2025 Best Coding
Bootcamps

The Demand for Software Developers and Coding Professionals

Key Takeaways

• Strong Demand for software developers, data scientists, and more: The tech industry, especially startups, still maintains a positive outlook. As companies scale, they need highly skilled software developers, creating a growing demand for coders with expertise in languages like Python, JavaScript, and cloud computing.
• High Earning Potential: Software engineers, especially those with specialized skills in fields like generative AI, can command high salaries. The median salary for software engineers is $147,000 annually, with specialists in emerging technologies like machine learning bringing in even more.
• Coding Bootcamp Advantages: Coding bootcamps offer a faster and more cost-effective alternative to traditional four-year computer science degrees. With programs averaging 12–24 weeks, bootcamps are designed to quickly equip students with the practical skills needed to secure high-paying tech jobs, often at a fraction of the cost and time commitment of a college program.
• Flexibility in Learning: Coding bootcamps are available in various formats, including full-time, part-time, online, and hybrid programs, providing flexibility for different learning styles and schedules. This adaptability makes bootcamps accessible to a wide range of students, whether they are entering the workforce or balancing a current job.
• Importance of Career Support: Many bootcamps offer extensive career services, including job placement assistance, resume coaching, interview prep, and alumni networks. These resources are invaluable in helping students transition into the workforce and land jobs in competitive tech fields. Choosing a bootcamp with strong post-graduation support can significantly impact job placement success.

Despite recent slowdowns, tech is still growing, from startups to established businesses, and even in non-tech fields that are increasingly digitizing their work, such as healthcare and finance. Because of this, coding bootcamps have flourished over the last several years. Designed with the goal of helping people gain a tech education with less time and a lower price tag, they offer programs covering a vast array of fields—from an in-person, full-stack web development course to an online software engineering bootcamp, and from a part-time program to a full-time immersive coding bootcamp in software development. With so many options, it's possible for someone to find a coding course that works best for them, whether they're looking for a career transformation with no coding experience or are hoping to build advanced skills in order to excel within their current field.

With startups in particular, in order to meet product growth targets at those companies, internal recruiters need to bring on the type of programmer who understands more than one programming language and whose coding skills are well-developed. This makes sense: If the market competition is fierce and budgets are limited, why not recruit a full-stack coding bootcamp grad who’s spent the last 4-6 months fully immersed in software development, web development, machine learning, or data science?Tech jobs are still in extremely high demand—in fact, a recent Forbes analysis ranked software development as the highest-paying, most in-demand job for 2025.1 The Bureau of Labor Statistics holds a similar outlook, as they project an 18% job growth rate through 2033 for software developers, alongside an even larger growth rate for data science roles at 36% (both “much faster” than the national average of 4%).2,3

Then there’s the global adoption of cloud technologies. With the entire world adjusting to a fully remote or hybrid setup in 2020, it’s no wonder that demand for tech skills is through the roof. As more money is invested in the cloud, it may also be driving demand for data science professionals as well. High paying skills include:

• Generative AI
• SoC
• Torch
• PyTorch

And this is reflected in potential wages. As of April 2025, jobs in software engineering bring in a median annual salary of $147,000, according to Glassdoor, and that can only increase with the addition of other in-demand skills.4 Once machine learning is added, the median annual salary goes up to $195,000 per year.5

Characteristics of the Best Coding Bootcamps

So the demand for a software developer, web developer, and more with premiere coding skills is there. But what makes the best experience for a student?

• Structured learning environments with other bootcamp students: In a distracting world, holding yourself accountable is difficult for many learners. As you advance from data or engineering principles to the more advanced concepts, a structure that works well for you is incredibly important. The top coding bootcamps foster a collaborative environment, even when fully online, so you can keep yourself motivated and on-track, bond with your peers, and have an opportunity to work through practical exercises and difficult problem sets with fellow students.
• Coding bootcamp cost: Many aspiring software engineers or developers review cost and testimonials (word-of-mouth referrals from boot camp grads) as a key reason for why they chose a coding bootcamp. On average, a full-time bootcamp can be completed in about 12 weeks, and a part-time program in 24, as opposed to the four years it would take to get a computer science bachelor’s degree.6 And with an average cost of around $13,274, it’s also a much less expensive option.7 Couple these benefits with scholarships, flexible payment plans, private loans, and income-share agreements, and bootcamps look more and more attractive to a generation of students whose undergraduate tuition has increased by more than 100% over a 20-year period.8 However, this makes choosing a reputable coding bootcamp incredibly important, as their university degree counterparts are “vetted and accredited” each year, whereas many coding bootcamps are not.
• Programming bootcamp alumni network: Alumni networks are always great resources to tap into, but as you advance in your career less and less people take advantage of them. We see the strengths and weaknesses of alumni networks in coding bootcamps similar to any other alumni network—your individual ability to network will be key to making it work for you. Many coding bootcamps advertise big graduate numbers to entice applicants, but your ability to develop relationships with other students in an online coding bootcamp is fundamental.
• Flexibility of learning in a full-time and part-time bootcamp: Coding bootcamps offer learning flexibility for two reasons. First, everyone learns differently. This is true regardless of whether the subject is business, journalism, biology, or tech-focused areas like coding, data science, or database management. Second, your individual circumstance plays a substantial role in deciding whether to choose a full-time coding bootcamp or keep a full-time job while you complete a part-time coding bootcamp at a reduced pace.
• Holistic curriculum: the best coding bootcamps focus on not only technical skills like programming languages, data structures, or functional vs. object-oriented programming, but also the soft skills that top tech companies look for such as communication, problem-solving, and attention to detail. Combining all of these through hands-on experience and practical training can better equip students to enter the job market and begin their career path in the tech world.

Spending the next 12–24 weeks in a coding school will be that much better if you take advantage of the benefits above.

Choosing the Best Coding Bootcamps

We believe that choosing the best coding bootcamp doesn’t have to be hard, but you have to ask the right questions.

Are you allotting the right amount of time to complete your program? If a part-time bootcamp is something you’re considering, you’ll need to weigh the benefits of completing a course sooner vs. spreading the classwork out a bit more and freeing your schedule for other commitments.

Being able to take inventory of your availability, strengths, and learning style will help prepare you for the coding bootcamp and be a huge help to your decision what bootcamps to choose and what disciplines to specialize in.

Does the bootcamp use verified data to report outcomes? One of the biggest challenges for a student enrolling in a coding school is estimating their return on investment. You likely want the time and money spent training to be (for example) a full-stack software developer and learning a difficult programming language to pay off in the form of a higher salary or better job. A ton of research on traditional four-year undergraduate programs exists (U.S. News Rankings, Princeton Review, etc.), but more independent verification for claims made by a coding bootcamp need to be performed. Fortunately, some bootcamp providers are starting to take a proactive approach to reporting their data. To better back up their claims, a more reputable bootcamp would contract with a third-party to perform an audit of their students’ outcomes. This audit would cover questions like:

• What percentage of bootcamp students graduate and of those who graduate, did they complete the program on the recommended timeline?
• Does the typical student secure a coding job in the field within six months of graduating?
• What percentage of students take advantage of job placement services?
• What percentage of students don’t take advantage of job placement, and would this have an impact on the success in finding a job?
• What is the average salary of a bootcamp graduate who accepts a position in the field after graduation?

Holding themselves accountable is smart. Many bootcamp students leave reviews on user-generated reviews websites, on local reviews websites (e.g. Google and Yelp), and on social media platforms such as Reddit, detailing their total experience. In that vein, a reputable coding bootcamp understands how important it is to ensure a student’s expectations and the claims they make closely line up. They believe a third-party audit shows they’re willing to disclose their job data to their classes. (Though an attentive eye should be paid to the questions the auditor asks the students and everything in fine print.)

We also highly recommend the bi-annual report from the Council on Integrity and Results Reporting (CIRR), a non-profit organization providing a standard for measuring the job placement claims made by these bootcamps, as well as verify the salary information of recent graduates.

What does the bootcamp do to prepare you for the real world? A creditable coding bootcamp is highly invested in placing students in jobs they’re both qualified for and that they enjoy doing. In order to prepare the student for life after becoming a bootcamp grad, schools often set a student up with a mentor or career coach to help draft a resume, practice job interviews, and provide other forms of career advice.

For example, Coding Dojo advertises lifetime access to their career services. Students that enroll in Coding Dojo gain access to resources such as interview prep materials, mock interviews, and job search assistance. General Assembly, meanwhile, partners with a global staffing firm to provide their graduates with career services such as networking events, workshops, and access to personal career coaches. Many other coding bootcamps provide similar programs, so take the time to research what's available at all your top options, how long you'll have access to them, and what past students have said about their efficacy.

Recommendations for Starting Your Research

Researching the best coding bootcamp for you can be a daunting experience. However, you can tackle this challenge in an organized manner.

Consider the following:

• Costs and funding options
• Location and flexibility
• Program length
• Curriculum
• Career support
• Reviews and online reputation

Funding options and costs go hand-in-hand. Eliminating programs that are both outside of your budget and that don’t offer financial aid, scholarships, employer sponsorships, or refunds is an easy way to eliminate schools that won’t fit your needs.

Then, focus on flexibility and location. Are you able to participate in an in-person or hybrid program? Would an online learning platform be best for you? This will also help to filter your options.

Program length would be the next variable to analyze. Are you currently working full-time or have other commitments? If so, you’ll want to consider a part-time bootcamp, which typically takes around 24 weeks to complete. If you’re not currently working and are able to devote weekdays to your studies, you can choose a full-time bootcamp, many of which are about 12 weeks long.

While most programs offer a similar curriculum, you can focus on programs that offer classes that pique your interest and that match the skills most sought-after in your preferred field.

How much career support will you utilize? Some programs help with job placement, whereas others may offer interview prep, resume workshops, or networking events.

Finally, be sure to thoroughly research the reputation of every bootcamp on your list, so that you can be confident it has a proven track record of benefiting students, and that past learners had a positive experience in the program.

Start Your Journey to Finding the Best Coding Bootcamps for You

Now that you have a handle on how to find the best coding bootcamp for your goals, situation, and learning style, it’s time to start your journey.

Sources:

1https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2025/02/11/high-paying-in-demand-jobs-for-2025-revealed-in-new-study/

2https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm#tab-6

3https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/data-scientists.htm#tab-6

4https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/software-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,17.htm

5https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/machine-learning-software-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,34.htm

6https://careerkarma.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-coding/

7https://careerkarma.com/blog/state-of-the-bootcamp-market-report-2024-statistics-and-share-analysis/

8https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities