I Tried 40+ System Design Resources — These Are My Top 6 Recommendations for 2026

I Tried 40+ System Design Resources — These Are My Top 6 Recommendations for 2026

6 System Design Resources to Crack FAANG Interviews in 2026

I Tried 40+ System Design Resources — These Are My Top 6 Recommendations

Hello guys, System Design interviews are getting tougher every year. Even senior engineers struggle unless they have a structured way to learn like real-world examples, visual explanations, mock interviews, and hands-on practice.

Over the last few years, I’ve tried 40+ system design resources including System design platforms, books, and courses, and for 2026, these are the 6 resources I genuinely recommend.

Each shines in a specific area — so depending on your goal (FAANG interview, architecture mastery, or practical design skills), you can choose the right one.

Let’s jump in.

6 Best System Design Resources to Crack FAANG Interviews in 2026

Without any further ado, here are the top 6 System Design resources you can use to do FAANG level preparation. If you are aiming for MAG 7 like Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, and Apple then these System Design resource are for you.

1. ByteByteGo — Best Visual System Design Learning Experience (50% OFF)

If you want fast understanding with crystal-clear visuals, ByteByteGo is unbeatable.

Founded by Alex Xu, an ex FAANG engineer and author of popular System Design Inside guide series, ByteByteGo has become a go-to resource for System Design and coding interviews in last a couple of years.

Their animations and diagrams simplify even complex topics like distributed transactions, caching, messaging, and load balancing. It’s the easiest way to build strong fundamentals quickly.

Best for:
✔ Visual learners
✔ Senior engineers who want deep clarity
✔ Fast prep for system design rounds

And the best thing is that they are offering 50% discount now which means you can grab their lifetime plan for massive discount.

Here is the link — Join ByteBytGo with 50% discount

2. Codemia — Best for Structured Roadmaps & End-to-End Learning (60% OFF)

Codemia surprised me this year — it’s one of the few platforms with a full journey from basics → high-level design → architecture → hands-on projects.

Their system design roadmap is extremely practical, and their real-world examples help you understand trade-offs beyond the interview setting.

They also have one of the biggest collection of System Design interview question back from different companies. If you are preparing for Amazon or Google, I highly recommend you to go through the System Design question tagged under those companies.

Best for:
✔ Senior developers transitioning to architect roles
✔ Those who want guided paths
✔ Hands-on architecture understanding

They are also offering massive discount on lifetime plan, which is what I got and that’s what I recommend to you as well because of the best value and you will need it every now and then.

Here is the link — Join Codemia.io with 60% discount on lifetime plan.

3. Exponent — Best for Mock System Design Interviews (70% OFF)

You cannot truly improve at system design without speaking your designs out loud. Exponent is the gold standard for mock interviews, feedback, and real examples from engineers who’ve cleared FAANG.

Their interview questions + structured answers are incredibly useful for final-stage polishing.

They also got massive collection of System Design and Coding interview courses including Software Design course, which is great to learn fundamentals and prepare well. It comes with 36 lessons and videos with real interview examples

Best for:
✔ Practicing live interviews
✔ Reviewing structured, high-quality answers
✔ Getting feedback from industry engineers

Here is the link — Join Exponent Annual Plan for 70% Discount now

4. Educative — Best for Beginners & Intermediate Learners (55% OFF)

Educative’s System Design courses (including Grokking Modern System Design) are still some of the most beginner-friendly material available.

If you prefer text + diagrams instead of videos, this is the easiest starting point. They have also refreshed and updated their popular System Design course and added many new courses on scalable and distributed System Design including Machine Learning.

Best for:
✔ Developers starting system design
✔ Anyone preparing in a compressed timeline
✔ Text-based, hands-on learning paths

Here is the link to join — Get Educative Unlimited for 55% discount

5. DesignGurus.io — Best Real-World Scalable System Design Scenarios (55% OFF)

DesignGurus is perfect for developers who want interview-level detail plus real-world engineering depth.

Their “Grokking the System Design Interview” and “High Scalability” courses cover practical scenarios that appear frequently in Big Tech interviews.

Best for:
✔ FAANG-level interview prep
✔ Scaling-focused designs
✔ Practical trade-off discussions

For best results and save money, you can get their All Course Bundle which will give you access to all of their best-selling courses for a huge discount, almost 65% and lifetime access.

Here is the link to join — All Course Bundle

6. Bugfree.ai — Best AI Assistant for System Design Practice (40% OFF)

Bugfree.ai isn’t a course — it’s an AI-powered brainstorming and feedback tool that helps you refine system design answers, spot missing components, or prepare end-to-end architecture diagrams faster.

It’s extremely useful when practicing alone. They are like the Leetcode for System Design. They also have different types of plan but I got the lifetime one as it provides best value and you will need it through your career and I recommend the same.

Best for:
✔ Solo practice
✔ Refining architecture answers
✔ Preparing detailed diagrams and trade-offs

Here is the link — Join Bugfree.ai Lifetime Plan for 40% OFF

Final Thoughts — Which One Should You Pick?

That’s all about the best System Design resources you can join to prepare for FAANG interviews in 2026. I have include both theory and practice courses and platforms.

While ByteByteGo is certainly the best resource, it doesn’t have the kind of practice you can do on Codemia.io or Bugfree.ai or Mock interviews like Exponent. That’s why its best to combine these platforms for more all round preparation.

If I had to recommend based on experience + results:

If you can combine one visual resource, one practical guide, and one mock-interview platform, you’ll be far ahead of most candidates in 2026.

In short:

This trio will prepare you for almost any system design interview — from startups to FAANG.

Other Programming and Interview Articles you may like

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these System Design resources and platforms then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. — If you just want to do one thing at this moment, go join ByteByteGo and start learning System Design and Coding Interview concepts, you will thank me later. The FAANG dream job you always wanted is not far anymore.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

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