DataCamp Review 2023: Is It The Right Platform For You?

DataCamp Review: The world is becoming increasingly digital. As more of our lives moving online, people are hungrier for ways to acquire new skills in data science and coding. 

If you're in that group, Datacamp could be the place to go.  

With 10 million learners and over 2000 parent companies, including Google Uber and PayPal, this site claims to be one of the best ways to become equipped with the data science skills you need for the changing world of today. 

But how does Datacamp work? What are the best courses? What are the pros and cons? How much does Datacamp cost?

And, most importantly, is Datacamp worth it?

If you're considering using Datacamp you’ve probably asked yourself these questions over and over. If that’s the case, then you’ve come to the right place. 

I’ll answer all these questions and more so that you can decide whether or not Datacamp is right for you. 

Here’s a quick summary of the article if you’re short on time. 

What is DataCamp?

Datacamp is an online learning site that has hundreds of online courses with a focus on data training. Courses cover topics like R, Python, Sheets, and SQL with the main categories being data science, machine learning, and statistics.

The courses are interactive, and students can earn badges and certificates as they progress. In addition to traditional courses, Datacamp also offers career and skill “tracks” which are curated paths of courses designed to help learners master specific skillsets to further their career prospects.

Datacamp also offers a community of data scientists who can offer support and advice, and it provides a platform for users to share their own code and discuss their work with others.

In short, Datacamp is a one-stop shop for anyone interested in pursuing a career in data science.

Who are the instructors?

Datacamp was founded and is run by people who know and love data science. 

So, based on that fact, you can probably imagine that there are some high-quality instructors on the site. 

This includes professional data scientists working with Datacamp, external academics and consultants who lead Datacamp courses and sometimes even the Datacamp co-founders themselves. 

What this essentially means is that you’re learning from the best in data science. 

Before enrolling on any course, you can see who is leading the course you’ll be taking. 

What Can You Learn on DataCamp?

DataCamp is solely meant for learning data science and its sub-fields. This focus on a specific niche makes DataCamp courses particularly excellent when compared to what you see on some other online course sites that have data classes.

Popular DataCamp courses include:

• Introduction to Python
• Introduction to R
• Data Science for Everyone
• Data Engineering for Everyone
• Data Science for Business
• Introduction to SQL
• Data Analysis in Excel
• Data Visualization for Everyone
• Introduction to Statistics in Spreadsheets
• Machine Learning for Everyone
• Introduction to Deep Learning in Python

How does Datacamp work?

To get started with Datacamp, you need to make an account and sign in. 

Once you’ve done this, you have the option of either learning for free or going straight to premium. 

Choosing the former will get you access to a couple of introductory courses, plus the first chapter of every major course. 

If you go straight to Premium, you’ll get access to all of the courses as well as the chance for certification. 

Datacamp allows you to just learn courses as you please, but you also have the option to try out Skills Tracks that focus on specific coding or theory with quick videos and hands-on exercises.

You can also have a go with the Careers Track, which lets you in on all the tips about starting a career with data science in whatever language you choose.

There’s also the chance to engage in competitions, have a go at assessments, workspaces for personal practice and projects and live events for you to learn from. 

Datacamp’s main focus is on data science, and all the skills, careers and theory related to the discipline. 

Some of the main areas of teaching in the individual courses, Skills tracks and career tracks include: 

• Python 
• R
• SQL 
• Spreadsheet
• Tableau
• Data Science Theory 

Each course in these areas will be led by a respective data science expert. The instructor and length of the course can be found on the courses page. 

Once enrolled, you can complete the course in your own time, and Datacamp will track your progress. 

Courses combine video and text lessons with practical exercises. The type of lesson will be denoted in the course outline. 

How much does Datacamp cost?

The Datacamp Premium option grants you access to all 350+ courses, the chance for certificates and all the top programs. This costs $300 per year.

Furthermore, if you manage a business or team, there are team purchasing options that allow you to assign learning targets and manage a leaderboard. 

Again, this is typically $300 per year per user. 

Before you purchase, remember these are lifelong data skills that can be applied in many ways, and reflect on that as a part of the cost. 

How Much Does DataCamp Cost?

DataCamp pricing includes multiple plans for individuals and businesses and range from free to packages that cost $25 a month, billed annually.

You can compare the features of some of the different plans in the table below:

Key Features	BASIC (Free)	PREMIUM ($12.42/mo billed annually)	TEAMS ($25/mo per user billed annually)	ENTERPRISE (Varies)
Access to 6 free courses	✔	✔	✔	✔
Preview the first chapter of each course	✔	✔	✔	✔
Access to every course	X	✔	✔	✔
Cheats & Tutorials	✔	✔	✔	✔
Personalized learning path	X	SOON	SOON	SOON
Mobile-friendly	✔	✔	✔	✔
Skills assessment	✔	✔	✔	✔
Certificate of completion	X	✔	✔	✔

For a limited time, you can save up to 60% on a full year’s subscription to DataCamp! Click here for the details and latest promos.

How Does DataCamp Pricing Compare to Other Platforms?

The price of online courses is all over the place. Some learning sites sell courses individually while others do a subscription model like Datacamp.

Here are the prices of some of the other popular platforms:

• Skillshare pricing — $13.99/month ($167.88 billed annually)
• LinkedIn Learning pricing — $29.99 for month-to-month or $240 for an annual membership
• Masterclass pricing — $180-$276 a year, no monthly plans available
• Coursera pricing — $59 a month or $399 a year for a Coursera Plus subscription
• Udemy pricing — Individual courses sell anywhere from $19.99 to $199 each
• At $12.42 a month (billed annually) DataCamp is a great value compared to most other course websites.

How to Sign Up for DataCamp

If you’ve made accounts on social sites or other online portals, you’d see that signing up for DataCamp is no different.

You have to open their official site and locate the ‘Sign In’ option at the top right corner.

Fill in your credentials, set up a password, and you’d be asked to verify your account via a phone number or email.

Once you’ve successfully signed up, you can surf through all the course outlines, and if it seems like your cup of tea, you can proceed towards buying a subscription.

Best Datacamp classes

Datacamp is a massive range of courses on offer, all aimed at improving your skills in data science. 

With such a range to choose from, it can be hard to know what course is the best for you. So I’ve spent some time going over and learning about the very best Datacamp has on offer. 

Some of Datacamp’s most popular courses include:

• Introduction To Data Science In Python 
• Introduction To R 
• Data Science For Everyone
• Introduction To Python 
• Data Science For Business

However, whether or not a course is right for you will depend on your learning experiences and preferences. 

With that in mind, below are some of the top courses in the various categories offered by Datacamp.

Datacamp for business

Datacamp also has options available for businesses. 

This is ideal if your company has established or is gradually integrating new technologies and data science in your work and want to make sure employees’ skills are kept up to date.

The best option for businesses is Teams. This costs $224 per user per year but is subject to sales and promos, so make sure you check and refresh the main page before purchasing. 

This will grant you access to everything you get in a premium subscription, as well as the chance to manage the group, track progress and activity and access to license management tools.  

There is also Enterprise, which offers everything in Teams, as well as the chance for personalized learning paths and advanced analytics and report integrations. 

You’ll need to get a quote for this one. 

What I liked about Datacamp 

Practical exercises and teaching 

By far Datacamp’s biggest asset, at least in my opinion, is the practical skills it equips you with. 

This site aims solely at providing learners with the means of getting equipped with the rapidly changing and expanding world of data science.

Instead of vague postulations and jargon, the very first lessons you take here will see you learn something new. 

A lot of this has to do with the content. 

Each course features comprehensive dives into whatever skill you’re learning, whether it’s a new language or a data concept more broadly. 

The teaching style and how lessons are put together is also a massive contributing factor in how Datacamp can teach practical skills so effectively. 

Each new idea or concept is broken down methodically by the instructor, with examples and concepts clearly explained on a slide. 

This will often be followed by a practical exercise where you're invited to test what you’ve learnt. 

This combination is a foolproof method for new students when it comes to acquiring and demonstrating new information. 

On top of this, Datacamp offers Career and Skill tracks for you to hone in on your technique with the aim of applying it to your day to day work. 

Beginner-friendly 

Datacamp is very beginner-friendly. 

Part of this is to do with the layout. It was obvious where to go and what to try first as a beginner even after first signing up (more on that later). 

But even the courses themselves are very beginner-friendly. I found that it was easy to pick up new concepts and ideas. Yet, I also felt challenged and recognised that the Datacamp instructors were trying to help rather than talk down to me. 

Many of Datacamp’s most popular courses are for beginners, and you can see why. 

The site tries to bridge the gap between the world of data science and the rest of us, and they truly succeed in doing so.   

Lots of choice 

I was amazed by how many choices there were on this site. This was twofold. 

First is the range of courses. 

It would be enough for Datacamp to offer the courses that they do in the range of languages that they cover. 

Python, R, SQL etc. are all massively in demand by companies and institutions right now, so getting equipped using Datacamp is very beneficial whatever your background. 

But the site also goes into detail when it comes to the theory of data science and machine learning, and how they can apply to the world of finance, statistics, programming and much more. 

Whereas other courses will just teach you how to code, Datacamp gives you the means to become a data scientist.

Second, there’s the range of methods. 

With over 350 courses in the above areas, you won’t run out of learning material. But there are also different ways to learn with Datacamp. 

The Skills and Careers track allows you to hone your abilities with expert-led videos and practical exercises, preparing you for a particular career field. 

There’s also the chance to complete assessments, enter competitions, develop projects, use practice and workspaces and much more. 

This means that whatever your learning preference or priority, Datacamp has you covered.  

Well organized and structured 

This is a smaller, but important, point I would like to make. 

I was a big fan of how everything was laid out here. 

Like I said, for beginners entering a new and technical field like data science can be quite daunting. 

So how companies present themselves and guide you through the first steps of using the site can be instrumental in shaping your experience. 

With Datacamp, this is done very well. 

Everything was laid out clearly, the choices of learning were made obvious and as a beginner, I knew what courses were available that were at my speed. 

Who Datacamp is for

Data science is becoming a bigger part of our world every day, so there are lots of people who would benefit from trying it out.

This includes but isn’t limited to:

• Anyone looking to make a career jump into data 
• Beginners aiming to ease their way into data and computer science 
• Managers and entrepreneurs who want to upskill their time 
• Learners who prefer a combination of practical exercises and taught lessons 
• Data scientists looking for spaces to practice and try out projects and assignments
• Anyone with a general interest in coding and the world of data 

How to Take DataCamp Courses

One cool thing about DataCamp is that they don’t have any prerequisites! You just need to have a verified account and a thirst for knowledge.

Find a comfortable place for studying and start surfing through the hundreds of courses.

Once you find a course that catches your eye, click on it, and a list of videos and resources of that course will be displayed on another page.

The videos are listed in order, so you should stick to the particular order to avoid mixing up.

If you’re accessing the platform through the basic free plan, you’d only have access to the first chapter of every course. It’s beneficial because you can go take a peek into multiple courses and have an idea about most of them before deciding on a year-long subscription.

The courses also have hands-on practice exercises and real-world scenarios, which you can use to polish your skills after you’re done with the videos.

DataCamp Features Explained

Let’s dive deep into all the features of DataCamp so that it becomes easy for you to decide whether or not you should invest in it:

Low complexity

The user interface and general layout of DataCamp’s website are fairly easy to navigate compared to other portals with hefty amounts of search filters that only make things difficult for the user. With DataCamp, you don’t even need any other person’s assistance because everything is designed to be self-explanatory and easy to access. From making an account to billing and eventually learning new things every day, DataCamp tries to facilitate you in every regard. It also has search filters that you can set up yourself to make your surfing easy and efficient.

Diverse accessibility

While its recommended to take a course in a quiet and study-appropriate space, there is no restriction on accessing the platform in one specific way. You can log in to your account from almost any device, be it your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Vast accessibility empowers you to gain knowledge without compromising on your daily schedule. Since the videos vary in duration, you can fit any one of them to listen to during transit or even a boring function. You can also have a mobile-only subscription!

Community building

The DataCamp Workspace is an online space where you can put your coding and data analyzing skills to practice. Once you’re assertive about your techniques, you can even share this space with other students and get feedback.

Apart from that, the portal also has a community of alumni and experts, where you can connect with like-minded people and collaborate even after you’re done with the courses.

Industrial value

Having course completion certificates on your resume is sure to increase its value and make your more attractive to potential employers.

Can I buy Datacamp as a gift?

Datacamp doesn’t offer gift options. 

There are no gift cards or promos available and there isn’t the option to purchase an individual course for someone. 

However, if there is someone who you think would be the ideal user of Datacamp then you can purchase a subscription yourself and give them your sign in details. 

Is Datacamp legit?

With all of this on offer, it seems too good to be true that Datacamp offers all this education for the fees they charge. 

However, although we learn in different ways and have different preferences, I’m sure everyone can agree that Datacamp is a legitimate site. 

Having tried Datacamp myself, I can definitely confirm this is true. 

The platform was established a while ago and has since gone on to have over 10 million users as well as partnering with world-renowned companies. 

The courses offered will tell you the instructors before you enroll, so there is always the chance to look them up and see their credentials for yourself. 

Datacamp refund

Datacamp does not offer a refund policy. 

So any purchase you make will not be eligible for a refund. 

If you believe that there is a valid case for you to be exempt from this no refund policy get in contact with the Datacamp team. 

You can email them at [email protected] or submit a ticket with the Help Center.

Frequently asked questions

Get Started with DataCamp

Ready to give DataCamp a try so you can take your data skills to the next level?

Click here to get started with DataCamp today.

For a limited time, you can save up to 60% on a full year’s subscription to Datacamp! Click here for the details and latest promos.

Have any questions about our DataCamp review? Leave a comment below.