Which List to Do: LeetCode75 vs Blind75 vs NeetCode150

February 7, 2026

TL;DR

If you want the most guided path, start with LeetCode 75 and repeat patterns until you can explain them out loud.

If you want a classic fundamentals set with strong coverage, Blind 75 is a tight baseline—great if you actually review.

If you already know the core patterns and want broader coverage, NeetCode 150 is a solid expansion.

The real decision isn’t 75 vs 150. It’s whether you’ll keep a loop that makes follow-ups feel normal: attempt → test → redo from memory → narrate → repeat later.

Introduction

People usually land on this question after one of three experiences:

They started LeetCode and realized the pool is basically infinite.

They found a “top list” and got nervous they picked the wrong one.

Or they “finished” a list, then froze in a mock interview the moment a follow-up changed the angle.

So this isn’t really about which list is best in theory. It’s about which list fits your timeline and your current fundamentals—and what to do so you don’t end up in the classic trap: “I solved it, but I can’t explain it.”

The part lists don’t teach you

Lists create a very specific illusion: you can watch your progress climb while your interview performance stays flat.

Interviews don’t grade “have you seen this before.” They grade whether you can drive the solution under pressure, explain why it works, defend complexity, and recover when the interviewer pushes back.

A blunt test helps:

If you can’t redo it from memory and narrate it clearly, you didn’t learn it. You recognized it. That’s also why “which list” questions are secretly workflow questions.

If you want the list to feel less abstract, anchor your practice pool to a role or company first—then run the same redo-and-explain loop on that pool. The quickest entry point is the Interview Questions & Answers Hub, and if you prefer a tighter question-bank workflow, pull prompts from IQB interview question bank and reuse them across weeks instead of constantly hunting for “new” problems.

One table to compare them (without overthinking it)

List	Best for	What it optimizes	Common way people get burned	Safer way to use it
LeetCode 75	guided, time-boxed prep	high-signal coverage with an official-feeling path	speed-running without mastery	repeat patterns, redo misses, narrate out loud
Blind 75	fundamentals-first curriculum	breadth of core patterns with classic coverage	treating it like a trophy instead of a syllabus	use it as a pattern curriculum + review loop
NeetCode 150	expanding after basics	more categories and more depth	starting too big and drifting into grind mode	move to it after explanations are stable

If you’re torn, start smaller. Confidence and pattern memory build faster when the set is short enough to revisit.

How to choose in 60 seconds

If you have 2–4 weeks, pick LeetCode 75, but don’t interpret that as “do all 75.” Do fewer problems with heavier repetition, and bias toward patterns you can narrate cleanly. Your goal is interview-shaped clarity, not coverage.

If you have 1–3 months, choose LeetCode 75 if you want a guided path, or Blind 75 if you like a classic pattern syllabus and you’re comfortable managing your own cadence. Either way, your progress will be defined by redo + explain, not by new problems per day.

If you have 3–6 months and you already know the basics, start with a core list and then expand to NeetCode 150. Broader coverage actually helps here—because you have time to turn “new pattern” into “automatic under pressure.”

And if you keep blanking in interviews even after “finishing” a list: that’s almost always a loop problem. Shift from “new problems” to “redo + narrate,” and add targeted edge-case drills.

The only loop that works across all three lists

No matter which list you choose, the daily structure should look like this:

Attempt first.
Then test with edge cases.
Redo from memory.
Narrate like an interviewer is listening.
Repeat later with spacing.

If you want a consistent place to run timed reps and get “post-attempt interrogation” (tests, edge cases, follow-ups), use the Beyz Coding Assistant as a reviewer—and keep your prompts cue-card small so you’re still doing the driving.

Using AI without getting hooked

AI is great at shortening feedback. It’s terrible as a first step.

A simple contract keeps it healthy:

You can ask for constraints, edge cases, tests, trade-offs, and follow-up questions.

You can’t ask for final code before you’ve committed to an approach.

One practical way to use it is “post-attempt interrogation”: after you try, ask it to challenge your complexity claim, generate tricky tests, and role-play an interviewer who keeps asking “why.”

If you want an AI workflow anchored to list-based prep, connect it to: LeetCode assistant use as an interview coach. And when you don’t want to pick questions randomly, use the Interview Questions & Answers Hub to keep your reps consistent by role/company—consistency is what makes the redo step actually happen.

What “coverage” misses

Coverage isn’t readiness. Readiness is:

You can explain why the approach works.

You can defend complexity without hand-waving.

You can handle a follow-up that changes the frame.

You can name edge cases before the interviewer does.

If you want a concrete way to train that last part, pair list practice with an edge-case checklist: coding interview edge cases to say out loud.

Case replay: “finished the list” but froze on follow-ups

A candidate finished a popular list and felt great—until mock interviews exposed the gap. The first solution might come out, but the very first follow-up (“Why is this O(n)?” or “What breaks this?”) triggered a stall. The pattern recognition was there; the ownership wasn’t.

They didn’t need a bigger list. They needed a longer loop.

So they changed the ending of every session: one 60-second spoken walkthrough (approach → invariant → edge case → complexity), and every miss had to be redone two days later without looking. Volume dropped for a week. Interview performance improved fast—because practice finally matched what interviews actually score.

If you’re deciding what role a tool should play in that loop, this comparison helps frame expectations: Beyz Coding Assistant vs ChatGPT for coding interview prep.

Start practicing smarter

Pick one list as your baseline and commit for two weeks. Judge yourself on the loop, not on willpower: attempt first, test with edge cases, redo from memory, narrate clearly, then repeat later. If you want a stable pool of prompts to reuse (instead of endless browsing), start from the Interview Questions & Answers Hub and supplement with IQB interview question bank—the goal is to make follow-ups feel normal because you’ve practiced the same patterns enough times to own them.

References

Frequently Asked Questions

Is LeetCode 75 enough to pass coding interviews?

Often, yes—if you treat it as a pattern curriculum and you can explain solutions cleanly under time pressure.

Should beginners start with Blind 75 or NeetCode 150?

Start smaller first. A short list with real repetition usually beats a big list you only sample.

What’s the fastest way to choose between these three lists?

Choose by timeline + fundamentals. If you can’t redo and narrate from memory, go smaller and repeat more.

How many times should I redo problems?

Redo by pattern, not by count—until you can re-implement and explain without looking.

How should I use AI while working through these lists?

Use it for constraints, edge cases, tests, and follow-ups—after your attempt—not as the first step for final code.