TL;DR
NeetCode 150 takes about 65 hours of pure solving time and 85-100 hours total when you include studying solutions and reviewing. At 2 hours per day, that is 6-8 weeks for someone comfortable with Medium problems. Beginners should plan for 10-14 weeks. The biggest time sink is the 107 Medium problems (72% of the list), which average 26 minutes each.
The Raw Numbers
Every problem in NeetCode 150 has a time estimate based on difficulty and topic complexity. We added them all up.
Total solving time: approximately 65 hours. This is the time to read, understand, code, and test each problem once. It does not include studying solutions, reviewing mistakes, or doing spaced repetition.
When you add in realistic study habits (reading editorial solutions, rewatching NeetCode’s video explanations, revisiting problems you failed), the total lands at 85-100 hours.
For comparison, Blind 75 takes roughly 35-40 hours of solving time, or about half. If you want a deeper comparison, read our Blind 75 vs NeetCode 150 breakdown.
Time by Difficulty
Not all problems take the same time. Here is the breakdown by difficulty:
Solving Time by Difficulty
72% of your time goes to Medium problems. They are the core of the list.
The 107 Medium problems are where you spend most of your time and build most of your pattern recognition. Easy problems are warm-ups that build confidence. Hard problems are edge cases that test depth. But the Mediums are the actual interview preparation.
Realistic Timelines by Skill Level
The 65-hour number assumes you can solve problems at the estimated pace. In reality, your speed depends on your starting point.
New to DSA, learning patterns for the first time
Can solve Easy, struggle with Medium
Comfortable with Medium, reviewing patterns
Beginners spend extra time because they are learning patterns for the first time. A sliding window problem that takes an intermediate 20 minutes might take a beginner 45 minutes plus 30 minutes studying the solution. That adds up across 150 problems.
Experienced developers reviewing for an upcoming interview can move faster because they are refreshing, not learning. If you have already done Blind 75, you can skip most Easy problems and focus on the 86 NeetCode extras. That cuts the timeline to 3-4 weeks.
Sample Schedules
Here is what each schedule looks like in practice, at 2 hours per day:
Arrays, Two Pointers, Sliding Window, Stack
~30 problems · ~14h
Binary Search, Linked List, Trees
~33 problems · ~14h
Tries, Heap, Backtracking, Graphs
~38 problems · ~14h
DP, Greedy, Intervals, Math, Bit Manipulation
~49 problems · ~14h
Use our interactive NeetCode 150 study planner to customize this schedule based on your hours per week and which difficulty levels you want to include.
How to Go Faster (Without Cutting Corners)
20 minutes for Easy, 30 for Medium, 40 for Hard. If you cannot solve it, study the solution. Staring at a problem for 2 hours teaches you nothing.
Revisit problems you failed after 3 days, then 7 days. This is how patterns move to long-term memory. First pass is for understanding, second pass is for speed.
If you already know basic array manipulation and string ops, skip the 24 Easy problems. That saves ~7 hours and lets you focus on the patterns that actually appear in interviews.
Check which topics your target company tests on our company questions page. If they never ask Bit Manipulation, deprioritize those 7 problems. Focus your time where it matters.
When you are ready to test yourself under real conditions, try a free AI mock interview to see how you perform with time pressure and follow-up questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does NeetCode 150 take to complete?expand_more
NeetCode 150 takes approximately 65 hours of pure solving time and 85-100 hours total when you include studying solutions and reviewing. At 2 hours per day, that is 6-8 weeks. At 1 hour per day, expect 12-14 weeks. Beginners may need 10-14 weeks at 2 hours per day due to more time spent learning unfamiliar patterns.
How many hours per day should I study NeetCode 150?expand_more
2-3 hours per day is the sweet spot for most people. Less than 1 hour per day makes progress too slow to build momentum. More than 4 hours per day leads to diminishing returns and burnout. Consistency matters more than volume. 2 hours every day beats 8 hours on weekends.
Can I finish NeetCode 150 in 2 weeks?expand_more
Only if you already know DSA well and are reviewing rather than learning. Two weeks at 4-5 hours per day gives you about 60 hours, which is barely enough for the raw solving time. You would have no time for reviewing solutions, understanding patterns, or doing spaced repetition. For most people, 2 weeks is only realistic for Blind 75 (75 problems), not NeetCode 150.
Is NeetCode 150 harder than Blind 75?expand_more
NeetCode 150 includes everything Blind 75 covers plus 86 additional problems in harder categories like advanced graphs, 2D dynamic programming, backtracking, and greedy algorithms. The difficulty per problem is similar (mostly Medium), but the total scope is much larger. See our Blind 75 vs NeetCode 150 comparison for a full breakdown.