Upstart Coding Interview Questions
19 coding questions reported by candidates who interviewed at Upstart, out of 20 Upstart questions we track. They average 2.4/5 difficulty (easy). Most common topics: String, Array, Hashmap, Parsing. 2 were reported asked within the last year, most recently in October 2026.
Practice Upstart questions →Difficulty
- 2/5 — easy12
- 3/5 — medium7
Asked for SWE (19)
Reported Upstart coding questions
Babysitter Quote with Time-of-Day Rate Bands
2/5A coding question on pricing an evening of child care when the hourly rate changes with the time of day. It tests careful handling of awkward inputs: shifts that cross midnight, schedules that wrap around the clock, overlapping or incomplete rate bands, and invalid times that must be rejected rather than priced.
asked October 2026CodingSimulationHash TableMaximum Subarray Sum With Edge Cases
3/5A coding question on arrays: find the largest sum of any contiguous stretch of an integer list. It tests inputs that trip up quick answers, such as lists made only of negative values, a single element, zeros, very large numbers and an empty list, and how each case should be reported.
asked October 2026CodingArrayDynamic ProgrammingMaximum Cities Visited Traveling West to East with Lexicographic City Names
3/5This Upstart interview question tests your ability to find the longest valid sequence of locations by simultaneously satisfying geographical progression and alphabetical ordering constraints. Candidates must design an algorithm that determines the maximum number of stops possible when moving strictly eastward while ensuring that city names increase lexicographically at every step. The problem evaluates advanced sequence manipulation, graph traversal concepts, and efficient searching techniques. To view the complete problem statement, optimal algorithmic approach, and fully working code solution, a subscription is required.
Dynamic ProgrammingLISSortingDecrypt String (Two-Cipher Relay)
3/5This engaging puzzle, featured in interviews at Upstart, investigates your analytical skills in deciphering layered cryptographic transmissions involving multiple communicating parties. You are given original and encoded text samples alongside a doubly obfuscated payload, requiring you to reverse-engineer the underlying transformation logic to uncover the hidden transmission. To examine the complete scenario specifications and view the comprehensive code solution, a paid subscription is required.
StringCipherHashmapParse a Comma-Separated String with Quoted Fields
3/5Encountered during technical evaluations at Upstart, this string parsing problem assesses your capability to implement robust text-processing utilities from scratch. The task revolves around breaking down a structured, comma-delimited text sequence while correctly handling enclosing quotation marks, escaped characters, and nested delimiters. Solving this efficiently demands meticulous state management and careful boundary condition checks. To explore the complete problem specifications along with a fully implemented model solution, a subscription is necessary.
StringParsingState MachineRemove Duplicate Integers While Preserving Order
2/5This foundational coding interview question from Upstart tasks candidates with filtering an integer collection to eliminate duplicate values while strictly preserving the original appearance sequence of the remaining elements. The task evaluates proficiency with linear data structures, time-space complexity optimization, and clean implementation practices under strict input scale constraints. To access the complete problem statement, test cases, and an optimal production-ready solution, a paid subscription is required.
ArrayHashsetDedupaddDrama
2/5This Upstart interview question requires you to transform a given text string by swapping specific punctuation marks and ensuring proper sentence termination rules. It evaluates fundamental string manipulation skills and edge-case handling in text processing. The full problem description and model solution require a subscription.
StringReplaceIncrease Exclamation Marks and Replace Periods
2/5Master string manipulation techniques with this Upstart interview challenge focused on modifying specific punctuation marks based on consecutive patterns. This exercise evaluates your ability to iterate through text efficiently while applying conditional replacement rules without altering other characters. It is an excellent test of foundational string processing and edge-case handling skills. Access the complete problem description and expert model solution by obtaining a subscription.
StringRegexParsingReplace Periods with Exclamation Marks
2/5This Upstart interview exercise focuses on string manipulation and pattern normalization. You are given a text sequence where specific punctuation marks need to be substituted, followed by a cleanup phase to eliminate redundant consecutive symbols resulting from the initial replacement. It tests fundamental string traversal, conditional logic, and state tracking. To view the full problem description and the model solution, a paid subscription is required.
StringRegexCheck Value Occurrence by Position and Half
2/5Encountered during technical screenings at Upstart, this algorithmic problem tests your proficiency with array traversal and positional logic. Given a specific integer and a sized collection, your task is to evaluate boolean flags indicating whether the target element appears at even or odd indices, as well as within the first or second halves of the sequence. It is a straightforward yet clever exercise for sharpening foundational indexing skills. Gain access to the full problem text, test cases, and a clean programmatic solution by subscribing today.
ArrayIndexingTwo PointerDecipher Using Two Hashmaps
2/5Encountered in an Upstart interview, this problem requires you to transform and decode a set of structured data elements by bridging relationships across two separate lookup tables. You will practice map composition techniques to link keys and values efficiently while minimizing traversal overhead. This exercise is great for testing fundamental dictionary manipulation and relational mapping skills in a concise format. Unlock the comprehensive problem description and the verified solution by getting a subscription.
HashmapDictionaryCompositionBuffet Restaurant Entry/Exit Billing with Capacity Constraints
3/5This Upstart coding interview question simulates a restaurant entrance and exit tracking system governed by strict spatial limits and financial transactions. Developers must process a chronological stream of patron events while enforcing occupancy restrictions, calculating admission fees upon initial entry, and handling denied access scenarios correctly. The challenge evaluates state management, simulation logic, and efficient data structure usage to handle event streams. To access the full problem details, constraint breakdowns, and the official code solution, a subscription is necessary.
SimulationHashsetGreedyBounding Rectangle of Points
2/5Compute spatial boundaries for a set of coordinates in this Upstart interview challenge. The goal requires determining the smallest axis-aligned bounding box that encloses a collection of two-dimensional points efficiently. This task tests basic geometry intuition and coordinate scanning optimization. Unlock the full problem specifications and model solution by subscribing.
ArrayGeometryMin MaxDecrypt Scrambled Sentence
3/5This Upstart coding question challenges your string manipulation and algorithmic thinking. You are provided with a dictionary of valid words and a sentence where each word has been scrambled. The rule for scrambling is that the first letter remains in its original position, while the rest of the letters are rearranged to form an anagram of an actual word from the dictionary. Your objective is to reconstruct the original sentence by correctly deciphering each scrambled word. The full problem description and a model solution are available with a subscription.
StringHashmapAnagramInterleave Three Equal-Length Strings
2/5In this Upstart coding challenge, you are tasked with interleaving three input strings that are guaranteed to have the same length. The objective is to construct a new string by sequentially appending characters from each of the three original strings at corresponding positions. Specifically, for every index, you should take the character from the first string, then the second, and finally the third, repeating this pattern across the entire length. This problem evaluates your fundamental string manipulation skills and ability to iterate through multiple sequences simultaneously. The full problem and model solution require a subscription.
StringZipFormat Bytes into Human-Readable String (B/KB/MB)
2/5Encountered during Upstart technical screenings, this coding exercise requires transforming a raw integer representing a byte count into a clean, human-friendly string using standard storage units. You will practice scaling values across bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes while applying precise rounding rules to two decimal places. This task tests fundamental arithmetic manipulation, boundary condition handling, and output formatting proficiency. Gain full access to the complete problem instructions and verified model solution with a subscription.
StringMathFormattingFilter List Strings by Presence of Any Character from a Given String
2/5Practice a practical data filtering exercise featured in recent Upstart recruitment cycles. The objective is to process a collection of text strings and retain only those items that share at least one common character with a designated reference string. This task evaluates your foundational understanding of collection filtering, string iteration, and membership checks in your chosen programming language. Reviewing the complete prompt specifications and the verified reference implementation necessitates a subscription.
StringHashsetFilterFind Anagrams Matching First Letter
3/5Presented during Upstart coding interviews, this challenge focuses on string manipulation and combinatorial logic. You are asked to generate permutations of a given text while filtering the resulting vocabulary based on specific prefix alignment rules. The exercise tests your understanding of character frequencies, permutation generation, and conditional filtering algorithms. To examine the full problem requirements, test cases, and a comprehensive model solution, please consider purchasing a subscription.
StringPermutationBacktrackingScale Ingredient Quantities
2/5As a practical coding task featured by Upstart, this question requires you to process structured text data containing ingredient measurements and scale them proportionally based on a target group size. The exercise evaluates your string manipulation skills, basic arithmetic scaling, and ability to handle formatted input data gracefully. You will need to parse text lines accurately while preserving units and nomenclature. Access to the complete problem definition and a clean model solution requires an active subscription.
ArrayParsingMath
Upstart coding interview FAQ
- What coding questions does Upstart ask?
- 19 reported coding questions, most often on String, Array, Hashmap, Parsing, Hashset.
- How hard is the Upstart coding interview?
- The reported coding questions average 2.4 out of 5: 12 at 2/5, 7 at 3/5.
- Are these Upstart coding questions recent?
- The most recent report is from October 2026, and 2 were reported within the last twelve months. Dates come from the interview reports themselves.