Websites Like Scratch: 5 Coding Platforms Compared
Scratch, Minecraft Education, Roblox Studio, Khan Academy and Code.org, compared — what each one is good at, who it suits and where it stops.
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Most parents arrive here for one of two reasons: their child has finished everything Scratch can throw at them, or they are choosing where to start and want to know what the options actually are. This is an honest comparison of the five platforms children learn on most — what each one is good at, who it suits, and where it stops. We run coding clubs, so we plainly have an interest here. We have tried to write it the way we would explain it to a parent on the phone.
Scratch - For beginners ages 6 -16
In our Game Dev Clubs, we often start children learning to code by using the platform, Scratch. Scratch is specifically designed for young beginners to coding. The code platform offers an easy-to-use, colourful interface that kids can get used to using quickly. Children can create interactive animations and games using code blocks which are colour-coded and snap together like a puzzle piece. It helps to teach children the links between code concepts and where they fit together. Its simplicity also fosters creativity with its ability to change backgrounds, characters and motion.
Where it stops: Scratch has no route into written code. There is no point at which the blocks quietly become Python — when a child wants to type rather than drag, they have to leave Scratch and begin again somewhere else. That handover is the single most common place children stall.
Scratch is available in our fully integrated platform on the Code Zone. Join our Game Dev Club in Hackers Levels for your child to try Scratch with guidance from a mentor!
Minecraft Education Edition - For intermediate levels at any age 
For kids who love gaming, our Minecraft Mod Club powered by Minecraft Education Edition takes coding to the next level. By leveraging the popular Minecraft platform, kids learn to modify the game using code. From creating custom blocks to designing interactive elements, students explore the intersection of coding and game design in a familiar and immersive environment. With Minecraft Education Edition, learning becomes a collaborative adventure where creativity knows no bounds.
Where it stops: it needs a Minecraft Education licence, which is not the same as the Minecraft most families already own, and everything built stays inside Minecraft. A brilliant way in for a gaming-mad child; less useful as somewhere to build a portfolio.
Roblox Studio - For intermediate to advanced at any age
The Roblox Studio is a more intermediate platform for children who love the game Roblox and want to dive deeper into game development. It leads with user-generated content with children having the ability to design and share their games in the community. Young developers can use the Roblox Studio scripting tools and Lua programming to create vivid, interactive games and worlds.
Where it stops: Roblox Studio is Lua only, and its documentation is written for adults. Children who take to it take to it fast; the rest usually need somebody sitting alongside them for the first few weeks. It also means publishing to a public platform, which is worth a conversation first.
Want to create new games and share them with a code community? Join our Game Jams to build your games with a new theme and share with friends on our integrated platform!
Khan Academy - For intermediate to advanced at any age
Khan Academy provides various courses covering a range of code learning from CSS, python, computer programming and computer science lessons. The benefit of this platform is that all of their learning courses are free to use. Khan Academy uses interactive exercises and video tutorials for students to learn real-world coding challenges.
Where it stops: it is entirely self-directed. There is nobody to ask when something will not work, and a bug a mentor would spot in seconds can end a child’s interest altogether. Free is only free if they keep going.
Khan Academy is a great option for intermediate coders who can learn as self-directed. However, if your child prefers guidance from a mentor, they will love the Game Dev Club!
Code.org - For beginners to advanced at any age
Code.org’s mission is to make code learning accessible to everyone. They use video tutorials & online activities to teach basic code concepts to children. They use beginner-friendly block-based code in the platform Blockly (similar to Scratch) to help younger students become accustomed to coding concepts. Intermediate-level students can use text-based programming languages including JavaScript and Python in their online learning. Their courses are made to progress through from beginner to intermediate to advanced.
Where it stops: it is built around courses to complete rather than projects to invent. Children who want to make their own thing rather than follow a path can find it narrow, and nobody is checking whether they have understood or simply clicked through.
The Code Zone — for children who want a person alongside them, ages 6-16
It would be odd to write this list and leave ourselves off it, so here we are last, and here is the honest case for us.
Every platform above is a tool. Not one of them notices that a child has gone quiet, or that they have rebuilt the same game four weeks running because they are avoiding something harder, or that they are ready to move up long before they would ever ask. That is what a mentor does, and it is most of the difference between a child who codes for a term and a child still coding three years later.
At The Code Zone children work in clubs of no more than six, one hour a week, with the same DBS-checked, STEM-certified mentor. They use these platforms — Scratch and MakeCode through to Python and TypeScript — inside The Code Zone’s own integrated platform, and they build their own games rather than working through a set course. The Code Zone runs online across the UK and in person across the East of England.
Where it stops: we are not free, and we are not self-paced. If your child is happy working alone and you want no cost, Code.org and Khan Academy above are genuinely good and we would rather you used them than paid us for something you do not need.
Some independent evidence, since everybody claims to be good:
- Ranked second in the UK in Club Hub UK’s 2026 Top 100 Children’s Activity Providers, scored by five independent judges on safeguarding, inclusivity and community impact.
- Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society (2025). More than a third of our members are autistic or have ADHD.
- Global winner of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund for Upskilling For The Future (2024), and winner of the STEAM Educator category at the 2026 Full STEAM Ahead Awards.
- Rated 5.0 from over 125 verified parent reviews.
The first session is free and we do not ask for card details, so you can see whether it suits your child before deciding anything.
Who wrote this
We run coding clubs for children aged 6 to 16, so the guides here are written by the mentors who teach them rather than by a marketing team. Live online clubs are open to children anywhere in the UK, and our in-person clubs run across Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
A live club is one hour a week, in a group of no more than six, with the same DBS-checked, STEM-certified mentor.
Children build their own games rather than working through a set course, starting in Scratch or MakeCode and moving to Python and TypeScript when they are ready. More than a third of our members are autistic or have ADHD, based on what parents tell us when they join.
Mentors write a note on every child after every session, which is how we know when somebody is ready to move up a level or would rather stay where they are. Levels move down as readily as up. Nothing is forced, and staying put is a perfectly good outcome.
In 2026 we were ranked second in the UK in Club Hub UK’s Top 100 Children’s Activity Providers, scored by five independent judges on safeguarding, inclusivity and community impact, and in 2025 we received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society. Over 1,000 children are enrolled.
More like this
The blog is in two halves. Guides are the evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs, covering the questions parents actually ask: what comes after Scratch, how to support a coding-mad child when you cannot code yourself, and what works for autistic and ADHD children.
Club news is the other half, and it is where posts like this one live: game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups, written up by whoever ran the session. Neither is marketing. If you want to know what an hour actually looks like before you book anything, club news is the more honest read of the two.
The first session is a free taster and we do not ask for card details. Book a free taster session, see what it costs, or read about support for neurodivergent children.
