Designlab vs Springboard: UX of the Champions

Updated 14 October 2026: prices, curricula, guarantees and policies re-checked on both bootcamps’ own pages. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

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Designlab and Springboard are two of the longest-running online UX bootcamps, and they still show up together on most UX shortlists. We compared them on the things that decide whether a bootcamp pays off: who gets in, what you build, who teaches you, what it costs, what the learning feels like, and what happens when you start job hunting. Every price and policy below was read on the two companies’ own pages on 14 October 2026.

What do other students say – Ratings and Reviews; DesignLab vs Springboard

Both bootcamps score well on review sites, with an important split between invited and unprompted reviews. On SwitchUp, Designlab rates 4.76 from 1,095 reviews and Springboard 4.67 from 1,843 (14 October 2026). Designlab’s own page reports 4.77 across more than 1,600 reviews and over 2,000 confirmed graduate hires.

Trustpilot tells a more mixed story for Springboard: 3.5 from 360 reviews. Its invited reviews praise mentors and structure. Its recent unprompted reviews complain about a grader failing work a mentor had approved, course content built on linked articles, and a refund under an older UX guarantee paid in monthly installments. Designlab has no Trustpilot reviews to compare.

Unique features & perks

Volume is the main difference: Springboard has more reviews partly because it runs several career tracks, while Designlab teaches only design, so more of Designlab’s reviews are about the program you are considering.

Verdict: Tie

Both are reputable. Read the unprompted reviews, not just the averages, before you commit $7,000 or more.

Getting in – Application & admissions

Neither program asks for design experience any more, but they screen in different ways.

Designlab starts most students in UX Academy Foundations, a 4 to 8 week course (10 to 20 hours a week, 8 mentor sessions) that teaches visual design, UI and Figma basics and ends in a 10-hour design challenge. Finishing it is your way into UX Academy, and the $499 fee is credited toward UX Academy tuition. Experienced visual designers can skip Foundations and apply straight to UX Academy. There are no application fees.

Springboard calls its UI/UX bootcamp beginner-friendly. You apply online, then take a skills survey that checks baseline visual skills, analytical thinking and the ability to empathize with users; Springboard says most people finish it in under 45 minutes. It recommends a bachelor’s degree in any subject but does not require one for admission.

Unique features & perks

Designlab’s Foundations course doubles as a cheap trial: $499 tells you whether you like design before you commit to the full program. Springboard’s survey gets you a decision faster if you already know you want in.

Verdict: Designlab

A paid, credited trial run is the safer way into a $8,000 program.

What will you learn – Curriculum 101

Both teach the full user-centered design process, from research to prototypes and usability testing, and both have added AI-assisted design units in the last year.

Designlab Curriculum

• Foundations (4-8 weeks): visual design basics, UI fundamentals, images and icons, color and typography, forms and input, responsive design, and a final design challenge.
• UX Academy, Phase 1: the complete UX process, including research, information architecture, interaction design, UI design, prototyping, testing and design systems, with more than 100 hands-on exercises.
• UX Academy, Phase 2: four portfolio capstones. Two briefs are open-ended so every portfolio differs, and one is a client capstone in a team of two or three. A panel of design hiring managers reviews your portfolio before you graduate.
• Tools: Figma throughout, plus an introduction to AI workflows. Graduates also get an enrollment credit for one of Designlab’s advanced courses.

Springboard Curriculum

• Units: UX research, wireframing, high-fidelity mockups, working with developers, and AI and UX, with AI learning units added across the curriculum.
• Projects: Capstone 1 (a self-defined project through every phase of the design process), a Google Ventures-style design sprint, Capstone 2 (a business brief solved under a deadline), and a four-week Industry Design Project externship with a company.
• Pace: about nine months part-time, 15 to 25 hours a week.

Verdict: Tie

Designlab gives you more, and more specific, portfolio pieces. Springboard’s externship gives you one piece of real client work that hiring managers tend to ask about. Which matters more depends on whether your portfolio or your experience line is weaker.

Who are you learning from

Both pair you with a working designer as a mentor, but the amount of contact is defined differently.

Designlab sets the number: 30 one-on-one mentor sessions across UX Academy (about one a week part-time, two a week full-time), plus 10 to 15 mandatory group critiques and 26 half-hour sessions with a career coach after graduation. Missing a session without 24 hours’ notice forfeits it.

Springboard builds a team around you: a mentor, a career coach, a student advisor and the student community. It does not publish a session count for the UX track. Reviews on Reddit and Trustpilot show mentor quality varies; one 2019 student had to ask for a mentor switch, and a 2026 reviewer described a mentor and a grader disagreeing about the same assignment.

Unique features & perks

Designlab’s fixed count tells you exactly what you are paying for. Springboard’s wider support team helps if you need someone keeping you on schedule over nine months.

Verdict: Springboard

More people in your corner, on a longer timeline, if your mentor is a good match. Ask for a switch early if they are not.

Also read: Designlab vs CareerFoundry (CareerFoundry closed in February 2026, so read that page for the alternatives).

What do they cost

Springboard is cheaper upfront; Designlab is cheaper if you would otherwise pay Springboard month to month for the full nine months. Prices from both companies’ pages, 14 October 2026:

Designlab

• Upfront: $7,999 ($399 deposit plus $7,600 when the course launches), $400 less than the payment plan.
• Payment plan: $8,399 in six or ten zero-interest installments ($800 to $1,333 a month), including a $400 processing fee.
• Climb Credit loan (US only): $257 to $304 a month, $9,632 to $11,809 in total, with deferred or interest-only options.
• Foundations: $499, credited in full toward UX Academy tuition.
• Refunds: a full refund within two weeks of the course launch; after that, a prorated refund less the deposit (Designlab policies).

Springboard

• Upfront: $7,190, which is the $8,690 list price minus a $1,500 discount.
• Month to month: $840 a month for the months you need; Springboard’s estimate at nine months is $7,560.
• Climb Credit loan (US only): $8,690 plus interest, a $500 to $700 deposit, $20 to $292 a month during the course and $224 to $495 a month for 30 to 33 months after.
• Reader code: OC1000SB takes $1,000 off any course. Confirm with admissions whether it stacks with the upfront discount.
• Scholarships: Springboard lists scholarships for people of color, veterans, refugees, LGBTQ+ applicants and anyone without the means to pay.

Springboard’s guarantee terms are on its money-back guarantee page, but its UI/UX FAQ says the design bootcamp does not include the guarantee at this time. On this pair, only Designlab offers any tuition refund tied to getting a job.

Unique features & perks

Springboard’s month-to-month plan rewards fast finishers. Designlab’s payment plan costs a flat $400 extra but charges no interest.

Verdict: Tie

With our code, Springboard is cheaper to start. Designlab offers more ways to get money back if things go wrong.

Apply to Springboard with OC1000SB →

Comparing Springboard to other providers? Read Udacity vs Springboard, our Udacity Nanodegree review and Springboard vs CareerFoundry.

Student experience

Day to day, both are online and self-directed: you work through lessons, submit exercises and meet your mentor on video. The difference is the social layer.

Designlab builds feedback into the schedule. Every project goes to your mentor for approval, and you attend 10 to 15 mandatory group critique sessions where other students review your work, which is close to how design teams work. You also join Designlab’s online community of students, alumni and mentors.

Springboard is more one-to-one. You lean on your mentor, a student advisor who keeps you on track to graduation, and a career coach, plus a student community. The nine-month timeline is gentler on people with full-time jobs.

Unique features & perks

Designlab’s group critiques prepare you for the stakeholder feedback you will get in a design job. Springboard’s student advisor is useful if you have struggled to finish self-paced courses before.

Verdict: Designlab

Weekly critique trains the skill hiring managers test in portfolio reviews: explaining and defending your design decisions.

Certification and career prospects

Both award a certificate of completion, but no employer hires on the certificate. Your portfolio and how you talk about it decide the outcome, so compare the career support.

• Designlab Career Services: open to students who graduate by their scheduled date; up to 26 half-hour sessions with a career coach over 26 weeks, a job-search curriculum, interview practice and lifetime access to the alumni network.
• Springboard job prep: portfolio, resume, LinkedIn and mock-interview help for up to six months after graduation.
• Designlab tuition reimbursement: available to full-time and part-time students who meet every requirement on its checklist: over 21, living within 90 minutes of a listed eligible city, no missed mentor sessions, no more than two pauses of up to a week, portfolio submitted within four weeks of your scheduled finish, and the request made within nine months of starting Career Services.
• Springboard money-back guarantee: not offered on the UX bootcamp.

On pay, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $104,000 for web and digital interface designers in May 2025 and 5% projected growth from 2025 to 2035, faster than average (BLS). That median covers experienced designers. Springboard’s own outcomes figures for UX graduates are an average starting salary of $84,316 and an average increase of $24,523, both self-reported and dated December 2023.

Hiring for junior UX roles has been slow since 2023. Reddit graduates of both programs describe searches lasting many months, and a February 2024 Designlab graduate wrote that they did not know anyone who had qualified for the tuition refund. Plan for a long search, keep your current income as long as you can, and treat the guarantee language as a backstop, not a promise.

Start with Designlab Foundations ($499) →

Conclusion

Both Designlab and Springboard teach the full UX process with real mentors, and both will leave you with a portfolio. They suit different people.

Choose Designlab if you are starting from zero and want to test the field for $499 before committing, if you learn best from frequent feedback, or if you want the possibility of a tuition refund and are confident you can follow its rules to the letter.

Choose Springboard if you want real client work on your resume, a longer part-time schedule, a bigger support team and the lower upfront price. Use code OC1000SB, and confirm the final number with admissions.

For the full picture of each program on its own, read our Designlab UX Academy review and Springboard review.

If you cannot spend $7,000 or more right now, start smaller: the Google UX Design certificate below costs a fraction of either, and our UX design bootcamps guide compares the wider field.

What Graduates Say on Reddit

We read the most-linked Reddit threads comparing the two programs (paraphrased, not quoted):

• Designlab grads: mentors and the structure get credit, and Foundations is often called a good, cheap test. The recurring complaint is the tuition reimbursement, which several posters say is close to impossible to qualify for.
• Springboard grads: experiences split by mentor. Some say the course leaned on linked articles and that they could not find work; others credit the mentor and coach for keeping them going.
• A common third view: some former students would skip both, learn Figma on their own and put the money into time spent building a portfolio.

Treat forum posts as a sample of the unhappiest and happiest graduates, not as outcome data, but read them before you sign a loan.

Cheaper Alternatives to a UX Bootcamp

Exploring other career tracks too? Our Codecademy review (and best Codecademy courses), DataCamp review and Udemy review cover cheaper paths into coding and data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Designlab or Springboard better for UX design?

For most beginners, Designlab: it starts you on a $499 Foundations course, credits that cost toward UX Academy, and puts every project through mentor review and weekly group critique. Springboard is the better pick if you want a real client project, a nine-month part-time pace, or a lower upfront price, especially with our $1,000 code. Neither carries a job guarantee you should count on.

How much does Designlab UX Academy cost?

$7,999 paid upfront ($399 deposit plus $7,600), $8,399 on a six- or ten-month payment plan, or $9,632 to $11,809 through a Climb Credit loan (Designlab, 14 October 2026). UX Academy Foundations costs $499, and Designlab credits the full $499 toward UX Academy if you continue.

How much does the Springboard UI/UX bootcamp cost?

Springboard lists $8,690 in tuition. Paying upfront brings it to $7,190; month-to-month is $840 a month, about $7,560 over nine months; Climb Credit loans cover $8,690 plus interest. OnlineCourseing readers can apply code OC1000SB for $1,000 off any Springboard course.

Does Springboard’s UX bootcamp have a job guarantee?

No. Springboard’s UI/UX page says the bootcamp does not include the Springboard Money-Back Guarantee at this time (checked 14 October 2026). Springboard’s guarantee applies to some other career tracks and requires a bachelor’s degree on most of them.

Does Designlab really refund your tuition if you don’t get a job?

Only if you meet every item on its checklist. You must be over 21, search in a listed eligible city, attend every mentor session, keep pauses to two of a week or less, submit your portfolio within four weeks of your scheduled finish, and request the refund within nine months of starting Career Services. Self-paced students are not eligible, and Reddit graduates describe it as very hard to qualify for.

Do I need experience to join Designlab or Springboard?

No. Designlab’s Foundations course is made for beginners, and experienced visual designers can apply straight to UX Academy. Springboard calls its UI/UX bootcamp beginner-friendly and asks applicants to pass a skills survey of visual skills, analytical thinking and empathy, which most finish in under 45 minutes.

How long do Designlab and Springboard take?

Designlab: 4 to 8 weeks of Foundations, then about 36 weeks part-time (20 hours a week) or 21 weeks full-time, or up to 18 months self-paced. Springboard: about nine months part-time at 15 to 25 hours a week.

Is a UX bootcamp worth it in 2026?

Only with a realistic plan for the job search. BLS reports a $104,000 median wage for web and digital interface designers (May 2025) and 5% growth from 2025 to 2035, but junior UX hiring is competitive and recent graduates on Reddit report long searches. A bootcamp is most useful if you will build a strong portfolio and use the career coaching; a $59-a-month Google certificate is the cheaper way to test the field first.

Can I use the OC1000SB code on the UX bootcamp?

Springboard’s partner page says the code takes $1,000 off any course, and we confirmed it live on 14 October 2026. Springboard does not say whether it combines with the upfront-payment discount, so confirm the final price with admissions before you pay.