Exercism says it is 100% free, forever . Insiders access is separate and comes from a regular monthly donation of $10 or more , with lifetime Insiders at $499 donated in total . Insiders cannot be bought as a product; it is a thank-you for contributors .

Cheatography vs Exercism in 2026

Cheatography and Exercism compared on free cheat sheets and coding exercises, what each costs, and how to set each up.

By SayDeploy · 2026-10-16

SayDeploy is published by LunarWerx, which makes some of the tools compared here.

Cheatography and Exercism compared on what each does for learning syntax and coding, what each costs, and what to check before you pick one.

Cheatography hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets and quick references ^[1]. Exercism offers 84 programming languages, at no cost ^[2]^[2]. AnatomyOf shows an example source file with color-coded callouts linked to the exact lines they explain ^[3]. Cheatography says it is supported by advertising revenue ^[1]. Exercism is free and community funded, and asks for monthly donations to stay sustainable ^[2]^[2]^[4]. AnatomyOf is free, with no account and no paid tier ^[3].

Option	Free to use	Paid or supported by	Account or sign in	Install
Cheatography	Hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets and quick references ^[1]	Supported by advertising revenue ^[1]	Not stated in the facts here	Not stated in the facts here
Exercism	100% free, forever ^[2]; over 8,744 coding exercises ^[2]	Insiders access via a monthly donation of $10 or more ^[4]; lifetime Insiders at $499 total donated ^[4]	Not stated in the facts here	Not stated in the facts here
AnatomyOf	Free, no account and no paid tier ^[3]	No paid tier is stated; it is free ^[3]	Not needed ^[3]	Nothing to install ^[3]

The short answer

Cheatography hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets and quick references, which a developer can open in a browser as a study aid ^[1]. Exercism offers 84 programming languages, plus free human mentoring, for learning by solving problems ^[2]^[2]. AnatomyOf shows an example source file with color-coded callouts linked to the exact lines they explain ^[3].

On needs, Cheatography's page presents its site as free cheat sheets and quick references ^[1] supported by advertising ^[1]. Exercism's page covers developing fluency in 84 languages ^[2] and free human mentoring ^[2]. AnatomyOf's claims cover reading annotated example code ^[3], with minimal and verbose examples per language ^[3] and a language list sorted by TIOBE Index rank ^[3].

What Cheatography and Exercism are built for

Cheatography says it hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets, revision aids and quick references ^[1]. Its page also says it depends on advertising revenue to keep the resources free ^[5]. The facts here give no price, sign in or install details for Cheatography, so those are not stated here.

Exercism's page says it is fun, effective and 100% free, forever ^[2], and that it is an independent, community funded, not-for-profit organisation ^[2]. It offers fluency in 84 programming languages ^[2]. It is primarily built as a CLI-first tool ^[2]. Free human mentoring deepens knowledge ^[2]. It needs $25,000 in donations each month to become sustainable ^[4].

What AnatomyOf is built for

AnatomyOf is made by the team that publishes this site.

It shows an example source file with color-coded callouts linked to the exact lines they explain ^[3]. Hovering a callout highlights its code, and clicking it opens a longer writeup with a Learn more link ^[3]. Each language has a minimal and a verbose example, and switching between them animates only the lines that change ^[3].

The same annotated format extends to non-code concepts such as an email and a CI pipeline ^[3], and some entries have a third Visual tab with diagrams generated from data and linked to the same annotations ^[3]. Code is highlighted with Shiki, the engine VS Code uses ^[3]. The language list is sorted by TIOBE Index rank, can be switched to A-Z, and has instant search ^[3]. Entries have shareable URLs ^[3], and the site has light and dark themes and works on phones, where you tap to pin a callout ^[3].

Pricing and fees

Cheatography presents itself as free, with over 6,000 free cheat sheets ^[1], and says it is supported by advertising revenue ^[1]. The facts here state no price, so no price beyond free is published here.

Exercism is 100% free, forever ^[2]. Insiders access is available through a regular monthly donation of $10 or more ^[4], and lifetime Insiders is granted to those who have donated $499 in total ^[4]. Insiders is a thank-you for contributors and cannot be bought as a product ^[4]. Exercism Premium was discontinued in August 2023 ^[4].

AnatomyOf is free, with no account and no paid tier ^[3], and is open source under the MIT License ^[3].

Setting it up and daily use

Cheatography is a set of web pages that a developer opens in a browser to read; the facts here give no install or account steps, so nothing more is stated about setup ^[1].

Exercism is primarily built as a CLI-first tool ^[2]. The facts here do not give an install command or an account flow, so check Exercism's own pages for those steps. Free human mentoring is part of using it to deepen knowledge ^[2].

AnatomyOf has nothing to install; to run it locally you use bun install and bun run dev, and it runs in any reasonably current desktop or mobile browser ^[3]^[3]. Daily, you read annotated examples, switch between minimal and verbose views ^[3], search the language list ^[3] and open deep links to entries ^[3]. The page sends one anonymous visit ping per browser session on page load ^[3].

Things to check before you choose

Ask what you are after: a quick-looking reference for syntax, or guided practice in many languages. Cheatography's page presents free cheat sheets and quick references ^[1], and Exercism's page presents exercises, mentoring and 84 languages ^[2]^[2].

Check whether you accept advertising. Cheatography is supported by advertising revenue ^[1].

Check how you like to learn. Exercism is a CLI-first tool ^[2].

Check data collection. AnatomyOf sends one anonymous visit ping per browser session ^[3]. The rival facts here do not cover Cheatography or Exercism's data handling, so check their own pages.

Check cost expectations. Exercism asks for $25,000 in monthly donations to stay sustainable and offers Insiders for donations ^[4]^[4], while Cheatography is ad-supported ^[1] and AnatomyOf is free ^[3].

How to choose

If you want many short reference sheets without paying, Cheatography's page says it hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets ^[1], and it is supported by advertising revenue ^[1].

If you want to practise across many languages with free human mentoring, Exercism's page says it offers 84 languages and free human mentoring ^[2]^[2].

If you want to read an annotated example where callouts link to the exact lines they explain ^[3], with minimal and verbose examples to switch between ^[3], AnatomyOf's claims describe that.

If you want a tool with no account and no paid tier, AnatomyOf's claims say that ^[3].

Frequently asked questions

Is Cheatography free to use?

Cheatography says it hosts over 6,000 free cheat sheets and quick references ^[1]. Its page says it is supported by advertising revenue ^[1]. The facts here state no other price, so the only price given is free. Check its own pages if you need other details.

Is Exercism free?

Exercism says it is 100% free, forever ^[2]. Insiders access is separate and comes from a regular monthly donation of $10 or more ^[4], with lifetime Insiders at $499 donated in total ^[4]. Insiders cannot be bought as a product; it is a thank-you for contributors ^[4].

How do you install Cheatography, Exercism and AnatomyOf?

Cheatography is read as web pages in a browser; the facts here give no install steps ^[1]. Exercism is a CLI-first tool, and its page does not give an install command here ^[2]. AnatomyOf has nothing to install; to run it locally you use bun install and bun run dev, and it runs in any current browser ^[3]^[3].

Does Exercism have mentors?

Exercism says it provides free human mentoring to deepen knowledge ^[2]. It also offers exercises across 84 languages ^[2]. The facts here do not describe how mentoring is matched, so check Exercism's own pages for that detail before deciding.

Does AnatomyOf send any data?

AnatomyOf sends one anonymous visit ping per browser session on page load, and its README says it collects anonymous usage statistics ^[3]. The rival facts here do not cover data handling for Cheatography or Exercism, so check their own pages and account terms before relying on any tool in a sensitive setting.

AnatomyOf is free, with no account and no paid tier. ^[3]

Try AnatomyOf