Zero to Mastery Honest Review – Is it Really Worth It?

I’ve always been one of those people that thrives on education. Ever since I was young, I was always hungry to learn. Would grab a book wherever possible and feast upon tons and tons of brand-new information. I think this passion for learning really helped me to score better jobs, and it is something that I am continuing to this day. I have used pretty much every e-learning platform under the sun.

Some of them are good, but most of them are terrible. Zero to Mastery is one of my favorites. Let me tell you all about it in this Zero to Mastery review.

Zero to Mastery Review

What Is The Zero to Mastery Course?

Zero to Mastery is an e-learning platform founded by Andrei Neagoie. It launched a few years ago. Back then, the main focus of ZTM Academy was to offer mastery courses for web developers and software developers. They had a couple of courses up, all of them written by Andrei Neagoie. The quality of the education at Zero to Mastery quickly gained the company a reputation in the e-learning sphere, and now they have over 50 courses for people to sink their teeth into. Most are still focused on becoming a web or software developer, but the courses here are perfect for anybody embarking on a tech career.

I discovered Zero to Mastery a couple of years ago. Tech companies were in dire need of new developers and, just like at many points of my life, I was on a bit of an education spree. I used a ton of different e-learning platforms that claimed they could help me nab a job in Silicon Valley. Honestly, most of the platforms I used (even some of the biggest ones) had awful online courses. They were relying on their reputation alone.

I then saw a few people talking about Andrei’s courses and how they had followed them and managed to learn enough to ace interviews at the likes of Amazon, IBM, and other big tech firms that were clambering for employees in a booming tech market. I figured I would give them a go.

Here I am, 2 years later, still using the Zero to Mastery Academy. I am genuine when I say that no other courses even come close to what Zero to Mastery has offered me. I signed up for only one course, but with over 50 different courses now, and new courses being added on a consistent basis, I have stuck around. I am pleased to say that I have now secured my dream job but, as with the rest of my life, I am always learning new things so (hopefully) I can experiment with different career paths later on.

As I go through this Zero to Mastery review, you will learn a lot more about the Zero to Mastery Academy and how it has helped me plus countless other people searching for developer jobs, even those with no prior experience in tech.

How Much Does Zero to Mastery Cost?

Let’s start with the big question; how much are you going to be paying for Zero to Mastery? I’m afraid to say that it isn’t free. Although, as you have probably worked out already, a free course rarely is all that good. We will discuss why over the next few sections.

Here are the current prices. Bear in mind that no matter what pricing level you opt for, you are going to get exactly the same features. You just save a bit more cash when you buy a longer ZTM membership.

PackagePrice
Monthly Membership (Cancel Whenever)$39
Yearly Membership (Paid up Front)$279 (equivalent to $23 a month)
Lifetime Membership$999
How Much Does Zero to Mastery Cost

The Zero to Mastery Course Features

So, by now you know that Zero to Mastery is an e.-learning platform designed for the modern web developer and software engineer. So, shall we start diving into the various features the platform boasts?

It is worth pointing out that Zero to Mastery is a platform that is constantly evolving. It is trying to keep up with the latest trends and ensuring that they teach employable skills. When I started learning here, the bulk of the platform was focused on developing coding skills. Now, there has been a push towards adding artificial intelligence courses, which is just as important in this fast-paced tech world.

Courses Offered at Zero to Mastery Academy

As I mentioned, when I first started learning at Zero to Mastery, there wasn’t a huge number of courses there. As far as I can recall, the place was run by Andrei Neagoie and a very small team. Now the business is huge. They offer courses that cover pretty much everything you would need to know in order to get a job in the tech world. This includes:

  • Web Development
  • Software Development
  • Data & Machine Learning
  • Cyber Security
  • Design
  • Cloud & DevOps
  • Web3 & Blockchain
  • Life Skills
  • Business

Because new courses are added all the time, it does make it difficult for me to list every single course on the platform, and, to be honest, it would be rather bland for you. So, let me give you some of the highlights. This means the sort of things that you can study on the platform. Remember, when you have paid for access, whether it is monthly or lifetime access, you will have access to every course.

Remember, this is not a complete list of all the courses on the platform. I just want to show you how varied the course options are. It would be impossible to cover everything as there are over 10,500 lessons across 53 courses, with 1021 hours of content to watch. Even I haven’t watched everything.

Complete Development Courses

The highlight of Zero to Mastery is its Complete Web Developer course. It isn’t actually a single course, but multiple courses rolled into one. The idea of the complete development courses is to provide the learner with all the knowledge they need to become a full-stack developer. I have seen people gain jobs based on the knowledge they have picked up from Zero to Mastery. I have gained jobs from the knowledge here.

If you are planning to learn coding for the first time, then Zero to Mastery’s complete software development course is fantastic. It teaches you:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • Node JS
  • Machine
  • SQL

Along the way, you will learn how to create clean code, debug, and even put together a portfolio so you can start nailing those software developer interviews. Honestly, I don’t think I have seen a more complete course to help people become a web developer. It really is that great.

So, if you are planning a career in web development and want to be a complete web developer that no interviewer in their right mind would turn down, then the complete development courses are great.

Have a look at this screenshot to get an idea of what you will get from this course:

Complete Development Courses

Individual Coding & Platform Courses

Don’t feel like doing a lengthier course? Want to add some extra coding skills to prepare you for a coding interview or help you get closer to that illustrious role of a senior software developer? Well, there are a ton of individual courses to help.

Plus a whole lot more. If you are looking to become a software engineer or web developer, then I reckon that you will be fine with the options over at Zero to Mastery.


Business Courses

This is actually one of the main reasons why I decided to head on over to Zero to Mastery. I won’t lie. While there are some awful e-learning platforms out there, some are decent. However, they only teach you the coding part, and perhaps have you put together a few projects. This is alright, but I don’t really feel this helps you to get a job.

The whole idea behind Zero to Mastery is to score a position in one of the top tech companies. You can’t just be a coder. You need to know how to build up your portfolio and resume. You need to know how to ace that coding interview. This is why Zero to Mastery has a wealth of videos for those skills. Not only will you become a better software engineer following their courses, but a better employee.

One of my favorite courses (and one that I really think helped me secure a job) was The Complete Career Toolkit by Daniel Schifano.

This screenshot shows how deep the education is on that course. Something which I don’t think other course providers offer. They may give some of this stuff a cursory glance, but nothing at the sort of level that Daniel Schifano covers:

Business Courses


Life Skills

There are a lot of skills needed to thrive in the fast-paced world of tech. I am not just talking about coding here. You need to have the right mindset for work. You need to know how to learn properly. You even need to be healthy.

Zero to Mastery covers all of these skills. I personally recommend that you follow at least the meditation and the fitness course. I really feel that they can help to make you a better employee in an industry where people often burn out.


Marketing

The marketing courses are limited at the moment. Actually, they are so limited that there is only one. However, I feel it is incredibly important for those that are planning on becoming a full-time engineer for a web-based company, particularly working as a web dev for tech startups.

This course is the SEO Bootcamp. I have used a few SEO courses in my time, and this is one of the more complete courses out there. I wouldn’t say that you should sign up for Zero to Mastery purely for the SEO course. It isn’t that brilliant. It is just a way to round out your skills a little bit. It helps to make you a more rounded person, and thus more employable.


Artificial Intelligence & Machine learning

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that the tech world (especially software engineering) is going through a period of change. AI is getting big, and it is only predicted to get more important.

As a result, Zero to Mastery has introduced a few courses focused on AI and machine learning. Despite AI being in its infancy, I must say that these courses are pretty decent. In fact, their ChatGPT course is one of the best I have seen (and yes I have seen a lot of them).

It is stuff like this that really makes me love Zero to Mastery. It shows that Zero to Mastery isn’t just there to make a quick buck. They are there to help people thrive and become the best employees they can be.


Others Courses

Other courses are plentiful too, including courses on AWS, UI development, NFTs, cyber security, etc.

Again, every single course here is designed to help people become better employees. They can provide great skills that even the employed will have other tech companies begging for them to work there.


Career Paths at Zero to Mastery Academy

This is a nifty feature.

Once again, I have used a lot of e-learning platforms. One of the big issues that I have with many of these platforms is that they throw you in the deep end. They expect you to have a rough idea about what you want to learn. No guidance beyond that. Zero to Mastery does provide that guidance.

The career paths feature allows you to select your overall life goals and then provides you with a curated course plan. This way, you can keep working through the courses in your customized plan and know exactly what you need to be learning next.

For example, you can find career paths that will lead you to the following (not a complete list):

Career Paths at Zero to Mastery Academy


Placement Quiz

Don’t know what course to take? Are the career paths not quite cutting it? Then you will love this feature. Zero to Mastery has a 2-minute quiz. Answer a couple of questions about your goals, overall experience, etc. and the team will automatically put together a customized learning plan just for you.

While I haven’t used this feature extensively, preferring the curated career paths, I have known many people break into coding and tech jobs starting from absolutely no experience following the recommendations given in the placement quiz.

Placement Quiz


Quality Education

In the early days, all of the courses were put together by Andrei Neagoie. He still has a major hand in putting them together but, as the company expanded, he has hired the best teachers to deliver education.

The courses always follow roughly the same plan. So, nothing is wildly different in terms of the course structure. You get video content, worksheets, and portfolios. Simple stuff.

The educators here are full-qualified. They know how to teach, and they have a ton of experience in their individual fields.

This is another area where Zero to Mastery succeeds in comparison to its competitors. Other e-learning platforms have hundreds and hundreds of courses up. However, they are about quantity rather than quality. I have used them. It is a major gripe. That isn’t the case with Zero to Mastery.

A Zero to Mastery course is always taught properly. High-quality education. No stone is left unturned in ensuring that the student knows everything there is to know. Remember, these courses are not about teaching the basics. They are about teaching enough to secure a paying job.

Quality Education



How the Courses Are Structured

I know I have said this a lot, but it is a great thing about Zero to Mastery; their goal is to help secure jobs for their learners.

The bulk of their courses are delivered through video content. Lots and lots of video content. There are a few worksheets here and there, but it is mostly through videos. However, watching videos isn’t enough to secure a job, right? Zero to Mastery goes a step further than this.

Along the way, learners will build up a portfolio of projects. This accomplishes two things:

  • Provides a good way of learning skills, as you are working on a real-world project.
  • Provides completed work that can be shown to a prospective employer.

I think it is the projects feature that has allowed people to secure so many jobs because of Zero to Mastery. As far as I know, no other e-learning platform puts this much emphasis on completing proper projects. As soon as you finish something with Zero to Mastery, you genuinely are ready to start applying for jobs.


Certifications

All completed courses will give a certification that can be shown off on your LinkedIn profile, or to employers.


Offline Education

Almost all of the courses can be downloaded and used offline. You may struggle with some parts of putting together your portfolio, but nothing too crazy.


Large Community of Learners

Thousands and thousands of people are learning through Zero to Mastery. When you are a paying member of the platform, you can join the community and interact with people. This can help you to secure jobs, or just clarify a few things from the courses.

Large Community of Learners


Workshops

These are just short 1-2 hour courses that cover things like personal security online, starting the job hunt, FAANG interview prep, etc.

You won’t be learning any coding here. You will just be learning how to tackle some of the bigger challenges in the coding world.


Zero to Mastery: The Benefits

I have talked about a few of the benefits in the previous sections. So, to really drum the point home, let me go over a few of the reasons why I believe this may be one of the best e-learning platforms around.

This is not a complete list of benefits. Just some of my personal highlights.


1. Good Teachers

I have been in awe at how good the teachers are at Zero to Mastery. I have yet to encounter a course that doesn’t cover everything that you need to know. Granted, I haven’t watched everything, but the courses all follow the basic structure that Andrei put in place, and he keeps a watchful eye over everything.

The teachers are fantastic at getting their points across. They have the ability to explain something with crystal-clear clarity, despite the wealth of experience they have. I love this. I have seen a few other sites that have ‘experts’, the experts are so knowledgeable about their subjects that they don’t know how to explain things simply for those that are learning.


2. Projects

You already know my thoughts on this. I love that every single course gives you the option to put together real projects that can help you secure jobs. It is why the people that follow the lessons at Zero to Mastery Academy are so employable.


3. Focus on Securing Jobs

Again, you know my feelings on this. Zero to Mastery is about getting jobs. Not just about educating people. This is a platform for those that are planning to advance their career in tech (or even join the career ladder).


4. Courses Updated Regularly

There are no free courses on Zero to Mastery, and that’s fine with me. The lack of free courses means that there is always an incentive for Zero to Mastery to keep their courses updated.

Most of their courses get updated every few months. As a result, nothing here is out of date. I can’t say the same for other e-learning platforms where there are often ‘top’ courses that are packed with crazily out-of-date information. Stuff that really wouldn’t help secure a job.


5. Curated Career Paths

I enjoy the more guided education that Zero to Mastery has. Let’s be honest. The tech world is confusing, even if you have experience. You never know what to learn. So, it is nice that Zero to Mastery gives you a nudge in the right direction.


Zero to Mastery: The Downsides

Nothing is perfect. Including Zero to Mastery, but the downsides are fewer than competing e-learning platforms.


1. No Free Courses

Sadly, nothing on the site is free. Well, they have a few free cheat sheets, but nothing too intense.

Cheat Sheets

This means that there isn’t really a way to ‘test’ the courses without paying. There are a few samples that are a couple of minutes long, but that doesn’t tell you much. You can’t create an account without paying cash.

That being said, Zero to Mastery does offer a no-quibble 30-day money-back guarantee, so it isn’t too bad.


2. Certifications Less Respected Than Other Platforms

You will receive a certification at the end of the courses that you complete. Unfortunately, these certificates are not as respected as courses from other e-learning platforms. Although, it isn’t a huge deal.

Most tech companies are just looking for experience and the ability to do a good job. They don’t care where you learn the stuff as long as you know how to do it properly.


3. Courses Are Very Long

Most of the courses have hundreds of lessons. I think I would have preferred if the company had a couple of bite-size courses. Although, I understand this isn’t the main focus of Zero to Mastery. Just know that if you embark on one of the courses here, you are in it for the long haul.


Zero to Mastery Pros and Cons – In Summary

ProsCons
Best educators out of all online e-learning platforms.Lengthy courses
Build your portfolio while you learnNo free courses
Curated career paths so you know what to learn nextCertifications not as respected
30-day moneyback guarantee 
Courses are updated regularly 

Zero to Mastery – Is It Worth It?

I have been using Zero to Mastery for a few years now, and it is more than worth it. I engage in the ZTM community, and pretty much everybody there eventually upgrades to a lifetime subscription.

If you are looking to advance your position in the tech industry, or perhaps break into the tech industry for the first time, then Zero to Mastery is one of the best platforms out there. Nowhere else will you be getting this level of education while developing a portfolio of projects. Follow Zero to Mastery courses and you will score a job.

Honestly, I would not have written this Zero to Mastery review if I didn’t believe in the platform. I genuinely believe everybody should know about it. There probably isn’t a single major tech company out there that doesn’t have employees that have followed at least one course at Zero to Mastery. That is how good this platform is.

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FAQs

Does Zero to Mastery Offer a Complete Web Developer Course?

Yes. Zero to Mastery offers a complete web development course. It can help turn even the newest coders into full-stack developers.

Is Zero to Mastery Worth The Money?

If you are willing to follow the courses and use them to gain jobs in the tech industry, then Zero to Mastery is worth every dollar that you spend on it.

How Many Courses Does Zero to Mastery Have?

They currently have 53 courses, with more courses being added on a regular basis.

Does Zero to Mastery Teach Software Development?

Yes. Zero to Mastery has a variety of software development courses. The courses here can teach you how to become both a front-end and back-end developer. You can also learn how to score jobs in the competitive tech industry.

What Does Zero to Mastery Teach About Web Development?

It teaches full-stack web development, including UI design. There are also courses on SEO to help round out your web development skills.

Josh Hutcheson

E-Learning Specialist in Online Programs & Courses Linkedin

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