Moving on from Replit - Using Pickcode in the Classroom

When I was a teacher from 2021 to 2023, Replit was the ideal product for teaching Python and Java in my classroom. However, at the end of 2023, Replit turned their focus to AI-based development for professionals. Due to this shift in focus, Teams for Education was deprecated. Now, thousands of teachers need to find a Replit alternative for schools.

While I was a teacher, Pickcode was my weekend side project. Over time, I slowly built up code editor features based on my experiences in the classroom. After some success on Hour of Code and with early customers, I began working full time on Pickcode in June 2023. I believe Pickcode does more than simply recreate Replit Teams for Education. Pickcode is tailor-made for teachers and students.

Pickcode’s online code editor is a great Replit replacement for middle and high schools because we offer:

• Support for Python, Java, and HTML/CSS/Javascript editing
• A lesson editor to set up starter code and instructions slides for students
• Lightweight LMS features for rostering students, managing their logins, and accessing their work for grading
• Live collaboration with students, like Google Docs

This year, we will also add:

• Turtle/Tkinter/Pygame graphical programs in Python
• A simple way to build autograded assignments

We will not add:

• AI features for students - AI does more harm than good for beginners
• A crazy complicated LMS that requires professional development to use - Pickcode should work for you within your first few minutes of logging on
• Social features or advertisements - These are distractions that hurt student privacy

We will never make a product as complicated or powerful as Replit or other products for professionals like VS Code. Our early adopters appreciate our simple, streamlined, easy to use tool that does exactly what they need and no more.

Replit is a very large company worth billions of dollars. While I’d like to be a billionaire, I love running our three person company, focused on education, where I can directly work with teachers. 

On that note, Pickcode is a for profit company. I would be wary of any product that is free, as how long will it be around? We will work with you to find pricing that works within your budget, but we cannot offer our software for free. 

With a paid product like Pickcode, we can offer superior support, stability, and security. Using a product designed specifically for education will save you and your students time and frustration. Our in browser tools work on Chromebooks, Windows, or Mac, without any installation by your school’s tech department.

For customer support, rather than waiting for responses on a community forum, teachers paying for Pickcode Classroom can email me and my team directly. When teachers report bugs, we typically have them fixed within one week. If you’re paying for software, you deserve great customer support!

We take security and privacy very seriously. We will sign data privacy agreements, and are fully COPPA and FERPA compliant. You can easily work with us to create completely anonymous accounts for your students, and if you don’t need student work saved to the cloud, you can use the product without accounts entirely.

As Pickcode grows, our focus will always be on supporting teachers. I’m excited about the future of Pickcode, and how we can help schools move on from Replit in a way that doesn’t just replace it, but improve on it. If you’d like to use our editor, you can try it for free before upgrading to a classroom plan. If there’s a feature you want before switching over, just email me at charlie@pickcode.io.