Springboard vs Thinkful (Now Chegg Skills): Which to Choose in 2026

Last updated: September 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. Thinkful’s status was checked on Chegg Skills’ own site, and every Springboard price and guarantee term on springboard.com, on 21 September 2026. See our review methodology.

Disclosure: OnlineCourseing has a paid partnership with Springboard, so we may earn a commission if you enroll using our code or links. We have no relationship with Thinkful or Chegg Skills and earn nothing if you choose them. That never changes what you pay, and it never changes our verdict.

THE SHORT ANSWER

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What happened to Thinkful?

Thinkful was an online bootcamp built around one-on-one mentoring, and for years it was the natural comparison for Springboard: both taught career-changers part-time, online, with a mentor. That comparison has now broken, because one side of it changed its business.

• October 2023: Chegg announced that “starting in October 2023, Thinkful will be known as Chegg Skills” (Chegg Skills announcement).
• Today: thinkful.com redirects to Chegg Skills, whose homepage is titled “Workforce Upskilling & Reskilling Solutions” and is written for employers, higher education and government.
• Enrollment: the Chegg Skills FAQ tells applicants to “submit your application through Guild to reserve your spot.” Its program pages offer an Apply on Guild link and an enquiry form, and none publishes tuition.
• Catalog: the program catalog lists 33 certificate programs and 348 courses and modules across 14 domains, and invites organisations to “talk to our team” about custom programs.

The practical meaning for a reader who searched for Thinkful: unless an employer is paying through Guild, there is no Thinkful course to buy. Articles that still quote Thinkful tuition, start dates or a job guarantee are describing a product that is no longer on sale.

Can you still take a Thinkful course?

Yes, if your employer offers it. Guild runs education benefits for employers, who choose which programs to fund and how much they cover. If your company uses Guild, log in to its catalog and look for Chegg Skills. The Chegg Skills FAQ sets the basic entry rules: you must be at least 18 and hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and the Data Science program requires a bachelor’s degree.

The programs themselves are built for working adults. The Web Development certificate, for example, runs five to seven months at five to ten hours a week, fully online. Chegg Skills says in its 2026 impact report that 80% of graduates reported a positive effect on their career and 67% applied new skills immediately; those are survey figures from its own graduates, not placement rates.

If your employer does not offer Chegg Skills, the rest of this page is the comparison you need: Springboard, and the bootcamps that fill the space Thinkful used to occupy.

Springboard vs Chegg Skills at a glance

CHECKED ON SPRINGBOARD.COM AND CHEGG.COM/SKILLS, 21 SEPTEMBER 2026

See Springboard tracks with $1,000 off →

Springboard in 2026: tracks and tuition

Springboard still sells directly to individuals. Its six career tracks are part-time and online, and each pairs you with a mentor, a career coach and a student advisor. Tuition depends on the track and on how you pay:

Source: each track’s tuition section on springboard.com, 21 September 2026. The Machine Learning & AI track did not display a price on its page when we checked; ask admissions. The $1,000 OC1000SB discount applies to any course; confirm at checkout how it combines with the upfront discount.

Ways to pay

• Upfront: the cheapest route. Savings run from $1,000 (about 8%) on Cybersecurity to 29% on Data Science and Software Engineering.
• Month to month: pay only for the months you use. Data Analytics is $1,798 a month (about $10,788 over six months); Data Science $1,890 a month.
• Climb Credit loan: installments quoted from $20 a month, plus interest, on every track that lists tuition.

What you get for the money is consistent across tracks. On Data Analytics, for example, Springboard specifies 10 to 15 hours a week over six months, 33 mini-projects and two capstone projects; Cybersecurity asks for 10 to 20 hours a week and includes a review of the CompTIA Security+ exam domains.

Compare Springboard Data Analytics →

How Springboard’s support works

Mentoring was the feature Thinkful and Springboard were most often compared on, so it is worth being precise about what Springboard provides. Its own description names four sources of support, and all of them are included in tuition rather than sold as add-ons:

• A mentor, who keeps you accountable and gives you what Springboard calls an insider’s view of the job.
• A career coach, who prepares you for the job search and, after you finish the curriculum, supports you through it.
• A student advisor, whose job is to keep you on schedule to graduate.
• A student community of people making the same switch.

Springboard also says every student gets full access to career services during the course and the job search, whether or not they qualify for the money-back guarantee. That matters because the guarantee has entry conditions; the support does not. The trade-off is time: at 10 to 20 hours a week for six to nine months, this is a programme for people who can protect that time every week, and the guarantee’s weekly job-search requirements continue after the coursework ends.

Springboard’s money-back guarantee, in plain terms

Springboard’s money-back guarantee page describes a four-step process: eligibility is agreed with an admissions director before you enroll, you get full career services during the course, a coach supports your job search after it, and if you complete every program requirement on time and still do not land a qualifying position within the job-search period, you get a refund.

The conditions matter more than the headline:

• It is “available for select courses.” We found it on the Data Analytics, Data Science, Software Engineering and Cybersecurity pages, not on UI/UX Design or Machine Learning & AI.
• You must be 18 or over, eligible to work in the US (or Canada for Toronto roles), and able to pass employers’ background checks.
• Most tracks require a bachelor’s degree; Software Engineering and Cybersecurity waive it for students with relevant industry experience. Data Analytics also asks for two years of relevant work experience.
• During the search you must apply to a minimum number of qualifying positions each week, build a professional network and send weekly activity summaries.

Treat it as evidence that Springboard stands behind its career services, not as insurance. A refund returns tuition, not the six to nine months you spent studying.

What Springboard’s outcomes numbers mean

Springboard reports that 85.6% of job-qualified graduates who reported an offer received it within 12 months, and an average salary increase of $23,333 among Career Track graduates who provided before-and-after salaries. Both figures are dated December 2023, and both come from self-reported graduate data. They are useful, but read them as the company’s own numbers from nearly three years ago, and ask admissions for the latest report for your track.

Chegg Skills’ published figures measure something different: graduates’ own sense of career impact, from a survey. The two are not comparable, which is one more reason not to choose between these programs on outcome statistics.

Which should you choose?

Your employer offers Chegg Skills through Guild

Start there. A program your employer pays for, designed for people who are working, is hard to beat on cost. Check which programs your plan covers, whether it requires you to stay with the company afterwards, and whether the program leads where you want to go. If it does not, Springboard is still open to you.

You are changing careers and paying yourself

Springboard is the closest thing to what Thinkful used to be: mentored, part-time, online, with a career coach and, on four tracks, a money-back guarantee. Paid upfront, four of the five priced tracks come in under $10,000, and OC1000SB takes another $1,000 off. Read our full Springboard review before you apply.

Apply to Springboard with code OC1000SB →

You want to compare more bootcamps first

Springboard is not the only option. Our Udacity vs Springboard guide covers the alternative readers ask about most, and our ranking of the best coding bootcamps covers the wider field. One more former rival has gone: CareerFoundry ceased operations on 28 February 2026 during insolvency proceedings, so treat any comparison that still recommends it as out of date.

You are not ready for a $7,000+ commitment

Try the field before you pay for a bootcamp. A low-cost course on Coursera or Codecademy will tell you within a few weeks whether you enjoy the work, which is the most expensive thing to find out after enrolling.

Springboard vs Thinkful: FAQ

Is Thinkful still in business?

Not under that name, and not as a bootcamp you can buy yourself. Chegg announced that Thinkful would be known as Chegg Skills from October 2023, and thinkful.com now redirects to Chegg Skills, which markets its programs to employers, colleges and government. Its FAQ says to apply through Guild, an employer education-benefits platform, and it publishes no tuition.

Can I still enroll in Thinkful as an individual?

Not in the way you once could. Chegg Skills lists no public tuition and no checkout; its program pages offer only an Apply on Guild link and an enquiry form. If your employer offers education benefits through Guild, check whether Chegg Skills programs are in its catalog. If not, you will need a different bootcamp.

How much does Thinkful cost?

Chegg Skills, as Thinkful is now called, does not publish tuition. Enrollment runs through Guild, where employers typically set what their benefit covers, so the cost to you depends on your employer’s plan. For comparison, Springboard lists $8,690 to $13,900 before discounts, or $7,190 to $10,900 paid upfront, as of 21 September 2026.

Is Thinkful worth it?

If your employer offers a Chegg Skills program through Guild, it is worth a serious look, because the benefit may cover much or all of the cost and the programs are built for working adults. If you would be paying yourself, the question does not arise: Chegg Skills does not sell directly, so compare Springboard with other bootcamps instead.

How much does Springboard cost?

As of 21 September 2026: UI/UX Design $8,690 ($7,190 upfront), Data Analytics $11,300 ($8,900), Cybersecurity $11,900 ($10,900), Software Engineering $13,860 ($9,900) and Data Science $13,900 ($9,900). Monthly plans and Climb Credit loans are also offered. The code OC1000SB takes $1,000 off any course.

Does Springboard have a job guarantee?

Springboard calls it a money-back guarantee. If you complete all course and job-search requirements on time and do not land a qualifying role within the job-search period, you may get a full refund. It appears on the Data Analytics, Data Science, Software Engineering and Cybersecurity track pages, eligibility is decided with admissions before you enroll, and most tracks require a bachelor’s degree.

What is a good alternative to Thinkful?

For a mentored, career-change bootcamp you can join yourself, Springboard is the closest match to what Thinkful used to be: part-time, online, with a mentor and career coach. Udacity is the other option we compare most often; see our Udacity vs Springboard guide. CareerFoundry, another former rival, ceased operations on 28 February 2026 during insolvency proceedings, so older comparisons that recommend it are out of date.

Bottom line

The Springboard-or-Thinkful decision that this page used to answer no longer exists for most readers. Thinkful lives on as Chegg Skills, reachable through an employer’s Guild benefit. If you have that benefit, use it. If you do not, compare Springboard with the other bootcamps that sell directly, check the guarantee terms for your track, and use code OC1000SB if Springboard is your pick.

Related guides: Springboard review · Udacity vs Springboard · Best coding bootcamps