Web development bootcamps can quickly provide you with the coding skills and career services that you need to land a job in the industry. If you already work as a web developer, there are more advanced courses available that can improve your skill set even further, allowing you to take your career to the next level. Below, we’ve reviewed the top ten web development bootcamps to help you find the best course for the stage you’re at in your career.
- Thinkful — Software Engineering Bootcamp — Top Pick
- General Assembly — Front-End Web Development Course — Best for Responsive Design
- Ironhack — Web Development Bootcamp — Most Beginner-Friendly
- Coding Dojo — Self-paced Python Bootcamp — Most Affordable
- CareerFoundry — Full-Stack Web Development Program — Best Career Coaching
- Springboard — Software Engineering Bootcamp — Best Job Placement Rate
- Actualize — Actualize Online Live — Most Comprehensive Curriculum
- App Academy — 24 Week Software Engineering Immersive Course — Most Flexible Financing
- Devmountain — Web Development Course — Best Employer Networking
- Lambda School — Full Stack Web Dev Course — Most Immersive Experience
Our Ranking Criteria
The best bootcamps will teach you how to use the most popular web development technologies, and they should offer robust career services as well. Overall, we used the following criteria to determine which web development bootcamps stood out from the rest.
Basic Ranking Criteria
Before you sign up for any kind of online course, there are a few important details that you should look up first. For each of the web development bootcamps covered in this guide, we highlighted the following key points:
Time to complete. Are you looking to complete the course as fast as possible? Some full-time programs can be finished in as little as nine weeks. Otherwise, you might want to opt for a course that takes a few extra weeks to go over more advanced topics.
Prerequisites required. If you’re completely new to web development, courses that require prerequisites won’t be an option for you. But if you do have some experience in the industry, choosing a course with prerequisites ensures that you won’t waste too much time on topics that you already understand.
Flexible schedule. Some web development bootcamps only offer a full-time option with 40+ hours per week of coursework, which won’t be an option for anyone who has a busy schedule.
Certificate of completion. Ideally, the course you choose will award you with a certificate upon graduation. This will help you convince prospective employers that you possess the skill set needed for a web development job.
Advanced Ranking Criteria
In addition to the basic criteria listed above, we also looked at more detailed criteria that’s specific to the web development industry:
- The course covers the most popular technologies that are used in web development, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python
- The course offers career services such as portfolio building, interview prep, and networking opportunities
- The course has a high job placement rate
- Graduates of the course have landed jobs at top companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
- Instructors are highly experienced web developers and skilled educators
- The course uses projects and real-world examples to replicate situations that the student will face while working as a web developer
- The course features interactive elements such as live video lectures and chatrooms with other students
10 Best Web Development Bootcamps
Thinkful
Software Engineering Bootcamp
Intelligent Award: Top Pick
Thinkful’s Software Engineering Bootcamp is an excellent way to learn the skills you’ll need on the job as a web developer. Among other coding topics, this course covers how to create responsive web pages using HTML and CSS, and you’ll also learn how to manage web development projects using Agile methodology. Thinkful conveniently offers this course in both full-time (five days a week from 10am to 5pm ET) and part-time (20 to 30 hours per week) formats, though even the full-time option will take you five months to complete. Both the full-time and part-time courses include live video mentor sessions twice per week, while the full-time course also offers daily live online lectures and workshops.
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- Price: $16,000 (full-time), $7,900 (part-time)
- Time to complete: 5 months (full-time), 6 months (part-time)
- Prerequisites required: Required for full-time, not required for part-time
- Flexible schedule: Yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? If you don’t mind that this course takes longer to complete than most of your other options, Thinkful is a great choice for anyone who is interested in web development.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Full-time and part-time options | Takes at least five months to complete |
| Comprehensive curriculum |
General Assembly
Front-End Web Development Course
Intelligent Award: Best for Responsive Design
General Assembly’s Front-end Web Development Course will show you how to build responsive websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The course also covers other topics such as APIs and version control with Git and GitHub. In addition to helping you develop your coding skills, General Assembly is able to advance your career in other ways as well. Their global alumni network can provide you with plenty of opportunities, and upon completing their course you’ll get an industry-recognized GA certificate to add to your resume.
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- Price: $3,950
- Time to complete: 10 weeks
- Prerequisites required: No
- Flexible schedule: Yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? If you’re especially concerned about your budget, you should keep in mind that this is one of your most affordable options.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Affordable pricing | No self-directed option |
| Only takes 10 weeks to complete |
Ironhack
Web Development Bootcamp
Intelligent Award: Most Beginner-Friendly
Ironhack’s Web Development Bootcamp is an effective program for beginners, as they start with the most basic topics before they dive into more difficult subjects. First, you’ll need to complete 50 hours of pre work assignments on the fundamentals of coding with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Then you’ll move on to more advanced topics, such as responsive design, back-end development (NodeJS, ExpressJS, MongoDB), and one of the most popular front-end frameworks, ReactJS. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to take on the role of a full-stack web developer.
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- Price: $12,500 (full-time), $13,000 (part-time)
- Time to complete: 9 weeks (full-time), 24 weeks (part-time)
- Prerequisites required: No
- Flexible schedule: YesIncludes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? This is a great web development course for those who don’t have much experience with web development. There are no prerequisites required, and Ironhack eases you into more advanced topics after teaching you the fundamentals.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Beginner-friendly | No self-directed option |
| Full-time and part-time options |
Coding Dojo
Self-paced Python Bootcamp
Intelligent Award: Most Affordable
With Coding Dojo’s Self-paced Python Bootcamp, you can learn one of the most popular programming languages for web development on your own schedule. The course also covers technologies such as Ajax, MySQL, Flask, jQuery, and APIs. You won’t be completely alone because you have the option of requesting one-on-one conversations with your instructor, who can provide useful feedback on improving your work. But you should know that this program is not beginner-friendly — you’ll need to have some working experience in the software development industry in order to successfully navigate the course.
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- Price: $1,950 (two-month plan), $3,850 (four-month plan)
- Time to complete: 10 weeks
- Prerequisites required: Yes
- Flexible schedule: Yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: No
Who should take this course? This is a highly affordable choice for anyone who is interested in learning Python. It doesn’t feature the immersiveness that’s offered by some of your more expensive options, though.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Affordable pricing | No interaction with other students |
| Convenient self-paced format | Not beginner-friendly |
CareerFoundry
Full-Stack Web Development Program
Intelligent Award: Best Career Coaching
CareerFoundry’s Full-Stack Web Development Program will certainly teach you all the skills that you need to be a web developer, but that’s not the biggest benefit that this program offers its students. As you may have been able to guess from the name, CareerFoundry is particularly focused on helping students learn how to navigate the job market after they graduate. You will receive personalized coaching from their career services team to improve your interview technique, and they’ll also help you build an impressive portfolio of real-world projects. CareerFoundry clearly believes in their career services team — if you’re not able to land a web developer job within 180 days of completing their course, you’ll get all of your money back.
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- Price: $6,900
- Time to complete: 4 to 7 months
- Prerequisites required: Yes
- Flexible schedule: Yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? This course is an especially good option if you don’t have any contacts in the industry and need to build out your professional network.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Exceptional career services | No self-directed option |
| Affordable pricing |
Springboard
Software Engineering Bootcamp
Intelligent Award: Best Job Placement Rate
Springboard has reported some impressive stats regarding their Software Engineering Bootcamp — they offer a refund for those who graduate the course but are still not able to find a coding job, but only 3% of students have been able to claim it. Also, Springboard graduates are able to increase their salary by an average of $25,800 compared to what they were making before they took the course. Springboard will teach you about technologies such as JavaScript, jQuery, Python, Flask, SQL, Node, ReactJS, and Redux, giving you a well-rounded skill set for web development jobs.
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- Price: $8,500
- Time to complete: 9 months
- Prerequisites required: Yes
- Flexible schedule: Yes
- Includes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? With their affordable pricing (including a money-back guarantee) and comprehensive curriculum, Springboard is an excellent choice for anyone interested in web development.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Affordable pricing | No self-directed option |
| Money-back guarantee | |
| Comprehensive curriculum |
Actualize
Actualize Online Live
Intelligent Award: Most Comprehensive Curriculum
Actualize Online Live is another course that helps beginners out by starting with the basics before moving on to more difficult topics. First, you’ll need to complete four weeks of at-home exercises that go over the fundamentals of computer programming. Teaching assistants are available to provide feedback and help you out with any concepts that you struggle with. Then, you’ll advance to 12 weeks of live instruction (the languages and frameworks covered include Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, VueJS, HTML, CSS, SQL, and Git). The course even includes a final capstone project, which will be featured in your cohort’s Graduate Showcase.
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- Price: $14,900
- Time to complete: 4 weeks pre work + 12 weeks
- Prerequisites required: No
- Flexible schedule: No
- Includes verified certificate of participation: No
Who should take this course? If you’d like to learn a wide variety of web development technologies, this is the course for you.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Beginner-friendly | No part-time or self-directed option |
| Comprehensive curriculum |
App Academy
24 Week Software Engineering Immersive Course
Intelligent Award: Most Flexible Financing
App Academy’s 24 Week Software Engineering Immersive course gives aspiring web developers the opportunity to acquire the skills they’ll need for their career with absolutely no upfront cost. While you do have the option to pay $20,000 upfront for this course, App Academy also offers an income share agreement (ISA) option — the course won’t cost you anything until you’re earning over $50,000 as a web developer, and then you’ll need to pay 15% of your salary to App Academy for three years (the maximum fee is $31,000). As for the course itself, you’ll learn how to use a wide variety of coding technologies, including JavaScript, Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, Flask, and ReactJS.
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- Price: $20,000 upfront, or 15% of your salary for three years (maximum of $31,000)
- Time to complete: 24 weeks
- Prerequisites required: Yes
- Flexible schedule: No
- Includes verified certificate of participation: No
Who should take this course? If you’re on a tight budget at the moment, App Academy allows you to defer the cost of this course until you actually have a job as a web developer.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Flexible financing | No part-time or self-directed option |
| Comprehensive curriculum |
Devmountain
Web Development Course
Intelligent Award: Best Employer Networking
Devmountain’s Web Development Course covers everything you’ll need to know to build high-quality websites and web applications from scratch. The technologies covered include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Node, Git, and GitHub. By the time you finish the course, you’ll have a robust portfolio of projects as well as a certificate of completion. Furthermore, Devmountain provides career advice, interview prep, and employer networking. These career services ensure that, in addition to learning how to code, you’ll learn how to actually get a job in the industry.
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- Price: $7,900
- Time to complete: 16 weeks
- Prerequisites required: No
- Flexible schedule: No
- Includes verified certificate of participation: Yes
Who should take this course? Devmountain’s career services make this course an attractive option for inexperienced web developers who are looking to land their first job in the field.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Affordable pricing | No part-time or self-directed option |
| Exceptional career services |
Lambda School
Full Stack Web Dev Course
Intelligent Award: Most Immersive Experience
Lambda School’s Full Stack Web Dev Course offers an ISA payment model for all states except California. You will need to pay them 17% of your monthly income, but only once you get a job paying $50,000 or more per year. Your payments are also capped at $30,000 total or two years, whichever one comes first. This course features particularly comprehensive curriculum, as it reviews everything from web development foundations (HTML, CSS, Git, JavaScript, and UI principles) to web application development (React, Redux, React Router, HTTP/Ajax, and functional programming techniques) to back-end development (you’ll have the choice between learning Java or Node). Lambda School’s bootcamp is very immersive as well — instructors will guide you through projects in real-time, and you can chat with instructors and fellow students at any time over the class’s Slack channel.
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- Price: Lambda School offers ISA options that are based on your post-Lambda School salary. If you choose to pay upfront, it’s $30,000 for CA, DC, GA, and TX, and $15,000 for all other states and international students. See site for more details.
- Time to complete: 6 months
- Prerequisites required: Yes
- Flexible schedule: No
- Includes verified certificate of participation: No
Who should take this course? Lambda School’s ISA option makes them a potential choice for any aspiring web developer, regardless of their current financial situation.
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Flexible financing | No part-time or self-directed option |
| Comprehensive curriculum |
Web Development Bootcamp Comparison Chart
| Course | Price | Features |
| Thinkful — Software Engineering Bootcamp — Top Pick | $16,000 (full-time), $7,900 (part-time) | X No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| General Assembly — Front-End Web Development Course — Best for Responsive Design | $3,950 | ✓ No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| Ironhack — Web Development Bootcamp — Most Beginner-Friendly | $12,500 (full-time), $13,000 (part-time) | ✓ No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| Coding Dojo — Self-paced Python Bootcamp — Most Affordable | $1,950 (two-month plan), $3,850 (four-month plan) | X No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule X Certificate of participation |
| CareerFoundry — Full-Stack Web Development Program — Best Career Coaching | $6,900 | X No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| Springboard — Software Engineering Bootcamp — Best Job Placement Rate | $8,500 | X No prerequisites required
✓ Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| Actualize — Actualize Online Live — Most Comprehensive Curriculum | $14,900 | ✓ No prerequisites required
X Flexible schedule X Certificate of participation |
| App Academy — 24 Week Software Engineering Immersive Course — Most Flexible Financing | $20,000 upfront, or 15% of your salary for three years (maximum of $31,000) | X No prerequisites required
X Flexible schedule X Certificate of participation |
| Devmountain — Web Development Course — Best Employer Networking | $7,900 | ✓ No prerequisites required
X Flexible schedule ✓ Certificate of participation |
| Lambda School — Full Stack Web Dev Course — Most Immersive Experience | $30,000 upfront, or 17% of your salary for two years (maximum of $30,000) | X No prerequisites required
X Flexible schedule X Certificate of participation |
Tips for Succeeding in a Coding Bootcamp
1. Consider the cost
How much do web development bootcamps cost?
There is a lot of variation regarding the cost of web development bootcamps — for example, the courses featured in this guide range from as low as $1,950 to as high as $31,000. Generally, the cost of most courses is somewhere between $6,000 to $16,000.
Will my employer pay for me to take the course?
Many organizations will at least partially pay for you to complete a web development bootcamp. Some programs, such as General Assembly, will even provide you with a package to share with your employer that highlights the benefits of such an arrangement. Check with your boss or HR department to see if this is an option for you.
2. Get your tech squared away
You won’t need any special equipment to take a web development bootcamp. As long as your computer is capable of streaming live video, you should be good to go.
3. Use the right study resources
While some bootcamps start with the fundamentals of web development, you might have trouble keeping up with your course if you don’t already have a firm understanding of the basics. If you’d like to learn these fundamentals on your own, we recommend the following two books by Jon Duckett: HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites and JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development. Also, Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited is an excellent resource for learning the basics of user experience (UX) design.
Frequently Asked Questions About Web Development Bootcamps
What jobs can you get after completing a web development bootcamp?
There are a variety of jobs available to web developers, including web designer, web applications developer, UX researcher, UX designer, SEO specialist, and game developer.
Are there free online web development bootcamps?
There are free materials available online for learning about web development, but these resources won’t teach you everything you need to know to succeed in this industry. To truly prepare for a web developer job, you’ll need the comprehensive curriculum, immersive experience, and career services that are provided by a full web development bootcamp.
How long is the average web development bootcamp?
The course length for the average web development bootcamp ranges from 12 weeks to 24 weeks. It should be noted, though, that some bootcamps are as long as six months.
Is a web development bootcamp worth it?
The courses featured in this guide are an excellent way for beginner and intermediate-level web developers to improve their skills, which will increase their earning potential. Bootcamps are especially valuable for those who are completely new to the industry, as they often provide career coaching and networking opportunities in addition to teaching you coding skills.