You're learning to code or prepping for your first tech interview. You see LeetCode Premium advertised everywhere. The question burns: Should I invest $159/year (or $35/month) right now, or is that money wasted on a beginner?
Here's the honest answer: LeetCode Premium is rarely worth it for true beginners. But there's a specific inflection point where it becomes extremely valuable. This guide helps you identify exactly when you should buy LeetCode Premium and how to maximize free resources until then.
Before deciding when to buy, understand what you're paying for:
| Feature | What It Does | Beginner Value |
|---|---|---|
| Company Tags | Shows which companies asked each problem | Low (you need to target specific companies) |
| Frequency Data | Shows how often each problem appears | Low (only useful for company targeting) |
| Official Editorials | Staff-written solutions with explanations | Medium (but free alternatives exist) |
| Premium Problems | ~300 additional problems | Low (you won't exhaust free problems quickly) |
| Debugger | In-browser stepping through code | Low (use local IDE instead) |
| Autocomplete | Basic code completion | Very Low (use VS Code) |
| Need | Free Solution |
|---|---|
| Core pattern understanding | Blind 75, NeetCode roadmap |
| Problem explanations | YouTube (NeetCode, Take U Forward), Discussion tab |
| Debugging help | Local IDE, print statements |
| Interview practice | Free problems on LeetCode + mock interviews |
| Structured roadmap | NeetCode.io, complete beginner study plans |
Most beginner needs are fully met by free resources. Premium's core value—company-specific targeting—doesn't help until you're past the foundational stage.
If any of these apply, save your money:
At fewer than 100 problems, you're still building basic problem-solving muscles. Company tags won't help because you lack the pattern vocabulary to transfer learning between problems.
Instead: Work through a free structured DSA learning path that sequences problems by difficulty and pattern.
Can you look at a problem and identify whether it needs:
If not, Premium problems will just be "more random problems." You need pattern recognition skills first.
Premium's killer feature is company-specific question lists. If you're not targeting specific companies (you're just "preparing for interviews generally"), this feature has zero value.
The right time: When you can say "I have an interview at Meta in 4 weeks" or "I'm exclusively targeting these 3 companies."
If LeetCode Easy problems take you more than 20-25 minutes with hints, you're not ready for company-specific grinding. You need more fundamental practice.
Benchmark: Comfortably solving most Easy problems in 15 minutes, and some Medium problems in 30 minutes.
Three months is too early for company-specific prep. Problem pools change, and you'll forget the specifics by interview time.
Timeline: Buy Premium 4-6 weeks before your first interview, not earlier.
You're ready to get value from Premium when:
You've built a foundation. You can recognize common patterns. Now, targeted practice on likely questions adds real value.
The key word is "scheduled." Once you have a recruiter screen passed and onsite dates, Premium's company tags become extremely high-ROI.
Premium tags are most reliable for:
For startups or smaller companies, tags are sparse. General practice matters more.
"Independently" means without looking at hints for the core approach. If you need hints for every Medium, company lists will just be frustrating.
Test yourself: Can you solve 3 random Medium problems in 90 minutes total, without external help on the approach?
This is the sweet spot. Enough time to deeply learn 30-40 company-specific problems with spaced repetition, but not so much time that you forget them.
Here's how to maximize value without overpaying:
Cost: $0
Cost: $0 (or paid mock interview services if desired)
Once you have interviews scheduled:
Cost: $35-70 (1-2 months)
You use Premium at maximum efficiency, only when it provides unique value.
Don't panic. You can still extract value:
Use editorials carefully: Premium editorials are well-written, but passive reading builds weak skills. If you read an editorial:
Explore Premium problems for variety: Some Premium-only problems are excellent. But don't prioritize them over foundational pattern practice.
Don't feel pressured to "get value": The sunk cost fallacy hurts people here. Just because you paid doesn't mean you should grind company lists before you're ready. Follow the right learning path regardless of what you've spent.
Use this quick checklist to evaluate your readiness:
Foundation Skills (answer honestly):
Interview Timing:
Scoring:
Be honest with yourself—there's no prize for buying Premium early.
While you're building skills, here's how to get maximum value from free LeetCode:
All free. All sufficient for pattern mastery.
Don't just read solutions. Tools like LeetCopilot provide progressive hints that keep you actively problem-solving rather than passively consuming. This builds stronger neural pathways than reading, paid or free.
Use a simple system:
Free tracking beats expensive tools you don't use consistently.
I got a Premium discount (student, Black Friday, etc.). Should I buy now?
Discounts change the math but not the fundamentals. If you're not ready to use company tags, a cheaper purchase is still money spent early. However, if the savings are significant (50%+) and you know you'll interview within 6-12 months, it can make sense to lock in the rate.
Is Premium worth it just for the editorials?
Rarely. Free explanations (YouTube, NeetCode.io, Discussion tab) cover the same content. Editorials are a convenience, not a necessity.
What about the Premium-only problems?
Some are great, but there are 2000+ free problems. You won't run out of free content. Premium-only problems don't have a special "better learning" quality.
Should I buy annual or monthly?
Monthly unless you're certain you'll use Premium for 5+ months in the next year. For most people, 1-2 months of targeted use is optimal.
I'm just starting to learn to code. When will I be ready for LeetCode Premium?
Focus on learning programming fundamentals first, then data structures courses, then start LeetCode free tier. Premium readiness is typically 6-12 months into dedicated practice, depending on your background and pace.
Use this flowchart logic:
Have you solved 100+ problems?
Can you recognize patterns before coding?
Do you have interviews scheduled in the next 6 weeks?
Are you targeting companies with good tag data (Meta, Amazon, etc.)?
LeetCode Premium is a valuable tool—at the right time. For beginners, that time is not now. The free tier provides more than enough problems, and what you need most is pattern recognition skills that come from deliberate practice, not access to company tags.
The smart strategy: build foundations with free resources, develop pattern fluency through structured study plans, and save Premium for the final sprint when you have real interviews scheduled. This approach costs less, builds stronger skills, and uses Premium at its highest-value moment.
Your goal isn't to solve the most problems or access the most features. It's to develop the problem-solving intuition that transfers to any question, tagged or not. Premium is a targeting tool, not a teaching tool—and you need teaching before targeting.
LeetCopilot is a free browser extension that enhances your LeetCode practice with AI-powered hints, personalized study notes, and realistic mock interviews — all designed to accelerate your coding interview preparation.
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