# Codecrafters

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/codecrafters/

13 people recommended Codecrafters in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 8 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** 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.

Summary written by Claude from 14 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 12 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Builds real engineering skills and confidence (3 comments in the sample): "Codecrafter has helped me learn new skills and gain confidence as a developer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48246489)) "so that their engineers ramp up their design and architecture skills" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48245781)) "I definitely became a better engineer with the help of CodeCrafters." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48247114))
- Teaches learning over memorizing solutions (2 comments in the sample): "a better version of leetcode that actually incentivizes users to learn and not just cram solutions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48245843)) "It doesn't spoon feed you what to do, but breaks it down into manageable chunks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46396501))
- Hard to replace if it disappears (1 comment in the sample): "Platforms like Codecrafters will be badly missed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48248001))

## What people warn about

- Many challenges require paid membership (1 comment in the sample): "Not sure why this ad (access needs paid membership) is the top comment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46629446))

## Other coding practice platforms people recommend

- [Project Euler](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-euler/): 39 recommend, 6 mixed, 6 criticize
- [LeetCode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/leetcode/): 32 recommend, 17 mixed, 57 criticize
- [Advent of Code](https://hackerapproved.com/p/advent-of-code/): 25 recommend, 4 mixed, 5 criticize
- [Exercism](https://hackerapproved.com/p/exercism/): 6 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://codecrafters.io/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Codecrafters", https://hackerapproved.com/p/codecrafters/ (13 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.