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
freeCodeCamp.org · Web Development
freeCodeCamp Responsive Web Design
Per-criterion
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.