Pramp is a cost-effective option for practicing interview skills, especially for those targeting FAANG companies. Interview Kickstart is a premium service that offers comprehensive career coaching and aims for significant salary increases, making it suitable for candidates seeking a more intensive and personalized approach.
| Attribute | Pramp | Interview Kickstart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier with five mock interview credits per month; paid Exponent subscription for unlimited sessions | Varies from $2400 to $11,000 depending on the program. Trial access for 12-18 week courses is $600. |
| Coaching format (live, recorded, mock) | Peer-to-peer format with live, one-on-one video calls. Users take turns as both interviewer and interviewee. | Combination of live, instructor-led guidance, self-paced learning, and mock interviews. |
| Industry specialization | Software engineers, product managers, and other tech professionals, especially those targeting FAANG companies | 18 tech and product domains, including Machine Learning, Data Science, System Design, and Software Development. Specializes in transitions into AI-related fields. |
| Years of experience of coaches | Varies, peer-to-peer platform matching users with similar experience levels. Exponent has over 300 coaches who have worked at top tech companies. | Instructors are seasoned FAANG+ professionals with a team of 600+ instructors. |
| Success rate | Claims a matching success rate of over 90%. A 2024 LeetCode survey indicated that candidates who practiced mock interviews were 60% more likely to pass FAANG coding interviews. | Alumni have landed jobs with offers of $300K+. The highest compensation reported is $1.28 million. The average salary hike for alumni has been $150k. |
| Curriculum structure | Structured interview questions and a collaborative coding environment. Questions on data structures and algorithms, product management, system design, frontend, data science, behavioral, and SQL. | Structured curriculum covering Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA), System Design, domain-specific topics, and soft skills training. |
| Personalization | Personalizes practice sessions based on your needs, ensuring you're not asked the same question repeatedly. The matching algorithm considers background, availability, practice goals, work experience, education, and preferred programming languages. | Individualized teaching and 1-on-1 help, including technical coaching, homework assistance, solutions discussion, and individual sessions. Programs can be customized. |
| Community support | Platform for connecting with other engineers worldwide. Users can exchange feedback after each session. | Strong career coaching program and support network. |
| Resume review included | Pramp itself doesn't offer resume review, but its parent company Exponent does. | Resume help is included as part of career skills development. LinkedIn profile feedback provided. |
| Behavioral question preparation | Offers mock interviews covering behavioral questions relevant to all tech roles. | Behavioral interview prep is included. |
| Technical interview preparation | Provides a shared code editor, interview questions, hints, and solutions for technical interview preparation. | Comprehensive technical interview preparation covering core technical topics, starting with Data Structures and Algorithms and system design. |
| Negotiation training | Exponent offers salary negotiation coaching sessions. It is not clear if this is part of the Pramp platform. | Salary negotiation training is included. |
| Ratings | Not available | Not available |