Frequently Asked Questions From New Subscribers

I often receive questions from folks who have just signed up for Python Morsels and want to understand how the free trial and the paid plans work. Here are answers to the questions I hear most often.

If you have a question that doesn't seem to be on this page, please feel free to email your question to me at help@pythonmorsels.com.

What does the free trial include?

When you sign up, you'll get 3 free exercise credits. No payment details are needed. Each credit lets you claim one exercise from the Exercise Library, and once you've claimed an exercise you'll have access to it (and its solution walk-through) from then on.

The free trial doesn't include access to premium screencasts and articles. Those are included with the paid plans.

Your trial credits never expire, so there's no deadline to worry about.

Where are all my exercises?

Python Morsels doesn't hand you a big list of exercises to binge. You'll claim exercises one at a time from the Exercise Library, using exercise credits (or claim freely on the All Access plan).

You'll also receive exercise recommendation emails suggesting a next exercise based on the skill level you've chosen. You can choose how often those emails arrive (daily, weekly, monthly, or never) on your Preferences page.

I recommend solving about one exercise each week to encourage habit-forming (regular habitual learning is very effective) and discourage binge-learning (cramming is not effective for learning).

How is this different from Hacker Rank, Exercism, Code Wars, etc.?

Python Morsels is a bit different from other Python practice sites.

I pour a lot of my time into Python Morsels exercises. I spend many hours vetting ideas, breaking problems into interesting bonuses, writing explanations for notable solutions, responding to feedback from beta testers, and fixing bugs in exercises based on feedback from you (if you've reported a bug, thank you!). These hours result in something which I hope is uniquely useful.

Unlike Exercism, Project Euler, Hacker Rank, Code Wars, and CheckIO, Python Morsels is targeted less at algorithmic or mathematical exercises and more at embracing the tools and features available in the Python programming language. I have dozens of rejected exercise ideas which I'd love to use but for which I haven't found an answer to the question "what is there to learn about Python in this problem?"

If you're looking for exercises which help you understand Python better and practice useful everyday Python skills, Python Morsels is probably a good fit for you. If you want exercises for algorithmic interview prep, to learn how to program in general, or to solve fun math problems, you may want to look elsewhere.

What happens when I run out of trial credits?

Nothing bad: your account sticks around, and you'll keep access to every exercise you claimed.

To keep solving new exercises you can:

  1. Subscribe to a paid plan (see the pricing page)
  2. Redeem an All Access gift certificate, which unlocks every exercise for 6 or 12 months without a subscription

Since you signed up without payment details, you'll never be billed unless you decide to subscribe.

What is the difference between the Lite and All Access plans?

The Lite plan includes all premium screencasts and articles, plus 1 exercise credit each month. It's a great fit if you learn mostly by reading and watching, with an occasional exercise mixed in.

The All Access plan includes everything in Lite, plus unlimited exercise claiming from the Exercise Library and access to courses.

Current prices for both plans are on the pricing page. You can switch plans at any time with prorated credit.

When I decide to cancel one day, what will happen and how does that work?

Cancelling puts your account into a non-renewing state. So rather than stopping your access immediately, cancelling will stop it at the end of your current billing term.

When you cancel, you'll continue to have access to all the exercises you claimed while subscribed. You'll still be able to submit solutions for those exercises through the app and you'll still have access to both the problem statements and the solution walk-throughs. If you ever re-subscribe, you'll start up from where you left off.

See Cancelling for more.

What if I can't afford a Python Morsels subscription?

If you make a Silicon Valley tech salary, a Python Morsels subscription likely isn't a big expense. But salaries vary a lot around the world, and what's affordable for one person is a considerable sum for another.

If you can't afford a Python Morsels subscription, I may have a discount that's suitable for you. I offer discounts based on income level. See the discounts page for more details, and Discounts for how discount requests work.

Can I get access to your entire collection of exercises at once?

Yes. The All Access plan includes access to every exercise in the Exercise Library, and you can claim and solve exercises at any pace you'd like.

But please keep in mind that I don't recommend binge-learning, because it's less effective. I recommend solving at most one exercise per sitting. If long-term learning is your goal, make sure to get up and walk away from your machine for a few hours to let your brain reflect (sleep on it, so to speak) before moving on.

If I don't subscribe, will you keep emailing me interesting things about Python?

If you're subscribed to my newsletter, then yes. I make some announcements only to active Python Morsels subscribers, but the majority of my Python-related emails are sent through my free Python newsletter.

If I don't subscribe now, can I still subscribe later?

Most likely, yes. The price may be different in the future, but you're welcome to subscribe, cancel, and re-subscribe whenever you'd like.

Great, so how do I subscribe?

You can compare the plans on the pricing page and sign up for a paid subscription from your subscription management page.

Can I use third-party modules like requests?

You cannot. The exercise-testing tool does not have any third-party modules installed.

Why? Well, Python Morsels is primarily focused on learning Python itself, not third-party Python libraries.

How do exercise credits work and do they expire?

An exercise credit lets you claim one exercise of your choice from the Exercise Library. Credits are never spent automatically: you choose when to use them, and unused credits simply sit in your account.

Exercise credits do not expire, and they survive cancellation. You can get credits from the free trial, from the Lite plan's monthly credit, or from promotional redemption codes.

For more, see the Exercise Credits page.

How can I pause billing?

If you have an active Python Morsels subscription, there's a pause feature available on your subscription page. While paused you won't be billed, and your plan, rate, and any discounts are preserved for when you resume.

For more on pausing and resuming, see the Pausing page.

I used a redemption code but I'm being billed. Why?

Redemption codes add exercise credits (and sometimes screencast access) to your account. They don't change your paid subscription or your billing period.

If you have both an active subscription and credits from a redemption code, you can spend those credits whenever you like to claim extra exercises, now or after your subscription ends. Exercise credits do not expire.

Can I gift a subscription to someone else?

Yes, in the form of a redemption code. You can't gift a recurring subscription directly, but you can buy a redemption code and give it to a friend. Redemption codes come in a few tiers: bundles of exercise credits with screencast access, or a full year of All Access.

You don't need a Python Morsels account to buy one. We'll email the code to whatever address you check out with, and you can forward that email to whoever the gift is for.

Redemption codes don't expire, so you can buy one now and hand it over later. The person you give it to will be prompted to create an account (or log into theirs) when they redeem it. See Gifts and redemption codes for the details.

Can I ask you Python questions?

I love hearing from you, and I do read every email. I can't promise a thorough answer to every Python question (there's only one of me), but I often reply, and the most interesting questions tend to turn into future Python Morsels screencasts, articles, and exercises.

If your question is about a specific exercise (something seems wrong, or a hint didn't make sense), definitely email me: that kind of feedback makes the exercises better for everyone.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Every payment comes with a 30 day money-back guarantee. Email me within 30 days of a payment, for any reason, and I'll refund it in full, no questions asked. See Payments and Invoices for more on refunds and billing.

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