Mike Holt side-by-side review (review 8)

What Mike Holt does well

Mike Holt built the gold standard for NEC training. The textbooks, the video library, the exam prep material, all of it is serious work. If you are studying for a journeyman or master exam, you will end up on his site. That is not a knock, that is reality.

The strength is depth. Holt explains the why behind an article. You get the history, the code-making panel logic, the illustrations showing clearances on 110.26 working space. For someone learning the code cold, that context matters.

His team also keeps the material current across cycles. When the 2023 NEC dropped, the update videos were out fast. Same with the 2020 changes to GFCI coverage in 210.8(A) and 210.8(F).

Where it falls short on the job

Holt's product is training. Ask BONBON's product is a field answer. Those are different jobs. When you are in an attic at 2pm, phone in one hand, voltmeter in the other, you do not want a 40 minute video on the theory of bonding. You want to know if the EGC you are looking at is sized right for a 60 amp feeder.

The Holt site and app are organized like a curriculum. Modules, chapters, quizzes. Search exists but it pulls training content, not a direct code answer. You burn five minutes scrubbing a video to find the sentence you needed.

Printed books have the same issue in the field. The Understanding the NEC volumes are excellent at the bench. In a crawlspace with dirty gloves, flipping tabs is not happening.

Field tip: if you are using Holt's books for study, keep them at home. For the truck, you need something that answers in seconds, not something that teaches.

Side by side: common lookups

Here is how the two tools handle questions that come up on a real workday.

• Box fill for a 4 inch square with three 12/2 romex and two devices. Holt: chapter reference to 314.16, worked example in a textbook. BONBON: direct cubic inch math with the conductor count applied.
• GFCI required on a dishwasher receptacle in a 2023 jurisdiction. Holt: article commentary on 210.8(D). BONBON: yes, with the citation and the 2020 cycle change noted.
• Minimum burial depth for PVC under a driveway. Holt: Table 300.5 in the illustrated guide. BONBON: 18 inches, cites 300.5(A), notes the residential driveway exception.
• Ampacity of 4/0 aluminum SER feeding a subpanel. Holt: 310.16 walkthrough with temperature correction lesson. BONBON: the number, the column used, and the 83 percent rule for 310.12 dwelling services.

Holt wins if you want to understand the answer forever. BONBON wins if you need the answer before the inspector comes back from lunch.

Price and licensing

Holt's pricing reflects what it is, a full training curriculum. Exam prep packages run several hundred dollars. The Understanding the NEC book set is not cheap either. Worth every penny if you are chasing a license. Heavy lift if all you need is a code lookup tool.

BONBON is built as a working tool. Flat subscription, no course modules, no exam tracks. You are paying for fast lookups and code citations you can show a GC or an AHJ.

Neither is a replacement for the NEC itself. You still need the code book in the truck per most AHJ expectations, and many inspectors want to see you flip to the article.

Who should use which

This is not a one beats the other situation. Different tools, different jobs. The real question is what you are trying to do this week.

1. Apprentice studying for the journeyman exam: Mike Holt. Full stop. The structured curriculum and practice questions are the point.
2. Licensed electrician doing residential service work: BONBON for the truck, Holt's books on the shelf for code cycle updates.
3. Estimator pricing commercial work: BONBON for fast conductor sizing and conduit fill, Holt for the deep dives on grounding and bonding rulings.
4. Inspector or plan reviewer: Holt for the reasoning, BONBON for quick second opinions on edge cases.

Field tip: the electricians who come up fastest in this trade use both. Study with Holt in the evening, answer with BONBON on the job, and keep the NEC handbook in the van for the inspector.

Bottom line

Mike Holt is the teacher. Ask BONBON is the reference. Calling one better than the other misses the point. If you want to learn the code, go with Holt. If you want to answer a 210.52 receptacle spacing question while the drywaller is waiting on you, that is what BONBON is built for.

The mistake is trying to force one tool to do both jobs. A textbook is not a field reference. A field reference is not a curriculum. Use the right one for the moment you are in and stop burning time on the wrong tool.