Coding apps reviewed: 6 apps for learning programming

A lesson on DataCamp rarely lasts longer than ten minutes. You get a short video, followed immediately by an exercise. The exercise is half-finished in the editor, you fill in the blanks. That's exactly what I like about the concept. You never sit there just watching for twenty minutes. The progress bar at the top fills up, which is more motivating than expected. After four exercises, a chapter is complete.

What surprised me at first: The error messages are friendly. If your code doesn't run, the system explains the reason to you. You can get hints step by step, first a tip, then the solution. If that's not enough, you ask the AI tutor. It answers in full sentences and adapts to your pace. In my case, it clarified a wrong data type in two sentences.

In everyday use, there are two sticking points. First, you need internet, because the exercises run on the server. Downloads are barely possible; only individual videos work offline. On your phone on the train, that quickly becomes annoying. Second, there is no forum. If you get stuck, there is no community to catch you. You are dependent on the AI and the hints.

Language-wise, almost everything is in English. Subtitles are available in German, but they are generated by an AI. For terms like „data frame“, that doesn't matter. For longer explanations, it reads awkwardly. The platform navigation remains in English anyway. If your English is shaky, allow a bit more time.

DataCamp doesn't make it easy for you on pricing. On the German site, Premium is listed at 14 € per month. The catch is written small next to it: annual billing. If you pay monthly, it's 27 €. That's almost double. For teams, the same rate applies per person, Enterprise is available on request.

The first chapter of each course remains free for you, plus a career profile and the job board. That's fine for a taste. It's not enough for learning. The new AI tutor courses run on credits, Premium includes some. Anyone who uses a lot of them buys more. In my opinion, the annual subscription is only worth it if you really stick with it.

A Mimo lesson feels like a quiz with code. You read a short explanation, then sort blocks or type a line yourself. Wrong answers cost keys. If the keys are empty, you wait or watch an ad. Each correct answer gives XP, each learning day extends your streak. I find this principle motivating and annoying at the same time.

It gets really good in the Build area. There you create your own projects and run them directly on your phone. The AI coding tutor sits next to you and explains errors in understandable German. But that's exactly where the fun ends quickly in the free plan. The tutor is limited, and on the computer you only get two demo chapters.

In everyday use, there's another snag. Typing real code on a phone screen is tedious. Mimo knows that and only unlocks web access from Pro onwards. Anyone who wants to learn seriously ends up on a laptop eventually. Until then, streaks, leagues, and leaderboards keep you entertained. Once a month, Mimo repairs a broken streak for free, but only with a subscription.

My impression after a few weeks: Mimo guides you cleanly through the basics. Content-wise, the app covers Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and SQL. That's not enough for a first job in coding yet. That's exactly why Mimo sells the Max plan with live sessions, guided projects, and professional certificates. You can read my detailed assessment in the Mimo Review.

Mimo Basic remains free, and permanently at that. You learn on your phone, see ads, and use the AI tutor only to a limited extent. On the computer, two demo chapters are available. Mimo Pro costs €9.99 per month in the German App Store. The annual subscription is €79.99, which is approx. €6.67 per month. This removes ads and the key limit, and adds web access. Mimo Max is the expensive tier. The website lists $39.99 per month or $24.99 per month with annual billing. You can cancel where you subscribed. Honestly, Max is only worth it if you want to switch careers professionally.

A Sololearn lesson is shorter than an Instagram Story. You read two sentences, see a code example, and answer a question. Then comes the next bite. The explanations are kept simple, without jargon. On your way to work, you can easily complete three units. That's exactly where the strength lies, and exactly where the limit lies.

Mistakes cost you hearts. You start with a small number of them, and every wrong answer deducts one. If they're empty, you wait five hours or pay with Bits. You collect Bits through streaks and activity. I found it playful at first, after a week more patronizing. Anyone who wants to get through difficult chapters quickly hits a wall here.

The AI tutor Kodie takes some of that away. You type your question into the lesson and get an explanation. Kodie answers directly in the learning flow, you don't have to click anything away. That works well for syntax errors and decently for logical errors. For deeper questions, I still go to the community feed. There are many helpful people there, but also a lot of spam.

The compiler is the underestimated feature. You type a small Python script into your phone and press start. That's not enough for a real project. But it's enough for trying out an idea in the waiting room. You can directly open and modify code from the feed. That taught me more than some lessons. After about three months, I still felt like I had seen everything important.

Sololearn is the cheapest app in this round. For free you get all basic courses, the compiler, and the community. You pay with ads and limited hearts. Pro clears both away and unlocks practice material and progress analysis. In the German App Store, Pro is available for 13,49 € per month or 77,99 € per year.

One level higher is Max for 129,99 €. With it you get the AI courses on prompt engineering and data analysis. I consider Max only useful if you are interested in exactly this topic. For pure programming learning, Pro is sufficient. The prices change frequently because Sololearn likes to work with discounts.

An exercise on Codecademy feels like a guided dictation. On the left side are the instructions, step one to four. On the right is the editor, below the terminal. You complete step one, check it off, and are allowed to continue. The system reports errors immediately, often while you're still typing. This is convenient and protects beginners from the blank page.

But here lies the trap. After three courses, I had the feeling of working through instructions rather than thinking for myself. The projects at the end of a path catch up on that. There you get a task and an empty repository. The jump from the guided course to your own project is still huge. However, without a subscription, you cannot access these projects.

The AI assistant is the biggest change in recent years. You highlight a line and ask why it isn't working. The answer comes in understandable English and usually hits the mark. Free users have five questions per day, after which a timer counts down 24 hours. From my experience, five questions are quickly used up on a bad evening. After that, you're sitting alone again in front of your red terminal.

What bothers me in everyday use is the language. Courses, app, and assistant speak English. Technical terms are no problem, longer explanatory texts are. The Codecademy Go app is suitable for reviewing with flashcards. I wouldn't work through entire chapters on my phone. Learning on a computer is much more fun.

Codecademy now has four tiers, and that's confusing. Basic costs nothing. Plus is 14,99 € per month, Pro is 17,99 €. Both prices only apply with an annual subscription. If you book monthly, you pay 29,99 € or 35,99 €. At the top is All Access for 45,99 € per month, also annually.

In the App Store, you see the same subscriptions as annual packages. Plus costs 178,99 € there, Pro 214,99 €. I find the range steep, especially because Basic offers so little. Without a subscription, you get introductory courses, cheatsheets, and five AI questions per day. Certificates, projects, and career paths remain locked.

When you first open it, Programming Hub looks pleasingly tidy. You choose a language, work through short chapters, and answer test questions. In between, you land in the Coding Playground and run your own code. The compiler is really fast and supports over 35 languages. A chapter consists of explanatory text, an illustration, and a handful of questions. After ten minutes you have completed a topic.

Then comes the downer. The lessons are in English, and the German store texts read as if machine-translated. On Google Play the app is actually called "Programmier-Hub: Code lernen". Such details reveal a lot about its maintenance. The content is broad but shallow. It's sufficient for the basics, but not for a job interview. Assembly 8086 and VB.net still appear in the course list. Who would voluntarily learn that in 2026?

In everyday use, the ads bother me. Google Play lists the app as ad-supported, and users complain about constant prompts for the Pro membership. Certificates are only available after purchase. On Trustpilot, that exact point is a common criticism. There, the app only achieves 2.5 out of 5 stars from 42 reviews.

One plus point remains the library. Over 5000 ready-made code examples are a great reference work when you've forgotten a syntax. So as a cheat sheet in your pocket, the app is definitely useful. As a sole learning path, it is not, in my opinion. At least it stays slim at 128 megabytes and starts quickly. All details are in my Programming Hub Review.

The price list is a bit of a mess. In the German App Store, Apple lists ten different in-app purchases. The one-month coding pass costs €9.99. For one year, several variants appear, from €19.99 to €24.49 to €30.99. Which one you see depends on the current discount promotion. Lifetime access is €49.99, a lifetime upgrade is €19.99. At the top is a package of course and certificate for €149.99. Certificates are tied to the Pro membership. I would wait for lifetime access, preferably on sale. Before buying, check which offer the app is currently showing you. A monthly subscription is hardly worth it here.

Where DataCamp throws you directly into real code, Brilliant is more extensive. Before you even get to a programming language, you often first train the underlying logical thinking, with puzzles, diagrams, and small interactive simulations. It takes longer to get to your first line of code, but builds an understanding that pure tutorial typing rarely achieves.

The Python courses themselves are well-structured and build on each other, including tasks on data structures and simple algorithms. For complete coding beginners with reasonable English, this is a very solid foundation; I just don't think the detour through pure logic preparation is necessary for everyone. If you already know you want Python, you'll get to the goal faster with Mimo or Codecademy.

The price remains the biggest drawback. 18.99 € per month or an annual subscription that varies between approx. 96 € and 120 € depending on the promotion is a lot to ask for a single app. You should definitely use the seven-day trial access before you commit.

Brilliant itself is free to download, you can work through the first lessons of each course without a subscription. For full access, Premium in the German App Store costs at least €18.99 per month. For the annual subscription, I've seen prices between €95.99 and €119.99 depending on the promotional period, which works out to approx. €8 to €10 per month. A seven-day trial access lets you try out beforehand whether the learning method suits you at all.