Table of Contents

15 Best Sites for Free Online Courses That’ll Boost Your Skills

Introduction

Are you looking to beef up your skills, but don’t have time or money to take classes in person? There are plenty of free and inexpensive online courses for you. From self-paced courses with video lectures on platforms like Code School and Udemy to interactive MOOCs (massive open online courses) from universities like Stanford University, there’s no shortage of options available. With that said, not all online courses are created equal. Some are better than others at delivering engaging content—and some aren’t worth the time it takes to sign up. To help you find the best online courses available today, we’ve put together this list of our favorites:

Google Digital Garage

If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to learn the basics of digital marketing, Google Digital Garage is a great option. The course is divided into four modules and takes about an hour to complete. You can then download your certificate of completion at the end of the course.

Google Digital Garage focuses on small businesses with little experience in digital marketing strategies. Topics covered include:

Keyword research
Building an audience on social media channels
Creating blogs and email newsletters

This one-hour course will give you all the tools you need to get started with your own marketing strategy!

Coursera

Coursera is an online learning platform that offers more than 1,000 courses from 140+ universities and institutions. Courses are available in a variety of subjects, including computer science, data science, business, and music. Some of the most popular classes include:

The Fundamentals of Online Learning (from Stanford University)
Introduction to Python (University of Michigan)
Database Management Systems (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore)

Harvard Online Courses

HarvardX offers a number of free online courses that are taught by Harvard professors. The courses are designed to be taken by students anywhere in the world, so they’re ideal if you want to learn something new without having to travel far. You can take them on your own schedule and at a pace that suits you best.

Khan Academy

One of the best places to find free online courses is Khan Academy. Founded by Salman Khan in 2006, it boasts over 5,000 videos across numerous subjects—math, science, history, economics and even art. The site’s design is clean and simple enough that you can easily navigate through its content without getting lost in the sea of information that it offers.

Skillshare

Skillshare is an online community where people can teach and learn skills, ranging from photography and knitting to entrepreneurship. You can find classes on everything from coding to cocktail making, or even take up a new hobby like sewing. For those who are more interested in learning than teaching, Skillshare offers a $10/month option that allows you to access unlimited classes at any time. You can also pay as you go with no commitment—just pick the class that interests you!

If there’s anything we’ve learned from this list, it’s that there are plenty of opportunities out there if you’re looking for free (or cheap) online courses that’ll boost your skill set. Now go out there and get learning!

edX

edX is an international nonprofit online learning platform that offers free or low-cost university-level courses in a wide range of topics, including computer science, business, public health and medicine. edX was launched by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012; it now has over 2,000 courses from top universities around the world.

In addition to its many courses on popular topics like software development and data science, edX also has specific course series that help you explore career opportunities within different industries (like cybersecurity). You can also find some helpful resources on their website if you’re thinking about taking your first college course.

Udemy

Udemy is a great place to start if you’re interested in taking online courses. The site offers a wide variety of courses on all sorts of topics, so there’s something for everyone. Udemy also has some of the cheapest prices around, and they frequently have sales and discounts that make it even cheaper than free!

The site offers courses in many different areas, including business, technology, health and wellness, design, marketing and more. There are even some freebies thrown into the mix! You can learn something new about almost anything here—and you can take advantage of the fact that most online classes are self-paced so that you don’t have to commit yourself to any specific time frame or deadlines (although this does mean that once you sign up for one course there may be other ones waiting for your attention as well!).

Udemy also has a social aspect where users can interact with each other by posting comments throughout their coursework as well as rating each others’ work so as not only allow learners access new information but also help them decide what type topics might interest them most too.

Alison

Alison is an online learning platform that gives you access to hundreds of courses, which means you’re sure to find one that fits your needs. Most Alison classes are just $10 (though some are free or cost more), and they come with plenty of interactive content, like quizzes and videos. You can also use the site’s study library to brush up on new skills or learn about specific subjects, such as marketing strategy or project management.

The best part? Alison offers a wide variety of topics for all skill levels—it even has a class on how to write a resume! The interface is easy-to-use, making it perfect for anyone who wants to take their education into their own hands but isn’t quite ready to go full-on college mode yet.

Codecademy

Codecademy is a free online learning platform that has helped millions of people learn how to code. With over 20 million users, it’s one of the most popular options out there.

The site is easy to use and offers an abundance of options for users who want to learn coding. You can build a website, create an app, or even learn to code in your browser. It’s a great place for beginners looking for an introduction into the world of technology and programming languages like HTML5 and JavaScript (which are often used on websites).

FutureLearn

FutureLearn offers a selection of free and paid online courses (for the latter, the price ranges from $19 to $99). The site offers its own syllabi, which means you won’t have to print out PDFs for each class.

FutureLearn also gives you plenty of resources for students: forums, chat rooms, and even study groups. Students who pass their exams are issued certificates that can help boost their resumes.

Code School and Pluralsight

Code School and Pluralsight are two of the best sites for learning coding. They both have a wide variety of courses, with something for everyone. Their user interfaces are also friendly, which makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. Finally, they both have high quality instructors who know what they’re talking about and make learning fun!

Udacity

Udacity offers a range of courses in computer science and data science. These courses are designed to help you learn the skills that employers value most, including web development and programming languages such as Python and Java. The projects you complete at Udacity are also project-based, so they’re more hands-on than most other online courses.

The best part? You can take Udacity’s courses for free! That’s right: if you have an internet connection, all it takes to gain access to some of the world’s top educational resources is a few minutes or hours on your schedule—and maybe a little motivation.

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LinkedIn Learning (Formerly Lynda)

LinkedIn Learning offers a wide range of courses. Some are free, and others are paid. The site is organized into categories like marketing, project management and design. Courses range from basic introductions to more advanced topics such as “Building Your Personal Brand.” You can even get access to premium content with a LinkedIn Premium subscription ($49 per month after a 7-day trial).

You can also connect with mentors through your course dashboard if you have trouble completing the assignments on your own or just need some extra motivation. These mentors aren’t actual instructors, but rather experienced professionals who will provide feedback on your work and answer any questions that come up along the way. If you complete all the lessons in an individual course (or multiple courses), then LinkedIn will award certification upon completion—just make sure that you have at least 80 percent overall completion before submitting your application for certification!

MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free, web-based publication of material from thousands of MIT courses. It is not a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in the sense that it does not offer any kind of interactive instruction or assessment, but rather serves as an archive for all available course materials.

MIT OpenCourseWare offers access to many different types of educational resources: lecture notes and videos, syllabi, homework assignments and exams, and even textbooks used in select classes. This website was created by MIT because they believe that the world should have access to knowledge regardless of location or socioeconomic status – so they’ve made their entire curriculum available online!

Although you won’t receive any feedback on your work while using this site (or any other listed here), it’s still worth checking out if you’re looking for ways to learn more about topics related to science or engineering without putting any money down first – especially since there are so many options available here!

There are many free or inexpensive online courses that can help you learn a new skill.

There are many free or inexpensive online courses that can help you learn a new skill. These include:

Google Digital Garage
Coursera
Harvard Online Courses
Khan Academy
Skillshare (also a popular website)

The list goes on and on.

Conclusion

There are many free or inexpensive online courses that can help you learn a new skill. The trick is finding the right one for you. We’ve put together this list of sites so you can make an informed decision about which one is best for your needs as well as your budget!

15 Best Sites for Free Online Courses