Mike Holt price comparison (review 7)

What you're actually comparing

Mike Holt Enterprises sells code books, illustrated textbooks, video libraries, continuing ed, and exam prep. Ask BONBON is a lookup tool for the NEC on your phone. Different products, often confused because both have the word "code" on the box.

If you want to study the code cover to cover, Mike Holt is the standard. If you want to answer "what's the minimum burial depth for 120V UF under a driveway" while you're standing in the trench, that's a different job.

This post compares what each actually costs and what you get, from an electrician who owns both.

Mike Holt pricing, as of 2026

Prices shift every code cycle, but the structure stays the same. The 2026 NEC lineup runs roughly like this:

• Understanding the NEC Volume 1 (Articles 90 through 480), textbook plus answer key: around $95 to $120.
• Understanding the NEC Volume 2 (Articles 500 through 820): around $95 to $120.
• Exam Prep library with videos and practice: $400 to $700 depending on bundle.
• Changes to the NEC book, every cycle: around $60.
• Full instructor-led online programs: $1,000 and up.

Add the NFPA 70 itself (softcover 2026 edition runs about $130 to $150 direct from NFPA) and you're at $300 to $400 just for the reading material before any video content.

None of that is a knock on Mike Holt. The illustrations in Volume 1 around grounding and bonding (NEC Article 250) are genuinely the clearest explanation of that article in print. You pay for it because it's worth it when you're learning.

Ask BONBON pricing

Ask BONBON is a subscription. One price, full NEC lookup, updated as the code updates. No separate volumes, no separate exam prep SKU, no shipping.

The use case is different. You're not sitting down to learn Article 250 from scratch. You're on a service call, the inspector is coming at 2pm, and you need to confirm whether the receptacle by the wet bar sink needs GFCI under NEC 210.8(A)(7). You type the question, you get the article, you move on.

Tip from the field: if you're studying for the Master's, buy Mike Holt. If you're already licensed and just need answers fast on the job, a lookup tool pays for itself the first time it saves you a callback.

Where Mike Holt wins

Study depth. If you don't understand why a grounded conductor is different from a grounding conductor, no lookup tool is going to fix that. You need someone to sit you down and explain it with diagrams. Mike Holt does that better than anyone.

Exam prep. The practice questions are calibrated to the actual exam style in most jurisdictions. Apps are not a substitute for grinding through 500 practice questions before your Journeyman or Master's test.

Continuing education credits. Mike Holt is an approved CE provider in most states. A lookup app is not. If you need hours for license renewal, that's a Mike Holt purchase, not a BONBON one.

Where Ask BONBON wins

Speed on the job. Flipping through Volume 1 in the attic is not realistic. Neither is scrubbing through a three-hour video to find the clip about tap conductors under NEC 240.21(B).

Currency. When the 2026 NEC brought changes to 210.8 and 422.5 around GFCI and AFCI protection, a lookup tool reflects that the day the cycle adopts. A printed book is frozen until the next edition.

Cost over time. A working electrician who already knows the code but needs quick references is paying $300-plus every three years for updated books they mostly don't read cover to cover. A subscription is cheaper and always current.

Tip from the field: keep the Mike Holt books at home for the rare night you actually sit down to read. Keep the phone in your pocket for the other 99% of the time.

How to decide

Be honest about where you are in your career. The answer is usually one of three situations:

1. Apprentice or studying for a license exam: buy Mike Holt. The textbooks and exam prep are the right tool. A lookup app is a nice supplement but not the main purchase.
2. Licensed electrician in the field daily: lookup tool first. You already know the code. You need speed, not a 400-page textbook on your truck seat.
3. Running a shop with apprentices: both. Mike Holt for training the apprentices, a lookup subscription for the guys who are already productive.

The honest answer is they solve different problems. Anyone telling you one replaces the other is selling something. The code book on your shelf and the code on your phone are both part of the job.

Pick what fits the work you're actually doing this week, not the work you imagine you'll be doing next year.