Best coding bootcamps in San Francisco

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the main tech hubs in the world for innovative technology companies. Hundreds of tech companies have chosen to set up their headquarters in San Francisco due in part to the wonderful ecosystem that supports them. Countless development events take place in the Bay Area every year and there are also many incubator and accelerator programs established there. As one of the tech meccas of the world, it’s no surprise it also has some of the best programming courses out there. In this article, we’ll take a look at the 5 best coding bootcamps in San Francisco.

Hack Reactor

Tony Philips founded Hack Reactor in 2012. His idea was to use an immersion approach inspired by his language-learning experience in Korea. In 2018, the project was acquired by Galvanize and expanded to campuses in other US cities, including Austin, New York and Seattle. Since opening, Hack Reactor has taught over 5000 students and over 2000 companies have hired their graduates.

The San Francisco academy offers an intense software engineering coding bootcamp both onsite and remotely. The core course is 12 weeks long, but Hack Reactor also offers 5-7 weeks of prep, 80 hours of pre-course self-study and career and job search services after finishing the bootcamp. If you don’t have the time for such an immersive course, the remote version also has a part-time 9-month option. During the course, you will learn about full-stack JavaScript development and application design, with the option to also explore blockchain technology.

Tuition for the bootcamp amounts to $17,980, but there are scholarship and financing options available. You can also enter into an income share agreement through which you will pay most of the tuition once you are employed. Even if the cost seems a bit steep, keep in mind that Hack Reactor has quite a high hiring rate within six months of completing the program and an average salary of $91,000 for graduates.
If you are interested in Hack Reactor’s coding bootcamp, you can apply here.

Rithm School

Rithm School was co-founded by educators and developers Elie Schoppik, Tim Garcia and Matt Lane. Their San Francisco coding bootcamp is 16-week long. Classes have a maximum of 18 students with one instructor every five students and focus on JavaScript and Python.
The program is project-based which means that, in addition to gaining coding knowledge, you will also be building your own portfolio. There are also 60-80 hours of pre-work on technology such as Bootstrap, Git and HTML available.

Classes for Rithm School’s 16-week boot camp are held Monday to Friday from 9 to 6 and include lectures, sprints, work on projects and job applications. The topics covered here include front-end development, full-stack web development, applications with React and Node.js, company projects and computer science. You will also receive plenty of support to find a job after graduation.

Tuition is $23,000 (plus a $1,000 deposit), but you can also apply for a loan, or defer part or all your tuition until you become employed. However, if you aren’t ready to make a financial commitment, Rithm School also offers free online courses. When it comes to results, 76% of students are hired within 90 days of completing the course with a median salary of $115,000, making it one of the best coding bootcamps in San Francisco. Some of the hiring companies include Google, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Apple.

Hackbright Academy

Founded in 2012, Hackbright Academy is an engineering school solely for women. In addition to its 12-week software engineering program, the school offers a 5-week prep course and a Python 101 course. Its software engineering program is also available part-time and includes work on core programming, data structure, APIs and web technologies, and covers technologies such as JavaScript, Python, Flask and PostgreSQL.

Meanwhile, Hackbright Academy’s prep course covers Python, iteration and debugging among other topics. Moreover, in addition to the paid Python 101 course, the school also offers free Python learning modules. Hackbright Academy’s software engineering program is available both remotely and onsite in San Francisco. Tuition costs $12,900-$14,900 and there are payment plans (including deferred tuition) available, as well as scholarships to help you cover part of the cost.

Over 900 women have graduated from Hackbright Academy’s coding bootcamp and are currently working at more than 100 tech companies, including GitHub, Uber and Slack. The school also has a strong alumni network and offers career development and mentorship programs. If this seems like the right fit, you can apply to their coding bootcamp here.

App Academy

App Academy offers a 16 and 24-week software engineering immersive course, available online and onsite in San Francisco and New York. Even though both programs share the same goal, they differ in more than their length. For instance, the 16-week one has fewer students per class, is cheaper, and includes work on Ruby on Rails, while the 24-week course focuses on Python and does not require a deposit.

Some of the things you’ll learn during your time at App Academy include how to build full-stack apps, how to build dynamic websites with JavaScript, and how to prepare for job interviews. The courses cover a wide variety of programming languages and technologies, such as Python, Flask, React, HTML and Git.
When it comes to Tuition, the 16-week coding bootcamp costs $17,000 upfront or in installments, or $25,000 (plus a $3,000 refundable deposit) if you choose a deferred plan, while the 24-week program costs $20,000 upfront and can also be paid through deferred tuition. In addition to the two main coding bootcamps, there are also prep and free online courses available.

As one of the best coding bootcamps in San Francisco, most graduates find work within 6 months of graduating and report a 40% salary increase within the first three years of employment. Some of the 2000 companies hiring App Academy graduates include Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Holberton School

Sylvain Kalache and Julien Barbier founded Holberton School in San Francisco in 2016. It has expanded all over the globe since then, with campuses in Europe, Latin America and Africa. The school’s program is 2 years long, but includes no pre-course work and gives you the opportunity to specialize in different areas including full-stack web development, machine learning and augmented and virtual reality. The project-based program includes training in JavaScript, Node.js, HTML, React, Python and TypeScript among many other tools and languages.

Holberton School’s comprehensive program will help you gain experience in a variety of different projects as well as help you work on your soft skills. In addition, the school also provides job search guidance. Tuition can be deferred and costs $45,000 during the first year and $40,000 during the second year. Most students find a job after six months of graduating with an average salary of $105,000 and some of the companies that hire Holberton School graduates include Apple, Facebook, NASA and IBM.

Final thoughts on best coding bootcamps in San Francisco

When it comes to learning how to code, there are plenty of options available, but there are also a few variables to take into consideration. In addition to the quality of the coding instruction and the specific technologies you’ll learn to use, you should take into account the job possibilities and assistance once you graduate. We hope our list of the 5 best coding bootcamps in San Francisco has given you an idea of the best options out there.