Rustify and Let's Get Rusty approach the same goal from opposite ends. Rustify is a paid Rust-only program: a structured self-paced track under $1,000, plus a three-month 1:1 mentorship. Let's Get Rusty is the most watched Rust channel on YouTube, with a self-paced paid bootcamp of recorded modules sitting on top of a large free library.
If you want a structured path with feedback on your code and help with the job search, Rustify covers that, and its program costs less than Let's Get Rusty's mentored track. If you want the cheapest way to start and you learn well on your own, Let's Get Rusty is a reasonable pick, and its free videos are among the best free introductions to Rust.
By Max Wells, updated August 2026
TL;DR: Rustify is a Rust-only program with a structured self-paced track under $1,000 and a three-month 1:1 mentorship for people who want code review and job support. Let's Get Rusty is a YouTube-first brand with a self-paced paid bootcamp: recorded modules, six projects, a Discord, a certificate, and optional masterclasses. It also runs a mentored program that costs more than $5,000.
- Structured path under $1,000: Rustify's self-paced program
- Code review and job help: Rustify's 1:1 mentorship, around $3,000, below Let's Get Rusty's mentored program
- Cheapest start: Let's Get Rusty's free YouTube videos, then its self-paced bootcamp
- Free intro to Rust: Let's Get Rusty's YouTube channel
Quick Comparison: Rustify vs Let's Get Rusty
| Rustify | Let's Get Rusty | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Self-paced Rust program, plus a 1:1 mentorship track | Self-paced recorded bootcamp, plus a separate mentored program |
| Scope | Rust only, path options in Fullstack, Backend, Blockchain | Rust only, plus optional Microservices, CS, Embedded, Blockchain masterclasses |
| Teaches syntax from scratch | Yes | Yes, beginner-friendly |
| Feedback | Community and reference solutions on the program, direct code review from Max on the mentorship | Discord community on the self-paced bootcamp |
| Projects | Real apps you keep as portfolio pieces, plus your own project on the mentorship | Six course projects (two midterm, one final, two bonus, one capstone) |
| Job support | Job-search prep in the program, full interview prep and network intros on the mentorship | Not part of the self-paced bootcamp |
| Pricing | Program under $1,000, 1:1 mentorship around $3,000 | Self-paced bootcamp one-time fee, mentored program more than $5,000 |
| Best for | A structured path and, at the mentorship tier, getting hired | Cheapest self-directed start and the best free video intro to Rust |
What Is Rustify and How Does It Work?
Rustify is a Rust-only program in two forms: a structured self-paced track that costs under $1,000, and a three-month 1:1 mentorship led by founder Max Wells.
The self-paced program is a guided curriculum rather than a stack of videos. You follow a set path (Fullstack, Backend, or Blockchain), work through lessons with exercises and reference solutions, and build applications you keep as portfolio pieces: a task manager, a bookstore backend, an Airbnb-style app. The final stretch is job-search preparation. A Discord community is included for support and networking.
The 1:1 mentorship adds weekly calls with Max, a project designed and built around the student's goals, direct code review, mock interviews, and introductions to a network of Rust developers and recruiters. It is aimed at a specific outcome: a Rust job, a raise, or a company that is out of reach today. It runs around $3,000 for the three months, below Let's Get Rusty's mentored program.
More than 30 people have gone through the program and the mentorship. The 1:1 track is the current focus.
What Is Let's Get Rusty and How Does It Work?
Let's Get Rusty is a Rust education brand built on the most watched Rust channel on YouTube, run by Bogdan Pshonyak (around 173,000 subscribers as of August 2026). The paid product is "The Rust Developer Bootcamp", a self-paced set of recorded modules you buy once and keep for life, with an exclusive Discord for questions.
The bootcamp is 100 percent Rust and built to be beginner-friendly. It is organised into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced modules, followed by optional masterclasses in Microservices, Computer Science, Embedded, and Blockchain. You build six projects along the way (two midterm, a final, two bonus, and a capstone) and get a certificate at the end. There is no cohort and no application: you register, everything unlocks, and you set your own pace, with one to two hours a day the recommended rhythm.
Around the paid course sits a large free layer: the full YouTube back catalogue, a newsletter, a cheat sheet, and a public GitHub curriculum repo. That free content is one of the clearest video introductions to Rust available, and it lets you sample the teaching before paying anything.
Let's Get Rusty also offers a higher-touch mentored program with more direct support. It costs more than $5,000, and the details are handled on a call rather than a public checkout.
Rustify vs Let's Get Rusty: The Core Difference
Rustify is a guided path with a mentor attached. Let's Get Rusty is a video library with a course on top. One gives you a curriculum, feedback on your actual code, and a job plan; the other gives you recordings and a chat server.
Three differences drive the rest:
- Recordings vs a guided path. Let's Get Rusty's bootcamp is recorded once and consumed the same way by everyone, with Discord as the only human layer. Rustify's program is a sequenced path, and the mentorship puts a mentor on your code every week.
- A community channel vs code review. The borrow checker is learned fastest when someone tells you why your mental model is wrong. A Discord thread might get you an answer. It does not read your ownership design line by line. The Rustify mentorship does.
- A salary stat vs a job plan. Let's Get Rusty's self-paced bootcamp puts an average Rust salary figure on the sales page and stops there. Rustify's mentorship covers which companies are hiring, how to frame a career-change story, what Rust interviews test, and how to negotiate the scarcity premium.
Both have their place. They serve different budgets and different levels of commitment.
Is Let's Get Rusty Worth It for Learning Rust?
The free Let's Get Rusty content is worth it for almost anyone starting Rust. It is the clearest video introduction to ownership, borrowing, traits, and enums that exists for free. The paid self-paced bootcamp is worth it if you are a disciplined solo learner who wants that same instructor's structure across a full curriculum and does not need code review or job support.
Where it delivers:
- Beginner on-ramp. The teaching is paced for people with little prior programming, and the free videos are the standard first recommendation for learning Rust.
- Low entry price. The self-paced bootcamp is a one-time fee with a 30-day refund. The risk is small.
- Pace flexibility. No weekly hour requirement, so it fits around a job.
- Optional breadth. The embedded and blockchain masterclasses cover ground a backend-focused program does not.
Where it falls short as a path to a job:
- No code review on the self-paced tier. When you are stuck on Rust's ownership rules rather than the algorithm, a chat channel is not the same as someone reading your code.
- Overlap with the free videos. A common criticism is that the paid course repackages a lot of the free YouTube material and is not deep enough on its own to be job-ready beyond fundamentals. Sample the free content first.
- No job layer on the self-paced tier. Finishing the projects does not tell you how to get the interview.
If you want feedback and job help from Let's Get Rusty, that is the mentored program, which costs more than $5,000.
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Who Should Choose Rustify?
Rustify fits a structured Rust path for under $1,000, or a mentor on your code and job search without paying five figures.
Good fit if you:
- Want a guided curriculum with exercises, reference solutions, and real projects, not just recordings
- Are on a budget and want structure: the self-paced program is under $1,000
- Want direct code review and weekly 1:1 calls: that is the mentorship
- Are targeting a specific outcome, a Rust job or a raise, and want help getting there
- Want career prep built around the Rust hiring market specifically
Less good fit if you:
- Have never written code before: the program assumes some programming background
- Only want casual exploration with no goal
- Want a large peer cohort rather than a one-to-one relationship
Who Should Choose Let's Get Rusty?
Let's Get Rusty fits the cheapest way to start for someone who learns well on their own. The free videos are for everyone. The self-paced bootcamp suits near-beginners and employed developers adding Rust on the side.
Good fit if you:
- Want to learn Rust at your own pace with no schedule
- Want the lowest-risk paid option, a one-time fee with a refund window
- Have little prior programming experience and want a gentle on-ramp
- Already have a job and want Rust as a side skill
- Want to try the teaching style for free first
Less good fit if you:
- Want someone to review your code and correct your ownership model without paying five figures
- Want a structured path rather than a video catalogue
- Need help turning skill into interviews and offers on a smaller budget
Can You Use Rustify and Let's Get Rusty Together?
Yes, and the order matters. Use Let's Get Rusty's free videos to confirm you like Rust. Use Rustify to build real ability, a portfolio, and a job search.
A practical sequence:
- Let's Get Rusty free videos (weeks 0 to 2): watch the ownership, borrowing, and traits material, get the mental model, decide Rust is for you.
- Rustify program (from week 2): follow the structured path, build the projects, use the community.
- Rustify mentorship (when the goal is a job): add weekly calls, code review, mock interviews, and network introductions.
Paying for two full programs at once is rarely necessary. Sample with the free layer, then pick the paid path that matches your goal and budget.
How Do the Costs Compare?
Rustify's self-paced program costs under $1,000, and its 1:1 mentorship runs around $3,000. Let's Get Rusty's self-paced bootcamp is a one-time fee, and its mentored program costs more than $5,000.
What each one buys:
- Let's Get Rusty self-paced bootcamp buys a recorded curriculum and a Discord. It is inexpensive because the cost of another student watching the same videos is near zero, and the free YouTube catalogue lets you check the fit first.
- Rustify program buys a structured path with exercises, reference solutions, and portfolio projects for under $1,000, so you are following a sequence with checkpoints rather than just watching.
- A mentored option on either side buys a person's time on your code and your job search. Let's Get Rusty prices that above $5,000. Rustify prices it around $3,000.
If budget is the only constraint, Rustify's under-$1,000 program is the most structure per dollar. If the constraint is time-to-hired, the mentorship pays back against the salary delta: a developer moving from a $120,000 role to a $155,000 Rust role recovers a $3,000 cost within the first month or two on the new salary.
Frequently Asked Questions
The free content is worth it for almost anyone starting Rust, and it is widely recommended as the clearest video introduction to the language. The paid self-paced bootcamp is worth it if you are a disciplined solo learner who wants that instructor's structure across a full curriculum and does not need code review or job support. A common criticism is that the paid course overlaps the free YouTube videos and is not deep enough on its own to make you job-ready beyond fundamentals, so sample the free material first.
The self-paced "Rust Developer Bootcamp" is a one-time payment with lifetime access and a 30-day refund. Let's Get Rusty also runs a mentored program that costs more than $5,000, arranged on a call. Neither figure sits on a simple public checkout, so confirm the current number with them directly.
The self-paced program costs under $1,000. The 1:1 mentorship with Max runs around $3,000 for three months, below Let's Get Rusty's mentored program.
Not on the self-paced bootcamp. There is no resume review, no mock interviews, no referrals, and no guarantee on that tier, and the only career element on the sales page is an average Rust salary figure. Job support is part of the separate mentored program, and it is part of the Rustify mentorship.
Yes. The self-paced bootcamp is built to be beginner-friendly, with a Beginner module that assumes no Rust and only some general programming familiarity, which it says helps but is not required.
If you want a structured path for under $1,000, Rustify's self-paced program is the closer fit. If you want code review, weekly 1:1 calls, and job-search help without paying five figures, Rustify's mentorship is built for that. If you want free self-study, The Rust Book plus Rustlings plus Let's Get Rusty's own free videos cover the fundamentals well.
Sources
- Let's Get Rusty: The Rust Developer Bootcamp, free videos, newsletter, and cheat sheet
- Let's Get Rusty on YouTube: The free Rust video catalogue and subscriber count
- Let's Get Rusty on GitHub: The public bootcamp curriculum repo and example projects
- Rustify: Program and mentorship details
- Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024: Rust developer salary and demand data
- Levels.fyi: Compensation benchmarks for Rust roles
Keep Reading
- Rustify Bootcamp Review 2026: Curriculum, Projects, and Who It's For: The full breakdown of the program compared here
- Is a Rust Bootcamp Worth It? Honest ROI Analysis: The cost-vs-salary math behind a structured program
- Best Rust Courses and Bootcamps 2026: How the structured and free options compare
- Best Rust Learning Path 2026: Where free video content fits in a full path to competence
- 9-Week Fullstack Rust Bootcamp: See the full curriculum and enrollment details
Related Glossary Terms
- Ownership: The concept both paths spend the most time on
- Borrow Checker: The wall most self-study attempts hit without review
- Async/Await: Core to the backend work Rustify centers on
- Tokio: The async runtime behind Rustify's HTTP projects
- Axum: The framework for the reviewed portfolio API
- SQLx: Compile-time checked SQL used in the centerpiece project
