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CodeCombat
By CodeCombat Inc.. Visit CodeCombat
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
A fantasy adventure game where kids move their hero by typing real Python or JavaScript. Over 500 levels teach loops, conditions and functions, with a slower CodeCombat Junior for grades K-5. Premium adds pets, heroes, AI hints that point out errors without giving answers, and AI HackStack, a guided tool for making projects with models like ChatGPT and Claude. There are coding esports leagues and a version inside Roblox.
Our take: A good fit for game-loving kids about 9 and up who are ready to type code; parents should decide whether they want generative AI included before buying Premium.
| Ages it suits | about 6-18 (K-5 Junior, then grades 6-12) |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | No age line found in the terms we could load. The privacy policy says it follows COPPA: parents give consent for under-13s by creating their child's account, and teachers can consent for students. (terms) |
| Price | Free, with paid extras. Free levels and free teacher/student accounts; Premium home access $14.99 a month or $149 a year (Oct 2026). Live online classes cost extra. |
| Works on | Web, Chromebook |
| Account | A parent's account |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | Yes |
| The AI in it | AI hints explain coding errors (10 a day for Premium), and AI HackStack lets kids build projects with outside generative AI models (50 prompts a month). |
What's good
- Kids type real code from the start
- AI hints are designed not to hand over answers
- Clear stance against AI providers training on chats
- Free teacher accounts for schools
Watch for
- Premium items and heroes push upgrades
- HackStack sends prompts to outside AI models
- Roblox version brings Roblox's own chat and rules
- Allows Google Analytics behavioral tracking
Data and privacy
Says it does not sell personal information and does not let its AI providers train on kids' chats; AI chat is logged for teachers. It allows third-party behavioral tracking through Google Analytics. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
A 2021 peer-reviewed study of 59 lower secondary students found the CodeCombat group scored somewhat higher than a regular Python class, but the gap was not statistically significant.
In the Big Index
- On the list 16 AI coding tools and AI-assisted coding for kids and teens
- On the list 19 best coding games for kids
- On the list 19 best learning games for tweens (10-13)
- On the list 23 best free sites for kids to learn coding
- CodeCombat
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Where these facts come from
- https://codecombat.com/
- https://codecombat.com/premium
- https://codecombat.com/parents
- https://codecombat.com/privacy
- https://codecombat.com/legal
- https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1308871
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.