Leetcode Review – Is It Good Enough for Interviews?

Is Leetcode good enough for an interview? It may be easy to answer a yes or a no to these questions. 

However, you’ll miss most of the information you need to make an informed decision, especially what to expect from the platform.

Before diving into the details, you should know that Preparing for your interview all by yourself could drastically raise the learning curve and limit your odds of quickly landing a great job.

One way to put the odds in your favor during an interview is by leveraging online interview prep platforms. These platforms take away the stress of figuring out what to learn and provide you with curated learning plans and questions.

Online Interview prep platforms have stepped in to fill this gap, and there are several interview prep websites on the internet with proven records of effectiveness. Some popular ones are Tech interview pro, Leetcode, Hackerrank, Algoexpert, etc.

Below is a quick review of the Leetcode. It walks you through some of the benefits that come with the platform. Plus, you’ll get an answer about whether it is good enough for interview prep.

Also, you’ll find a recommendation that points you to a much better alternative that provides you with more interview prep values than your money can buy.

With that said, let’s jump right in.

What is Leetcode?

Leetcode is an online interview prep platform with over one thousand four hundred interview questions. 

It provides the tools and interfaces for programmers and software engineers to practice interview questions they’re likely to encounter during their interview.

Interestingly, most of the questions featured on leetcode are actual questions asked during job interviews. They are submitted by users who have undergone a job interview and want others to know what to expect.

Leetcode was founded in 2015 by Hercy Chang, who wanted to provide an effective interview prep tool to programmers looking to land their dream job. 

Since its inception in 2015, the platform has grown to over 5 million registered users, recording a presence in China in 2017.

A recent report on leetcode shows that the platform enjoyed over 20 million website visits in the past month, making it one of the most visited interview prep platforms on the internet, with the likes of Tech interview pro, hackerrank, Algoexperts, etc.

Over the years, Leetcode has distinguished itself by offering free interview prep questions, tools, and solutions to budding programmers seeking help with their preparation.

Thousands of Programmers who landed a position at FAANG have attributed their success to the experience with Leetcode. However, it does not mean that the leetcode is all roses, no thorns.

Later, you’ll discover some of the platform’s downsides and how to maximize your interview prep investment by opting for a more robust interview prep option, like Tech interview pro.

Who is it for?

A quick search for interview prep platforms would bring up leetcode, among others. Who is leetcode? Below are some categories of users who would find the Leetcode interview prep platform useful

Intermediate Programmers

Intermediate programmers would benefit a lot from leetcode. The platform may be too advanced for beginners owing to the seeming assumption that you need to have some fundamental knowledge before you go on a prep platform. 

Therefore, intermediate programmers with experience with interview questions would easily navigate the platform and get the solution to the questions.

Advanced Programmers

Programmers with years of experience would also find value on the platform, especially if you are at the point of seeking another position that would require you to take job interviews. 

Leetcode is flexible enough and allows you to jump into the question without the distractions of explanations and texts. Besides, you can also visit the discussion board to search for targeted solutions to some problematic questions.

Job Applicants

One of the features on leetcode allows the interviewer invites users to participate in an online assessment. 

Therefore, programmers looking for job opportunities would find this feature helpful because it also increases your chance of getting the job you seek.

Students

leetcode also works well for college students, especially those in their finals. It’s best to start working on your interview prep while you still have enough time to factor in the trial and errors. 

When you are out of school, time starts ticking against you, and you don’t have the time to experiment to find what works for you. 

Besides, as a student, you can access several benefits to help you pay for the course without spending anything out of pocket. 

Also, you can pull resources from your friends and colleagues to get the premium version, and you can all rotate the login details.

Organizations

Even though leetcode is designed to provide interview solutions to applicants, it also has features that serve the corporate world. 

For example, companies looking to hire talents can use the interview assessment tools of the platform to organize a virtual interview session for prospective programmers for their organizations.

Leetcode Features – What is inside?

Leetcode is arguably one of the most versatile interview prep courses on the internet: after the likes of Tech interview pro. Despite some profound limitations, the platform still offers some novel features that enhance users’ interview people experience. 

Below are some features you may expect to find when using the platform. Some of the features on leetcode Plattform contribute to your learning experience, while some other parts are better left out.

Robust Library Of Questions

Leetcode’s collection of questions is the most noticeable feature of the platform. It features one of the largest libraries of interview questions on the internet: second only to Hackerrank.

The over one thousand interview questions cover every possible interview question you may encounter in a real-life interview session. The questions are grouped according to difficulty level, from easy to hard.

Filter Tools

The filter tools featured on leetcode are pretty sophisticated. However, the volume of questions on the platform could quickly become intimidating.

However, with the filter tool, you can select the kinds of questions you’d like to see, and the platform would limit you to questions in that category. This tool is helpful to first-time users who may find it hard to navigate the questions.

The Company-Specific Search Feature

Leetcode views questions in the library according to the companies that often ask those questions.

The downside, however, is that you have to be a premium member to use this feature. Nevertheless, with the tool, you can easily choose to work on the questions relevant to your dream company.

Discussion Forum

The discussion board is another feature that sets leetcode apart from other interview prep platforms. However, platforms like Hackerrank and Tech Interview Pro feature more sophisticated forums and community integration.

With the leetcode discussion forum, users can share their experiences, thoughts, suggestions, and solutions or ask questions from other users and get answers. 

Also, the search feature of the discussion board allows you to search the comments and find answers to questions you have but have been answered on the platform.

Integrated Development Environment

Leetcode comes with an integrated development environment, where users execute the codes they are working on to see the results. It also supports more than one language.

Multiple Programming Languages

Leetcode IDE supports multiple programming languages. You can choose to solve any problem you’re working on using the language you know. 

It supports Python, Java, Kotlin, C, C#, C++, Javascript, Typescript, Scala, Ruby, Go, Swift, PHP, etc. Leetcode IDE features one of the most prominent programming languages of all the online interview prep platforms.

The sort by Frequency Feature

This feature is unique to leetcode. But it is only available to premium users. It allows you to view questions based on how often they come up in life interview sessions.

Even though you are not likely to get the same questions in your interview, the pattern that applies in the solution to these frequently asked questions also applies to any other similar question.

Leetcode Benefits and Pros 

Users leveraging leetcode for interview prep stand to benefit immensely from its rich features. Here are some benefits you can expect from the platform.

A Large Number Of Interview Questions

Leetcode and Hackerrank are arguably the platforms with the most extensive library of questions.

This platform boasts a database of up to one thousand five hundred questions. While this may not mean automatic success for users, it goes a long way towards providing a variety of perspectives, patterns, and experiences for users.

Mock Assessment

Mock assessment is available to premium users. The evaluation is grouped according to companies, giving you an experience of what to expect.

Community

Like most online interview pro platforms, leetcode features a community where programmers can interact and share ideas. 

Another prominent feature of the community is the search bar that allows you to search for possible hints to the questions you are solving.

Free Version

Leetcode’s free version is the most recognized benefit of the platform. It won the hearts of programmers from across the globe by offering them a way to practice for an interview without paying any fee. 

The free version is still available to date but with immense restrictions and limited features.

Video Solution

Some of the solutions on leetcode come with explainer videos that review the underlying topic. The goal is to help users brush up on their knowledge of the subject.

Solution Article

Each question on the platform provides a short article that goes over various approaches to the questions.

Interview Opportunities On The Platform

Leetcode users stand a chance of getting invited for interviews. However, you can’t compare the interview opportunity on Leetcode to platforms like hackerrank specifically designed to provide this kind of service.

Leetcode Downsides and Cons 🤬👎

The benefits, features, and tools with leetcode are second to none. It is one of the most versatile interview prep platforms on the internet. 

However, there are several limitations on the platform that prevent users from reaping the full benefits of the platform.

Leetcode Is Not Beginner-Friendly

While leetcode holds immense value for programmers, a beginner may face a steep learning curve. 

If you are a beginner hoping to land an entry-level job or don’t have a strong programming background and want to transition into programming, leet code is not the best option for you. 

Instead, it’s best to opt for platforms like Tech interview Pro. 

Leetcode assumes that users are already skilled enough to attempt the questions on the platform. Therefore, most of the questions are structured for high-level programmers.

Sparsely Structured Questions

Leetcode questions are only grouped at a high level into categories like an array, strings, dynamic programming, etc. 

So it’s up to the learner to develop a strategy to help guide their learning experience. 

The downside here is that learners risk falling into decision paralysis, given the vast library of questions available on the platform.

Complicated Questions

Some questions in the complex category of Leetcode are needlessly complicated. 

The downside of these questions is that solving them may not add any value to you or increase your capacity to ace an interview question in the future.

In most cases, you are unlikely to encounter this question or anyone similar to it. The purpose of interview prep questions is to help applicants develop their ability to recognize patterns in problems. 

Unfortunately, these complex questions do not achieve anything near that.

Inadequate Video Explanations

Even though the video explanations of leetcode are good, some are low quality, and some questions that should have video explanations do not feature them. 

Leetcode is focused on providing interview solutions. However, not everyone taking an interview prep comes from a core programming background. 

Programming video explanation drives home the point for users who may be unfamiliar with the topic.

Complex Ui/Ux

The interface is quite clumsy and unintuitive. As a result, users may find it hard going from one page to another on the platform. In addition, newbies may find it stressful staying on the platform for too long.

The Ide Is Quite Boring

If you are looking for a fancy IDE like you’ll find in Algoexpert or hackerrank, you may be slightly disappointed with the Leetcode idea. 

It features a straight view with no perks or intuitive features. Even though it imitates a real-life interview experience, it bores the mind.

Not Gamified

Gamification improves the desire to work towards a goal. Given the load of questions to work on Leetcode, it is best to incorporate some form of gamification. 

For example, platforms like Algoexpert feature a progress bar to gamify the prep process. 

And tech Interview pro features a Facebook community and bi-weekly life sessions, which also help gamify the learning process. Unlike  Leetcode is more streamlined towards heavy work and no motivation.

Poorly Integrated Hint Feature

If you are the kind of person that thrives on help and support, you may need to brace up for some disappointment. 

The only hint you’ll get on leetcode comes when you want to view the solution or visit the community. Generally, interview prep platforms should provide suggested steps to the solution in the IDE.

Is Leetcode good for getting a job?

It may be tricky to answer this question, given what is entailed in landing a job as a programmer. 

However, to get the most out of the platform, you must have experience with interview or prep platforms. Ideally, you may need to be at an intermediate level to benefit from the site. 

Also, Leetcode is more tailored towards programmers who are self-starters. Invariably, programmers who can come up with a study strategy and stick with it. 

However, if you are someone that does better with hand-holding learning methods, you may find Leetcode a little too advanced for you. 

Therefore, it is best to get humane prep platforms designed for your personality, which is suggested below.

Leetcode Premium Cost? 

Leetcode offers both the premium and free versions of the platform. In addition, the bonus gives users access to specialized tools that make it easy to navigate the forum and get the most of all the benefits offered on the site.

There are two payment arrangements in the leetcode subscription plan. The first plan is the monthly subscription that costs $35 per month. 

It is best for short-term users who need a brush-up on the possible questions for their upcoming interview. Subscribers can access the website’s features for 30 days.

Also, there is a yearly plan. Users subscribed to the annual plan get 365 days of unrestricted access to the leetcode premium features. 

In addition, the annual subscription costs $159, which is 60% cheaper than the monthly plan.

Is Leetcode Good Enough for Interviews?

There is no denial of the value of leetcode. On the contrary, thousands of programmers attribute their success in interviews to using the leetcode platform. 

So the question of whether leetcode is good would attract a resounding yes. However, asking whether it is enough may raise some doubts, especially if you’re just starting your career as a programmer.

Landing a great job and advancing your programming career requires more than your ability to write code that works. Several soft skills are essential to your employers that you can’t learn via the Leetcode platform.

Fortunately, most of the soft skills your employee would be watching out for in you are already innate. But you must have these skills during an interview. And, your leetcode lacks resources that could help you achieve this end.

On leetcode, you’ll find solid interview questions that will help your interview. However, if you need to be at your best during your consultation, you need a platform that guarantees you all-around preparation: even beyond coding and skills development.

You need insider tips relevant to the company you are You choose. Second, you need to review your resume and optimize it to stand out from the thousands of resumes submitted to the same company. 

Third, you need all your doubts cleared. Finally, it would be best to have the right mindset and perspective before going through the interview process.

You need to go through a mock test and see how you’ll perform in a life situation. You need to relate with people already in the company of your choice. These people would you what to expect during your interview.

It may surprise you that you won’t find all this on Leetcode. Most of what you’ll learn on leetcode would be self-paced and self-coordinated: even for the premium plan.

The only way to make the most of your investment in Leetcode is to use it in combination with other interview prep platforms. 

However, suppose you don’t have the kind of resources to sample multiple interview prep course platforms. In that case, you can opt for an alternative interview prep course platform that offers all the benefits of Leetcode and much more.

Better Alternative – Tech Interview Pro

Despite the widespread acclaim, benefits, and values of leetcode, it still has grave limitations in the human touch, insider information, non-tech skills development, networking opportunities, etc.

Landing a job at a tech company does not depend only on your coding skills. It also requires you to have other competencies and qualities that show you have a promising future with the company and your career.

While leetcode helps you prepare well for the coding interview, it leaves your soft skills to chance. If you want to maximize your investment in an interview prep course, you may want to consider going for a better alternative: Tech Interview Pro.

Tech Interview Pro was launched in 2017 by Patrick Shyu, popularly known as Techlead. Unlike Leetcode, tech interview pro has all the benefits and features, plus the human side of your interview process. Below is a quick rundown of what is inside the Tech interview pro and how it stacks up against Leetcode.

Ui/Ux

Unlike the bulky and clumsy interface of leetcode, Tech interview pro comes with a simple design, interface, and information structure. 

So it doesn’t matter if you’re visiting the page for the first time; you can hit the ground running because the design is intuitive and focuses on getting you where you’re going within a short time.

Human Touch And Help

Tech interview pro is a human-focused platform that provides all the help you need to ace any coding interview. 

It is not a DIY platform like Leetcode, where all your learning and progress is up to you. Instead, Tech interview pro is designed to work like a course where TechLead himself is your instructor, mentor, and guide. 

He makes all his years of experience available to you and consistent principles and helps you through the process of preparing to perform at your best.

Resume Review

What’s the point of getting an interview prep course if you won’t even stand a chance to get noticed? 

With help from the tech interview pro team, you would be able to get your resume to the top of the stack. They help users fine-tune their resumes and present their best selves to the reviewer.

Soft Skills Training

When you’re getting hired, companies hire you not for the immediate value you bring to the organization alone; they also look for your potential and what your ultimate value to the company would be in the future. 

Tech Interview Pro helps you hone your soft skills and showcase them to the interviewer.

Optimized Hints And Solution

One may get stuck when trying to solve complex coding questions, especially when your mind is fixated on interview scenarios. 

Unlike leetcode, where the hints are provided along with the solution, Tech Interview Pro provides the tips you need to solve within the IDE. 

In addition, it helps jumpstart your thinking process and allows you to solve the problem yourself.

Over 150+ Episodes Of Video Training

If you don’t have any experience with coding interviews or what it entails, the video training on Tech interview pro has you covered. It is a total of 20 hours of video that you can consume while sitting. 

The platform is also quite flexible. Advanced programmers can skip the training and get on with their prep. The training covers several programming topics, including algorithms, systems design, soft skills, tips for adequate preparation, etc.

One-On-One Session

In addition to the human touch available on the platform, users on tech interview pro can easily access TechLead via email. It is what sets it apart from a DIY platform like Leetcode.

FAANG Level Questions

TechLead brings his years of insider experience to work for users. He has spent several years working for virtually all the FAANG companies and served in positions that allowed him to interview hundreds of candidates.

Fast-Track Learning Program

One of the most important mantras of Tech interview pro is its fast-track learning program. The focus is not on getting you to dig through thousands of interview questions. 

Instead, it is to get you to learn what is essential to reaching your goal. The goal is not to become proficient at answering interview questions. 

Instead, you want to land your dream job, and a tech interview pro is committed to helping you achieve the goal. Therefore, all the features and benefits are streamlined to help you get there as fast as possible.

Bi-weekly life Q&A

Tech Interview Pro’s bi-weekly life Q and A sessions are more like a trademark. 

Many programmers have recognized TechLead’s commitment to providing all the help applicants may need. These sessions are designed to answer questions unrelated to coding or interview.

Facebook Community

Unlike Leetcode’s community limited to the platform forum, Tech interview pro offers a better Facebook community where users can network, interact, increase their Rolodex, and have the human touch with people on the journey with them.

Pricing

Various pricing plans offer access to Tech interview pro’s juicy perks. However, the most interesting of all the subscriptions is the $997 plan that gives you lifetime access to the platform. Meaning you own the access for as long as you want.

You can leverage this opportunity for every future job transition. Unfortunately, most platforms, including leetcode, only give you monthly or yearly access. 

When you compound the cost over time, it amounts to a sizable payment.

It’s best to think long-term about the course, training, or coaching prices. What if you need a job transition someday? Most tech interview prep platforms often get it wrong with their pricing models.

Rather than owning this platform for a few months, it’s best to hold it for as long as you’ll remain in the coding field. You may need to brush up on your knowledge in the future, and the prices at that time may be unbearable.

Conclusion

The main idea of learning with an interview prep platform is to help you develop efficient problem-solving approaches and methods that you can adapt to solve any unfamiliar questions in the same category.

You can’t land any significant tech company job without going through coding interviews that test your programming proficiency, experience, and competence. 

However, having a clear strategy that helps you manage the efficiency of your coding interview prep could mean the difference between success and failure.

Frequently, most programmers fail to reach their best performances as they go through the interview process because of inadequate preparation. 

While they may have armed themselves with programming geniuses, they lack other soft skills required to put them ahead of the pack. You don’t want to fall victim to this mistake.

It also follows that preparing with the right tools, platforms, and courses will stack the odds in your favor. 

Tech interview pro is, by far, the best platform you’ll find online, with all the tools, features, training, and solutions you need for your interview success.

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