💻 Coding · 🎓 Courses and learning platforms
Snap!
By University of California, Berkeley, with SAP. Visit Snap!
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
A free block-based programming language that runs in the browser and looks like Scratch, but goes much deeper: kids can build their own blocks, use lists and functions as data, and work through serious computer science ideas. It is the language behind Berkeley's Beauty and Joy of Computing course, used for AP Computer Science Principles. Users can save to the cloud, share projects, and browse thousands of community games and simulations.
Our take: A good next step for teens who have outgrown Scratch and want real computer science; younger beginners should start with Scratch.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 3 out of 5 | No ads or chat, but the front page shows projects shared by other users with their usernames, including a slot-machine game. |
|---|---|
| Data: 4 out of 5 | Siteimprove analytics and the Sentry error service loaded; no ad networks. |
| Ease: 3 out of 5 | Run Now and Example Projects buttons are clear, but the page is aimed at older students and adults. |
| Cost honesty: 5 out of 5 | Free; no upsell seen. |
What we found
- 4 third-party hosts on 4 sites; no known ad or tracking networks
- 2 cookies set, both first-party
- Featured community projects on the first screen include 'Slot machine', 'Deadline Miami' and 'Wordle'
- No ad frames and no asks to sign up or buy on the first screen
From the test: Free and ad-free with light analytics; the shared project gallery from strangers suits the 12-and-up age the terms name.
| Ages it suits | about 12-20 (the terms say it is aimed mainly at ages 12-20) |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | No minimum age in the terms; no account is needed to program. To save to the cloud, under-13s must give a parent's or guardian's email at sign-up, and the site treats under-16s as needing parent notice under GDPR. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Free and open source (Oct 2026); donations accepted. |
| Works on | Web |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI. |
What's good
- Free with no ads, run by a university
- Grows with a child from Scratch-style blocks to real CS ideas
- Very little personal data collected
- Backed by a full high school curriculum (BJC)
Watch for
- Harder than Scratch for young kids
- Shared projects and a public forum are open to all ages
- Few guided lessons inside the editor itself
Data and privacy
Only an email (or a parent's email if under 13) is stored for accounts; birth month and year stay on the device. Says it voluntarily follows COPPA, never sends marketing email, and uses Google Analytics for general site statistics. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
Snap!'s research page lists design papers and essays by its makers; no independent study of learning outcomes from Snap! itself was found.
In the Big Index
- On the list 23 best free sites for kids to learn coding
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Where these facts come from
- https://snap.berkeley.edu/
- https://snap.berkeley.edu/about
- https://snap.berkeley.edu/tos
- https://snap.berkeley.edu/privacy
- https://snap.berkeley.edu/research
- https://bjc.berkeley.edu/
- https://forum.snap.berkeley.edu/
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.