Mike Holt UI comparison (review 5)

Two different tools for two different jobs

Mike Holt Enterprises has been training electricians since the 80s. Their materials are the gold standard for exam prep and deep code study. Ask BONBON is a different animal. It's a field reference for the guy standing on a ladder at 2pm trying to remember if that bathroom receptacle needs GFCI protection on the line side or load side.

Both have their place. This is an honest look at where each one wins and where each one falls short, from somebody who has used both on real jobs.

What Mike Holt does well

The training products are unmatched. The illustrated code books, the video library, the exam prep courses... if you're studying for a journeyman or master exam, you buy Mike Holt. Period. The graphics make dense articles like NEC 250 grounding and bonding actually make sense. The cross-references to 110.26 working space requirements are drawn out instead of buried in text.

Their forum is also a real resource. You can search a question about NEC 210.52(C)(1) countertop receptacle spacing and find three threads where somebody already argued it out with citations. That institutional knowledge took decades to build.

Tip: If you're prepping for a state exam, skip the apps entirely and buy the Mike Holt exam prep bundle. Nothing else comes close for that specific job.

Where the Mike Holt UI starts to hurt on the jobsite

The website and app were built around their training catalog, not around quick lookup. Try finding the exact ampacity adjustment for four current-carrying conductors in a raceway under NEC 310.15(C)(1). You'll click through a course menu, then a chapter list, then a video timestamp. By the time you find it, the inspector has already written you up.

The search is keyword-based and returns course results mixed with forum posts mixed with product pages. There's no clean path from "I have a question right now" to "here is the code section and the answer." The interface assumes you have 20 minutes to study, not 20 seconds to check.

• Navigation is built for learners, not lookup
• Search returns marketing pages alongside code content
• Mobile experience is a scaled-down desktop site, not a mobile-first tool
• Offline access is limited or requires specific app downloads per product
• No integrated calculators that stay with you across topics

What Ask BONBON is built for

BONBON was built by and for working electricians who need answers in the field, fast. Type a plain question like "GFCI required in a garage" and you get NEC 210.8(A)(2) with the exceptions, the 2023 vs 2020 differences if they matter, and a one-line summary you can actually use. No video to scrub through. No course to enroll in.

The conduit fill, voltage drop, and box fill calculators are one tap away from whatever article you're reading. Ask it about NEC 314.16(B) box fill and the calculator is right there, pre-loaded with the conductor counts from the example.

Tip: Save your most-used calculations as favorites. On a resi rough-in day you'll hit the same 12-2 with ground box fill math forty times. Two taps beats forty.

Honest trade-offs

BONBON is not going to teach you the theory behind grounding electrode conductors. If you don't already understand why NEC 250.66 sizes the GEC the way it does, an AI answer is going to let you pass a test without building the mental model. Mike Holt's video will build that model. Use the right tool.

BONBON also isn't a substitute for the actual NEC handbook. For plan review, permit work, or any situation where you need the exact authoritative language in front of an AHJ, you open the code book. The app points you to the article, but the book is the source of truth.

How I actually use both

Winter slow season, studying for the master's exam, Mike Holt is open on the laptop every night. Illustrated code book, practice exams, the works. There is no replacement for it in that mode.

On a Tuesday at a commercial tenant improvement when the GC is asking why the EMT has to be secured within 3 feet of every box per NEC 358.30(A), BONBON is open on the phone before he finishes the sentence. Quote the article, show him the measurement, move on.

• Studying or learning theory: Mike Holt
• Exam prep: Mike Holt
• Quick field lookup: Ask BONBON
• Calculations on the fly: Ask BONBON
• Plan review and official documentation: the actual NEC

The bottom line

This isn't a takedown of Mike Holt. Their content is excellent and their contribution to the trade is massive. But the UI was never designed to answer a question in 15 seconds with a wire nut in your teeth. That's a different product.

If you already own Mike Holt materials, keep them. Add BONBON for the field. If you're new to the trade, get the Mike Holt exam prep for the learning and BONBON for the daily work. They cover different hours of your day.