Mike Holt price comparison (review 6)

What Mike Holt sells vs what we sell

Mike Holt Enterprises has been the gold standard for NEC training since the 80s. The catalog is deep: textbooks, DVD libraries, illustrated code books, exam prep bundles, continuing education, live seminars. If you are studying for a Master's exam or running an apprenticeship program, you will end up on mikeholt.com eventually.

Ask BONBON is a different tool. It is a phone-first NEC reference for the guy in the attic trying to remember whether that junction box needs to stay accessible under 314.29. We do not teach you the code. We help you look it up fast when your hands are dirty and your foreman is yelling.

Same industry, different job. Price comparisons only make sense once you know which problem you are solving.

Mike Holt pricing, plainly

Pricing moves, so check the site before you buy. As of this writing, here is the rough lay of the land for the 2023 NEC cycle:

• Illustrated Changes to the NEC: around $60 to $80 for the book, more with video.
• Understanding the NEC Volume 1 (Articles 90 through 480): roughly $90 book only, $180 to $250 with the DVD or online video library.
• Understanding the NEC Volume 2 (Articles 500 and up): similar range.
• Journeyman or Master exam prep bundles: $400 to $700 depending on state and format.
• Continuing education hours: varies by state, often $15 to $30 per hour online.

You are paying for Mike's explanations, the illustrations, and thousands of hours of filmed instruction. For a guy preparing to sit for a license exam, it is money well spent. For a guy who already has the license and just needs to find 250.122 in thirty seconds on a ladder, it is overkill.

Ask BONBON pricing, plainly

One subscription, one app, one job: answer NEC questions in plain English on your phone. No DVDs, no textbooks, no seminars. You ask, we cite the article, you move on.

The honest tradeoff: we will not walk you through the theory of grounding and bonding the way Mike will. If you do not already have a working mental model of Article 250, you want his material, not ours. If you do have that model and just need the exact language of 250.66 without thumbing through a 900 page book, that is what we are built for.

Field tip: keep the NEC handbook in the truck for the job walk, and keep a lookup tool on your phone for the actual install. Different tools, different moments.

Where each tool actually earns its keep

Think about the last five code questions that cost you time on a job. Were they "why does the code require this" questions, or "what exactly does the code require" questions? The answer tells you which product to buy.

Mike Holt material shines on the "why" questions. GFCI protection under 210.8, AFCI expansion under 210.12, the logic behind 240.4(D) small conductor rules, the bonding requirements of 250.104. He explains the reasoning so the code stops feeling arbitrary.

A reference app shines on the "what" questions. How many receptacles on a 20 amp circuit in a dwelling. Minimum burial depth for PVC under a driveway. Whether a bathroom fan needs to be on the lighting circuit or the receptacle circuit. Fast facts, cited, on the clock.

1. Studying for a license or CEUs: Mike Holt.
2. Training apprentices in a classroom: Mike Holt.
3. Looking up 334.80 ampacity on a service call: Ask BONBON.
4. Settling an argument with an inspector over 406.4(D): Ask BONBON.
5. Building a deep understanding of the code over a winter: Mike Holt.

What Mike Holt does that we do not

Credit where it is due. Mike Holt's illustrations of conduit fill, box fill, and voltage drop calculations are the clearest in the industry. His exam prep has put more electricians through their license test than anything else on the market. If you are going for your Master's, buy his stuff.

He also publishes graphics and summaries every code cycle that make the changes digestible. When the 2026 NEC rolls out and everyone is arguing about the new 210.8 requirements, his Illustrated Changes book will be on a lot of desks for good reason.

We do not compete with any of that. We are not a curriculum.

The honest bottom line

If your budget is tight and you have to pick one, pick based on where you are in your career. An apprentice or a guy going for his license needs instruction, so Mike Holt earns the money. A licensed journeyman or master who already knows the code but needs speed in the field gets more value per dollar from a lookup app.

Plenty of guys buy both. The Mike Holt books live on the shelf for studying and code cycle updates. The app lives on the phone for everyday lookups. Different tools for different moments, same goal: getting the install right the first time.

Field tip: whichever tool you buy, read the scope article first. 90.2 through 90.5 will save you more arguments with inspectors than any other ten pages in the book.