NeetCode 150 vs. LeetCode patterns: Which prepares you for Amazon

Amazon can deliver a package to your doorstep in less than a day, but can you deliver a working solution in less than 40 minutes while also aligning it with their Leadership Principles? According to David Markley, a former Amazon Bar Raiser who conducted over 500 interviews, alignment with these principles often outweighs pure technical skill. Even in coding rounds, interviewers quietly evaluate how you think and communicate. Asking clarifying questions shows Customer Obsession, weighing trade-offs reflects Ownership, and proposing simple, elegant solutions demonstrates Invent and Simplify.

This makes preparing for Amazon interviews uniquely challenging. The problem isn’t the lack of resources: it is that there are too many. From expert mentors to curated lists like Blind 75 or NeetCode 150, and now the emerging focus on underlying LeetCode patterns, the options can feel overwhelming. So the real question is: what is the best way to prepare for Amazon interviews?

In this blog, I’ll unpack how NeetCode 150 and Amazon Top 150 compare against the 28 LeetCode patterns from the Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns. More importantly, I’ll highlight the strengths and weak spots of each, and show you how to combine them into an Amazon-ready roadmap that brings you closer to landing an offer.

A sneak peek into what really works for Amazon coding interviews#

Much of the guidance for Amazon interviews comes from reviews, guides, or posts, but it is hard to know how accurate or complete they are. That is why I use a scoring rubric introduced in the first blog of this series, NeetCode 150 vs. LeetCode Patterns, to measure the effectiveness of each preparation approach in a clear, quantitative way.

The rubric is straightforward. To cover a pattern adequately, you solve 1 easy problem (1 point), 2 medium problems (4 points each), and 1 hard problem (6 points). That gives 15 points per pattern. With 28 patterns, the benchmark comes to 420 points.

Now, let’s see how NeetCode 150 and Amazon’s Top 110 measure up against this benchmark.

The score chart above shows only the high-level picture. The real question is which problems and patterns contribute to these results, and why the Amazon-focused roadmap performs so well.

This blog will address that in detail. The analysis looks beyond the numbers to reveal how well each pattern is covered, how the gaps are closed, and how a structured plan can put you in the strongest position to succeed in Amazon coding interviews.

Overview of NeetCode 150, Amazon Top 150, and LeetCode patterns#

NeetCode 150 has quickly become one of the most trusted roadmaps for interview prep, especially for MAANG roles. It is a curated set of 150 problems that cover nearly every major topic you will face in interviews. You will find core areas like Arrays, Binary Search, Linked Lists, Trees, and Graphs represented here.

Amazon Top 150 is a focused collection of problems frequently asked in Amazon interviews. Think of it as a shortcut into Amazon’s playbook. Many candidates report seeing these exact or closely related questions during the process. 

LeetCode patterns shift the focus from individual problems to the underlying strategies that power them. There are 28 patterns in total, ranging from Sliding Window and Two Pointers to Backtracking, Dynamic Programming, and Graph Traversal. These patterns are the building blocks of almost every interview problem. Once you can spot a pattern and know how to apply it, you gain the adaptability to tackle both familiar questions and entirely new variations with confidence.

Is NeetCode 150 all you need for Amazon interviews?#

NeetCode 150 gives you breadth across core topics, but it is not enough on its own for Amazon. The list does not fully prioritize Amazon’s favorite problems, so you might miss some patterns that appear again and again in their interviews. Amazon also cares about how you explain trade-offs, optimize step-by-step, and tie your reasoning back to their leadership principles. Hence, practicing problems without understanding the underlying patterns is not enough.

On top of that, interview questions evolve. With the rise of AI, companies are moving away from repeating the same old problems. Amazon might introduce new twists to make familiar problems more challenging. Therefore, relying solely on a list that was created long before the current tech trends is not the best strategy. NeetCode 150 is a good start, but you need to complement it with Amazon-specific practice and pattern recognition to be fully ready.

Do patterns prepare you better than lists for Amazon?#

The short answer is yes. LeetCode patterns give you something that no fixed list can: adaptability. Instead of hoping you have seen the exact problem before, you train yourself to recognize the underlying strategy. When Amazon throws a graph problem at you, you can quickly decide whether it is best solved with BFS, DFS, or a Topological Sort. If it is a string or array challenge, you know when to apply Sliding Window, Two Pointers, or Hashing.

Patterns also prepare you for problem variations, or for cases where the statement looks simple, but hides tricky edge conditions. By thinking in terms of patterns, you can adjust your approach without panicking. This flexibility is especially important now, as companies evolve their interviews and AI makes rote memorization less valuable.

An overview of patterns for Amazon coding interviews#

As there are 28 patterns in total, it helps to know where to start. Based on the frequency of Amazon’s Top 75, the patterns can be grouped into four clear categories:

• Must-know patterns are the ones you will see most often in Amazon interviews. They form the foundation of your Amazon coding interview prep.

• High-value patterns show up regularly enough to matter and add important depth to your preparation.

• Solid but Situational patterns appear less often, but strengthen your ability to handle variety when the questions shift.

• Finishing-line helpers are rare, yet covering them ensures you reach full coverage and are not surprised by an unexpected twist.

Amazon interviews may place more weight on some patterns than others, but the best preparation is still to cover all 28. This ensures that you are ready for the most frequent problem types while also building the flexibility to tackle unexpected variations.

The Amazon prep roadmap with all 28 patterns#

The key to preparing for Amazon coding interviews is not choosing between NeetCode 150, Amazon top questions, or LeetCode patterns, but knowing how to combine them in the right sequence. Here is a simple four-step roadmap that balances structure, relevance, and adaptability.

1. Start with the NeetCode-Amazon overlap: Begin with the problems that appear in both NeetCode 150 and Amazon’s most commonly asked questions. Every problem solved here does double duty: it sharpens your fundamentals while also targeting what Amazon actually asks.

2. Add Amazon-specific problems: Next, move on to Amazon-only questions. These reveal Amazon’s unique interview style and prepare you for the variations they like to test.

3. Expand with NeetCode 150: After you have the Amazon approach covered, finish the remaining NeetCode problems not included in Amazon’s list. These round out your computer science foundation and make you more adaptable to unexpected twists.

4. Close gaps with patterns: Finally, check which of the 28 patterns are still underrepresented and fill those gaps directly. This ensures your prep is future-proof, so even if Amazon introduces a fresh variation, you will have the problem-solving framework to handle it.

As you follow this roadmap, measure your progress with the 1—2—1 rubric and scoring method I introduced earlier in the series. Aim for one easy, two medium, and one hard problem per pattern. With scoring set at 1 point for the easy, 4 points for each medium, and 6 points for the hard, that totals to about 15 points per pattern. Across all 28 patterns, the target is 420. Reaching this benchmark ensures your prep goes beyond memorization, and gives you the depth Amazon interviews demand.

Why is overlap the smart first step?#

Starting with overlap is efficient because it gives you maximum return for every problem solved. You build strength in fundamental concepts while also targeting questions Amazon has actually asked. This way, your early effort compounds, setting a strong base before you branch into Amazon-specific variations or broader pattern coverage.

Let’s see how many problems are common between NeetCode and Amazon.

The list above shows that it’s a huge milestone as 74 out of 150 problems overlap.

Now, let’s see how these problems contribute to the pattern coverage as per the 1—2—1 rubric and scores (2 points for easy, 4 for medium, and 6 for hard). In the bar chart below, each bar represents a pattern. The length of the bar shows what percent of the full 15 points you’ve earned for that pattern, while the label highlights how many easy, medium, and hard problems went into that score. 

The bar chart above shows that this first step sets a strong foundation. Core patterns like Dynamic Programming, Binary Search, Sliding Window, and Two Pointers are already well covered and reach high scores. Others, such as Tree Traversals and Stacks, are progressing but still need more depth. 

Several patterns remain underrepresented. Still, starting here ensures early wins across the most important problem types.

Why solve Amazon-specific questions next?#

Amazon has its own collection or style of interview problems. By tackling Amazon-specific questions early, you get familiar with the types of twists and variations their interviewers like to introduce. This step ensures your prep is not just broad but directly relevant, giving you confidence when facing Amazon’s unique problem style.

Let’s see what new patterns are introduced by Amazon-specific questions.

The list above shows that one new pattern emerges, and takes the total number to 27 out of 28 patterns. This is a great achievement.

Now, let’s see how well each pattern in the Amazon-specific set is covered using the 1–2–1 rubric and scores. The bar chart below highlights the newly covered patterns in green on the y-axis.

The bar chart above shows that Amazon-specific questions strengthen your prep considerably. Many patterns that were partial before now move into the green zone, including Tree Traversals and Stacks. 

This stage also introduces new patterns like Trie and Cyclic Sort, expanding your overall coverage to nearly the entire set. Some areas remain weaker, such as Union Find, Custom Data Structures, and Bitwise Manipulation, but overall pattern breadth is much stronger and more Amazon-aligned.

How will the remaining NeetCode 150 help?#

The rest of NeetCode 150 fills in the core computer science gaps that Amazon may not test directly, but which still matter for building depth and resilience. By completing these problems, you strengthen underrepresented patterns and prepare yourself for curveballs. This broader foundation makes you more adaptable when Amazon questions take unexpected turns.

Let’s look at the new patterns that the rest of the NeetCode problems unlock.

The list above shows that no new pattern is introduced, and instead, you get to practice the already identified patterns.

Now, let’s look at how well each pattern in the remaining NeetCode set is covered using the 1–2–1 rubric and scores.

The bar chart above shows that this stage builds further depth and pushes several patterns into complete coverage. Graphs, Backtracking, and Topological Sort get reinforced here, and breadth continues to improve. 

A handful of patterns are still not fully covered, particularly Cyclic Sort, Union Find, and Custom Data Structures. But even here, knowing that these gaps exist is powerful because you can directly apply the rubric, one easy, two medium, one hard, to quickly close them.

Are you Amazon-ready yet?#

Let’s look at the following bar chart to get an overall picture of how well you’ve covered each of the 28 patterns by following this smart study plan, and what still needs your focus.

We have done a great job of completing pattern coverage. There is only one pattern that was not covered at all, Sort and Search. Here are a few problems you can practice:

Patterns recap#

The pattern coverage pie chart below shows that the vast majority of patterns, nearly 93 percent, are unlocked through the common overlap between NeetCode and Amazon. Amazon-only problems contribute an extra slice, introducing a few new patterns, while the remaining underrepresented patterns make up just a small fraction. This progression proves that the roadmap is working: overlap builds a strong foundation, Amazon questions bring in targeted depth, and only a handful of patterns remain to be filled in to complete the journey.

How close does this strategy get you to 420 points?#

The score chart shows how each stage builds on the previous one. Starting with the common NeetCode-Amazon overlap gave the biggest boost, contributing 202 points right away. Adding Amazon-only problems pushed the score further with another 66 points, while the remaining NeetCode 150 added 36 points. Together, these steps raised the total to 304 out of the 420 benchmark, leaving only 116 points to be earned by closing pattern gaps directly. This demonstrates steady progress and highlights how overlap, along with Amazon-specific prep, drives most of the achievement.

Wrapping up: What matters most for Amazon interviews#

At Amazon, success comes from balance. You need the structure of NeetCode 150, the relevance of Amazon-specific problems, and the adaptability that comes from mastering patterns. What matters most is not the number of problems you solve, but how well you can recognize patterns, apply them under pressure, and communicate your reasoning clearly. If your prep combines breadth, depth, and adaptability, you will be ready for Amazon’s toughest interview rounds.

Recommended resources to level up your interview prep#

While this blog offers you a data-driven way to measure and close your prep gaps, the right learning tools can accelerate your progress even further. Here are two highly effective resources to complement your study plan.

• Educative’s Personalized Interview Prep: It’s your tailored prep companion that adapts to your skill level and focuses on the 28 essential LeetCode patterns we’ve been discussing. You can work on the patterns that need the most attention, track progress with clear metrics, and know exactly what to tackle next. Whether it’s adding an easy problem to build confidence or a hard one to push for mastery, you’ll always be working on the right problems at the right time.

• Educative’s Mock Interviews: Practicing is not just about solving problems. It is also about handling real interview pressure. Educative’s AI mock interviews let you simulate actual interview conditions, get actionable feedback, and improve in areas like problem-solving speed. This way, you are not only technically prepared, but also confident and ready to perform under time constraints.