Team Treehouse classes:

• CSS Basics. A 191-minute interactive course on selectors, values, units, and other fundamental concepts of CSS. This brief course will introduce front-end web developers to formatting and designing websites with CSS.
• Basic Object-Oriented Python. A 127-minute introduction to Python. Developers will learn the basics of Python, including class creation, object creation, class attributes, instance attributes, and methods.
• Intro to Design Thinking. In this 75-minute course, designers will learn about understanding design and development from a user perspective, understanding and building empathy maps, and journey maps.

You can take a Team Treehouse class if you aren’t sure what you want to learn next. Use classes to test out different programming languages and web development technologies.

Team Treehouse Tracks: Learn More In-Depth

Team Treehouse tracks are a sequence of Team Treehouse courses intended to teach you more about a given field, such as Front-End Web Development, Beginning Python, or Full-Stack JavaScript. These tracks are sometimes 10 to 20 hours long but can even last up to 50 hours. They will give you more in-depth knowledge about a discipline.

The Most Popular Team Treehouse Tracks

Here are some of the most popular Team Treehouse tracks:

• Front-End Web Development. This 56-hour course includes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Developers will learn HTML basics, CSS basics, JavaScript functions, mobile-first design, responsive layouts, and how to use Git.
• Beginning Python. A 14-hour course that includes Python basics, lists, tuples, functions, sequences, and dictionaries. Programmers will walk away from this course with the ability to use Python for basic applications from start to finish.
• Full Stack JavaScript. A 43-hour course on JavaScript for front-end and back-end development. Learners will cover numbers, functions, loops, arrays, objects, Node.js, and more. 

These tracks aren’t everything you need to start a career, but they are an excellent place to start learning. If you find that there’s a technology you love, you can take an associated Techdegree.

Team Treehouse Techdegrees: Everything You Need

Team Treehouse’s Techdegrees include real-time student support, real-world projects, interactive quizzes, and in-depth code reviews by peers. While they’re still self-directed, they provide more support and in-depth activities. 

These programs are more expensive than the courses or tracks. You will need to pay $199/month to work your way through them. They’re also significantly longer, with many averaging about half a year.

Ideally, you can use Team Treehouse Techdegrees to boost or change your career.

The Most Popular Team Treehouse Degrees

Here are some of the most popular Team Treehouse degree paths:

• Front-End Web Development. This course will teach you how to develop HTML, CSS, and JavaScript websites. You will create a sequence of projects throughout this program, including an interactive photo gallery, game show app, and WebApp dashboard. The degree path ends with a capstone project. This course includes nine projects and takes 3-9 months.
• Full Stack JavaScript Development. This full-stack development course encompasses projects such as a random quote generator, React Gallery, SQL Library Manager, and a full-stack app capstone project. You will work with both client-side and server-side JavaScript. This course includes ten projects and takes 3-9 months.
• UX Design. This UX design degree certificate program includes projects such as designing a t-shirt website, creating a grocery app, and developing a UX portfolio. You’ll learn the basics of designing to meet user needs. This course includes ten projects and takes 3-8 months.

While these are called “degrees,” they’re essentially bootcamps that end in certification. Because they cost $199 a month, your payments will be relative to how long it takes you to finish the course.

How to Find the Best Classes on Team Treehouse

Unlike platforms like Coursera or Udemy, Team Treehouse only provides one class on one topic. So, for instance, on Coursera, there might be 200 different “Introduction to Python” courses presented by different instructors. Instead, Team Treehouse will have a single, carefully created “Introduction to Python” class.

To find the best classes on Team Treehouse, decide how in-depth you want to go. Do you need a simple workshop regarding a specific feature? Learn how to use Node.js with Netbeans. Or do you need a class on a specific technology? In that case, you might need an Introduction to Node.JS. Alternatively, you might want to learn about web development—a complete Techdegree.

You can search through Team Treehouse by technology and experience level and continue learning as you go.

Team Treehouse Review: Do Employers Take Team Treehouse Seriously?

Our Treehouse coding review wouldn’t be helpful without discussing employer perception. Team Treehouse isn’t as well-known as other academic learning programs. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t useful for getting a job.

Importantly, Team Treehouse is project-based. Many projects you will build throughout the Team Treehouse courses, tracks, and Techdegree paths will leave you with projects for your portfolio. Because it’s a self-paced program, you get as much out of it as you put in.

You will get a shareable, validated certificate if you go through the Team Treehouse Techdegree paths. Whether an employer takes it seriously depends on you and your portfolio, as Team Treehouse degrees are not accredited.

Team Treehouse Review Coding: Pros, Cons, and User Reviews

Our Team Treehouse review wouldn’t be complete without looking at other popular Treehouse reviews. According to TrustPilot, Team Treehouse ranks 4.1 out of 5. It isn’t hard to find a negative TeamTreehouse review, but most complain about being charged after the free subscription expired or courses were canceled. 

While Team Treehouse isn’t a new company (it launched in 2011), it isn’t as well-known as alternatives such as Codecademy or even freeCodeCamp. It doesn’t have a lot of recognition, but it does have an extensive library of robust content—and its lower tiers are more affordable than similar platforms.

Alternatives to Team Treehouse

Today, we’re going to focus on three major alternatives to Team Treehouse. Codecademy is the largest and most popular alternative. edX is an alternative for those who want “recognizable credentials.” And freeCodeCamp is a completely free alternative.

1. Codecademy

Codecademy is likely the most recognizable name in self-paced learning for computer programmers and developers.

You’ll mostly see the same comments in a Codecademy review as a Team Treehouse programming review: the content is largely the same. However, there are two major differences. One, Codecademy is (as mentioned) more recognizable. Two, Codecademy offers text lessons, whereas Team Treehouse uses videos.

Read our Full Codecademy Review

2. edX

We mentioned that not many people know about Team Treehouse. Team Treehouse is a little niche compared to other educational platforms and only has about 280 courses. edX is a better-known name that provides courses from institutions like MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley. If you want to take a coding bootcamp or coding lesson from a best-in-class school, consider edX.

Read our full edX Review

3. freeCodeCamp

freeCodeCamp is a free compilation of tutorials, although they provide paid/premium certificates. Most of freeCodeCamp’s platform consists of interactive exercises and tutorials. While the certificates are shareable, they are most valuable for the experience. But if you want to start completely free, freeCodeCamp is your first stop.

Apart from the above, there are other options like Udemy and Coursera. These sites provide more than just programming and development courses. Still, team Treehouse is a great option for low-cost classes in programming and development. Compared to other solutions, it’s a little more affordable, even if lacking in variety.

Read our full freeCodeCamp review

Conclusion: Is Treehouse Right for You?

You can sign up for a free 7-day Team Treehouse trial to test the course material and determine whether it’s right for you. If we’ve learned anything in our Team Treehouse review, it’s this: the platform is a great place to learn, but because it is a subscription-based account, its value depends on how quickly you complete the coursework.

Sign up for Team Treehouse if:

• You want to learn more about programming and development.
• You learn best through visual media, such as videos.
• You want to practice your programming skills.

Still not sure? Before you sign up for Team Treehouse, you might want to brush up on your coding. Dig deeper into coding for beginners, or Explore free coding bootcamps.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are Treehouse Certificates Worth It?

Certificates are a great way to show an employer your dedication and understanding of your craft. Still, a certificate alone (whether from Treehouse or anywhere else) doesn’t prove your skills. You need to build a portfolio to complement the certificate.

2. Are Treehouse Courses Free?

Treehouse courses are free to try for the first seven days. Theoretically, it would be free if you could finish a course within seven days. Otherwise, you must pay a monthly subscription fee to work on courses and tracks for more than seven days.

3. Is Treehouse Good to Learn Coding?

Treehouse is a great way to learn to code for self-paced and visual learners. However, Treehouse does have a limited selection of programming courses; it’s best for popular languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python.

4. Does Treehouse help you get a job?

Learning from Team Treehouse can help you get a job as long as you build a portfolio while learning. Treehouse won’t help you get a job on your own. You still need to learn the lessons and practice projects.