Stop Failing System Design Interviews. Use These 20 'Insider' Resources Instead.
My favorite online resources to crack System Design Interview and 35% discount on paid plans
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image_credit — Exponent
Hello guys, today I wanted to share with you the list of the top 11 resources to prepare for the system design interview.
Not everybody is lucky enough to work on a distributed system. Besides, each system solves a different problem. So the best way to master system design is by studying real-world architectures.
Yet it’s not needed to have knowledge of every technology to pass the system design interview. But it’s important to provide a solution that makes sense.
Also, the depth and breadth of the interview depend on the seniority level for which you apply.
By the way, if you are preparing for System design interviews and want to learn System Design in-depth, then you can also check sites like ByteByteGo, Design Guru, Exponent, Educative, Codemia.io, Bugfree.ai, and Udemy, which have many great System design courses
20 Best Resources for System Design Interview Preparation in 2026
Here is the list of the top 20 resources to prepare for the system design interview:
1. ByteByteGo
This is one of the most trusted resources when it comes to preparing for the System Design Interview. Created by Alex Xu, author of the famous System Design Interview — Insider Guide book, this platform is a complete package to prepare for the System Design interview.
It contains all the content of the System Design Interview book volumes 1 and 2, as well as 7 other coding interview books from ByteByteGo to cover OOP Design, System Design, ML System Design, Gen AI System Design, and coding interview patterns.
And, the best thing is that they are now offering a rare 50% discount on their annual and lifetime plan. I have known them for years, and this is the second time I have found them giving a discount.
If you ask me, now is the best time to get their annual or lifetime membership, and not just save 50% but also get unlimited access to a resource that you will use now and then.
Here is the link to get a discount — ByteByteGo 50% OFF
2. Design Gurus
They offer the famous Grokking the System Design Interview course.
It gives you a reliable framework to approach the interview. And the course is an easy read.
3. Educative’s Interactive System Design Interview Course
Educative.io is one of the best platforms when it comes to preparing for Coding Interviews, both for FAANG and Investment banks and startups.
I remember when I was struggling on design questions, both object-oriented design and system design. Then their Grokking the System Design course was the one which I used to revisit the fundamentals and gain my confidence back.
A major part of the course is the RESHADED framework to define requirements, surface constraints, and drive structured design decisions.
Now they have also added a few more courses to cover all bases, particularly Grokking the Frontend System Design Interview for covering frontend system design, and Grokking the Generative AI System Design for the use of Generative AI in better system design.
These courses will not just teach you basics — core concepts, optimization techniques, design patterns, and state management but also architectural approaches like component-driven design and micro frontends and how to connect frontend systems to backends using efficient APIs for better performance and communication.
It is also one of the best interactive learning platform with hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios to strengthen your system design skills
By the way, you don’t need to join the courses individually; you can just get an Educative Unlimited Subscription, and you are all set. They are also offering 55% discount now, which means now is the best time to get this useful resource and save money as well.
4. Exponent
A specialized site for interview prep, especially for FAANG companies like Amazon and Google. They also have a great system design course and many other materials that can help you crack FAANG interviews.
Here is a nice system design interview cheat sheet from Exponent
5. Codemia.io
Codemia.io is a new platform which is created to provide Leetcode-style practice for System design problems. It has more than 120+ system design problems, some of them are free, but most of which are paid.
They also offer editorial solutions to these system design problems which are written by a senior software architect from Okta.
The solutions are concise and focus on what is expected from the interviewee during an interview. It’s dense and leverages experience.
Here are free system design problems you can try solving; a solution is also given for them.
The platform also provides AI assistance and feedback when you submit your solution or try to solve problems, which can improve your software design skills.
If you are preparing for a system design interview, I highly recommend this site, it’s $99 per year, but you can get it now for just $69 per month.
Here is the link to join for a 30% discount — Join Codemia.io
6. Bugfree.ai (LeetCode for System Design)
Bugfree.ai is another site that caught my attention, and I spent quite a lot of time there.
If you prefer learning by doing rather than just watching videos, Bugfree.ai is a powerful platform to practice System Design in a more hands-on way.
Instead of only consuming theory, you get to actually design systems and receive structured feedback, which makes a big difference when preparing for real interviews.
What makes Bugfree.ai stand out is its AI-assisted evaluation that reviews your design approach, highlights gaps, and suggests improvements — almost like having a mock interviewer available anytime. This is especially useful when you don’t have a study partner or mentor to review your solutions.
Key Features:
AI feedback on your system design answers
Real interview-style system design questions
Focus on structuring answers clearly and covering trade-offs
Perfect For: Engineers who already know the basics and want to sharpen their interview communication and system design thinking through practice.
Here is the link to join — Bugfree.ai (25% OFF)
7. System Design Masterclass (2026) — Udemy
Udemy is another great place to find System Design resources. They have many great courses which you can get at an affordable price.
For example, this Udemy bestseller is taught by FAANG engineers and focuses on practical interview readiness. You’ll work through popular real-world problems while mastering the fundamentals of architectural design.
Key Features:
20+ case studies and design walkthroughs
Covers scalability, APIs, databases, and distributed systems
Affordable, often available at 80% off during sales
Lifetime access to all updates
Perfect For: Budget-conscious learners who want high-quality video-based learning from experienced engineers.
Here is the link to join this course — System Design Masterclass (2026)
By the way, Udemy also has many great System Design courses which are worth checking out, like the one from Frank Kane, ex-Amazon Hiring Manager, and Sandeep’s System Design course.
And, if you want to join multiple courses on Udemy, it may be worth getting a Udemy Personal Plan, which will give instant access to more than 11,000 top-quality Udemy courses for just $30 a month.
If you have a lot of time and want to save money, the Udemy Personal Plan will be perfect for you.
8. Designing Data-Intensive Applications (Book)
This is the sacred book for system design. So consider reading it even if you’re a junior engineer. Because it will fill your theoretical knowledge gaps.
But this book will not prepare you for a 45-minute time-boxed system design interview.
And if you don’t understand any specific topic in the book, you can use the references to do extra study.
Also, don’t forget that the system design interview is a discussion. So the interview might test your knowledge of the fundamentals.
By the way, if you are preparing for System design interviews and want to learn System Design in-depth, then you can also check sites like ByteByteGo, Design Guru, Exponent, Educative, Codemia.io, and Udemy, which have many great System design courses
There is also a second edition of this book available now.
9. Web Scalability for Startup Engineers (Book)
This is a simple book to learn about scalable architectures. And distributed systems.
If you’re getting started with system design, consider reading it.
10. System Design Interview Vol 2 (Book)
This book gives you a framework to approach system design interviews. You can also check ByteByteGo by Alex Xu, which contains content from both volumes 1 and 2 for the System design interview, plus a lot more content.
It’s a well-known book for system design interview preparation.
11. The Site Reliability Workbook (Book)
Google offers the online version of this book for free.
If you want to study capacity planning for system design, consider reading it. The chapter Introducing Non-Abstract Large System Design covers it well.
12. System Design Primer (free)
If you’re a beginner to system design. And wants to study the system design concepts. This is probably the best free resource.
Source: GitHub
13. MIT Distributed Systems YouTube Channel
It covers the fundamentals of distributed systems.
And covers lots of theory well.
14. USENIX YouTube Channel
It offers videos on best engineering practices. And software architecture.
15. Amazon Dynamo Whitepaper
If you don’t have time to read many white papers. Then consider reading this one.
16. High Scalability Blog
A blog that features articles and case studies on the architecture of high-traffic websites and scalable systems.
17. InfoQ
This platform offers excellent articles and videos on software architecture.
It helps you to deepen your knowledge.
18. Scale YouTube Channel
It contains a ton of content on real-world systems and scalability concepts.
An extra resource to deepen your system design skills.
19. System Design One Newsletter by @Neo Kim
This is another System Design newsletter I have subscribed to personally to keep myself up-to-date with how different companies are doing System Design. Created by Neo Kim,
Here are a couple of popular System Design articles and case studies from this newsletter:
How Razorpay Scaled to Handle Flash Sales at 1500 Requests per Second (read)
How Stripe Prevents Double Payment Using Idempotent API
How McDonald’s Food Delivery Platform Handles 20,000 Orders per Second
How Uber Finds Nearby Drivers at 1 Million Requests per Second
How Cloudflare Was Able to Support 55 Million Requests per Second With Only 15 Postgres Clusters
How Amazon S3 Achieves 99.999999999% Durability
How Tinder Scaled to 1.6 Billion Swipes per Day
How to Scale an App to 10 Million Users on AWS
Here is the link to join this newsletter — System Design One by @Neo Kim
20. Interviewkickstart.com
This is another great resource for System Design Interviews. This site provides mock interviews with real FAANG experts which you can use to find where you are in terms of preparation and also get constructive feedback.
It’s one of the best place to experience real-world mock interviews led by FAANG+ hiring managers.
They offer two packages, the Essential Pack and Elite pack. First one is single mock interview with full support while other one is multiple mocks with comprehensive guidance like Resume review and LinkedIn optimization.
Personalized written feedback after the interview
Progress tracking tools
Access to curated prep guides and practice questions
One-on-one session with FAANG+ experts
Skill gap analysis, target role insights, and salary benchmarks
3 Mock Interviews
The best thing about this platform is that interview is conducted by real FAANG experts and you also get lifetime access to all interview recordings and progress tools.
If you are preparing for FAANG interviews then this is a great resource for you. After all FAANG chances are hard to come by and you should everything in your hand to prepare for it.
I suggest you to go for elite package, its bit expensive but nothing compared to your FAANG chance. They are also offering 30% discount now
Here is the link to join — Interviewkickstart.com
That’s all about the best resources for System design interviews. It will help you to learn key System design concepts on replication, scalability, caching, and performance as well also keep yourself with trendy technological changes.
And, here is a complete System Design Interview blueprint from ByteByteGo, which you can use for preparation:
image_credit — ByteByteGo
All the best for your System Design Interviews. If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
Mom was right. (And so is this 35% discount). Become a paid member this Mother’s Day and get 35% OFF forever.
P. S. — If you just want to do one thing at this moment, go join ByteByteGo and start learning System Design concepts. You will thank me later. Make it a goal for the new year, and you will surely be a better Software Engineer.
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