Review — Is System Design School a Good Place to Learn System Design in 2025?

One of the best place to practice System Design interview problems with AI feedback, online drawing tools and you can even speak your solution.

Hello guys, System design has become a critical skill for engineers — especially if you’re preparing for mid to senior-level interviews. It’s also one of the main reason why many developers, even experienced one failed to crack any interview.

That’s why its important for you to prepare for System Design interview in detail. It will not just help you to crack interviews but also help you to become a better software engineer and system designer, or software architect.

When it comes to learning System Design, there is no shortage of resources. In the past, I have shared resources like ByteByteGo, Design Guru, Exponent, Educative, Codemia.io, Bugfree.ai and Udemy which have many great System design courses

But, amidst this crowded landscape of online resources, System Design School has been gaining attention for its structured, practice-oriented approach.

But is it truly worth your time and investment in 2025?

This article dives deep into what System Design School offers, how it compares with other platforms, and who stands to benefit most from it.

Learn System Design and Ace Your System Design Interview | Learn from Ex-FAANG Engineers

What Is System Design School?

At its core, System Design School is built around structured learning and hands-on practice — crafted by ex-FAANG engineers who aim to teach you how to think, rather than just what to think.

It follows a three-part curriculum:

System Design Fundamentals — The foundational principles, patterns, and templates for scalable systems.
Domain Knowledge — Focused modules like geospatial search, distributed transactions, and more.
Popular System Design Interview Problems — Real-world scenarios such as designing YouTube, Twitter, URL shortner, or Pastebin — with AI-driven feedback and editorial solutions

The platform’s interactive codelabs, using real technologies like Docker, Redis, and Kafka, help bridge theoretical knowledge with practical implementation.

Here is one interesting problem of designing Leetcode which you can try solving right now, completely online

Once you click on Start Practicing, you will see the next screen which detailed out the functional and scale related requirements as shown below:

In the next screen, you will be asked questions related to non-functional requirement to check whether you understood the problem and its related technical details or not

You can also see the View Sample Answer to check whatever you have entered is correct and complete or not

Not just the sample answer, you can also get automatic feedback based upon AI by clicking “Generate Feedback” and it will show sample feedback like this :

Super cool, isn’t it? Well, I really loved it.

The next screen will ask you to design API, this is a crucial step and its also quite detailed so you will not give endpoints but also request parameters, HTTP methods, authentication and authorization etc. This is like the practice I wanted to do to get better at API Design

And, again, you can immediately see the sample answer to see whether you have come up with the correct APIs or not, here is the sample answer of APIs you need to provide to design Leetcode problem:

The next step is high level design, where you will literally come up with the design by drawing the solution and its architecture. They also provide tools which you can use to draw diagrams and I must say its very smooth as shown below:

And, if you notice, instead of typing your explanation, you can also speak, that’s the mode I use because its better for interview preparation to speak loudly and share your ideas and thoughts.

Again, you can view the solution to check if your high level design is correct or not

I was totally in awe when I see this kind of practice to be honest and at this point, I committed to join System Design School and took their lifetime membership as its no brainer, I have never seen anything like this before. This is next level of system design interview prep

It’s also quite affordable due to 50% discount they are offering now, I mean $99 for this kind of experience is really worth it. I would invest $99 any day to become better at System Design by doing this kind of interactive practice.

But the practice doesn’t end here, after that there is deep dive session.

How It Works: AI Feedback & Community Support?

What sets System Design School apart is its AI-powered evaluation system:

Automatically grades your architecture diagrams and designs.
Gives feedback on API clarity, component usage, scalability, and more.

The platform also provides a private community forum — a space for peer discussion, sharing designs, and asking questions. However, it’s fully asynchronous, with no live mentorship or mock interviews.

But there interactive practice on System Design is of next level and I highly recommend to anyone who wants to get better at System Design to join System Design School.

They also have quite a big collection of System Design interview questions which you can use to practice and sharpen your skills.

System Design problems are also tagged to companies so that you know which question was asked to which companies and you can focus on your target company first.

You can see the full list of System Design problems here.

Pricing: Value to Match Your Budget

One of the most compelling things about System Design School is its pricing, especially in comparison to expensive boot camps and other online resources like ByteByteGo, Design Guru, Exponent, Educative which are more expensive then System Design school.

System Design school has three plans:

Free Tier — Access to limited problems and concepts
Pro Yearly — About $91/year for full access, now $45 due to 50% discount
Lifetime Access — Around $198 for unlimited, future-proof learning but now just $99 due to 50% discount they are offering.

That’s a hefty value if you’re self-disciplined and don’t need hand-holding — some bootcamps charge $3,000–$6,000 for similar content and more live interaction.

Even ByteByteGo’s lifetime plan cost around $499 but to be fair they have a lot more content and cover OOP design, coding interview pattern etc.

If you ask me, I would recommend you to take their lifetime plan now for $99, its totally worth it and then you can practice System Design problem anytime, this year or next year or after 2 years when you look for your next career opportunity. You don’t need to spend again to prepare for same thing.

Pros and Cons of System Design School

While I am totally blown away by their platform and their interactive System Design practice website which makes beautiful use of AI and technology to provide a complete practice experience.

Here are a detailed pros and cons analysis of System Design school for you to make a decision.

✅ Pros of System Design School

Created by ex-Google engineers with deep interview experience
AI grading and fast feedback on your designs
Hands-on infrastructure labs with technologies like Redis, Kafka, and Docker
Structured learning path with templates and patterns (System Design School)
Highly affordable, especially with the lifetime access option

❌ Cons of System Design School

No live mentorship or mock interviews, for that, I recommend you to join Exponent, their mock interview is best.
No coaching on communication skills like whiteboarding
Requires strong self-motivation; no accountability built in
Some diagrams lack interactive depth or implementation details but that rare, not norm.

Overall a great platform to practice System Design online, I have tried almost all the System Design platform like ByteByteGo, Design Guru, Exponent, Educative, Codemia.io, Bugfree.ai and Udemy but I really loved System Design school platform, only Codemia.io and Bugfree.ai comes close to System Design school for online system design practice.

A Reddit user shared a helpful insider perspective:

“The System Design School is created by Sheldon Chi (ex-Google), Jerry Luan (ex-Google)… and Navdeep Singh (NeetCode guy)… Popular system design problems set is not that huge… If you have budget… buy their Lifetime Premium ($99)… they have a tendency to increase their price later.”

So it’s clear: if structured problems with fast, iterative feedback align with your learning style — and you’re okay without live coaching — System Design School offers a powerful, affordable route.

Learn System Design and Ace Your System Design Interview | Learn from Ex-FAANG Engineers

How It Compares to Other Platforms like Educative and DesignGurus.io?

When it comes to System Design Interview Preparation, Educative’s “Grokking the Modern System Design Interview” is often considered the gold standard and go-to alternative.

It excels in scenarios and frameworks, walking you through many company-style system problems with clean visuals, quizzes, and text-based lessons.

System Design School, by comparison:

Is more hands-on with AI-based feedback and real code labs.
Offers templates and patterns to help you generalize beyond individual problems.
Costs significantly less — but lacks live walkthroughs from instructors.

Choose System Design School if:

You are a self-paced, independent learner who values AI feedback, infrastructure labs, and autonomy
You are budget-conscious and want lifetime access under $99
You are already system-design aware and need intermediate/advanced challenges
You are interview prepping in 4–8 weeks and can self-direct/simulate your own mock rounds

Choose Educative or DesignGurus (Grokking courses) if:

You prefer guided, scenario-driven frameworks and quizzes
You’re okay paying ~$150/year for a highly structured path
You need help building foundational frameworks first
You want curated, step-by-step interview walkthroughs

While there is a notable difference that both Educative and Designgurus.io have a lot more content on different topics like DSA, Coding Patterns and OOP Design but if you compare just System Design and interactive practice then System Design School is clearly the best platform.

I highly recommend to join them, given they are now offering 50% discount.

here is the link — Join System Design School for 50% OFF

Final Verdict: Is System Design School Worth It in 2025?

Absolutely, if your learning preferences align. It’s a cost-effective, structured, and feedback-rich option that empowers you to build system design fluency — but it requires initiative and discipline.

Best for you if:

You want to practice system design with instant AI feedback.
You’re comfortable self-studying without live instructors.
You value deeply structured templates and codelabs.

Less ideal if:

You want mock interviews, live coaching, or communication training.
You learn better through textual walkthroughs and expert guidance.

If you ask me, I highly recommend it to all the Software Engineers and developers.

You can also explore System Design School and get started with structured, AI-augmented practice here: System Design School — Learn System Design the Structured Way

Other System Design and Coding Interview and Resources you may like

All the best for your System Design Interviews, if you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

P. S. — If you want to do just one thing then go and explore System Design School — Learn System Design the Structured Way, you will thank me later.

Learn System Design and Ace Your System Design Interview | Learn from Ex-FAANG Engineers

Review — Is System Design School a Good Place to Learn System Design in 2025? was originally published in Javarevisited on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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