The best coding practice platforms, according to hackers
8 coding practice platforms were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 3 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended coding practice platforms with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Sparked love of programming
Recommended for math-and-code puzzles that reward deep thinking and show how others solved them. Caveat: later problems need heavy math, and explanations are thin.
Fun, enjoyable puzzles
Free yearly set of programming puzzles that people use for fun, for learning new languages, and for sharpening problem-solving skills. Some critics say heavy string parsing makes it a weak way to learn most languages.
Builds real engineering skills and confidence
Guided challenges that break down building things like Git or Redis from scratch, in your own editor. Some challenges are paid, and projects run on your machine.
All 8 coding practice platforms, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeetCode | 50 | 63 | 44% | 11 | — | — |
| 2 | Project Euler | 45 | 6 | 88% | 5 | 12 yrs9 owners | Approved |
| 3 | Advent of Code | 31 | 5 | 86% | 6 | 4 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| 4 | Codecrafters | 14 | 3 | 82% | 4 | — | Approved |
| 5 | AlgoDrill | 13 | 12 | 52% | 1 | — | — |
| 6 | Exercism | 6 | 2 | 75% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | NeetCode | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | CodinGame | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same coding practice platform in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to coding practice platforms that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.