CourseVerdict

CSS Grid and Flexbox, v2 vs freeCodeCamp Responsive Web Design

Same Bayesian formula, same rubric — so the difference in scores reflects the difference in the courses, not the difference in how we evaluated them.

Frontend Masters · Web Development

CSS Grid and Flexbox, v2

4.3/ 5 · 27 opinions
21 positive4 neutral2 negative/ 27 total

freeCodeCamp.org · Web Development

freeCodeCamp Responsive Web Design

4.3/ 5 · 52 opinions
38 positive9 neutral5 negative/ 52 total

Per-criterion

Content quality4.4 / 5

Covers responsive layout across two parts — Flexbox (grid systems, navigation, responsive images) and CSS Grid (Mondrian and magazine layouts, cards). Reviewers say it teaches modern layout "without hacks", though v2 predates subgrid and container queries.

Instructor4.6 / 5

Jen Kramer is the most-praised element — a long-time CSS educator who explains layout clearly and at a beginner-friendly pace. Learners and a Hacker News commenter call her CSS courses "very good" and her teaching "well taught, in-depth".

Value for money4.1 / 5

Requires a $39/month (or $390/year) Frontend Masters subscription rather than a one-time purchase — strong value if you use the wider catalog, weaker if you only want this one course. The course is included in the standard subscription.

Projects4.0 / 5

More hands-on than most CSS courses: each section ends in build exercises and a capstone, including a Mondrian painting and magazine layouts. The builds are small practice pieces rather than a full portfolio site, but they reinforce the concepts well.

Real-world use4.3 / 5

Flexbox and Grid are the everyday tools for production layout, and learners report finishing real site layouts noticeably faster afterward. The main gap is currency — the newer features (subgrid, container queries) are covered in Kramer's v3, not this version.

Content quality4.1 / 5

HTML, CSS and Flexbox/Grid lessons are widely praised as current and well-scoped. Some JavaScript and legacy modules are flagged as outdated or shipped with quality concerns after rapid 2024 redeploys.

Instructor3.9 / 5

No single instructor — curriculum is built by the freeCodeCamp team and community contributors. Lessons are clear and well-paced but lack the personality of single-instructor courses like Wes Bos or Jonas Schmedtmann.

Value for money5.0 / 5

Completely free, certifications included, and entirely ad-free. Considered the best price-to-output ratio in beginner web development by every learner who weighed it against paid Udemy or Codecademy paths.

Projects4.3 / 5

Five build-along projects per certification (tribute page, survey form, landing page, technical doc, portfolio) are genuinely portfolio-grade and the most-cited reason people land first jobs.

Real-world use3.8 / 5

Strong for fundamentals and project portfolios. Less effective at teaching local dev environment setup, git workflows and modern tooling — graduates often supplement with The Odin Project or Frontend Masters.

Scoring methodology applies identically to every course on the site — see the formula.