Interview Kickstart vs Scaler
Updated onCompare Interview Kickstart and Scaler side-by-side. See how they stack up on features, pricing, and target market.
Interview Kickstart
Interview Kickstart is a technical interview preparation company that offers instructor-led and self-paced courses, mock interviews, and career coaching for software, data, and AI roles.
vs
Scaler
Scaler is an online tech upskilling platform (by InterviewBit) that offers mentor-led software engineering, data science, and related programs for students and working professionals.
Starts at $500
Which should you choose?
Interview Kickstart
You want a short, intensive, FAANG-focused interview-prep program led by current FAANG+ engineers and tightly tailored to a specific senior tech role (e.g., backend, ML, EM, TPM) with heavy emphasis on mock interviews.
Scaler
You want a longer, bootcamp-style upskilling path that builds CS fundamentals, DSA, system design, and real projects over 9–15 months with structured mentorship and broad career support.
Typical cost comparison
Scenario: One mid-career software engineer enrolling in a flagship, interview-focused software‑engineering / DSA program from each provider at full price, treating the tuition as a one‑time cost over roughly a year of access.
Interview Kickstart
$6200 per year
Scaler
$9900 per year
Interview Kickstart saves you $3,700 per year in this scenario.
Key differences
| Category | Interview Kickstart | Scaler | Why? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Career Support & Outcomes | Both offer structured career support with mock interviews, 1:1 mentorship, and profile optimization—Interview Kickstart adds a conditional 50% money-back job-outcome guarantee on some programs, while Scaler emphasizes a large learner community, many employer partners, and self-reported high median salary hikes, so each is strong but in slightly different ways. | ||
| Curriculum Depth & Upskilling | Scaler’s multi-level tracks (beginner to advanced) in software engineering, data science, ML, AI/ML, and full stack are designed to build fundamentals and industry-ready skills over 9–15 months, while Interview Kickstart assumes existing experience and concentrates more on interview-relevant topics than on end-to-end foundational upskilling. | ||
| Positioning & Focus | Interview Kickstart is narrowly positioned as FAANG-focused technical interview prep with 18 highly role-specific courses, whereas Scaler positions itself as a broader tech upskilling platform that also includes interview preparation. | ||
| Pricing Transparency & Financing Options | Scaler publicly describes its financing structure (e.g., $500 down plus defined EMI options and rupee-denominated fee ranges) and refund window, while Interview Kickstart generally requires attending a sales webinar to learn pricing and payment options, so Scaler offers more upfront clarity on costs and payment plans. | ||
| Program Length & Weekly Time Commitment | Interview Kickstart’s core interview-prep programs typically run about 11–15 weeks with roughly 10–12 hours per week plus a follow-on support period, whereas Scaler’s Academy and DS/ML tracks expect 12–18 hours per week sustained over roughly 9–15 months, making IK better suited to shorter, time-bounded prep sprints before interviews. |
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