7 Best Coding Kata Sites in 2025 (Ranked by a Daily Practitioner)
If you’ve heard developers talk about “doing katas” and wondered what they meant, you’re in the right place. Coding katas are small, repeatable programming exercises designed to sharpen your skills through deliberate practice—like a martial artist perfecting the same moves until they become instinct.
The term comes from Codewars, but the concept has spread. Here are the best platforms for kata-style practice in 2025.
What Makes a Good Kata Site?
Before the list, here’s what separates great kata platforms from generic coding challenge sites:
- Bite-sized problems you can solve in 15-60 minutes
- Ranking/progression system that tracks improvement
- Community solutions you can study after solving
- Variety of difficulty levels from trivial to brain-melting
- Multiple language support so you can practice in your preferred stack
With that criteria, here’s where to train.
1. Codewars
The original and still the best. Codewars invented the coding kata concept online, and nobody has topped it.
Why it’s #1: The 8-kyu to 1-kyu ranking system is addictive. You start as an 8-kyu beginner, and every solved kata earns you honor points toward ranking up. The real magic happens after you submit—you see how hundreds of other developers solved the same problem, often in ways you never imagined. I’ve learned more JavaScript tricks from reading Codewars solutions than from any tutorial.
The kata library: 10,000+ challenges across 55+ languages. Everything from “reverse a string” to problems that require genuine algorithmic insight. The community creates new katas constantly.
Downsides: Some community-created katas have unclear instructions or weak test cases. The difficulty rating can be inconsistent—one 5-kyu might take 20 minutes, another might take 2 hours.
Best for: Everyone. Whether you’re learning your first language or you’ve been coding for a decade, Codewars has something at your level.
Price: Free (premium removes ads and adds some features, but free is fully functional)
2. Exercism
Exercism takes a different approach: human mentorship. You solve exercises, submit them, and volunteer mentors review your code and suggest improvements.
Why it’s great: The focus isn’t just “does it work?” but “is this idiomatic?” If you’re learning Python, mentors will teach you to write Pythonic code—list comprehensions, generators, proper naming. This is invaluable for writing professional-quality code, not just code that passes tests.
The exercise library: 70+ language tracks with 20-100+ exercises each. The exercises are simpler than Codewars katas but more focused on language-specific best practices.
Downsides: Mentor availability varies. Sometimes you get feedback in hours, sometimes days. The problems aren’t as challenging—this is more “learn to write clean code” than “solve tricky algorithms.”
Best for: Developers learning a new language who want to write idiomatic, professional code from day one.
Price: Completely free (open source, volunteer mentors)
3. Edabit
Edabit is katas for absolute beginners. If Codewars feels intimidating, start here.
Why it works: The difficulty curve is gentler than anywhere else. Problems start at “return the sum of two numbers” and gradually increase. The XP system and achievements keep you motivated through the early grind.
The library: 10,000+ challenges, but heavily weighted toward easier problems. Most are solvable in under 10 minutes.
Downsides: You’ll outgrow it fast. Within a few weeks of consistent practice, the problems will feel too easy. There’s no mentor feedback or community solutions as rich as Codewars.
Best for: Complete beginners who’ve just finished their first programming tutorial and need low-stakes practice.
Price: Free (premium adds some features)
4. CodeKata
Dave Thomas (of “Pragmatic Programmer” fame) created the original coding kata concept, and CodeKata is his collection of 21 classic exercises. These aren’t a platform—they’re a curated set of problems with essays explaining the philosophy behind deliberate practice.
Why it matters: These katas are designed to be repeated. The point isn’t to solve them once; it’s to solve them multiple times in different ways, exploring different approaches. Kata14 (Tom Swift Under the Alarm System) is a classic that every developer should try.
Downsides: Just 21 katas. No platform, no ranking, no community. You solve these in your own IDE.
Best for: Experienced developers who want to understand the philosophy of deliberate practice, not just grind problems.
Price: Free
5. Cyber Dojo
Cyber Dojo is kata practice with a focus on Test-Driven Development. Every exercise requires you to write tests first, then implementation.
Why it’s unique: The platform tracks your red-green-refactor cycle visually. You can see exactly how often you ran tests, how your solution evolved, and compare your TDD rhythm with others. It’s less about “solving the problem” and more about “practicing good development habits.”
Downsides: The UI is deliberately minimal (almost retro). No gamification, no ranking. If you don’t care about TDD, there’s no reason to use this over Codewars.
Best for: Developers who want to improve their TDD discipline and practice the red-green-refactor cycle.
Price: Free
6. Coding Dojo Kata Catalogue
Not to be confused with the bootcamp, this is a community-maintained catalogue of classic programming katas with links to descriptions and resources.
What it is: A directory, not a platform. It lists katas like FizzBuzz, Bowling Game, Roman Numerals, and Mars Rover with links to instructions. You solve them in your own environment.
Why it’s useful: When you want focused practice on a specific problem type without the gamification overhead. Great for coding dojos (group practice sessions) or pairing exercises.
Downsides: No platform, no tests provided, no community solutions. You’re on your own.
Best for: Team leads organizing group practice sessions, or developers who prefer solving problems locally.
Price: Free
7. AlgoCademy
I’ll be transparent—this is my platform. AlgoCademy isn’t strictly a “kata site” in the Codewars sense, but it serves a similar purpose: structured, repeatable practice for skill-building.
How it’s different: Instead of solving isolated problems, you work through step-by-step tutorials that teach problem-solving patterns. The AI tutor gives hints without spoilers. It’s designed for developers who feel stuck on medium-difficulty problems and don’t know why.
Why include it here: If you’ve been grinding Codewars katas but still freeze when you see an unfamiliar problem, you might be missing the underlying patterns. AlgoCademy teaches those patterns explicitly.
Downsides: Smaller problem library than Codewars. Less gamification. If you just want a quick kata fix, Codewars is better.
Best for: Developers preparing for technical interviews who want guided learning, not just problem sets.
Price: Free tier available, full access $99/year
My Kata Routine
For what it’s worth, here’s how I use these sites:
Daily: One Codewars kata with my morning coffee (15-20 min). I always read at least three community solutions after submitting.
Weekly: One classic CodeKata solved from scratch, trying a different approach than last time.
When learning a new language: Exercism track until I’ve internalized the idioms.
The key isn’t which site you pick—it’s showing up consistently. A 6-kyu developer who practices daily will outgrow a 3-kyu developer who shows up once a month.
Start your streak today.
