Packt Reviews 170

I didn't have a subscription, I just used it without one and occasionally looked at the regular free offers.
That was years ago, and recently I rediscovered that I had an account on this website.
I no longer actively use the email address I provided on their website, so I updated it. There was no verification other than the current password. You could simply change all the information without any meaningful verification, and I didn't even receive an email about the change. I don't think they care much about account security. I also tried to delete the account later, but there is no built-in option for that.
How can they run a ‘professional company’ with this mentality?
As I said, I can't comment on their subscription model as I didn't have a paid subscription. Nevertheless, I think this is relevant, and if you have a subscription, I hope you are aware of these issues and take as much care as possible with your account security under these circumstances.

EDIT: I created an account here to bring this to people's attention, as I find this not only unacceptable, but also very negligent and unprofessional, especially in 2025.
Also edited wording.

1. You don't warn me when I try to buy a title for a second time.
2. I have 9 credits I can't use for some reason, probably because my subscription ran out. I feel very ripped off.

I you buy a packt book,you are also able to get the free PDF of that book. So, I bought a book, followed the instructions how to get the download link, and I never heard anything back from them. So, no download link for me. Tried the "contact Us" link on their site, but that was a dead link. (This is not strange, because more links on their website just don't work!) I found another Contact Us link, asked some questions, and again, no reply. I just give up. I will send the book back.

Packtpub responded to my review. They asked me to send them an email.
This is strange. I filled out the online form at least three times to download the free pdf of the book I bought.
And I used the contact form twice to ask if they received my request.
They just ignore my request by not responding at all.
And now, when I write a negative review, they start responding.
So they only respond after a negative review.

My answer is that they already have all the information they requested!
So there should be no reason to email them.

I have had problems with them in the past when I tried to download a pdf of a book I bought there.
They didn't respond to my requests, and eventually I found an email address of someone who worked at Packtpub, and sent him my requests. (I found his email address on a site where a lot of people complained about Packtpub.)

I haven't read the book I just bought, so I have no idea if it's a good or bad book.
But I have bought a few of their books in the past, and generally they've all been a bit disappointing.

So the best thing I can do now is to return the book and get my money back.
To me Packtpub is just a waste of time and money.

Multiple issues.

Subscription increase
Free learning - when try to access order history, no longer able to download any of the books in any format, which had always been an option

It's my second time subscribing to Packt Publishing, and overall, I appreciate what it offers. The breadth of topics is impressive—whether you're looking into development, data science, DevOps, or cybersecurity, there's always something new to explore.

That said, not all books go deep enough into the subject matter. Some feel more like overviews than in-depth resources, which can be a bit disappointing when you're trying to really master a topic.

The app itself is decent, but there's one major flaw: it doesn't remember where you left off in a book. Having to manually find your place every time really disrupts the reading experience and, honestly, it’s almost a deal breaker.

With a bit more polish—especially on the app side—and more consistent depth in the content, this could be an outstanding platform. For now, it's a great resource with some frustrating quirks.

Packt is great, however not for the google browser

I like the Packt books as they're generally up to date, especially with early access. I like the way they take you through as a tutorial. I don't need a reference book, and I rarely need to come back to revisit older topics. I've recently started using the videos more as well.

I've knocked to stars off because of the *awful* app. I've got playlists that I can't access, and I just downloaded 5 books for a plane journey and images aren't saved, which makes them unreadable. You would think a tech book company could produce something g better

Good selection of up to date material, always available.

Built-in AI Chatbot services was great at explaining concept what I want and good at detailed answering.

Always a current view on IT books, trending topics. Easy way to access the books and continue ready from where one end. Has a big content, touching every area that is valuable for IT people.

When I started the subscription some years ago the UX of your website was clear simple and working great. Since then you have changed many things on it - new navigation, new look and feel - and every time it was getting worse and worse. Nowadays I am being logged out while reading and the website forgets the book or video I am currently viewing and I am being forced to select it from the beginning and to find the chapter I was currently reading. The reviews for your app in the Apple Store are not better. It seems more users have the same experience. Sorry, but if you do not manage to get it fixed soon I am thinking about cancelling my subscription.

Packt has grown in quality and topics””. I strongly recommend it!

Packtpub publishes books on new technology and programing languages that other tech publishing companies. I prefer books that provide a deep dive into a technology / programming. I learn the basics and then move to a deeper understanding of the topic. The books published by Packtpub allows me to do this. Often I find that Packtpub publishes books on subjects that I don't find from other publishers. Then I usually try to find books that concentrate on how to apply this knowledge by hands on projects.

Works good sometimes issue with opening new releases

Great tool for learning new Technology

The authors are top notch. Lots of examples, most of them have GitHub repositories and a great community. I will pay the subscription yearly for as long as they are in business. Thank you.

I appreciate the broad availability of content but the session management of the portal is a bit wonky. It says you need to sign in after 24hrs or so, yet when you go to the library it doesn't see you as logged in. I am not sure what is going on there. The work around is to force logout and log back in.

Search functionality is not intuitive (it used to be better earlier).

I am a 75-year-old retired developer. I have written in C, C++, C# and QT. I was a desktop developer tasked with the development of APIs for the GIS and 3D modelling environments. Did minimal development of GUIs and have never written a mobile application.

I still write ( plagiarize and enhance ) C# programs in the Astro Photography world and do some hobby development of multi-threading and recursive algorithms for selecting number patterns.

In this ever-changing software development world,
I use Packt (1) as a reference source and knowledge base for my programming activities and (2) as a reference for reading about the emerging technologies I only wish a service like Packt had been available during my working life.

The content available is excellent and has a lot of newly-published material. The price is good if you have time to get through a lot of material each month. I still wish Packt would introduce a limited/lower tier for those like me that can only get through a book or less each month. Otherwise, I highly recommend!

They have great books in any field for developers.