Last updated: 13 October 2026 (full refresh; syllabus, prices and ratings re-checked on Udacity’s nd144 page that day). Reviewed by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.
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Udacity’s Agile Software Development Nanodegree (nd144), titled “Agile Software Developer” on Udacity’s page, is a 56-hour beginner program that teaches how software teams plan and deliver work with agile methods. It has three courses, three reviewed projects and no prerequisites, and was rated 4.6 from 92 reviews when we checked it on 13 October 2026. It does not teach programming.
QUICK VERDICT
Our rating: 3.4 / 5
- Best for: new project managers, product owners, team leads and developers moving into delivery roles, especially when an employer pays for Udacity.
- Not for: anyone whose goal is a named Scrum certification (PSM or CSM), experienced Scrum Masters, or people who expected a coding program from the title.
Bottom line: a clear, practical introduction with graded projects on planning, prioritization and agile metrics, which is more hands-on than most short agile courses. It is expensive for what it covers, though, and the credential employers ask for by name is a Scrum certification, which costs less and which this program does not award.
Program Overview
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| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Program | Agile Software Development Nanodegree (nd144), titled “Agile Software Developer” |
| Level | Beginner (Udacity’s label) |
| Estimated time | 56 hours |
| Structure | Welcome module and 3 courses; 16 lessons; 3 reviewed projects |
| Prerequisites | None listed |
| Frameworks covered | Scrum, Kanban, XP |
| Instructors | Vincent High (Agile Delivery Lead), Mark Ginise (Agile Engineer and Coach), Hasnain Rizvi (Agile Coach) |
| Rating | 4.6 from 92 reviews on Udacity’s page |
| Last updated by Udacity | August 10, 2026 |
| Price (13 Oct 2026) | $249/month, $846 for 4 months, or $999 one-time |
| Credential | Udacity Nanodegree certificate (not a Scrum certification) |
Source: Udacity’s nd144 program page, read 13 October 2026. The previous version of this review said the program took about two months, included 1-on-1 mentor sessions and code review, and covered SAFe, LeSS and Nexus. None of those appear in the current syllabus or on the program page, so we removed them.
What it costs
Udacity sells access by subscription. On 13 October 2026 the program page offered $249 a month, $846 for a four-month bundle (about $212 a month), or $999 to buy just this program outright. The page also showed a 40% discount banner for new users; check the terms at checkout because promotions change often.
Live sale
Udacity sale: 50% off all programs. 4-month bundle $423 instead of $846. Verified 21 Oct 2026 05:15 UTC by the detector (HALLOWEEN50 $423.00 vs our code $507.60).
See the Udacity sale →| Your pace | Time to finish | Likely cost (list price) |
|---|---|---|
| 15 hours a week | About 4 weeks plus project reviews | $249 to $498 |
| 10 hours a week | About 6 weeks plus project reviews | $498 (two months) |
| 5 hours a week | About 3 months | $747 (three months) or $846 (bundle) |
What agile means, in one paragraph
Agile is a way of building software in short cycles: the team delivers a small, working piece, gets feedback, and adjusts the plan, instead of fixing every requirement up front as in a traditional waterfall project. The idea comes from the 2001 Manifesto for Agile Software Development and its twelve principles. Scrum, Kanban and Extreme Programming (XP) are the three best-known ways of putting it into practice, and they are the three this program teaches.
Check current Agile Nanodegree price →
What You’ll Learn
After a one-hour welcome module, the program has three courses. Each ends with a project that a Udacity reviewer grades against a rubric. Hours below are Udacity’s own estimates.
| Course | Hours | Lessons | Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Foundations of Agile and Agile Frameworks | 19.8 | Why agile; the agile mindset, manifesto and principles; building and evolving agile teams; Scrum, Kanban and XP | WorldVisitz Mobile Application Agile Delivery Launch |
| 2. Delivering Value with Agile Planning and Prioritization | 17.5 | Agile planning, prioritization, scoping, release and iteration planning | Minimum Viable Product |
| 3. Progress, Communication, and Organizational Agility | 18.0 | Agile metrics, measuring progress and impact, identifying risks, agile communication | Executing Agile with The A-Team |
Course 1: Foundations of Agile and Agile Frameworks
The first course explains why organizations adopt agile, then covers the mindset, the Agile Manifesto and its principles, and how agile teams are built and evolve, including core roles and what high-performing teams look like. Its frameworks lesson introduces the three most popular methods, Scrum, Kanban and XP, with the core roles, ceremonies and artifacts of each, and contrasts them with waterfall project management. In the project you act as an agile consultant helping a team called WorldVisitz launch a mobile app.
Course 2: Delivering Value with Agile Planning and Prioritization
Course two is the most practical. It covers planning the agile way, prioritizing a backlog, scoping work, and building and iterating on release and sprint plans. Skills Udacity lists include backlog management, user stories with acceptance criteria, the definition of done, product roadmaps, feature prioritization and minimum viable products. The project asks you to write a product vision, a roadmap, a release plan and user stories, and turn them into an MVP plan for a software product. This is the project most worth showing an employer, because it produces documents that look like the ones a product team actually uses.
Course 3: Progress, Communication, and Organizational Agility
The last course moves from planning to running the work. It covers agile metrics such as velocity, measuring progress and impact, identifying and communicating risks, big visible information radiators, retrospectives and continuous improvement, technical debt and agile governance. The project, Executing Agile with The A-Team, puts those skills to work on a team scenario.
Scrum, Kanban and XP at a glance
The frameworks lesson covers all three because real teams mix them. The summary below uses the standard definitions of each method, which is how the program frames them too: roles, ceremonies and artifacts.
| Scrum | Kanban | XP (Extreme Programming) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Fixed-length sprints, usually one to four weeks | Continuous flow, no fixed iterations | Short iterations with frequent releases |
| Core idea | Plan a sprint, deliver an increment, inspect and adapt | Visualize work and limit work in progress | Engineering discipline that keeps code easy to change |
| Roles | Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers | No required roles | Customer and developers working closely |
| Typical practices | Sprint planning, daily scrum, review, retrospective | Board columns, WIP limits, flow metrics | Pair programming, test-first development, continuous integration |
| Fits best | Product teams building new features | Support and operations work with unpredictable demand | Teams where code quality is the bottleneck |
Knowing when to use which is more useful in an interview than reciting any one of them, and the WorldVisitz project asks exactly that kind of judgment: which method fits the team, the work and the deadline, and why.
What is not here
- Programming. There is no coding; CI/CD and technical debt appear as concepts.
- Scaling frameworks. SAFe, LeSS and Nexus are not on the syllabus.
- Tool training. The lessons are about practice, not about Jira or another specific tool.
- Exam preparation. Nothing in the program is built around the Scrum Guide or a certification exam.
How the projects are reviewed
Each project is graded by a Udacity reviewer against a public rubric. A submission that misses a rubric line comes back with required changes, and you resubmit until every line passes. For an agile program that feedback matters more than it sounds: someone checks whether your user stories have testable acceptance criteria and whether your release plan follows from your priorities. The trade-off, reported in several recent Trustpilot reviews of Udacity, is that review queues sometimes run slow.
Who Is This Nanodegree For?
- Project managers moving from waterfall to agile who want structured practice on backlogs, release plans and agile metrics.
- New product owners and product managers who need to write user stories, set priorities and plan an MVP.
- Developers moving into team lead or delivery roles who want the process side of the job.
- Employees whose company pays through a Udacity business plan, which removes the main objection, price.
It is a weaker fit for Scrum Masters chasing a certification: the program covers Scrum but awards a Udacity certificate, not PSM or CSM. It is also not for anyone who read “Software Developer” in the title and expected to learn to code.
What learners have said
Udacity’s program page shows a 4.6 average from 92 reviews, a small number for a program that has been open since at least 2022. The two most recent (February and April 2026) are positive, one saying it gave a complete understanding of the agile process. An older review on the same page liked the short expert videos but said the project deadlines were tight and the price high. We found no recent Reddit discussion of this program.
Across Udacity as a whole, Trustpilot showed a 4.5 TrustScore from 3,406 reviews on 13 October 2026. The 60 newest were mostly positive about structure and project reviews, and several came from people taking Udacity through employer training; the negatives were slow project reviews, broken workspace tools and unanswered support tickets.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Three graded projects on real agile artifacts: delivery plan, MVP plan, metrics and risk | Does not award a Scrum certification (PSM, CSM) that employers name in job ads |
| Covers Scrum, Kanban and XP side by side, with waterfall for contrast | At $249 a month, it costs more than a Scrum course plus the PSM I exam |
| Taught by working agile coaches and delivery leads | No scaling frameworks (SAFe, LeSS, Nexus) |
| Beginner-friendly with no prerequisites | Only 92 reviews on the program page |
| Short: 56 hours fits in about two months | No programming despite the “Software Developer” title |
Agile Nanodegree vs Scrum certifications
This is the real decision for most readers. Job ads for Scrum Master and agile delivery roles usually name a certification, most often Scrum.org’s PSM or Scrum Alliance’s CSM. The Nanodegree teaches more of the day-to-day practice, but it is not either of those.
| Udacity Agile Nanodegree | Scrum.org PSM I | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | 56 hours of lessons, 3 reviewed projects, a Udacity certificate | An online assessment and a Scrum certification with a Credly badge |
| Cost | $249 to $498 in practice | $200 per attempt; $279 with Scrum.org’s self-paced course |
| Passing bar | Every rubric line on every project | 85% on the assessment |
| Recognition | Udacity brand | Widely named in Scrum Master job ads |
| Best for | Practice and graded feedback on agile artifacts | A credential for your resume |
Prices for Scrum.org are from its PSM I page, read on 13 October 2026. Scrum Alliance’s CSM requires a course with a certified trainer, and prices vary by trainer, so compare current listings directly. A sensible route for many people is to learn the practice from a cheaper course and then take PSM I.
Cheaper ways to learn agile
| Option | What you get | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM: Introduction to Agile Development and Scrum (Coursera) | 4 modules, 4.8 from 2,767 reviews, taught by IBM’s John Rofrano | Included with a Coursera subscription | A short, well-rated first course |
| Google Project Management Professional Certificate (Coursera) | 7 courses and over 140 hours of instruction, per Coursera; course 5 is Agile Project Management with a focus on Scrum | $49 to $79 a month on Coursera | Career changers who want project management plus agile |
| Scrum.org PSM I | Online assessment and certification | $200 per attempt | A recognized Scrum credential |
Coursera prices were $49 to $79 a month for a single certificate, or $59 a month for Coursera Plus, when we checked in October 2026.
Is the Agile Nanodegree worth it?
Worth it when an employer pays, or when you want graded feedback on planning artifacts you will produce in the job: user stories, a release plan, an MVP plan, metrics. The projects are the program’s real value, and course two’s MVP plan makes a useful work sample.
Not worth it if your goal is a credential to get hired, or if you are paying yourself. The PSM I assessment costs $200, a short Coursera course covers the basics, and together they cost less than one month of Udacity. Most people who need agile for a job should start there.
A six-week plan to finish inside two months
| Weeks | Course | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Foundations of Agile and Agile Frameworks | Submit the WorldVisitz delivery launch |
| 3 to 4 | Delivering Value with Agile Planning and Prioritization | Submit the MVP plan |
| 5 to 6 | Progress, Communication, and Organizational Agility | Submit The A-Team project, then cancel before renewal if you are done |
Related Resources
Related Udacity Guides: Every Udacity Nanodegree in 2026 (Hub)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Udacity Agile Software Development Nanodegree worth it?
For most people it is a hard sell. It is a well-organized 56-hour introduction to agile delivery with three reviewed projects, but at $249 a month it costs $249 to $498 in practice, and it does not lead to the Scrum certifications employers ask for by name. It makes the most sense when an employer pays, or when you specifically want graded project work on planning, prioritization and agile metrics.
What is a Udacity Nanodegree?
A Nanodegree is Udacity’s name for a multi-course program built around projects that a human reviewer grades against a rubric. You get a Udacity certificate when every project passes. It is not a college degree or academic credit, and it is sold through Udacity’s subscription rather than as a separate tuition.
Does the program teach programming?
No. Despite the title “Agile Software Developer”, it teaches how software teams plan and deliver work: agile values, Scrum, Kanban and XP, backlogs, user stories, release planning, metrics and communication. It mentions practices like CI/CD and technical debt as concepts, but there is no coding.
How long does the Agile Nanodegree take?
Udacity estimates 56 hours across a welcome module and three courses. At 10 hours a week that is about six weeks, plus a few days per project for review, so plan on two months of subscription.
Does it prepare you for PSM I or CSM?
Partly. It covers Scrum roles, events and artifacts, which both exams test, but it is not built around the Scrum Guide or either exam. The Professional Scrum Master I assessment from Scrum.org costs $200 per attempt and needs 85% to pass; if that certificate is your goal, study the Scrum Guide and practice for that exam directly.
Does it cover SAFe or other scaling frameworks?
Not as a topic. The frameworks course covers Scrum, Kanban and XP, and the third course covers organizational agility and governance. The previous version of this review said the program taught SAFe, LeSS and Nexus; Udacity’s current syllabus does not list them.
What projects are in the program?
Three: an agile delivery launch for a mobile app (WorldVisitz), a minimum viable product plan with a product vision, roadmap, release plan and user stories with acceptance criteria, and Executing Agile with The A-Team, which applies metrics, risk and communication skills.
How much does it cost?
Udacity charged $249 a month, $846 for four months (about $212 a month) or $999 to buy the program outright on 13 October 2026, and showed a 40% discount banner for new users. At 56 hours, the monthly plan is usually the cheapest route.
Can I get a refund?
Udacity’s Terms of Use (updated January 16, 2026) give seven days from your first purchase to cancel for a full refund. After that, fees are not refunded, and canceling a monthly plan keeps access until the end of the month you paid for.