Frequently asked questions
How IT Playbook works, in plain terms. For step-by-step instructions, see the full user guide.
What is IT Playbook?
Tech courses that work like narrated books. Every sentence is narrated, the illustrations are interactive, and each lesson ends with a quick quiz. One subscription unlocks all of them.
Who are the courses for?
Anyone comfortable reading a little code and the basics of how software runs — your first serious stack, a switch into a new field, or closing a specific gap. The goal is to get you genuinely fluent in the why, not just memorizing steps.
How long does a course take?
Each course shows an estimate — for example ≈8.5 hours — on its cover and on the catalog card. That's the whole course: the narration plus the time to answer a quiz on every topic and work through the flashcard deck, not just the length of the audio.
Which courses are available?
Plenty already, with new ones added every month. Rather than list them here, just browse the catalog to see everything that's available right now.
Can I try courses without paying?
Yes — a good chunk of every course is free for everyone: the introduction, the entire first chapter, every chapter's overview, and the first lesson of chapters 2 and 3. On top of that, one full beginner course is unlocked free for signed-in members every month, and it rotates — look for the banner on the home page and the “Free in <month>” badge on its card. Everything else is part of the subscription, which starts with a 7-day free trial.
How do I find the right course for me?
Two ways. Everyone can search the catalog and sort it by most popular, newest, or A–Z. And if you sign in and fill out your Learning profile in Settings — your experience level and the topics you care about — your catalog gains a Recommended view that leads with the courses that fit you best.
Can I learn at my own pace?
Yes. Read, listen, or both. The player lets you change the playback speed and add a pause between sentences, so you can find a rhythm that works for you — slow it down to absorb, speed it up to review.
Can I customize the player and the reading experience?
Plenty. Right inside a lesson, the audio bar lets you change speed on the fly, set a pause between sentences, jump to the previous or next sentence, toggle the sentence highlight and auto-scroll, and collapse the bar when you just want to read. In Settings you can set the defaults those start from for every new lesson, switch between light and dark, and size the reading text up or down.
What narration voices are available?
Today every course is narrated by a professional-grade female voice. A male voice is coming soon — you'll be able to choose your preference, and on courses that offer more than one voice you can switch between them right from the player.
What are the flashcards?
Every course ends with a flashcard trainer built from its key terms — the last item in the course sidebar. Flip a card to check yourself, then answer honestly: “I know this” or “Don't know yet”. Scheduling is handled by FSRS, the spaced-repetition algorithm behind modern Anki, so each card returns just before you'd forget it — known cards drift out to weeks and months, missed ones come back tomorrow. Cards are read aloud in the course's narration voice, and the sidebar shows two thin bars: green for terms you currently remember, amber for ones due for review. Details in the guide.
What do "Learned", "Quizzes" and "Flashcards" mean?
Three ways we track progress for signed-in members. Learned is what you've read or heard. Quizzes is what you've proven by passing each lesson's quiz. Flashcards is how much of the course's vocabulary you've mastered in the spaced-repetition trainer. You always see all three — your dashboard adds progress bars, an activity heatmap, a streak, and an achievement medal for each course you fully master. Quiz progress syncs across your devices.
How do the daily goal and streak work?
Set a daily goal in Settings → Learning profile — the number of lessons (quizzes) you want to pass each day, anywhere from 1 to 10 (it starts at 1). Your streak counts the consecutive days you hit that goal, and when you reach it a 🔥 appears next to your name in the top bar. Passing quizzes is what counts toward it, so the streak reflects what you've actually proven — not just pages opened.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. IT Playbook runs in any modern browser — phone, tablet, or desktop — with no app to install. Sign in and your progress, settings, and place in each course follow you across all of them.
Are the courses kept up to date?
Yes, and we take it seriously — outdated info is the whole problem with most tech tutorials. Every course is checked against the official documentation and updated whenever the tools change. Each course card shows when it was last reviewed, and new courses are added every month.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Finish a course — every quiz passed and every flashcard known — and a medal appears under Achievements on your dashboard. Click it to open your certificate of completion, showing your name, the course, its length and the date.
It has its own web address, so you can share the link with an employer or on LinkedIn and they can open it without an account. There's a Copy link button, and Print / save as PDF if you'd rather send a file. One per course, and it doesn't expire.
We also email you the link the first time a certificate is issued, so it's in your inbox whether or not you kept the tab open.
What name appears on my certificate?
The display name from your profile, so set it the way you want to be credited: Settings → Profile → Display name. Change it later and the certificate updates — open it again from the medal, and the link stays the same.
Do I have to listen to the audio to complete a course?
No. Completion is every quiz passed and every flashcard known. Read the lessons or listen to them, whichever suits you — the quizzes are what prove you worked through the material, and they're the same either way.
Do you use AI to write the courses?
Yes — we use a range of AI agents, each handling a different part of the work. But they're all in a supporting role: every piece of information is carefully checked and re-checked, by both AI agents and experienced engineers, before it goes live.
How much does it cost, and is there a free trial?
One membership covers every course: $16/month or $120/year. Both plans are launch-priced at 50% off your first year — $8/month or $60/year — applied automatically at checkout, no code to enter. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial; cancel during the trial and pay nothing.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. You can cancel — or update your plan and payment method — anytime from your account. You keep access through the end of the current period, and cancelling during the free trial costs nothing.
I found an error or have a suggestion — where does it go?
Please send it! Signed-in members can reach us through Support: feedback, corrections, or a course you'd like to see. We read all of it, and corrections often ship in the next monthly update.
Still stuck? Contact support.