online best training websites

We compared 13 popular online learning platforms for all ages, budgets, and interests – our favorites include Coursera for certificate courses and MasterClass for creative arts classes

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• The rise of online learning is democratizing education by improving access to top-notch courses.
• We compared some of the platforms we cover the most to help you find the best ones for you.
• We looked at popular platforms like Coursera , edX , MasterClass , Skillshare , Duolingo , and more.

As online learning continues to grow in popularity, so do the options available to you. Whether you want to take a popular free Ivy League class for fun , pursue part of an online master's degree , boost your career with some additional certifications , or just learn a new language at your own pace , there are many options out there for you .

To help you decide which ones might work best with your schedule, budget, and goals, we compared 13 of the platforms we cover the most : edX , Coursera , FutureLearn , MasterClass , Skillshare , LinkedIn Learning , Udemy , Udacity , CreativeLive , Codecademy , Duolingo , Babbel , and Rosetta Stone .

The best online learning platforms for accredited university courses and degrees

• The best online learning platforms for career skills certifications

The best online learning platforms for creative skills and hobbies

• The best online learning platforms for learning a new language

Coursera , edX , and FutureLearn are three popular online learning platforms that offer courses, certificate programs, and even master's degrees from top universities as well as well-known companies and non-profit organizations.

All three have courses you can audit for free, as well as options to pay for a certificate of completion. They also have multi-course programs you can exchange for real college credits from select schools, or apply to their full master's programs.

The topics covered on each platform are incredibly diverse, covering everything from computer programming and finance to positive psychology and art history . They can be taken to advance your career or expand your knowledge in a subject for fun.

Keep reading below to learn the differences between edX , Coursera , and FutureLearn :

Cost: Individual courses are usually free to audit for a limited amount of time; certificates and longer programs vary in price.

Pros: You can most courses for free, including ones in longer programs (great for testing out a longer certificate program before committing to it); financial assistance is available

Cons: Some courses are archived, meaning you can still access them but can't earn a certificate; Charges one lump sum for courses instead of a subscription fee

You can browse all edX courses here .

Cost: Individual courses are usually free to audit; certificates and longer programs vary in price. You can also sign up for an annual Coursera Plus subscription ($399) and get access to 90% of Coursera's offerings.

Pros: Many programs charge a monthly fee, so the faster you finish, the more money you save; financial assistance available; offers some free certification courses

Cons: No financial assistance for Coursera MasterTracks; you can only audit one-off courses (you will have to pay for ones that are part of a Specialization)

You can browse all Coursera courses here.

FutureLearn

Cost: Individual courses are usually free to audit; certificates and longer programs vary in price. You can also subscribe to FutureLearn Unlimited for $189.99 annually to get unlimited access to courses.

Pros: UK-based, offers more international options; offers some free certification courses

Cons: Not as many course options as edX and Coursera; you can only audit one-off courses (you will have to pay for ones that are part of an ExpertTrack)

You can browse all FutureLearn courses here.

The best online learning platforms for career skill certifications

What all of them have in common

LinkedIn Learning , Codecademy , Udemy , and Udacity all offer online courses, programs, and bootcamps that can advance your career, including in in-demand subjects like omputer programming that boast high job satisfaction .

Unlike in-person or intensive bootcamp programs, these courses are self-paced and flexible, letting you practice and earn a certificate on your own time. They can be great for quickly picking up a new skill to boost your resume , testing out a potential job path before committing to a longer program, or gaining the qualifications you need to transition careers or move up in your role.

Keep reading below to learn the differences between LinkedIn Learning , Codecademy , Udemy , and Udacity :

LinkedIn Learning

Cost: A LinkedIn Learning subscription is $19.99/month (annually) or $29.99/month (month-to-month).

Pros: Short video classes broken down into digestible segments; certifications go right on your LinkedIn profile; LinkedIn occasionally makes popular career courses free for a limited time

Cons: Less interactive; no way to submit homework assignments or reinforce what you've learned

You can browse all LinkedIn Learning courses here.

Cost: Codecademy Pro is $39.99/month (month-to-month) and $19.99/month annually. Pro Student offers 35% off to eligible current students. (Note: Codecademy is currently offering 40% off Pro and Pro Student memberships through October 22 .

Pros: Some free beginner options ; a huge range of programming courses; Fun, hands-on projects

Cons: Less interactive than traditional coding bootcamps

You can browse all Codecademy courses here.

Cost: You can pay a one-time fee per course or subscribe to a Udemy Personal Plan for $29.99/month for unlimited access to all Udemy courses

Pros: Easy to use on mobile; offers a huge range of course offerings; popular bootcamps are updated frequently so you're working with the latest information; frequent sales on courses

Cons: Less interactive; harder to reinforce or test what you've learned; not all courses come with certificates

You can browse all Udemy courses here.

Cost: Nanodegrees can be paid for as you go, starting at $399/month or $1,017 total

Pros: Offers some free courses ; provides additional career resources and support to help you find a job after a Nanodegree

Cons: Nanodegrees can get pricey and involve a bigger time commitment if you want to finish faster to save money

You can browse all Udacity courses here.

While platforms like edX and Coursera are great for taking university-accredited courses for fun , MasterClass , Skillshare , and CreativeLive all offer subscriptions to unlimited online courses and are particularly great for growing creative skills like writing, photography, art, design, and acting — though they all offer courses in other subjects like personal development.

All three platforms offer courses from celebrities and experts at the top of their fields, from famous chefs and bestselling authors to well-known Stanford faculty members . They also offer courses in more niche creative subjects, from hand-lettering to bird photography .

While they don't offer the same direct feedback on your work as in-person instruction, they can be a fun way to unwind and learn a new skill at your own pace.

Keep reading below to learn the differences between MasterClass , Skillshare , and CreativeLive :

MasterClass

Cost: A MasterClass subscription is $180 annually (broken down to $15/month)

Pros: Beautiful and engaging video quality; celebrity instructors; offers a broad range of topics; digestible format; online forum provides a sense of community

Cons: No certifications; have to hold yourself more accountable to learn

You can browse all MasterClass courses here .

CreativeLive

Cost: You can pay a one-time fee per course or subscribe to a CreativeLive membership for $13/month.

Pros: Lots of in-depth bootcamps; great selection of in-depth courses to expand your skillsets

Cons: Less interactive; no direct feedback

You can browse all CreativeLive courses here.

Cost: A Skillshare Premium subscription is $32/month (month-to-month) or $15/month (annually)

Pros: Nice video quality; some celebrity and expert instructors; great for very niche topics

Cons: No certifications; mostly focused on art and design

You can browse all Skillshare courses here.

The best online learning platforms for learning new languages

Duolingo , Babbel , and Rosetta Stone are three language-learning platforms we cover a lot, and each has different strengths depending on which language you want to learn, your level of experience, and your time commitment. 

What they all have in common is flexibility — they can be great for brushing up on your high school Spanish or learning a few Japanese phrases before a trip .

Keep reading to learn more about the differences between Duolingo, Babbel, and Rosetta Stone:

Cost: Free; Duolingo Plus is $6.99/month for features like ad-free experience and unlimited tries

Pros: Great for learning new vocabulary; Fun, gamified experience; Easy to use on mobile; Lots of language options (including Yiddish )

Cons: Not as much practice directly speaking with someone in conversation

You can browse all of Duolingo's language options here.

Cost: $13.95 for 1 month; $9.95/month (3 months); $8.45/month (6 months); $6.95/month (1 year)

Pros: Focused on teaching you realistic conversation topics, such as travel or career-focused phrases; Uses native speakers to demonstrate lessons; frequent sales offered

Cons: Some language programs are not as strong as others ; Not as many language options as other services

You can browse all of Babbel's language options here.

Rosetta Stone

Cost: $11.99/month (3 months); $7.99/month (1 year); $179 lifetime (unlimited languages)

Pros: Fully immersive, mimicking real-life experience; Huge selection of languages to choose from

Cons: More expensive, requires more of a time commitment 

You can browse all of Rosetta Stone's language options here.

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20 Best Websites To Find Online Courses (Free & Paid)

We did our research to find the best online course websites. The list includes top-quality courses to learn new skills fast.

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Top 20 Websites to Find Online Courses

Key learnings.

Online courses are a great way to build new skills in a relatively short period of time. They are less expensive than traditional classes and you can follow a course from the comfort of your own home.

In this guide, you’ll find the best online course websites covering a range of topics, including digital marketing, graphic design, coding, personal development, marketing, business, photography, and much more.

All courses are delivered online by accredited academies and online learning platforms. Together with the paid courses, the list includes some great free online courses that are definitely worth your time.

So, if you want to explore new career paths, build a new skill, start a new hobby or learn a new discipline, you’ll love this list. We’ve done our research and handpicked the best free and paid sites offering online training courses. All you have to do is find the best course for you and start learning!

These are the best online course websites to find high-quality online courses :

• Reliablesoft Academy
• MasterClass

Google Skillshop

• LinkedIn Learning
• HubSpot Academy
• Simplilearn
• Semrush Academy
• Google Digital Garage
• Meta Blueprint
• Harvard University (Online Courses)
• Microsoft Learn
• Alison (Free Online Courses)
• CXL Institute

1. Reliablesoft Academy

Founded in 2002, Reliablesoft Digital Marketing Academy is one of the most reliable training platforms to learn digital marketing. Through their online academy, they offer 13 courses covering all important areas of digital marketing, including:

• Facebook / Instagram Ads
• Google Analytics
• Content Marketing
• Keyword Research
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Digital Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing
• Retargeting
• YouTube Marketing

Their most popular course is the Digital Marketing Full Course , which teaches students the secrets of online marketing through a series of videos and tutorials. Upon completing the course, you can get an SEO and Digital Marketing Certification.

Students can download the courses offline or follow the lessons using the online interface.

Reliablesoft courses are highly rated by students , affordable, and have a 60-day unconditional money-back guarantee (the best money-back from all online academies).

Currently, online courses are offered at an 80% discount . The offer is valid for a limited time only.

Explore Online Courses

Udemy is perhaps the most popular online learning platform. According to statistics provided by the company, they have more than 130K online courses in their database and a student base of 35 million people.

Udemy courses are grouped into several categories, the most popular are:

• Development
• IT and Software
• Personal Development
• Photography

Udemy courses are budget-friendly and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. In their library, besides paid courses, you’ll also find a number of free courses. Just type in “Free Courses” in their search bar, and you’ll get a list of more than 10,000 courses you can follow without paying.

To find the best courses on Udemy , choose one of the course categories from the top menu and then filter the results based on the number of ratings. You can also look for the ‘bestseller’ badge displayed in the description of popular courses.

If Udemy is not the right learning platform for you, there are great alternatives .

3. Coursera

Coursera offers online courses from world-class universities and reputable companies. It positions itself as a leading online learning platform for higher education. They claim to have more than 70M learners worldwide and partnerships with more than 200 universities and educators in different industries.

In their catalog, you’ll find a number of free courses, paid courses, specializations, certificates, and degree programs.

Their most popular course categories are:

• Data Science
• Computer Science
• Information Technology

University students can enroll in Coursera courses for free, provided their university is part of their partners’ program.

For non-university students, the cost varies per course, specialization, and certificate. For some courses, you can enroll for free and then pay for the certificate. For other courses, you can buy a monthly subscription and access a number of courses as long as you pay the monthly fee.

While Coursera offers great courses and accredited certifications from leading companies and universities, its refund policy is very strict.

So, I recommend reading their pricing fees and conditions before enrolling in a course to avoid any unpleasant surprises. You can also consider one of the Coursera Alternatives .

Udacity focuses on career advancement and provides the essential tools to succeed in landing the job of your dreams.  The website has a robust catalog that not only covers the skill but also provides classes on applying for jobs and interviewing.

Here are the training programs that are included:

• Programming and Development
• Artificial Intelligence
• Cloud Computing
• Autonomous Systems

Udacity is another free membership platform offering free and paid online courses. There is no monthly subscription requirement, but registering as a user is necessary in order to gain access to the catalog. Within the search features, it allows you to filter free courses so that you can browse if you’d like to try them before you buy.

This platform also offers career prep opportunities, including meeting with career coaches, resume reviews, LinkedIn reviews, and more. Just an added bonus to the Udacity platform and in line with their mission to train the world’s workforce in the careers of the future.

5. Skillshare

Jumping from the very techy world of coding, Skillshare was founded with creatives in mind. Skillshare seeks to not only help members get inspired and learn new skills but also allow instructors to share their expertise and earn money.

Founded in 2010, Skillshare has curated some of the best online classes to take for innovators and creators.

Here are just a few of the categories it offers:

• Illustration
• Freelancing

In order to access all Skillshare courses, you will need to create a Premium account which comes with a 7-day free trial. After the trial period, you can pay an annual fee of $99 or $19/mo. I even saw a 30% off special on their website, so be sure to look out for the deals!

What I find valuable about this membership is that you will receive access to ALL of the incredible online classes and workshops available on the platform. To help you narrow down your decision, here is a list of the best skillshare courses you can take this year.

You are able to follow your favorite instructors, keep a library of the classes that you want to take, check out your class history, and have more convenient and user-friendly features. It’s definitely one to check out.

6. MasterClass

If you’re into pop culture, you’ll love being a part of MasterClass . Ranging from industries such as acting, creative writing, sports, and beyond, popular celebrities and experts in the field are sharing their mastery with the everyday person.

The platform is fun and current but still packed with education.

Here are some of the course topics that are covered in MasterClass:

• Arts & Entertainment
• Sports & Gaming
• Science & Tech
• Design & Style

MasterClass is set up as a membership platform at $15/mo billed annually. Although they do not offer a free trial, they do extend a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

It’s very user-friendly allowing downloading to watch offline, the use of PDF workbooks for every class, and mobile-friendly. They add new classes every month so you are sure to have more to browse. If you are curious, MasterClass is for you.

Additional resources to find more online courses

• Best Digital Marketing Courses – 10 great courses to teach yourself digital marketing online.
• Best Social Media Marketing Courses – the top courses to learn social media marketing.
• Best Content Marketing Courses – free and paid courses to get started with content marketing.
• Best SEO Courses – a list of SEO courses with a certification to build your SEO skills and become an expert.
• Best eCommerce Courses – online courses to teach yourself eCommerce. The list includes both free and paid training courses.
• Best Free SEO Courses – the best free courses on search engine optimization. Take online or download offline.
• Best Google Ads Courses – the best courses to master the secrets of Google Ads.
• Best Free Online Marketing Courses – a list of the top courses on online marketing that are 100% free.
• Best WordPress Courses – the top courses to learn WordPress online.

7. Google Skillshop

It’s no surprise that many businesses are using Google as a platform to run, scale, and advertise their businesses. With a mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” it’s no wonder it has managed to turn its name into an action one can actually take.

Because of its usefulness in the digital marketing world, it’s worth checking out their free Google Skillshop center to learn more about using their platform. Through Skillshop you can achieve a number of free Google certifications in the following categories:

• Google for Education
• Google Marketing Platform
• Analytics Academy
• Google My Business
• Google Ad Manager
• Google Cloud
• Waze Academy
• Google AdMob
• Authorized Buyers
• Android Enterprise Academy

is a free learning center with lengthy and in-depth lessons. If you’re looking to move forward with Google Ads or use the Google platform in any way to market your business, Skillshop is definitely worth browsing.

8. LinkedIn Learning

As a platform that aims to connect professionals with one another, it’s a seamless transition to using LinkedIn as a professional development tool. LinkedIn Learning has over 16,000 of some of the top online courses in a wide range of industries.

The courses are broken down into the 3 main categories of business, creative, and technology.

Here are just some of the sub-categories available on the platform:

• Business Analysis and Strategy
• Career Development
• Finance and Accounting
• Leadership and Management
• Marketing Sales
• Audio and Music
• Graphic Design
• Web Development
• And so much more

LinkedIn Learning provides a mix of both paid and free courses with a monthly membership of $29/mo. You are able to try it for free for a full month on an individual plan. One of the unique features of this platform is that they offer team memberships when you fill out a form to connect with a sales consultant.

With industry experts teaching these online learning courses, it has been trusted by industry leaders such as Kellogg’s, Lego, MGM Resorts, Zillow, and more. If you have a goal to make the learning culture a part of your team, LinkedIn Learning is a top-notch option.

9. Codecademy

If you’re looking to uplevel your knowledge in an industry that is the way of the future, Codecademy has some of the best online courses available for coding. Codecademy is looking to rebuild the education system from the bottom up in creating the education that the world truly needs.

Here are the subjects that Codecademy courses offer:

• Developer Tools
• Machine Learning
• Code Foundations
• Game Development
• Mobile Development
• Data Visualization

There is also a wide range of coding languages that are offered such as Javascript, HTML & CSS, PHP, and more.

The pricing for Codecademy is a 3-tier membership. The good news here is that there is a free option, and although this option is limited in its content and real-world projects, it’s a great way to get some foundational training.

The Pro Tier is intended for the individual and is $19.99/mo paid annually or $29.99/mo if paid on a monthly basis. The 3rd tier is a team member which you can get a quote if you enter your email and company name. There is also a discount for college students!

Overall, if you want to add coding to your professional skills, Codeacademy is the place to start.

10. HubSpot Academy

Hubspot Academy offers everything from quick and practical courses to comprehensive certifications. They aim to help business professionals develop their skills regarding inbound sales, marketing, and customer support.

Hubspot is a reliable and credible platform which is one of the many reasons it’s one of the best places to educate yourself or your team.

Listed here are some of Hubspot’s course topics:

• Customer Service
• Advertising
• Hubspot Software

Even though you do have to create an account to get access to the Hubspot Academy courses, it is completely free. So if you are willing to invest your time in learning more about digital marketing, sales, and advertising, this is a great option for you.

If you are active on LinkedIn, the free certification courses will benefit you. Adding industry-recognized badges to your profile lets potential clients know that you are educated and willing to invest in your professional development. A little time and effort go a long way.

11. Simplilearn

Starting out in 2009 as a blog sharing project management tips, Simplilearn has grown into the world’s #1 online Bootcamp. This platform offers high-end classes for digital professionals from industry leaders.

Through individual courses, comprehensive certification programs, and partnerships with world-renowned universities, this platform provides work-ready skills for the ever-changing digital world.

Among these online courses are topics that cover:

• Project Management
• Cyber Security
• Business & Leadership
• Software Development
• Quality Management

Simplilearn is compiled of individual courses, so there is no membership requirement. If you are looking for higher education options and access to some of the best online classes in digital skills, this platform is worth browsing.

Some of the online boot camps offer both self-paced and live class recording options, and depending on the complexity and caliber of the course, it could range anywhere from $99-$3,000+.

I suggest thoroughly checking out the landing page of the course you are considering; watching the intro video, looking at the ratings, and reading the FAQs will help you avoid unrealistic expectations.

12. Semrush Academy

Semrush is all about online visibility, making its online courses on digital marketing top-notch. Not only does Semrush offer these courses, but they have an entire platform of SEO and digital marketing tools that are free for users. SEMRush Academy is a bonus feature.

Here are the categories that are included:

• Pay Per Click
• Social Media Management
• Competitive Research
• SEMRush Software

And everything they offer in the academy is 100% free. Once you are a registered SEMRush user, click on your desired category and start browsing, watching, and getting certified.

So, if getting more digital marketing knowledge is on your to-do list, check out these online learning courses.

What edX has to offer is higher education that’s accessible to anyone. Founded by Harvard and MIT, this platform has some of the best online courses from the most popular universities around the world.

There is a wide range of subjects on edX including:

• Agriculture
• Communication
• Engineering
• Food & Nutrition

edX provides free access to its catalog of both free and paid online courses. The unique feature of this platform is that they provide accessible college programs including online Master’s Degrees.

If you’re looking for continuing education in any form, but are a busy person needing online accessibility, these programs are the perfect opportunity for you.

14. Google Digital Garage

Google Digital Garage (now part of Google Skillshop) is unique in that, although it has its own set of courses, it has also curated courses from other online course platforms (some even on this list already!) Google Digital Garage also offers live classes that are streamed through YouTube.

Here are the 3 main categories that are included in this learning platform:

• Data & Tech

Google Digital Garage is free and very user-friendly. If you’re looking for the best place to learn more but not be overwhelmed, this is a great option for you. There are simple categories and filters so that you can narrow down your search.

Selections may take you off of the platform to another online course website, but you can simply click on the filter “Google” under course provider to make sure you are selecting one of the Google courses. There is even one free digital marketing certificatio n course available!

15. Meta Blueprint

Meta Blueprint is a social media marketing course library full of self-paced and step-by-step tutorials. Not only do they offer courses, but they also have advanced courses in Facebook advertising and certifications as well.

Some of the courses here include:

• How to Advertise on Instagram
• How to Create Ads on Facebook
• Get Started with Commerce Manager
• Map the Customer Journey

Again, Meta Blueprint is another free platform that allows you to uplevel your digital marketing skills with no risk. When logged in to Facebook, you are able to keep track of your course program and build your own library of active courses.

The certification program that it offers is a sure way to stand out on your resume and LinkedIn. You can take the blueprint courses, take practice exams, view a study guide, and then participate in the official certification exams. It’s worth the effort!

16. Harvard University (Online Courses)

Harvard University has an entire site dedicated to its online learning. Because of its resources, the subjects available range anywhere from art & design, to health & medicine, and then to programming.

Here is a list of more categories that Harvard University offers online:

• Education & Teaching
• Mathematics
• Social Science

These programs range anywhere from $0 to $50,000+. Although most of the classes offer certificates of completion, some can be completed as credit toward a degree. If you want some formal education in your field, Harvard University is the best place to be.

17. Microsoft Learn

Microsoft learning aims to encourage both beginners and experienced professionals to achieve their goals faster with self-paced learning. There are 3 ways to learn on this platform through online courses, certifications, and live and recorded events.

Rather than categories, Microsoft Learn breaks down the courses by role:

• Administrator
• AI Engineer
• Business Analyst
• Business User
• Data Analyst
• Data Engineer
• Data Scientist
• Database Administrator

Microsoft Learn is not the most user-friendly site, so I suggest using the “Discover Your Path” function to find the courses that are right for you.

The courses range from no cost up to $1,500+. If you head over to this platform, make sure to check out the “Learn TV” option for some valuable learning opportunities.

18. Alison (Free Online Courses)

Alison’s belief is that “free education, more than anything, has the power to break through boundaries and transform lives. They are one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training and offer a wide range of categories including:

As advertised in its mission statement, Alison provides all of its courses for absolutely free. Of course, the trade-off for that is that you will see ads throughout the platform, which seems like a good deal. But if you aren’t about that, you can pay a $7.99 monthly fee.

Another thing to know is that the courses are free, but the diplomas and certificates are not. So if you are looking to have certificates for your resume, be aware of that before getting started.

19. Upskillist

With 100+ courses to choose from, Upskillist offers a plethora of online courses. They believe it’s never too late to learn, so they make it easy for real qualifications that lead to success.

These online courses included categories like:

• Health & Wellness

Upskillist starts with a 4-week free trial. Then, you can select one of their premium subscription plans. The cost is $39/mo (for 3 months), $35/mo (for 6 months), and $19/mo (12 months).

Their courses offer certifications and have the bonus of being educator-supported, meaning you can get your questions answered, which is always helpful when navigating online courses.

20. CXL Institute

CXL Institute offers 100+ online courses covering different topics. The main areas include:

You can pay $249 monthly and get unlimited access to all courses or buy courses individually for $299. All CXL courses come with a Certification and a 7-day money-back guarantee.

All instructors are industry experts and the lessons are carefully crafted to keep learners engaged throughout the course.

Learning a new skill is easier these days with the plethora of online courses available on the Internet. You can go through a course at your own pace and without having to attend a physical class on campus.

Most courses listed above are on-demand and offer lifetime access, meaning that you can follow the course at any time and for as long as you want.

The cost varies per academy and type of course but it’s affordable for most people and less expensive than classroom-based learning.

You can also view our list of the best online courses with certificates to find high-quality online courses that come with a free certification.

Do you know of any great courses or online course providers missing from the list? Let me know in the comments below.

Alex Chris is a digital marketing consultant, author, and instructor. He has more than 18 years of practical experience with SEO and digital marketing. Alex holds an MSc Degree in eCommerce and has consulted with Fortune 500 companies in different industries. He blogs regularly about SEO and Digital marketing, and his work has been referenced by leading marketing websites. Connect with Alex on Twitter and LinkedIn .

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December 8, 2020 at 10:52 am

Excellent courses! Easy to understand and highly recommended.

October 3, 2021 at 10:54 am

Thanks for commenting. Yes, they are great online courses to build new skills.

All the best Alex

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• Courses, Books & Certifications

11 Best Online Learning Platforms of 2024

These days, more and more online learning platforms have come into the mainstream. It’s easy to see why people flock to them — top eLearning platforms offer great value one way or another. Some may offer courses much more affordably, while others are on the pricier side. Either way, you’d have picked up a new skill that might help you advance your career by the end of your course. Most courses will reward you with a certificate of completion, while some might even help you earn or maintain your professional accreditations.

Of course, you have the mainstays such as Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), but there are now so many platforms that it can be difficult to keep track of all of them. If you’re feeling confused about all these training platforms, this guide lists the very best of them.

Read on to find out about the best learning platforms and learn more about them!

• Best Online Learning Platforms [2024]
• Coursera - Best Subscription-Based Platform for Online Classes
• Udemy - Best for Casual Learning and Niche Topics
• Skillshare - Best for Courses on Creative Skills
• Udacity - Best for Career Growth
• edX - Best Free Online Learning Platform
• PluralSight - Best Learning Platform for Working Professionals
• Khan Academy - Best Free Platform for Learning Math
• LinkedIn Learning - Best for Certification Prep and Earning CEUs
• Thinkful - Best for Bootcamps
• Simplilearn - Best for Flexible Learning
• CodeAcademy - Best Online Platform for Learning to Code
• What Are the Essential Features of an Online Learning Platform?

As you consider your options and look through each online learning platform, there are a few things to keep an eye out for. Consider these essential features below:

• Fits Your Budget - Most people choose online learning platforms for their tendency to be much more affordable than traditional schooling, such as colleges and universities. However, not all platforms are created equal — some offer courses for free, others offer them very affordably, and others will burn a hole in your wallet. Ensure the platform you choose fits your budget!
• High-Quality Courses - It goes without saying that a good platform should offer courses that provide value to learners. At the end of each course, they should have learned something new. Again, not all platforms are the same — some offer courses that are more for personal consumption, while others have courses that truly have the potential to help you advance your career. Either way, the courses should be well-made, easily understandable, informative, and accurate.
• High-Quality Instructors - A course is often only as good as its instructor. Some platforms have higher standards for instructors than others.
• User-Friendly Interface - Whether the platform only has a website or also offers an app, it should always have a well-designed and user-friendly interface. An intuitive experience can go a long way.
• Convenience - Some platforms offer apps and offline learning for the utmost convenience. Some may even allow you to download the course materials and keep them indefinitely.
• Good Support - Any platform you choose should always have good customer support. The last thing you want is to be left out in the cold after paying a lot of money for a course that won’t work for you.
• Accessibility Options - Accessibility is something that every platform should have. Unfortunately, not all platforms offer captioned content, transcripts, or courses in different languages.

Most eLearning platforms should also offer either a free trial or a free forever tier that allows you to get a closer look at how everything works before you commit to paying. If neither are on offer, check their refund policy to ensure you can try a course to a certain degree and return it if you aren’t quite happy. You can also look for a money-back guarantee.

• The Best eLearning Platforms of 2024

1. Coursera - Best Subscription-Based Platform for Online Classes

Key information:.

• Our Rating: 4.5/5
• Coursera offers some free content such as guided projects or individual courses
• Coursera Plus subscription: $59/month or $399/year (14-day money-back guarantee)
• Guided Projects: $9.99+
• Professional Certificates and Specializations: $39.99+
• MasterTrack Certificate: $2,000+
• Degrees from $9,000+
• Number of Courses: 5,000+
• Topics Covered: Coursera offers courses on IT, computer science, and data science. You can also find full degrees in such fields. This platform also offers content on other subjects such as business, health, arts and humanities, social sciences, and more.

Check out our full Coursera review to learn more.

Who is this platform for?

It’s difficult to pinpoint who Coursera is for specifically, as the platform targets a variety of markets. Coursera is for people who want to learn any of the subjects offered on the platform. It is also for those seeking degrees online, though Coursera’s catalog of degrees is still limited at this time. Coursera targets individuals and also businesses who seek to upskill their workforces.

• Offers some accredited certificates that are employer-recognized
• Courses are usually built by established companies and universities
• Tons of free courses
• Accessibility — courses are offered in many languages
• Website is pretty user-friendly
• Courses can at times be inconsistent in terms of quality or value provided
• Some courses are not so self-paced
• Enrolling in a degree program requires following an additional application process

2. Udemy - Best for Casual Learning and Niche Topics

• Our Rating: 4.4/5
• Instructors choose the prices for their Udemy courses
• Free courses are available, but you cannot earn a certificate
• Courses start at <$10 and go up to $300+, but Udemy often offers sales of up to 70-90% off
• Udemy Personal Plan: $29.99/mo for access to 6,000+ curated courses 
• Number of Courses: 200,000+
• Topics Covered: Udemy offers a course on practically any topic you can think of. Here, you’ll also find a ton of courses related to computer science, web development, software development, data science, data visualization, machine learning, and more.

Check out our full Udemy review to learn more.

Because anyone can create a course on Udemy, there seems to be a bit of a perception that Udemy is more for casual learners and people who want to pick up a new skill or two. While these skills are generally useful and can help you find employment, Udemy’s certificates are often not recognized by employers.

• 30-day money-back guarantee for individually purchased courses
• Fully self-paced
• Keep your purchased courses forever
• Multimedia lectures, quizzes, projects, and more
• 200,000+ courses
• Many courses are available in other languages
• Certificates from Udemy are not often employer-recognized
• Q&A section for courses are not always active; many instructors do not participate
• Course quality can vary greatly

3. Skillshare - Best for Courses on Creative Skills

• Pricing: 
• Some free content available, though not much
• One-month free trial, then
• $32/mo paid monthly; $168/mo paid annually
• Accounts created with valid .edu email addresses get 50% off
• Number of Courses: 40,000+
• Topics Covered: Although Skillshare mostly offers classes related to creative skills, there are also courses on web development, business and entrepreneurship, productivity, and more.

Check out our full Skillshare review to learn more.

Skillshare is best for those looking to learn new skills related to creative fields. On this platform, you can learn everything from animation to photography and even graphic design. However, those wanting to learn web development can also find something useful here.

• A variety of course topics are available
• Instructors are generally skilled; some are even celebrities
• An excellent platform for creatives looking to upskill
• Free content is quite limited
• Courses are only in English
• There are ads unless you pay for a premium subscription

4. Udacity - Best for Career Growth

• $399/month for single courses and Nanodegrees
• Enrolling in a Nanodegree and choosing the value package (paying upfront for multiple months) can get you a 15% discount off your total
• Number of Courses: 200+ free courses, 70+ Nanodegrees
• Topics Covered: Udacity offers courses and Nanodegrees on a variety of topics, including cloud computing, AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, data science, programming, project management, and more.

Check out our full Udacity review to learn more.

Udacity is best for learners who are serious about making a career out of what they learn from the platform. Hobbyists and casual learners can still learn a great deal from this platform, but the pricing can be a deterrent.

• Nanodegrees are intense programs that can help you be career-ready by the end
• Certificates are widely employer-recognized, thanks to the quality of Udacity’s courses
• Courses are often co-created with respected companies and instructors
• Nanodegree students get some resume and portfolio support
• Some scholarships are available for qualifying students
• Expensive compared to other platforms
• Some courses have enrollment deadlines
• Nanodegrees require more time commitment

5. edX - Best Free Online Learning Platform

• Our Rating: 4.7/5
• You can audit all the regular classes for free, but you cannot earn a certificate
• For access to assignments and certificates, prices range from $50-$300
• Costs for Bootcamps, MicroMasters programs, Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, and Professional Certificate Programs vary and can be in the thousands (these classes/courses cannot be audited for free)
• Number of Courses: 5,100+
• Topics Covered: edX offers courses on a variety of topics, including coding and development, data science, computer science, and more. edX is also the best online training platform for STEM-related subjects.

Check out our full edX review to learn more.

edX is for a variety of learners of practically any age. With 40 million users, edX offers courses to just about anyone, whether they are hobbyists or working professionals. Currently, edX is in the middle of releasing more bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, which means the platform will begin to target a university-level audience more in the future.

• You can access any of the regular courses for free, but you cannot earn a certificate
• The platform offers a variety of certification courses, bachelor’s degree programs, MicroMasters programs, and more
• Qualifying students can get financial assistance, sometimes up to 90% off
• 14-day money-back guarantee
• Not all programs offer financial assistance
• As edX figures out its monetization, pricing models may change

6. PluralSight - Best Learning Platform for Working Professionals

• Our Rating: 4.75/5
• Pricing: (for individuals)
• Standard: $29/mo paid monthly; $299/year paid annually
• Pro: $45/mo paid monthly; $449/year paid annually
• Five free courses rotating every week
• Number of Courses: 7,500+ courses and a few hundred paths
• Topics Covered: PluralSight offers courses and paths related to subjects such as software development, information technology, cybersecurity, data science, and more.

Check out our full PluralSight review to learn more.

PluralSight is definitely in the running for the title of best eLearning platform for working professionals. It’s also best for those looking to expand their data science-related knowledge. As an authorized CEU (continuing education unit) provider, many of the certificates earned on this platform count as CEU or CPE (continuing professional education) for professional certification holders.

• There are more than 7,500 high-quality courses and hundreds of paths, with more added each month
• ALL courses have full transcripts, closed captioning, and translation into 50+ languages
• Instructors and course creators are vetted experts
• Pretty affordable pricing compared to other platforms like Udacity
• No refunds mean you cannot get your money back if you aren’t happy with your subscription
• Beginner courses could be easier
• All courses are tech-related (not necessarily a bad thing)

7. Khan Academy - Best Free Platform for Learning Math

• Pricing: Free — forever!
• Topics Covered: Khan Academy has recently made a switch to offering free K-14-level education, so most of the subjects on this website cover such topics. However, there are also some college-level courses, life skill courses, and courses all about computing and computer programming.

Check out our full Khan Academy review to learn more.

Although this platform is more geared towards K-14 learners, anyone can access the courses here. Khan Academy is extremely well known for its math classes, which are completely free and comprehensive. Khan Academy is one of the best learning platforms for those who want foundational knowledge in math that can help them later on in their computer science and data-related studies.

Khan Academy is unique in that it offers all of its courses for free and makes it a mission to keep all of them free forever. This platform is fully supported by generous benefactors, whether they are individuals like you or tech giants like Google, which has made millions in donations so far.

• Courses are high quality and are created by knowledgable and vetted experts
• User-friendly, intuitive, and easy-to-use
• Stellar reputation
• Content has shifted to be more K-14 related, and as such, the website will no longer be as useful to a lot of people
• Limited courses on tech-related subjects
• No certificates

8. LinkedIn Learning - Best for Certification Prep and Earning CEUs

• Individual courses available from $20 to $40
• Monthly subscription: $39.99/mo paid monthly; $323.88/year paid annually
• Number of Courses: 17,000+
• Topics Covered: LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com, offers courses on a variety of topics, most of them related to professional growth. Here, you’ll find courses on three main topics: Business, Technology, and Creative. Computer Science-related topics are under Technology, and it is there you’ll find classes on programming and the like. LinkedIn Learning also offers a variety of courses meant to help with certification prep or to provide learners with continuing education units (CEUs) necessary to maintain their current certifications.

Check out our full LinkedIn Learning review to learn more.

LinkedIn Learning is one of the best learning platforms for those who seek to earn professional certification (or maintain the ones they have). LinkedIn Learning is affiliated with a myriad of certifying bodies, which means that courses you take on this platform can help you prepare for your certification assessment. If you’d like to see which certifications are covered on this platform, check out this link .

• Affordable compared to other platforms
• Offers CEUs and certification prep
• One-month free trial gets you access to all the courses
• Courses are high-quality and well produced
• Certificates of completion are shareable on your LinkedIn profile
• Certificates aren’t accredited
• Topics are somewhat limited
• User interface needs an update
• Some courses need updating

9. Thinkful - Best for Bootcamps

• No free trial
• $4,500 for some part-time programs and up to $16,000 on full-time courses
• Because of the high cost related to enrolling in Thinkful’s bootcamps, the platform offers various payment methods, including deferred payments which require no upfront payment
• Thinkful also offers a tuition refund guarantee to qualifying graduates, which allows a full refund if certain conditions are met
• Number of Courses: 6 intense bootcamps
• Topics Covered: Thinkful offers full bootcamps on a few subjects, namely software engineering, data science, data analytics, UX / UI (user experience/user interface) design, digital marketing, and technical project management.

Check out our full Thinkful review to learn more.

Thinkful is one of the best platforms offering bootcamps on tech-related topics. Bootcamps are generally intense programs that are often full-time commitments, but Thinkful also offers part-time programs for those who have other responsibilities. For the hefty price you pay to enroll in one of the programs, you also get one-on-one mentoring and access to career services and guidance. Thinkful’s career services focus on helping students secure a job soon after graduation, so we would also say that Thinkful is one of the best platforms for those seeking to start a new career or advance in their current one.

• Because Thinkful has only six bootcamps available, you can pretty much rest assured that each one is of extremely high quality
• One-on-one mentoring offers a unique new way to learn
• Full community support
• Full-time programs have preparatory courses to help you get ready
• Thinkful offers many ways to pay for their bootcamp fees
• Tuition refund guarantee can help you recoup all of your tuition costs, provided you meet the eligibility requirements
• Some reviews have stated that mentor quality is inconsistent
• You need to pass prep courses to qualify for enrollment in full-time programs
• Could use programs on more topics

10. Simplilearn - Best for Flexible Learning

• Our Rating: 4.3/5
• Self-paced learning starts from $400
• Online bootcamp options start from $700
• All courses are offered as one-time purchases
• Simplilearn offers free courses through SkillUp
• Number of Courses: 400+ courses
• Topics Covered: Simplilearn offers courses in tech and business-related subjects, such as data science, AI/machine learning, cyber security, project management, software development, business and leadership, and more.

Check out our full Simplilearn review to learn more.

Simplilearn is easily the best eLearning platform for those who want a unique way of learning tech and business-related skills. This platform recognizes that people all learn in their own way, which is why it provides options for students to choose from. For example, if you’d like a fully self-paced style of course with no need for you to interact with others or show up at any specified time, you can choose a self-paced class. Online bootcamp options, on the other hand, are better for people who enjoy live lectures.

• Choose self-paced or online bootcamp learning styles
• Courses are created and instructed by industry experts
• Some certificates earned on this platform are recognized as CEUs and CPEs
• Excellent customer service
• Free trial for seven days
• Limited payment options
• Courses are only available in English, and there are no subtitles available
• Some reviews express dissatisfaction with the quality of courses

11. CodeAcademy - Best Online Platform for Learning to Code

• Our Rating: 4.6/5
• CodeAcademy offers a free forever “Basic” tier that allows access to daily practice and interactive lessons
• Pro Lite: $14.99/mo paid monthly; $11.99/mo paid annually
• Pro: $19.99/mo paid monthly; $15.99/mo paid annually
• Number of Courses: 60+
• Topics Covered: CodeAcademy offers courses on topics like data science, web development, computer science, machine learning, web design, game development, mobile development, cybersecurity, data visualization, AI, and more. It offers various aspects of data science, programming and development, and information technology.

Check out our full CodeAcademy review to learn more.

CodeAcademy is one of the best online education platforms for those who want to learn how to code, regardless of their skill level. Even if you are an absolute beginner, CodeAcademy will have content to help you get started.

• Beginner-friendly platform; even complete newbies will find helpful lessons 
• There are fifteen programming languages you can learn through CodeAcademy
• The free forever Basic tier is great for anyone who needs to learn without all the bells and whistles
• Community support is readily available
• Very affordable
• Navigation can be a challenge at times
• Paid plans don’t offer a paid trial so you can’t see the content behind the paywall before committing
• You can’t skip the lessons
• How We Chose the Best Online Learning Platforms

Thanks to the sudden boom in online learning, there are now more platforms than people can track of. The sheer number of platforms available can be pretty overwhelming, so we’ve considered a few factors to help us decide which ones to put on this list. 

Here’s what we looked at:

• Who the platform is for - We made sure to include only platforms that can help you learn more about programming, IT, data science, and more. From these platforms, you’ll be able to find courses on coding for beginners and even complex, advanced programs in data science.
• Pricing - We made sure to list a variety of courses at every price point.
• Reviews - We’ve chosen to include platforms that we’ve already looked at in-depth and reviewed as we can guarantee their quality. Additionally, we did a lot of research into the public’s general consensus about these platforms. We eliminated anything that didn’t meet our high standards.
• Learning styles - Although a great majority of the platforms on this list offer self-paced learning, some offer a different learning experience compared to others. We’ve chosen to include different learning options as everyone learns in their own way.
• Course and instructor quality - We eliminated any platforms that do not meet our quality standards.

We’ve also made sure to include platforms that offer a more casual experience as well as platforms that are intended to help you professionally.

• What’s the Difference Between Open Source, Free, and Paid Platforms?

Chances are you’ve come across three different types of online learning platforms: free, open-source, and paid.

Paid platforms are exactly what they sound like. They will require you to pay to purchase a course outright or to subscribe to their service to access their catalog. It’s worth mentioning that most of these paid platforms do offer a “free forever” tier with limited access. Otherwise, they may offer a free trial or a few free rotating courses from their catalog each week (or month).

Free platforms, on the other hand, offer all of their content for free. A great example of this is Khan Academy, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering free education to all — forever! Free online learning platforms will never ask you to pay for anything, though there may be donation links up that can allow you to support their website if you wish.

Open-source learning platforms are another free option. However, unlike free platforms, which are typically run by one individual or organization, open-source platforms are open to everyone’s contributions. One of the best examples of this is Wikipedia, which is run under a management style you can call open-source. After all, Wikipedia allows anyone to write or edit articles on the website.

With so many online learning platforms available today, it can be challenging to find the one that’s just right for you. Luckily, there are many ways to check whether a platform is right for you, such as by reading reviews. Most platforms also have free trials or free courses that can give you a peek into how everything works — so give it a whirl before you commit!

We hope that this guide has helped you figure out which platform you’d like to check out first. If you aren’t quite ready to commit to paid online courses just yet, you can check out our article on the best free coding bootcamps .

• Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which online learning platform is best?

The best platform for online training will be the one that suits your needs best. Consider factors such as your budget, the topics you’d like to learn, the length of time you are willing to commit to your learning, and whether you want a certificate at the end. Additionally, if you are taking a course to prepare for or maintain a professional certification, it’s important to ensure your platform of choice is recognized by the respective accrediting boards.

2. What are digital learning platforms?

Online learning platforms are websites or apps that allow anyone to study over the internet at their own pace. Many of these platforms are MOOC (massive open online course) providers.

3. Which is the largest online learning platform?

In our opinion, Udemy is the largest online learning platform if you look at the sheer number of courses available. Udemy currently boasts over 200,000 courses on its platform. However, many other platforms (such as edX) have users in the tens of millions.

4. How much do online learning platforms cost?

Online learning platforms can offer their courses at wildly varying prices — some offer everything for free, while others can charge over $10,000. One thing’s for sure, though: courses from these platforms are almost always more affordable than similar programs offered at traditional colleges and universities. Note that online learning platforms usually charge a monthly subscription or require you to pay for each course you’d like to access.

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Jenna Inouye currently works at Google and has been a full-stack developer for two decades, specializing in web application design and development. She is a tech expert with a B.S. in Information & Computer Science and MCITP certification. For the last eight years, she has worked as a news and feature writer focusing on technology and finance, with bylines in Udemy, SVG, The Gamer, Productivity Spot, and Spreadsheet Point.

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14 Best Sites for Free (or Cheap) Online Courses That’ll Boost Your Skills

Are you looking to pick up a new skill, but don’t feel like you have the time? Do you want to go back to school but need to take some prereqs or background courses beforehand? Or do you want to change careers ? We’ve got the answer for all those problems: online classes.

They’re shorter than a college semester, they’re typically self-regulated, and they cover just about every skill, topic, or hobby you can possibly imagine.

SEARCH OPEN JOBS ON THE MUSE! See who’s hiring here , and you can even filter your search by benefits, company size, remote opportunities, and more. Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.

But with this luxury comes great responsibility—mainly, the task of finding a site that works best for you. Have no fear, we’ve done all the hard work for you and compiled the ultimate list of resources that offer quality classes for cheap—or free!—right here on the internet.

Now all you have to do is sign up!

Read More: An Online Course or Degree Can Help You Achieve Career Goals—Here’s How to Pick the Right One

ALISON has a large range of free, comprehensive classes on technology, languages, science, financial literacy, personal and soft skills , entrepreneurship, and then some. It targets all kinds of learners, from professionals and managers to teachers and freelancers. You can also search by the career you have or would like to have to find the courses most useful to you.

Udemy has plenty to offer for the learner on a budget, from completely free courses taught by experts, professors, entrepreneurs, and professionals, to frequent discounts and specials on its paid classes. In addition to classes in tech, business, design, and marketing, you can also explore options in productivity, health, hobbies, lifestyle, and the arts.

3. Coursera

If you want to take college-caliber courses without the high cost of college tuition , Coursera is the best stop. This website offers amazing classes in all kinds of fields—from professional development and job skills to psychology, history, and literature. And they’re all created and taught by professors at top institutions nationally and across the globe, including Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and plenty more. Coursera gives you the ability to audit thousands of classes for free or take the full class and earn a certificate starting at $29. If you want to earn one of their “specializations” or “professional certificates” you can do so for less than $50 a month.

Just like Coursera, edX offers anyone, anywhere the chance to take university classes in various departments—and get certified. Also like Coursera, auditing most classes is free, but to earn a certificate and complete assignments, it’s going to cost a bit more ($50 to $300). Some of edX’s big partners include Harvard, Berkeley, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and the University of Chicago.

Udacity focuses on software development, offering free courses in programming, data science , web development, and other areas of tech like product management, marketing, and cybersecurity. The website also offers a nanodegree program for individuals who want to master a skill set or pursue a full-time career in tech—albeit for a higher price.

6. LinkedIn Learning

By subscribing to LinkedIn Learning, you’ll have access to thousands of courses in business, design, art, education, and tech as well as career and personal development. You can display completed certificates right on your LinkedIn profile and gain insight into what others in your network are learning. Plus LinkedIn Learning offers a free one-month trial so you can test the waters!

7. General Assembly

As a coding bootcamp and technical education provider, General Assembly offers both online and in-person classes as well as full-time and part-time options. But these options are a bit pricey. What earns General Assembly a spot on this list is its free workshops —that give you an intro to topics like digital marketing , software engineering, data science and analytics, and design—and Dash , a free basic coding class, all of which can give you a taste of new skills before you commit to a longer course.

8. Skillshare

Skillshare provides “bite-sized” classes so you can learn something new even if you only have 15 minutes a day. It has more than 27,000 free and premium classes to choose from on topics such as film, writing, tech, visual arts, productivity, and entrepreneurship. Skillshare will give you a free seven-day trial (which is long enough to complete several short classes), and then costs about $14 a month.

9. Codecademy

Codecademy wants to teach you how to, well, code—often for free. It covers all kinds of programming, including JavaScript, Ruby, HTML, CSS, and Python.

10. Pluralsight

After subscribing to Pluralsight (or using its free trial!), you’ll be able to explore classes in software, 3D development, VFX, design, game design, web design, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and CAD software among other topics.

Not sure how to use Photoshop or InDesign? Don’t worry, Adobe will walk you through its programs with its free Creative Cloud tutorials.

12. Google SkillShop

In a similar vein, Google Skillshop offers free certifications on Google’s many web, software, and hardware tools—including YouTube, Android, and Waze—for a range of careers like cybersecurity, marketing, design, teaching, and data analysis. There are also free courses on digital skills and growing your business.

13. FutureLearn

All of FutureLearn’s classes have a tier that’s completely free. You can find a range of course types taught by universities and special organizations, covering subjects like e business and management; creative arts and media; law; literature; IT and computer science; healthcare and medicine; science, engineering, and math; politics and society; psychology and mental health; study skills; and teaching.

14. Academic Earth

And if you’re looking solely for academic classes, this website is perfect for you. It has courses in the arts, science, humanities, economics, computer science, and more, all for free.

Still don’t know where to start? Try Class Central where you can narrow down your search to what you’re interested in learning and from whom. You’ll see results from Coursera, edX, and other entries on this list, making the process of taking an online course even easier!

Regina Borsellino also contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.

• Work + Money
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10 Best Websites For Affordable Online Courses In 2024

The Good Trade editors endorse products we’ve personally researched, tested, and genuinely love. Learn more about our methodology and business model here .

We’ve researched dozens of online courses for the best educational learning platforms — these are our top 10 picks.

Many of us follow a pretty typical education trajectory: elementary school, middle school, high school. Some of us go on to college or university, and others go even further, earning higher degrees and making careers in academia. No matter how far your formal education journey takes you, learning doesn’t have to stop there. We can continue learning—whether for career advancement or simply for fun.

Why should you take online courses?

Online learning platforms offer lots of advantages for anyone looking to advance their career or learn something new. They are flexible and accessible in comparison to in person classes, as you’ll be able to access course materials anytime and anywhere you have access to a computer and an internet connection. Most online courses allow for self-paced learning, making it easier to commit and follow through with the workload as your personal schedule and priorities shift (here’s our tips on how to stay productive while learning remotely ). You can even access online courses from institutions anywhere across the globe, allowing you to learn from top experts without having to leave your home. 

You’ll find online courses are also more affordable than in-person lectures. By studying online, you’ll save tons of money that would typically be spent on commuting and accommodations. Online courses, by comparison, are also cheaper than traditional in-person classes, making it easier for you to advance your skills on your terms. 

That’s why we love these ten learning platforms that are leading the way in online education. These websites are free or low-cost and offer courses from a wide spectrum of topics like knife and cooking basics to graphic design and mobile development. For the tech lover, language learner, or aspiring artist, there’s something for everyone. 

Our criteria:

Our team has audited dozens of online courses and learning platforms courses, as well as scoured thousands of customer reviews for this round-up of our favorite educational websites. We update this list regularly with emerging favorites that meet our criteria below:

• AVAILABILITY OF EXPERT INSTRUCTORS | These online course websites offer a wide selection of courses taught by certified professionals who have authority in their industry.
• RANGE OF COURSES AND CERTIFICATIONS OFFERED | Each of these learning websites provide courses and certifications for various relevant and in-demand skills, topics, and professions.
• AFFORDABILITY | We’ve prioritized low-cost and free online learning platforms on this list.

No matter where you are in the world or your educational background, let’s keep learning together with these online training and certification programs.

(Psst, and for a subject close to our hearts, check out this list of our favorite online writing classes !)

Best Overall | Best For Casual Learners | Best Free Option

Best For  | Affordable classes for professional skills Features | Certifications available, courses taught by real-world experts, 210K+ courses available, 67M+ learners globally, available app Our Pick   | Ultimate Photoshop Training: From Beginner to Pro Pricing  | À la carte ($12–$200+) 

Udemy ’s focus is to make quality education more accessible—and they’ve made some serious progress. To date, it’s achieved over 900 million enrollments around the world with courses ranging from Instagram marketing to aromatherapy. Starting at just $12, you can access more than 210,000 online courses that work with your pace and your lifestyle—plus, it’s yours forever. There’s a reason why businesses like Adidas and Mercedes-Benz utilize Udemy for their teams. Available in many languages and accessible around the world, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking up Udemy’s trial offer—time to get to learning!

2. Coursera

Best For  | On-demand higher education degrees, university certificates, and credits Features | Certifications & degrees available, courses taught by experts from 275+ leading universities & companies, ability to earn recognized credentials, available app Our Pick   | Modern Art And Ideas Pricing  | Guided projects (starting at $10/per course); Specialized program (starting at $49/month); degrees (starting at $9K/per)

Coursera believes that everyone should be able to learn anywhere, anytime, and from the world’s top education providers. Since then, it’s reached over 129 million learners and partnered with more than 275 universities to bring all kinds of content to users. Whether you’re looking for a general course, a specific specialization, or a university-recognized degree, Coursera will be your one-stop-shop. You’ll find specializations in topics like data science or econometrics as well as degrees that can be taught over one to four years.

3. Masterclass

Best For  | On-demand classes from industry experts across fields Features | Courses taught by globally-recognized icons & experts, 200+ classes available, available app, available on Roku & Amazon Our Pick   | Sara Blakely Teaches Self-Made Entrepreneurship Pricing  | Starting at $120/year (Unlimited classes)

Masterclass brings revered and renowned heroes, icons, and experts to your screen for one-on-one classes in their areas of expertise. Whether you’re learning acting from Natalie Portman, scientific thinking from astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, or self-expression from famed queen of drag RuPaul, each practice and process is broken down into an average of 20 on-demand, cinematically produced video lessons and a downloadable workbook with optional assignments. With over 200 instructors offering high quality education and insight, the fields you can explore are endless.

Best For  | Self-paced college courses from top institutions Features | Certifications & degrees available, courses taught by experts & professors, partnered with universities, 4,400+ programs available, 81M+ learners, available app Our Pick   | IBM: Software Engineering Basics for Everyone Pricing  | Free–$25,000+ (Online Master’s Degrees)

What happens when two of the most prestigious higher education institutions come together for open learning? edX . Harvard and MIT collaborated to create the only MOOC (massive online open courses) provider and nonprofit around. Today, it works with more than 250 partners, including MIT, Columbia University, and Georgia Tech, to name a few. The online learning options run the gamut: you can choose one course or an online Master’s Degrees, with a range of professional certificates and “micro” Master’s programs.

5. Skillshare

Best For  | Accessible classes for personal and business development Features | Certifications available, courses taught by knowledgeable teachers, available app Our Pick   | Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design Pricing  | Free, Premium ($32/month or $168 annually)

Skillshare offers more than 34,000 classes to anyone, anywhere, based on design, business, tech, and more. It prides itself on providing more than just access to education; Skillshare considers itself an online learning community of more than 830K active members. At Skillshare, you can learn skills, network with others, and discover new opportunities, all in one place. There are classes available for free (check out “Going Freelance” or “Intro to SEO”), or if you upgrade to Premium you can unlock even more. Those funds enable them to pay teachers, and you’ll have access to classes offline and without ads. Not sure if you can afford them? Skillshare offers plenty of scholarships (and free or low-cost trials), too, so there is something for everyone.

6. LinkedIn Learning

Best For  | Professional development Features | Certifications available, courses taught by industry professionals, personalized course recommendations, available app Our Pick   | Project Management Foundations Pricing  | Starts at $20/month (Unlimited classes)

You’ve likely already heard of LinkedIn, and may even currently use it for networking and job-searching. But the employment-oriented service also offers online education. With LinkedIn Learning , you gain access to over 20,000 expert-led classes across business, technology, and creative. (Dozens are added every week and there’s no limit to how many you can watch.) The platform also provides personalized course recommendations based on your skills. With classes available in 13 languages, you can download exercise files so you can practice while you learn and will earn a certificate for each class you complete.

Best For  | Free online classes for endless learning Features | Certifications & diplomas available, courses taught by the world’s leading experts, 6M+ graduates across the globe, available app Our Pick   | Introduction to Spanish Pricing  | Free, paid certifications/diplomas available

No matter what your interest is, Alison likely has a course for you, including ones that offer certifications and diplomas. Completely free to use, payment only comes in with certified or diploma courses. Otherwise, you can learn to your heart’s content on topics like project management, web design, or amateur French and German. Not sure where to start? Check out the Career Guide for many career paths and associated class options. From architecture to manufacturing to human services, you can find knowledgeable instructors and high-quality content for every imaginable subject.

Best For  | Online classes for in-demand tech and programming skills Features | Certifications & nanodegrees available, courses taught by industry experts, 205K nanodegree certifications earned, available app Our Pick   |  Intro to Programming Pricing  | Starts at $249/month (Unlimited classes)

Students first—that’s the policy of Udacity , an online learning platform started by two Stanford instructors who knew that offering up quality education would revolutionize the future of learning. What began as an “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course soon became hundreds of classes that focus on in-demand skills like virtual reality, full-stack development, and even self-driving cars. Ideal if you’re looking for a job in the world of tech or programming, Udacity’s classes are free. You only have to pay if you want to pursue a “nanodegree” which takes you down a specific career path.

9. Khan Academy

Best For  | Nonprofit based learning courses for students pre-k to college Features | Classes taught by teachers and experts, available in 36 languages, available app Our Pick   | Official LSAT® Prep Pricing  | Free

Khan Academy is a non-for-profit learning resource with a mission to empower students’ education through their accessible online platform. Started by one man who simply wanted to tutor math to his cousin, the company has now grown into a huge team that’s committed to offering world class educational skills. Here, you’ll find foundational school courses ranging from 6th grade math and AP college physics to SAT test prep and financial literacy classes. Best of all, these courses are self-paced, offer both instructional videos and exercises, and are 100% free! Take your growth into your own hands and at your own pace.

10. Catapult

Best For  | Zoom classes and virtual workshops for writers Features | Courses taught by industry experts, online and in-class options available  Our Pick   | 6-Week Open-Genre Generative Seminar: From First Thought to First Draft Pricing  | À la carte ($15 for independent study—$6,000+ for year long course)

Writers and readers looking for a community love Catapult for the wide variety of online classes, workshops, independent studies, and seminars offered in all genres. Take a generative fiction class, dig into revision techniques for your novel, or learn how to write a query letter to agents from leading writing and publishing professionals on a day-job-friendly schedule. You can even join a class to read and study books with other writers! Our team has taken multiple classes and loved our experiences, especially the connections we have made with other writers around the world.

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Top 11 Online Learning Platforms for Individuals & Businesses

Table of Contents

Online learning platforms democratize education by offering access to elearning courses for everyone, anywhere, and at their own pace.

This is great news for educators selling online courses , trainers, and coaches, as it allows them to expand their in-person offerings and reach billions of people.

On the other hand, learners from all walks of life can learn a skill, access professional development programs, get certified, or even learn as a hobby.

We have reviewed dozens of platforms over the years. Here is a short list of the best online learning platforms for each case.

Your professional looking Academy in a few clicks

What is an Online Learning Platform?

An online learning platform is an information system with a learning environment where learners can access educational content. Modern learning platforms support a variety of interactive learning and offer tools for educators to promote their courses.

Course Marketplaces

Most learning platforms are often called ‘online course marketplaces’ because they give learners the opportunity to search for and pay for online courses directly.

While some of these course marketplaces are used to feature online courses, the majority are more educational-based and strictly offer university-level education.

Why is it Different than LMS?

A typical Learning Management System (LMS) is used for corporate training, serving the requirements of a company’s compliance, certification, user management, and, often, cybersecurity.

While online learning platforms are more flexible systems suitable for a wider audience of learners.

How to Choose an Online Learning Platform

Choosing the right platform to use for online education is a very important decision. As a learner, it will define the education you are getting, and for businesses, it’s a big decision that will stick with you for at least 2-3 years.

Consider your options, and make a checklist (or RFP) of requirements before you start looking.

For Learners (Buying a Course)

Purchasing educational products is very different from physical goods. Learning is a deeply personal process, and you need to consider what will work best for you or your goals.

Instructors: It’s important to choose an instructor you feel comfortable with and trust. Consider whether they are subject matter experts, have the credentials to teach, and if there are examples of their teachings (e.g., an intro video).

Content: Check the level of the content and whether it covers your requirements. Review the course material and course subjects before signing up for a plan.

Certification: Review the compliance for professional certificates and find out whether they are given by credible educational institutions, organizations, or individuals.

Trust: When choosing a learning platform, you need to trust its process, support, refund policy, and delivery of the material. A well-established platform is more likely to offer high-quality content than a lesser-known platform.

Pricing: Consider whether the price works for you. Is it a one-off payment, subscription, pay-as-you-go? And think about the value you will get for the price you pay. Sometimes, it’s worth paying a bit more for higher-quality education.

For Educators & Instructors (Selling a Course)

When you are selling an online course , your considerations are different. You are the instructor selling the course and looking for a learning platform to host and deliver it.

Features: You are looking for the learning tools to deliver the course but also for marketing and sales features. Also, consider whether the platform is suitable for the type of course you have or want to build. Different platforms specialize in different courses, e.g., Video, Certification, Structured/Unstructured, etc.

Support: It’s important to have good technical support. Some marketplaces may barely respond to your questions, while other platforms might be challenging to use. Support can help you solve all your issues and make your life easier.

Reliability: You want to offer a high standard of quality to your students, and using a reliable platform to deliver your course is essential for that.

Pricing: Consider the pricing tiers or other associated costs. You want to ensure your business is profitable as you grow, and want to avoid any platforms that cost too much or take a steep cut of your profits as you grow.

#1 LearnWorlds: Our Top Choice for Creating & Selling Online Courses

LearnWorlds is a modern LMS with built-in course authoring , e-commerce , community , and user management features .

It offers a true all-in-one elearning solution for companies, being the best online course platform for offering great e-learning experiences .

With LearnWorlds, you can create your own academy, launch a mobile app , and own the user data.

Pros & Cons

• Easy to use
• Full-feature: Course authoring, website builder, e-commerce, and user management
• White-label website & mobile app
• Supports SCORM and HTML5 files
• AI Assistant to build courses with artificial intelligence
• Exceptional customer support
• No marketplace for courses
• Does not support TinCan and xAPI
• Limited gamification options

Who is it for?

Instructors: It’s ideal for professional trainers, e-learning companies, and SMEs for training employees or educating their customers .

Learners: Learners in LearnWorlds schools enjoy great user experience, a community of peers, and control over their accounts. While it’s not always visible if you are learning under a LearnWorlds school, we recommend preferring instructors using LearnWorlds for their courses.

It offers a 30-day free trial and then 4 subscription pricing plans:

• Starter plan: $29/month
• Pro trainer plan: $99/month
• Learning Center: $299/month
• High Volume and custom corporate pricing are available

*Pricing information retrieved from LearnWorlds in April 2024.

LearnWorlds is a standalone course platform for any size of business looking to create a professionally looking academy and sell online courses. Try LearnWorlds with a 30-day trial today.

Find out more about LearnWorlds’ alternatives .

#2 Udemy: The Best Course Marketplace

Udemy is one of the most popular online course marketplaces on the web, featuring more than 210,000 online video courses. This educational platform has over 60 million students, 65 thousand instructors, and subject matter experts creating online courses.

Udemy makes course creation possible for everyone with the possibility of acquiring new skills. In doing so, it offers a range of online learning materials including PDF documents, PowerPoint, text, and video content, among many others.

Instructors can join Udemy and start teaching online , but Udemy takes a huge piece of the revenue and has control over pricing and discounting the course.

Pros & Cons

• No setup cost (for instructors)
• Geared towards self-paced learning and video courses
• No need for highly technical knowledge
• A Udemy app available for iOS and Android
• Limited interaction with students
• High competition between instructors
• No personal branding option
• No data ownership or control over branding – it keeps emails and user data and does not share this information with instructors
• Visibility depends on your own marketing – the platform only promotes courses that are already popular

Learners: Udemy has a course for almost every discipline, but potential students should always read the reviews before buying one. The quality is not consistent.

Instructors: It’s great for teachers, instructors, educators, and freelancers who are just starting out.

Pricing/Revenue Share (for instructors):

To start charging students a fee for courses on Udemy, you will need to become a premium instructor. In such a case, the following conditions apply:

• No starting fee, but very high commissions on sales of up to 75%.
• 37% when students come through their paid user acquisition channel.
• 97% on course sales when you sell through your own links. Udemy keeps a 3% administration fee.

*Pricing adjusted on a global price tier matrix developed by Udemy.

*Pricing information retrieved from Udemy Support in April 2024.

Learner Pricing: Most Udemy courses end up selling between $10-$20 with very few exceptions where instructors have set a higher price.

#3 Coursera: The Academic Learning Platform

Coursera is an online learning platform with over 100 million users dedicated to offering high-quality online training courses worldwide. Partnering with top universities and businesses, it offers students the opportunity to receive certifications from renowned institutions upon enrolling in its paid courses.

Coursera offers individual courses, specializations, certifications, and degree programs (for bachelor’s and master’s degrees) that support on-demand video lectures, homework exercises, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums.

With Coursera Plus, students can get unlimited access to 90 percent of the learning programs in the Coursera catalog via a yearly or monthly subscription option.

• Offers a variety of learning options and activities
• Offers certifications from accredited institutions
• Provides high-quality educational tools
• Courses are free if you are not looking for a certification
• Limited to educators in partner institutions
• Less flexible course creation options compared to other platforms
• Does not offer instructor feedback, only peer-reviewed assignments as a feedback mechanism

Learners: Anyone who wants to learn from prestigious institutions, whether they are looking for a one-off course, certification, or an online degree.

Instructors: It is aimed at professors who are based at a HE partner institution or business .

Coursera offers free courses, subscriptions, and one-off payments depending on the course or program.

#4 Thinkific: An All-in-one Learning Platform for SMEs

Thinkific is a standalone course platform that helps you build and sell online courses. It provides everything you need to create your online education business, including an easy-to-use interface for building courses and rich multimedia to add right to your course content.

Thinkific is a popular option for course creators launching their business, but support is lacking.

• Has a freemium plan
• Full-featured platform
• Integrates with popular software
• Lots of (paid) experts can help you build your website/courses
• Includes mobile app & community features
• Limited website templates & design options
• Basic learning features
• Does not support SCORM, TinCan, or AICC
• Bad support

Learners: Thinkific academies usually offer decent video courses with a certification, but usually top-tier educators choose more professional platforms to deliver their training.

Instructors: Thinkific is ideal for solopreneurs, small/medium businesses – SMEs, and coaches who want to generate more income.

Free to join with limited functionality. It offers a 30-day free trial on the Pro plan. Higher tiers exist with hidden functionality.

Subscription plans include:

• Free plan: $0
• Basic: $49/month
• Start: $99/month
• Grow: $199/month
• Thinkific Plus: custom pricing

*Pricing information retrieved from Thinkific in April 2024.

View a list of Thinkific Alternatives

Compare Thinkific to LearnWorlds.

Compare Thinkific Pricing to Teachable & LearnWorlds.

#5 edX: The Marketplace & Open Source LMSt

EdX.org (course marketplace) and Open-edX are two sides of the same coin. EdX is the learning platform where students find online courses from various universities, and Open-edX is an open-source content management system.

Both were created by a team of scientists from Harvard University and MIT with the goal of providing online university-level education across the globe.

EdX.org offers over 4,000 online courses from 250 prestigious businesses and universities offering higher education in many disciplines. These mainly specialize in the sciences–engineering, computer science, data science, math, humanities, business, and management.

• Free and open-source (for instructors)
• Provides in-depth knowledge and added value (for students)
• Comes with a mobile app on iOS and Android
• Interactive online classes – allowing students to chip in
• Discussion forums seem to be outdated and difficult to navigate
• Requires technical knowledge or hiring a developer/web designer to implement (for instructors)
• Comes with the additional costs of a self-hosted server and its maintenance (for instructors)

Students (EdX): it has a very diverse library of courses suitable for most ages looking to learn a subject or new skills.

Instructors (Open-edX): It’s great for businesses who can afford a team or outsource the development and maintenance of the platform on their own servers.

Pricing for Instructors:

It’s free to join, but there may be additional costs for procuring a server and system support and getting expert help from Open-edX’s service providers or freelancers, whose pricing varies according to your project’s requirements and budget.

For more information on Open-edX course creation expenses, check out this guide .

#6 Teachable: All-in-one Course Platform for Coaches

Teachable is an online teaching platform that serves the everyday instructor, helping them transform their knowledge into a business. Teachable provides an easy and simple solution for uploading your learning content, customizing your online school, and communicating effectively with your students.

Teachable embodies simplicity. It’s easy to use and ideal for beginner course creators wanting to sell video courses, tutorials, or coaching. It also comes with the digital marketing tools you need to promote your courses .

• Has a free plan for your first course
• Simple and easy-to-use learning platform
• Good eCommerce features for selling courses
• Limited learning/teaching and assessment capabilities
• Does not support advanced learning features
• No social or community-building features
• Not very responsive customer support
• Limited white-labeling options

Instructors: It’s a great option for new course creators, solopreneurs, and coaches due to the free plan.

Learners: Teachable courses are more often video lessons with some quizzes. Teachable schools are great when they specialize in video tutorials, but you will not find many great certification courses there.

Teachable has the following pricing options:

• Free plan: $0/month (limited functionality and $1 + 10% per transaction)
• Basic plan: $59/month (plus a 5% transaction fee)
• Pro plan: $159/month
• Pro+ plan: $249/month
• Business plan: $665/month

*Pricing information retrieved from Teachable in April 2024.

Compare Teachable with LearnWorlds

Check out more Teachable Alternatives

Are you looking for a SCORM-compliant LMS ?

#7 Kajabi: Best Course Platform with Marketing Feature

Kajabi is an all-in-one online platform that offers the tools to sell digital products , including online courses, coaching programs, and podcasts . Kajabi specializes in building high-converting sales pages, landing pages, and webinar pages for your online business and launching your advertising campaigns.

• Best-in-class marketing features
• Many automations for course creation (AI) and funnels
• Supports many digital products: courses, memberships, podcasts, etc
• No free plan
• No advanced learning features
• Can be difficult to set up
• Many limitations, and ends up being quite expensive quickly

Instructors: It is for non-techy online course creators, digital entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, creators, and individual instructors selling video courses and other digital products.

Learners: Kajabi is great at selling and less in the learning experience, you should expect simple video lessons, PDFs, quizzes, live sessions, and a community/membership where students can socialize.

Offers a 14-day trial with a credit card. Then it goes to a monthly payment of the subscription plan, which includes:

• Basic plan: $149/month
• Growth plan: $199/month
• Pro plan: $399/month

*Pricing information retrieved from Kajabi in April 2024.

Compare Kajabi with LearnWorlds

Check out other Kajabi Alternatives

#8 Docebo: Best Traditional LMS for Entreprises

Docebo comes with a top cloud-based LMS solution that meets most of every organization’s training needs and requirements.

The platform is learner-centric and offers L&D capabilities using learning-specific Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to personalize the learning experience.

• Supports SCORM, AICC, and Tin Can API
• Has engaging gamification capabilities
• Provides analytics on the effectiveness of learning programs
• Supports more than 40 languages
• Very expensive, only suitable for enterprises
• Lacking reporting feature
• Limited customization capabilities

Docebo is targeted at corporate and enterprise users training their employees and partners. It is prohibitively expensive for most course creators or small businesses.

Docebo’s pricing is based on active users and has a steep lower cost of $25,000.

• Engage plan: Starts at $25,000/year
• Elevate plan: Starts at $40,000/year
• Enterprise plan: You need to book a demo for a custom price.

*Pricing information retrieved from Docebo in April 2024.

Best Docebo Alternatives

#9: Litmos: Easiest-to-Use Traditional LMS

Litmos (formerly known as SAP Litmos) is a popular platform that offers a variety of eLearning solutions for businesses, including corporate, customer, partner, services, support training, and compliance training.

One of its biggest strengths is the ability to create customized learning paths for the needs and styles of every company and its employees.

• Intuitive course authoring
• Supports SCORM, AICC, xAPI/Tin Can API
• Great reporting & dashboards
• Includes a content library with 2,000+ ready-made training courses
• Has limited customization options
• Expensive option for most businesses
• Its assessment and feedback delivery process are slower than usual
• Lacks a dedicated payment gateway connection

It’s suitable for businesses of all types and sizes, focusing mostly on corporate training .

Pricing for Litmos LMS is not publicly available on the site, but it is based on the number of active users. Various online sources mention a price range between $2 and $5 per user per month .

Access to the LMS, specific courses, and add-on features comes with a quote-based plan after making a pricing request to Litmos directly.

#10 Moodle: The Most Popular Open-Source LMS

Unlike the majority of LMSs, Moodle is a free, open-source learning management platform . You can also buy hosted versions of Moodle with technical support from many resellers.

Moodle is the usual LMS for higher education and is being used by many businesses as well. It requires a great deal of effort for setup, but may be the most customizable solution for elearning out there.

A large community of developers is still supporting it, and you can find or develop almost any feature you might require.

• Open Source (free to use)
• Most customizable solution
• Compatible with SCORM, AICC, IMS LTI, and xAPI/Tin Can API
• A big community of users, developers, and businesses offering services and support
• Doesn’t offer support, but you can pay for it
• Very old user interface
• You need an expert or a team of experts to use it

Instructors: Moodle is best suited for colleges, universities, public administration, and specialized businesses with the expert knowledge to use it.

Learners: While not the most user-friendly solution, it is relatively easy to use and could offer many functionalities for users including a community, forum, etc.

Moodle is open-source Moodle which is free to use but requires your own server to host.

The other is MoodleCloud or other providers, which offer a cloud-based solution and usually come with tech support.

For off-the-shelf hosting:

• Starter: $120/year (50 users, 250MB)
• Mini: $200/year (100 users, 500MB)
• Small: $380/year (200 users, 1GB)
• Medium: $870/year (500 users, 2.5GB)
• Large: $1,650/year (1,000 users, 5GB)

For premium hosting: Customized pricing

*Pricing information retrieved from MoodleCloud in April 2024.

#11 LearnDash: Best WordPress Plugin for Learning

LearnDash is the most popular premium WordPress LMS plugin in the market. With it, you can design, promote, and sell online courses. Some of the best features it offers are its speed and its drag-and-drop course builder, which make the process of course creation both easy and enjoyable.

LearnDash has the flexibility of WordPress , allowing it to be very customizable. You can add many more functionalities that are not natively built-in. The downside is that adding too many plugins may be detrimental and break the website, requiring a developer to do the setup or keep maintaining the site and offering support.

• Cheaper than cloud-based LMS
• Very flexible and customizable
• Many add-ons that add functionality
• Has an ecosystem of themes & developers building new functionalities
• No free trial, but you can cancel within 15 days (if you don’t like the product)
• The membership plugin costs extra
• Every extension also comes at an additional cost
• Self-hosting on your own server comes with additional hosting & developer costs
• E-commerce features require a third-party plugin like WooCommerce

Instructors: LearnDash is suited for individuals and smaller companies, as it’s a low-cost LMS based on WordPress. It does not support most requirements for bigger, more complex organizations.

Learners: LearnDash’s interface is pretty easy to use and straightforward for learners. You will probably not realize when a course you bought is hosted on LearnDash.

There are two ways to use LearnDash – either getting the plugin or launching a fully hosted course website.

LearnDash plugin’s pricing is based on the number of site licenses:

• 1 site license: $199/year
• 10 site licenses: $399/year
• Unlimited: $799/year

LearnDash Cloud (full-site) starts at $25 per month.

MemberDash (the membership plugin) starts at $199/year as a standalone plugin (does not require LearnDash).

*Pricing information retrieved from LearnDash in April 2024.

Compare LearnWorlds vs LearnDash

Compare LearnWorlds vs WooCommerce

Choosing an Online Course Platform

There are many options available when it comes to offering online learning, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some platforms are more suitable for individual learners, while others are more business-friendly.

Depending on your budget, type of course, and compliance requirements (for bigger companies), you may choose a different platform that fits your needs.

Our favorite option is hands-down LearnWorlds .

It’s the easiest all-in-one course platform offering a high-end learning experience to your learners, whether you are an individual creator or a business.

Want to try out LearnWorlds? You can get a 30-day free trial today and schedule your demo!

Kyriaki Raouna

Kyriaki is a Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.

Nick Malekos

Nick Malekos is a Senior Digital Marketer in LearnWorlds. He is a results based and well-rounded Digital Marketer with years of experience in the education industry, writer and digital literacy trainer.

Eight great sites that offer online classes

Use your time to improve your mind.

By Aliya Chaudhry

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If you’ve already streamed your favorite series for the third time, and you’ve hit a wall with your latest game, what should you do while you’re sheltering at home? Well, maybe pick up a new skill or hobby by taking a class.

There is a huge number of courses available online, from coding to history to languages, and a lot of different resources to choose from. Below, we’ve listed some of the major sites where you can find online classes, some you can attend in real time and others you can pop into at your leisure.

While many of these websites charge fees for memberships or specific classes, we’ve indicated which ones also offer free courses.

Code Academy

Code Academy offers courses on computer science, data science, and web development. You can sign up for the free plan , which gives you access to 25 courses, or you can opt for the Pro level for $19.99 a month, which comes with 65 courses as well as exercises, quizzes, and projects. Signing up for the Pro subscription also gets you access to Code Academy’s “paths,” class sequences that can help you prepare for a specific career or learn a specific skill.

Sample Courses: Introduction to HTML ; Make a Website ; Learn SQL

Coursera is one of the most well-known platforms for online classes, and its catalog is so extensive that you could even complete a degree on the site. It hosts courses from institutions and organizations, including Google, Stanford, and, more recently, MoMA in a broad range of subjects. You can join Coursera for free, and you can audit many of the classes for free , but you will have to pay if you want a course certificate, to submit assignments, or get grades. Some courses have a one-time fee , or you can pay a monthly subscription fee to access a related set of courses, called a “Specialization.” You can also pay a yearly subscription fee for Coursera Plus , which gives you access to and allows you to earn certificates for most of Coursera’s classes. ( Here’s a full list .)

Sample Courses: Yale’s The Science of Well-Being ; Stanford’s Machine Learning ; MoMA’s Seeing through Photographs

edX was founded by Harvard and MIT, and it partners with other universities, including Berkeley, Brown, and Cornell, to provide courses online. The site has a broad variety of classes, including subjects that range from data sciences to the arts and humanities. Most courses are available for free , but you will typically have to pay between $50 and $300 to be able to submit assignments for feedback and to receive a certificate.

Sample Courses: Berkeley’s The Science of Happiness ; NYU’s Basics of Computing and Programming ; Harvard’s Modern Masterpieces of World Literature

Harvard University

If you really want to take a Harvard course, the university lists its online courses on its website. (These listings link to edX, which is where you can take the class.) Harvard offers courses on a variety of subjects; the classes go from two to over 12 weeks. The site lets you easily filter the results to find free courses . The paid courses cost anywhere from $30 to over $3,000, and if you want a certificate to prove you’ve finished a free course, that will come with an additional fee. (The ones we looked at ranged from $49 to $169.)

Sample Courses: Introduction to Computer Science ; Religion, Conflict and Peace ; Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science

Kadenze offers courses on art and technology — everything from graphic design to preparing for a career in media to learning an instrument. While some of these courses are created by Kadenze, others come from institutions such as the Maryland Institute College of Art, Berklee College of Music, Stanford, and Columbia. You can sign up for the free subscription, which allows you to enroll in the courses , but you can’t submit assignments or receive college credit. To get access to additional course content, submit assignments, and receive grades, you can sign up for the Premium plan , which costs $20 a month. In order to earn credit for the course, you’ll have to pay $300 per credit on top of that monthly subscription fee.

Sample Courses: Gender, Race and Technology ; Careers in Media Technology ; Guitar for Beginners

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a nonprofit designed as a resource to support students from preschool through high school, and it offers all of its courses for free. It includes courses in math, science, and engineering, as well as in the arts and humanities. It does offer some courses that may be useful for people who are no longer students, such as career advice, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and MCAT and LSAT test prep.

Sample Courses: Navigate your career ; Algorithms ; Statistics and probability

Like Kadenze, Skillshare offers courses mainly in the arts, with classes in animation, music, photography, and creative writing, but also offers instruction in business, technology, and marketing. Its course catalog is intended to encourage creativity and help people build creative skills into careers. Skillshare has a number of courses available for free , but to access the full catalog of courses, you have to pay for a premium membership of either $19 a month or $99 a year.

Sample Courses: How to Make a Podcast ; Building Your Freelance Business ; Demystifying Graphic Design

Udemy has a collection of 100,000 courses available, most of which tend to be career-focused, with subjects such as finance and accounting, office productivity, programming, and marketing. However, Udemy also offers courses on subjects such as music, lifestyle, personal development, and health and fitness. While most of Udemy’s courses have a fee associated, you can filter your results to see the courses Udemy offers for free ; however, you won’t earn a certificate or be able to communicate with the instructor like you would in a paid course.

Sample Courses: Best Practices for Working Remotely ; Getting Started with Playing Guitar ; Free Digital Marketing Basics Course

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Best online learning platform of 2024

Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)

Best open source

Best for projects, best for pricing, best for integrations, best for google, best for entrepreneurs, best for streamlining, best for tools, best for social media, best for enterprises, best for training, how we test.

The best online learning platforms make it simple and easy to manage online courses for education and training.

1. Best open source 2. Best for projects 3. Best for pricing 4. Best for integrations 5. Best for Google 6. Best for entrepreneurs 7. Best for streamlining 8. Best for tools 9. Best for social media 10. Best for enterprises 11. Best for training 12. FAQs 13. How we test

Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) have become increasingly common, especially due to sweeping changes that became necessary due to the pandemic. 

While face-to-face learning has a place, increasingly learning and courses are being conducted through digital channels. This can be both cheaper and easier to manage for businesses, and for educators it means the ability to reach people from a distance. 

In a remote situation is where online learning platforms really come to the fore, as platforms for education make the most of modern technology. That’s not to say traditional means of education are about to be extinct, but academic institutions and businesses have identified that we can achieve plenty more through tech, such as smartphones and other internet-connected devices which can facilitate learning from any location.

Online learning also has its advantages for people who might not easily be able to access face-to-face learning. This can be especially relevant in remote areas, but also for people with disabilities whose mobility issues might prevent attending college or similar.

When comparing the different online learning platforms, we looked at what operating systems they were available on (Android and iOS), the app interface, integration with third-party software, and the overall quality. We also assessed the pricing plans and what kind of users each learning platform would be best suited for, among other things.  

Below we list what we think are the best online learning platforms currently available.

We've also featured the best online class sites .

Reader offer: 7 day free trial on Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate is a premier platform for crafting educational content, integrating various media sources such as images, screen captures, and PowerPoint presentations.  Try it for yourself.

Preferred partner ( What does this mean? )  

The best online learning platforms of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

1. Moodle LMS

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

While commercial software has its place, sometimes it is truly impressive what an open source project can achieve, such as in the case of Moodle LMS. This open source learning platform can be downloaded and used for free. While direct support is lacking (although an organization can engage one of 80 Certified Service Providers to remedy that deficit), there is still plenty here, including documentation such as guides on how to use this platform. 

Learners and teachers are sure to like the expansive feature set, such as interaction with multiple choice questions in the content, an integrated text editor , and support for 3rd party cloud storage providers, such as DropBox to submit assignments. It is also multi-language capable, and supports open standards such as SCORM. 

We also like that teachers can make comments on assignments, and the integrated all-in-one calendar . With so many features, it may be open source, but it hardly will feel like it, which explains why it has over 200 million users.

Read our full Moodle LMS review.

• ^ Back to the top

2. Adobe Captivate

Adobe Captivate is a professional platform for creating learning content. This can be incorporated from a variety of sources, including images that this software can edit, screen captures that can be done automatically, and by importing PowerPoint presentations. 

We are impressed with the support for VR projects, and users are sure to like the choice of acquisition options along with its use of templates to streamline project production, and provide consistency. Users do have issues with the stability of the app, the limited options for direct support and the cancellation fee for the monthly plan will undoubtedly irk some out there. 

Quibbles aside, Adobe Captivate is a mature piece of software that has endured with good reason, and is well worth a closer look via the 30-day trial that is longer than most of its competitors.

Read our full Adobe Captivate review.

3. Acorn LMS

For those that are looking for some upfront pricing, Acorn LMS- unlike some of its competition- answers that need. Rather than keeping potential users in the dark, Acorn LMS is upfront offering both a tier without content and another with content The company also offers a flat fee for the first 100 users and an additional student fee for each user thereafter. 

Beyond that, this platform has a number of strengths that impress us, such as the ability to make individualized student pathways via LinkedIn Learning content, the white label approach to foster customization of the site for consistent branding at an organization, and support for multiple tendencies allowing an administrator to easily manage multiple acorn LMS accounts via a single set of sign on credentials. 

While nothing is perfect, and we should point out the lack of an Android app in the Google Play Store, the dearth of user reviews, and that there are no advanced support options such as a forum or a FAQ, overall it is an attractive package worth the 60-day free trial.

Read our full Acorn LMS review .

4. Canvas LMS

The Canvas LMS is used by top institutions worldwide, and it can boast it has over 6 million users with an over 90% satisfaction rate. Users are sure to be impressed that it integrates well with popular apps that students use, such as those from Adobe, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams . 

We also like the robust community forum, with thorough answers for common user issues, and the multiple communication options covering the spectrum from messaging (individually and as a group), to audio, and video. Some areas we would like to see improved would be support for gamification, and some transparency in the pricing. Teachers will also be pleased to see the support for automated grading via integration with SpeedGrader.  While the opaque pricing is frustrating, we appreciate both the free 30 day trial, and also the lowest ‘Teacher Tier’ plan that is free long term for both teachers and students to allow for education of all.

Read our full Canvas LMS review .

5. Google Classroom

Google Classroom offers a cloud based learning environment to enable remote education for learners from pre-K through the university level. We appreciate that it pulls together a number of Google tools, such as Google Meet , Google Drive and Google Docs all in one place to enable learning. 

Teachers can put in assignments as all types of documents, including .doc and .pdfs, students get the notification, complete the assignment and submit it. Teachers then grade the assignment, keep a virtual gradebook and can give classroom style lectures via the Google Meet function. 

Google offers this via several tiers of features, but we can appreciate that the free tier is plenty powerful for budget conscious school districts. The platform is also cross platform to allow learners to function with it with whatever their device of choice is, including laptops, Chromebooks , and both smartphone platforms- although the Android one garners complaints from the users.

Read our full Google Classroom review .

6. Thinkific LMS

Thinkific is an online platform that has enjoyed meteoritic success as a relative newcomer to this space. It has useful functions, such as the ability for educators to build a website , and templates are provided to facilitate this for newcomers. 

We also like that this platform can be used to issue certificates of completion. It is used worldwide, and can accept payments from learners signing up for courses from over 100 countries. 

Some omissions, such as the lack of a direct phone number or email for support, and no smartphone apps for either Android or iOS show the immaturity of the platform. We also wanted to see more user reviews than what we found online. However, with a choice of tiers starting with a free one, and a track record that has already earned its experts over $650 million dollars, it is seriously hard to dispute.

Read our full Thinkific LMS review .

7. 360Learning

360Learning meets the challenge head on of streamlining the task of project creation. Users are sure to benefit from the integrated tools such as the video editing software , the included templates that are branded as ‘Cheat Sheets,’ and the option to include ten different types of questions to test learners. 

We also appreciate the free 30-day trial without credit card info, and the choice of tiered plans. However, we were less impressed that there are few options for direct contact, with some features reserved for the top plan (like support for course attachments), and that the Android app has a significantly lower rating than the iOS version. We also like the ‘Collaborative Authoring’ approach that lets even inexperienced users create a course in minutes, rather than months.

Read our full 360Learning review . 

8. Blackboard Learn

Blackboard Learn is a learning platform that is used for learners of all levels from pre-K to university and beyond such as in government and industry. It has some shortcomings such as the opaque pricing, the limited direct support options and the multiple bugs that users report in the apps, especially the Android version. 

Balance that against the integrated tools that some competing solutions charge for, such as a plagiarism checker to check student assignments against. Also factor in the accessibility tool to be ADA compliant, and the other items to foster communication between students and professors, and the tracker to keep students on track with submitting their assignments. Additionally, the 30-day trial is longer than most others, and the iOS app is highly rated, so organizations that need a full fledged solution will see quickly why this learning platform enjoys its popularity.

Read our full Blackboard Learn review.

9. Absorb LMS

The Absorb LMS is a learning platform that focuses on business. It is also especially adept at social aspects, as it can easily integrate with corporate social media accounts. 

We also like the social focus that continues on to allow learners to create social accounts on the platform. This then allows them to virtually interact with the other learners, and also display the awards and certificates that they accumulate for completed content. We also appreciate that certificates can be custom created, to be either downloaded or printed. However, some aspects frustrated us, such as the learning community that is not running yet, the opaque and ultimately high pricing, and the buggy smartphone apps on both the iOS and Android platforms that have users commenting they would be better off accessing content on a computer.

Read our full Absorb LMS review .

Targeting the enterprise market, Docebo takes an AI approach to a learning platform with an impressive list of Fortune 500 companies that use its service. Incorporated under the Docebo Suite are multiple products to create content, deliver it, and also to measure the metrics of its impact. This style of product is well suited to onboarding, and retaining new employees. 

There are some issues with the lack of support options as we would have liked to have seen some more direct choices, such as a direct phone number or a chat option. Also of concern is the completely opaque pricing as we could not even figure out the available tiers or options without direct company contact. However, users are sure to make good use of the robust interactions fostered by this service via the ‘Docebo Community,’ although this gets negated by the clunky, and low rated smartphone apps on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Read our full Docebo review .

11. iSpring Learn

iSpring Learn is one of the most popular learning management systems (LMS) and is mostly used by corporations to train their employees. It makes it easy to prepare and deliver educational content for corporate trainees. You can start with the content you already have, e.g., upload your PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, audio tracks, and video tutorials to the platform. This platform doesn’t impose limits on the size or number of files you can host.

One of the best things about this platform is its interactivity. You can use it to put together engaging educational content complete with illustrations, quotes, videos, etc. For example, you can divide your long articles into chapters so that users can explore the material step-by-step. If you wish, you can restrict navigation such that the user can not proceed to the next material without completing the initial one. You can also add self-test questions throughout the content to help users understand and retain information as they proceed through the course. 

This platform has a customizable design, so you can design your courses with the colors and fonts that are part of your corporate brand. There’s also direct integration with iSpring Suite , a tool that works within PowerPoint and lets you quickly develop quizzes, interactions, and simulations.

iSpring Learn doesn’t just let you build courses. It also gives you analytics to track how trainees are interacting with your courses and their progress. This platform is ideal for companies looking for a solution to deliver corporate training to their employees.

Read our full iSpring Learn review .

If you're interested in studying more online, we've also featured the best courses in:

• HTML , 
• Word , 
• Javascript .

What is an online learning platform?

It is simply a platform that is designed to offer students or trainees everything they need for their education in one place. It allows them to access course materials and interact with other students. It also makes it easy for tutors to monitor student progress.

Online learning platforms are mostly used by schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. However, it is also used by other types of customers, such as corporations that want to deliver training materials to their staff. You can use such platforms to create lectures, assignments, quizzes, etc., and issue certificates to people that complete the course.

Which online learning platforms are best for you?

The first thing to consider when you want to choose an online learning platform is your technical competency. If you have not used an LMS system before, it's better to start with a basic platform before migrating to a complex one such as Moodle. This gives you more chances to understand the platform you are using and maximize its features. Advanced LMS systems offer more features but are of no use if you can find it difficult to use them. A more basic tool will get you acquainted with the intricacies of a learning management system before switching to a complex one.

The size of your trainees or students also matters. If you’re tutoring just a few dozen people, it’s better to choose a basic platform that is easier to manage. On the other hand, if you have hundreds to thousands of students, a more advanced platform such as Moodle is better. 

Online learning platforms vs Learning Management Systems

There are three main categories of online learning platforms; open-source, free, and paid. Open-source refers to platforms where the source code is freely available for modification. Thus, anyone with sufficient programming skills can tweak the software to get just exactly what they want out of it. Moodle is currently the most popular open-source learning platform and is used by many colleges, schools, and companies. 

An open-source learning system is free to use and can be customized extensively. For example, you can use your organization's logo and its unique colors to make the platform feel familiar to users. Open-source systems are also very scalable, so you can start small and expand the platform as you add more students.    

There is a large community of developers behind popular open-source learning platforms like Moodle, and they are constantly building features that you can take advantage of. The drawback of using open-source software is that they are more complex to handle compared to regular free or paid software. You may need a dedicated technical staff to help you. 

The second main category is the free online learning platform. They come at no cost, but the source code behind them is not freely available and customizable like with open-source software. You can use these free platforms to host your educational content and deliver them to the intended users without paying. However, there may be some costs associated with hosting your content on an internal server or for additional features. The drawback of free platforms is that they don’t offer as much features as paid and open-source ones.

The third category is the paid online learning platform, which refers to most on this list. Here, you will need to pay upfront to host your educational content and distribute them to your students or trainees. Expect to pay a fixed fee for each user either monthly or annually, and it can add up to a considerable amount if you have a lot of students. The paid platforms are usually easy to use and navigate because customers expect user-friendliness for a platform they’re paying for. You can also access on-demand support if you run into any issues, unlike with free and open-source software. 

With a paid platform, you don’t need to spend money running your own server and setting up and managing the software. The provider does that for you, while you just pay and access it whenever you want. It is an ideal type to choose, but the disadvantage is that it can be expensive. 

Online learning platform vs online course websites

There are plenty of ways to receive education online these days. This can include anything from casual content, such as an educational YouTube Video, to more structured online education such as a series of videos, and in some cases supplemental content in the form of text or a downloadable PDF. While there are many websites to educate and impart content, they are not all online learning platforms.

An online learning platform goes beyond what an online course website offers, with additional content to support the education. While it will incorporate the elements of an online course website, it will include additional tools, which will all be combined into a single platform. These tools can be communication methods such as live video or messaging, the opportunity to have assignments, and a record of certificates of completed courses. Overall, an online learning platform provides content that will be more in depth, and organized in a more formal environment to promote greater learning.

Open source vs free vs paid online learning platforms

Learning platforms can be divided into three different categories based on the pricing model.

The first is free, which has the benefit of no cost. There are both services that offer this at no cost, or ones that have a free tier, with reduced features, that then hope to upsell the service to a paid tier, and use the free offering as a gateway to getting a paying customer. A downside of these free offerings is that the support tends to be minimal to nonexistent, such as only via an online community board.

Open source is another nice option for a learning management system. In this model the software is distributed for no cost. This can allow an organization to then run this off of its own server. However, there are still costs to doing this, and then this must be supported internally. Another downside is that then the software may not be as updated as frequently, exposing it to security vulnerabilities.

The final option is a paid offering. While this does have an upfront cost, and in most cases for each additional learner, it does have plenty of advantages. This includes that the provider can host the software as a cloud service, requiring no in house personnel to provide support. Also, there may be options for phone support, and also more features.

Is Zoom an online learning platform?

Made popular by the pandemic with remote meetings becoming commonplace, Zoom is a video communications platform. Other popular choices in this category are GoToMeeting , and Google Meet . Zoom and other video communication apps are used for online audio and video meetings for business, casual and educational use. Each also supports additional content to support the virtual meeting, such as sharing screens, or chat within the app.

However, Zoom is not specifically an online learning platform. While it can certainly be used to support education, it has no way to give assignments, grade them, or do quizzes for example. As an online learning platform it falls pretty short, with plenty of better options out there. Also, many of the better online learning platforms offer video chatting within the platform so Zoom as a standalone is not needed as the functionality is already incorporated in.

What are the pros and cons of an online learning platform?

There are plenty of pros for an online platform. This includes the instant availability of the education, and that learners are not limited by geography and can attend class anywhere- even from the comfort of home. The learning is also self-paced, as it can accommodate a variety of learning styles and learner needs as it is more flexible. There is also the benefit that learners don’t need to commute to the school reducing the cost and burden of education, which can also be a time saving benefit as well.

While there are certainly benefits, there are some downsides as well. Some students may prefer face to face learning with a teacher directly in front of them, that an online learning platform lacks. Also with no physical school to attend, there is less of a structured learning environment, which some learners may do better with. Furthermore, there is less or even no camaraderie between learners than at a physical school, which can all be part of the total educational experience, and is a missing component with an online learning platform.

What are the essential features of an online learning platform?

When choosing an online learning platform for your organization, be sure the choice is a good one. Here are some essential features to look for:

• Scalability: Nobody wants to outgrow their platform too soon, and have to transition to another one. Therefore, look for scalability that can grow as you need it to.
• Mobile presence: Today’s learners want to be able to learn when on the move. Therefore, look for an online learning platform that has well rated apps for both the iOS and Android platforms, that are highly rated.
• Tools for authoring: A flexible platform allows for content creation that is easy to use. This can include tools for text editing, and also video capture and editing from within the platform to streamline production.
• Easy to use interface: Nobody likes to use a clunky interface, so look for an easy one to use, that is well presented, and won’t distract or overwhelm users.
• Robust support: When the inevitable issues of a platform come up, users are going to need some help. Look for a platform that offers a variety of support choices, including options for direct support such as a direct email and phone number.

Read how to host your own learning management software with Moodle LMS .

There are plenty of choices in the online learning management software area, so there is sure to be one well suited for each organization.

A major differentiator is price. Some LMS’ are available for free, or have a low cost entry tier. Others offer more features, but at a higher price point. Pricing models are also different with some providers charging only by each student, while others having the price based on the plan, and then a lower additional cost for each additional learner. 

Another feature to look for are the mobile apps. Especially younger learners value these apps so that a learner can engage in education from anywhere, at any time. Be sure that the apps are available for both of the mobile platforms- Android and iOS . Also, check the ratings of the apps in their respective stores, as just because an app is available it may not be a great one with some low rated, glitchy ones out there.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .  

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Brian has over 30 years publishing experience as a writer and editor across a range of computing, technology, and marketing titles. He has been interviewed multiple times for the BBC and been a speaker at international conferences. His specialty on techradar is Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, covering everything from office suites to IT service tools. He is also a science fiction and fantasy author, published as Brian G Turner.

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Career Development

• Feb 2, 2024
• 16 min read

30 Best Websites for Online Courses You Must Try

Some of them are free!

Melina Theodorou

Career and Culture Writer

Reviewed by Chris Leitch

The workplace landscape is constantly reinventing itself. Indeed, with technology dominating most industries, many professionals have had to adapt rapidly to these changes by committing to  lifelong learning .

Luckily enough, online courses sites have made this process easier, giving people around the world the opportunity to  advance their careers  and secure the tools needed to succeed within their chosen professions.

Whether you’re at the  beginning of your career , looking to make a change or eyeing a  promotion , expanding your skills and knowledge is always a wise move.

Here are 30 online learning sites trusted by thousands of people around the world, to he­lp you get started.

1. Coursera

Free courses, paid courses and membership available ($59/month)

Founded by two computer science professors at Stanford University, Coursera is one of the most prominent online course websites around.

At Coursera, you can pursue a variety of specializations, professional certifications and online degrees offered by world-class academic institutions and organizations from all around the world. Be it a Configuration Management course by Google or a Financial Markets course by Yale University, there’s something for everyone.

With Coursera, you have the option to pay for individual courses or sign up for a monthly membership, while there are also quite a few free courses you can embark on, too.

Free courses, paid courses and membership available ($20/month)

As far as online courses websites go, Udemy has the largest selection of subjects out there.

With 57 million learners and over 210,000 courses on offer, Udemy is one of the most popular and reliable online learning sites available today. The site is home to a variety of online video courses, delivered by top instructors and experts across numerous industries. You can browse course options through different categories.

What’s great about Udemy is the diversity of options available at your fingertips. You’re afforded the opportunity to  develop your career  but also pursue other passions, from photography and baking to yoga , arts and crafts and beyond!

3. FutureLearn

Free courses, paid courses and membership available ($20.42/month)

At FutureLearn, you can find anything between short online courses, online degrees and microcredentials. The site partners with renowned universities and institutions to provide its online learners with an impressive course catalog to choose from.

Courses consist of pre-recorded video lectures and sections where you can join online discussions with others undertaking the same course!

Most courses are free to access for a limited time, but if you want unlimited access to the materials as well as your certification, you’ll need to pay for an upgrade.

4. MasterClass

Monthly memberships from $10

MasterClass is a unique product; where else could you take online classes from the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Annie Leibovitz, Serena Williams and Martin Scorsese?

The site gives you exclusive access to online classes by industry giants, sports legends and field experts who share their creative process, skills, industry secrets, and stories on their successes and failures.

You can pick from over 200 classes across 11 categories including arts and entertainment, business, sports, gaming and cooking, with new classes being added every month. Each course comes with a PDF workbook, and there’s also an option to download and watch your classes offline, too.

5. Domestika

Free courses, paid courses and membership available ($6.99/month)

Domestika is focused on developing creative online courses. Each course is instructed by an industry expert who will guide you through the process of learning a new skill or refining an existing one. Whether you want to learn more about calligraphy, 3D animation, sewing or Adobe software, there’s a course for all creative types .

You may choose to try a single course, or you could pick a ready-made bundle which consists of three courses that complement or build up on each other. You can also choose to assemble your own bundle.

There’s also the option of becoming a Domestika Plus member and benefiting from perks like access to thousands of courses at no additional cost, plus personalized certificates of completion. The site also has a featured projects page, where it showcases the finished work of its members.

6. SheCodes

Free and paid courses available

SheCodes has a noble mission: to decrease the gender gap in the tech industry. How? By offering online coding workshops to women.

SheCodes has so far enabled nearly 200,000 women around the world to broaden their skill set. You can enroll in different workshops, depending on how much time (and money!) you want to invest; durations range from three weeks to eight months.

All workshops, however, come with the advantage of live help and the opportunity to interact with instructors and other students in real time through Slack chats.

All courses on offer are for absolute beginners, and you have the option to upgrade to another package later.

7. The Open University

The Open University is a leading distance-learning platform. Its main objective is to open higher education to all, regardless of location or circumstances.

With the OU, you can undertake any type of course, including honors degrees, foundation programs, postgraduate diplomas, open qualifications and short courses.

The OU also offers its students a lot of flexibility, with 70% of its student body being in full-time employment . You can enroll either as a part-time or full-time time student and fit your classes around your own schedule without fuss.

edX teams up with leading academic institutions from around the world to bring its users advanced educational courses from every faculty and industry. Its programs range from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the specialty you choose, and you can enroll in most for free. However, if you want to receive a verified certification, you’ll need to pay a fee.

edX also offers microbachelors and micromasters programs that are specifically designed to help with your career advancement or set you on the right career path. There’s also XSeries courses that can help you attain a deeper understanding of a specific topic and executive education courses that are meant to help  corporate leaders  excel in their roles.

Free courses and monthly membership available ($7.99/month)

Alison is another great platform if you want to upskill yourself. All courses are free, and with over 4,000 courses to choose from, you’ll be spoiled for choice. Once you enroll in a program, you can take as much time as you want to complete it, and you can keep track of your progress on your very own learner dashboard.

You also have the option to go premium, meaning you can pay $7.99 a month to remove all ads from your courses and receive monthly discounts for certificates and diplomas.

10. Upskillist

Monthly subscription required ($34.99/month); free trial available

Upskillist (formerly Shaw Academy) offers a wide range of programs, all of which you can sign up for free for seven days. Afterwards, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $34.99 to continue learning post-trial.

You’ll have the flexibility to plan your classes according to your schedule and the ability to stream lessons on your device, be it a laptop, computer, tablet or smartphone. At the end, you’ll have a globally recognized certification which you can use to advance or kickstart your career.

11. Harvard University

Do you want to study at one of the  best universities in the world ? Harvard University’s online courses give people the opportunity to advance their skills and enrich their knowledge on a variety of subjects.

Course duration ranges from one week to a few months, depending on the course you select, and while some will require you to pay a fee, others are completely free to attend. There are also different levels of difficulty, so you can choose between beginner, intermediate or advanced-level programs.

12. Skillshare

Monthly membership for $32

Skillshare is the perfect place to expand your professional skill set. Online classes are taught by teachers who are experts in their domain, and you can participate in interactive projects with others and gain practical experience while honing your skills. You can also join groups that are relevant to your interests and meet other like-minded individuals through the platform.

While a monthly fee is required, Skillshare gives new users one month’s worth of free access to its courses. You can also apply for Skillshare scholarships which will give you unlimited access to all classes.

13. LinkedIn Learning

Monthly membership for $19.99

LinkedIn is not just a  powerful networking tool . Indeed, LinkedIn Learning offers expert-led courses, allowing you to earn professional certificates that will undoubtedly make a great addition to your résumé.

You can join for free for a month, after which you’ll have to pay $19.99 a month to maintain access to courses. There are over 18,000 of them to choose from, with the catalog expanding each week, currently encompassing a wealth of subjects from image editing to management and everything in between.

14. codecademy

Free and paid plans available from $14.99/month

Ever wanted to  learn how to code ? Coding is increasingly becoming a key skill in the workplace, and something which could give you a certain edge over other candidates.

With codecademy, you can access step-by-step computer programming tutorials for free. Indeed, you can choose from various  programming languages , such as Python, Java, HTML and JavaScript, and receive instruction on subjects like front-end development, web design and machine learning. There are even free courses on generative AI and ChatGPT.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can take codecademy’s quiz, which will test your level of knowledge and come up with recommended coding courses for you.

15. Pluralsight

Paid plans available from $29/month

Pluralsight specializes in helping professionals develop the  skills of tomorrow  through their courses. You can pick between two paid membership plans: Standard and Premium. The former gives you access to a library of 5,000 courses, while the latter lets you view their full selection of 7,000 courses as well as exam preparation material for industry-leading certifications.

Through their technology skills platform, you can assess your current skills and gain the latest in software development, IT, AI, ops, machine learning and security. You’ll even be able to take practice exams and assess your knowledge gaps through skill assessments.

16. iversity

iversity’s courses are placed under four categories: MOOCs (massive open online courses), PRO, Espresso and Sets. The site has a quite diverse range of subjects, too, ranging from architecture to biotechnology and management to data analysis.

Bundle courses are a combination package of a course along with an accompanying eBook on the relevant topic. Meanwhile, the platform offers some courses in different languages , too, mainly German but also French, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian, Russian, Bengali and Spanish.

17. CareerFoundry

CareerFoundry’s courses have been designed to transform complete beginners into job-ready professionals. Their platform enables the development of in-demand tech skills, including how to use AI effectively and ethically, and it’s all available online at a flexible pace.

Their course selection includes digital marketing, UI/UX design, data analytics, web development, product management and product design.

What’s great about this platform is that it also lets recruiters and hiring managers browse CareerFoundry graduates when searching to fill vacancies. Once you complete your course, you can join a network of 7,000 graduates connected to employers!

18. Open Yale Courses

Free courses available

Though learning a new skill on Open Yale Courses doesn’t lead to certification, the online platform still provides access to introductory lessons taught by Ivy League scholars on campus. The courses comprise video, audio and text transcript files, and require no registration for viewing.

Depending on what interests you and what industry you’re hoping to work in , you could choose from courses in engineering, philosophy, political science, psychology, and more. Each course comes with suggested readings, past exams, as well as problem sets.

19. Udacity

Free courses, paid courses and memberships available

Udacity focuses on 10 main areas: programming and development, artificial intelligence , cloud computing, data science, business, executive leadership, product management, cybersecurity, career resources, and autonomous systems.

You can find numerous programs within these categories and enroll in nanodegree programs that take four weeks to five months to complete and earn certification for.

You may also find courses that are completely free, but the drawback here is that you won’t receive a certificate upon completing them. That said, Udacity does offer financial help and discounts for their programs, so keep an eye out for them!

20. Academic Earth

Created with the premise that everyone should have access to world-class education, Academic Earth allows you to join free online  courses from top universities  around the world.

You can filter your search by school, field of study and degree type, and watch recorded lectures delivered by renowned academics. You can also gain insight when selecting a degree through the site’s degree program directory, which offers essential information about different fields including job prospects, career growth and available degree options.

21. Reed Courses

Reed Courses lets you access thousands of courses online (around 100,000 to be exact), which can quickly be sorted and displayed by price, instruction level and the type of certification you may receive at the end. As far as subjects go, there is a truly wide range of courses to choose from on this platform, from math and sciences to humanities, languages, marketing, and more.

Some of the most popular courses on Reed include Microsoft Office skills , Python programming and data science tutorials.

22. Stanford Online

You’ve heard of Stanford, but what about Stanford Online? The private research university, which ranks third in the US News’ Best National University Rankings , has a dedicated online platform that teaches various subjects, including courses in artificial intelligence, energy and sustainability, engineering, business, and more.

The materials come directly from the university’s departments, such as the Stanford School of Engineering and the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. Depending on the course’s focus, you may start learning on a self-paced schedule or be required to stick to a specific plan for the instructor-led programs.

23. Grow with Google

As of 2024, Google offers dozens of products and services that are used by more than a billion people around the world. It’s not surprising, then, to see that the tech giant has also created its own virtual classroom.

Google’s flexible online programs allow you to gain in-demand professional skills. Upon completion, you are awarded a Google career certificate which can be a great addition to your résumé . According to the platform, 75% of Google certificate graduates see a positive outcome within six months, be that landing a new job or getting a raise .

Subjects include project management, UX design and data analytics.

24. HubSpot Academy

HubSpot began as a developer and marketer of software products in 2006. Its Academy, which has so far attracted more than 165,000 professionals from around the world, has been described by TechRadar as “an industry-leading learning center for all things CRM” — though it certainly expands beyond that.

Today, you can find courses and certifications in a wide variety of subjects, like AI for marketers, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO and business analytics.

25. Drawspace

Drawspace is a website offering online courses specifically for individuals that want to build their artistic skills. So, if you’re tired of your 9 to 5 and dream of working as an illustrator or artist instead, this can be a great way to take your first steps towards that much-needed career change .

Of course, building a solid understanding of lighting, color use and textures in images can come in handy when looking to break into graphic design, too.

The learning platform has both free and paid courses, including realistic drawing techniques and portrait drawing.

26. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization created by MIT and HBS alumnus Sal Khan. It began in 2004, when Khan would tutor his cousin in mathematics over the internet. Soon, he started recording videos which he uploaded on YouTube for the rest of his family and friends to see… And seen they were by millions around the world within a few years!

Today, Khan Academy offers courses in multiple areas of study, from math and science to economics, computing, humanities, and even life skills.

27. MOOC.org

MOOC.org is an extension of edX that allows you to browse exclusively massive open online courses. These are open access courses, meaning they are entirely free and can be taken by anyone, anywhere. Some of these courses are even academic credit eligible, despite being accessible at no cost.

So, if you’ve been searching for an online learning platform offering free courses that can help you advance your career and broaden your skill set, MOOC.org can be the ideal place for you to look.

28. MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT’s OpenCourseWare was created to “unlock knowledge and empower minds”. It certainly does so by giving learners access to lecture notes, past exams and videos from MIT — for free.

The online learning library has materials that both aspiring and established tech professionals can occupy themselves with, including courses in machine learning, computer science and data science, just to name a few.

Bear in mind that MIT OpenCourseWare doesn’t offer certificates of completion. If that’s what you’re after, it’s best to check out the university’s online courses on edX.

29. SkillUp

Paid courses available

SkillUp’s mission is to “close the tech skills gap”, enabling professionals and businesses to utilize emerging technologies to grow and thrive. The courses cater to career starters, career switchers and career returners, as SkillUp names them, the latter referring to people who need to upskill following a career break .

The subjects you can study on SkillUp include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing and data science, to give you an indication of what you can expect to learn.

30. Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative

Regarded as one of the top universities in the US for subjects like engineering, computer science and business, Carnegie Mellon University has been around since 1900. Its Open Learning Initiative gives access to free and low-cost courses to both CMU students as well as independent learners.

Its online course catalog comprises language, sciences, mathematics, arts and humanities, programming courses, and more — truly something for everyone, regardless of what industry they work for and what change they’re looking to make professionally.

Final thoughts

Lifelong learning is a crucial factor for professional and personal growth. So, if you’re determined to advance your career and learn something along the way, these trusted online course websites will help you sharpen your existing skills as well as attain new ones.

Have you used any of these learning sites? Leave us your review in the comments section below!

Originally published on June 7, 2017. Updated by Electra Michaelidou.

Courses and Qualifications

Lifelong Learning

Top 10 Best Online Learning Sites & Platforms

Improve your knowledge and advance your career with the help of the best online course platforms that specialize in either technical or creative subjects..

• 10 million registered

• 2 million registered

• 23 million registered

• 3 million registered

• 15 million registered

• 17,000 + businesses

• 2 million +

The Best Online Learning Platforms for Busy Professionals 

Say goodbye to night school. If you’re looking to score a promotion, make a career change, or simply broaden your knowledge, you no longer need to leave home. Today, the best online course platforms offer classes from  top universities on everything from nano-tech to business, design, and the humanities.

Online learning sites offer many advantages to in-person learning: they allow you to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule while providing the same expert instruction and resources you’d expect from a university.  From the best online course platforms for degree-seeking students to the most creatively rewarding learning platforms, here’s a breakdown of the best ways to hit the books from the comfort of your home.

The Best Online Learning Sites for Serious Students

The first step in choosing which online learning site is best for you is pinpointing the subject you wish to learn, be it coding, marketing, photography, or anything in between.

Our Top 10 Best Online Learning Sites & Platform in 2024:

• EdX - best online learning site overall
• Edureka - best for data science
• CreativeLive - best for photography
• Coursera - best for data science
• Linkedin Learning - best for career development
• Udacity - best for programming
• Udemy - best for development
• Acadium - best for content marketing
• Plural Sight - best for javascript
• Expert Rating - best for teacher training

One of the best learning websites for motivated students is edX. Started by MIT and Harvard University, e dX offers university-level courses in a wide range of subjects to students worldwide. With the tagline, “advance your career, improve your life,” edX aims to help students broaden their skill sets and master topics as diverse as business management, biology, and computer programming.  You can take a 9-week course offered by an MIT professor titled, “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python,” or learn about what it takes to be a stellar project manager in a 1- to 11-week course offered by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Here are some of the best edX courses for {year }:

• Analytics: Essential Tools and Methods
• Project Management
• The Science of Happiness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Data Science

Edureka isn’t for those with casual interests, which is one thing that separates it from many other online learning platforms across the web. Courses in DevOps, Python, and data science are taught by expert instructors who don’t shy away from rigorous assignments and challenging curriculums.  Most of Edureka’s courses end in certification , which explains the approach.  Those who are serious about expanding their professional toolbox or entering the tech world, and who are willing to invest the time will come out of Edureka with a substantial grasp of the material.  Here are some of the best Edureka courses for 2024:

• AWS Architect Certification Training.
• DevOps Certification Training
• Data Science with Python Certification Course
• Java Certification Training Course

Dont Leave Your Children Beahind! Check Out These Tools to Teach Kids Coding 

3. CreativeLive

If you’re looking for a site that offers courses to satisfy your right brain, CreativeLive is a sure winner. Take art courses, get  inspiration , and learn tips in subjects ranging from photo and video to crafts and DIY projects.  Under its “money and life” category, CreativeLive also offers courses in self improvement, communication skills, and entrepreneurship. The next phase is to pick the best website buiilder and to start making money.

Here are some of the best CreativeLive classes:

• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived Life
• Get Into Your Creative Flow
• Time Management & Productivity for Creatives
• Unfu*k YourSELF

Free Online Learning Platforms 

Most online learning sites offer free registration. However, many of them require fees for anything more than rudimentary content or beginner’s classes. One top-rated program, however, has great content and offers everything on it for free. 

4. Coursera

Founded by Stanford professors , Coursera offers all of its courses for free  as part of a mission to make education accessible to everyone, everywhere. Its courses are taught by instructors from world-leading universities and educational institutions, and the platform is a veritable digital campus stocked with video lectures, peer-review assignments, and community discussion forums.

Here are some of the top Coursera courses and certifications:

• Google IT Support Professional
• Python for Everybody
• Google IT Automation with Python
• AWS Fundamentals by Amazon AWS

Considering a career change? Check Out These Top 10 Online Coding Courses 

Online Learning Sites With Free Courses

Even though some platforms require fees for advanced courses, you can still find exceptional classes for free. Whether you want to test the water before investing in a more immersive learning track, or simply want to take advantage of free classes from a credible platform, paid sites with free courses have plenty to offer. 

5. LinkedIn Learning 

LinkedIn Learning is one good example of this. The globally recognized career networking platform now boasts its own educational wing that offers thousands of classes in professional development, networking, and other career-adjacent subjects. Much of LinkedIn Learning’s curriculum is free, including courses in digital networking, job pitching, and lead generation.

Here are some of the most popular courses:

• Time Management: Working From Home
• Strategic Thinking
• Excel Essential Training
• Project Management Foundations

Accessible e-Learning Platforms 

Some learning sites are easier to use than others. For those who are easily distracted, or hesitant to trade tangible books for the web, approachable e-learning sites like Udacity minimize the distractions that so often intrude on learning. 

Udacity offers a clean and vibrant look, that gives it a friendly feel. It’s simple and to the point, and it doesn’t distract users with ads or other promotional offers. It also has a mobile app, which allows you to take your courses on the go and learn on your commute to work, the treadmill, or anywhere else you could possibly want.

Here are some of the best Udacity free courses:

• Microsoft Power Platform by Microsoft
• Linux Command Line Basics
• Front End Frameworks by Google
• Responsive Web Design Fundamentals by Google

Free Online Learning Sites For Student Support 

When settling on the learning site that best suits your needs, and the one that will teach you the skills you want to learn even during even the busiest of times, it’s important to take support into account.

If you're looking for an affordable and convenient way to learn something new, there are few places that can offer the wealth of knowledge available at Udemy.

The site offers over 130,000 courses on all manner of subjects, such as how to draw or code. The best part? All the materials are available to stream or download indefinitely (even after completing the course). Plus, if you're unsatisfied with what you've learned, they'll offer a full refund within 30 days of purchase!

Here are some of the most popular Udemy online courses:

• 2024 Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python
• Microsoft Excel - Excel from Beginner to Advanced
• Machine Learning A-Z: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science
• The Web Developer Bootcamp 2024

Online Learning Sites for Professional Development

While sites like edX and CreativeLive can be used to explore general interests, academic curiosities, and personal hobbies, some eLearning sites cater exclusively to career-oriented goals.  Acadium, Plural Sight, and Expert Rating offer serious students the opportunity to gain certification in real-world skills that align with budding tech and other professional industries. 

8. Acadium 

Acadium is unique in that it offers real-world experience in tandem with online courses. The platform pairs students with employers for apprenticeships in their selected fields, and while these apprenticeships are unpaid, they offer students the chance to incorporate their learning into on-the-job (digital) work that gives them both a feel for the industry and material for their resumes.  Acadium’s curriculum is geared towards digital marketing and includes courses on SEO, email marketing, and analytics. 

9. PluralSight 

PluralSight offers in-depth learning paths in many areas of technology, and is designed for professionals or those seeking entry into new technological industries. Courses are offered in everything from software development to IT Ops and information and cyber security.  A learning path may extend upwards of 48 hours, which provides students with close instruction, resources, and assessments designed to prepare them for the professional world. 

10. Expert Rating

One of the leading providers of pre-employment testing, Expert Rating, is something of an authority on professional skills and how they translate into the workforce. Its online learning wing capitalizes on its unique position with certificate-track courses and training programs that span a wide range of fields.  The course list includes online classes and instructor-led programs  for industries such as healthcare, business management, accounting, and teaching. 

Online Learning Platforms: Cheers to New Skills

Hooray! So you finally decided to start putting more effort into your future prospects? great decision. This article will take a deeper look at online learning sites, looking at their benefits, drawbacks, and what they offer so that you can make an informed decision about which is best for you.

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Top 10 Motivation Apps Top 10 Must Have Tools for Building a Startup Top 10 Places to Learn Excel Online

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• Best Online Software Engineering Bootcamps

Best Online Software Engineering Bootcamps Of 2024

Updated: Feb 20, 2024, 2:17pm

Software engineers code web apps, test operating systems and use engineering principles to solve software problems. An online software engineering bootcamp can prepare you for a career in this in-demand, high-paying field in as little as 12 weeks.

Coding bootcamps provide focused tech training. In a software engineering bootcamp, you’ll learn programming languages like Java and Python while honing your technical skills. Instructors and mentors share their industry-specific experience to help learners design projects and craft professional portfolios.

While software engineering bootcamps aren’t the right fit for every learner, they offer fast-track routes to tech careers. But finding the right program can be challenging, especially as the number of bootcamps skyrockets. Our ranking evaluates programs based on their career support, credibility, affordability and student experience to help you find the right fit.

Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Education

The Forbes Advisor Education team is committed to bringing our readers unbiased rankings and trustworthy, informative articles covering higher learning institutions, individual degree programs, bootcamps, professional credentials and various career paths.

Our team sources data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also pull information from reputable professional organizations and education providers’ direct websites. Our rankings use a strict methodology to determine the best schools, programs or bootcamps for each category.

Moreover, an expert advisory board of experienced professionals and educators reviews and verifies Forbes Advisor Education content to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Our Methodology

We scored 27 online software engineering bootcamps in the U.S. using 14 data points in the categories of career support, credibility, affordability and student experience. We pulled data for these categories from individual bootcamp providers. Data is accurate as of November 2023.

We scored bootcamps based on the following metrics:

Career Support

• Access to career coaching or mentorship

• Availability of job guarantee

• Official hiring partners

Credibility

• Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR) membership status

• Student outcomes data transparency

• Pricing transparency

• Length of time provider has been operating

Affordability

• Upfront cost per week

• Availability of installment payment plan

• Availability of delayed payment plan

• Accepts GI Bill® or VET TEC program

Student Experience

• Average time to completion (in hours)

• Scheduling flexibility

We chose the five best bootcamps to display based on those receiving a curved final score of 82% or higher.

For the purpose of our rankings, we do not evaluate self-paced bootcamps or bootcamps offered through universities . Find our full list of methodologies here .

• Best Coding Bootcamps Online
• Best Data Science Bootcamps
• Best Java Bootcamps
• 5 Best UI/UX Design Bootcamps
• Best Online Data Analytics Bootcamps

Best Software Engineering Bootcamp Options

Should you enroll in a software engineering bootcamp online, online software engineering bootcamp credibility, how to find the right online software engineering bootcamp for you, how to pay for an online software engineering bootcamp, frequently asked questions (faqs) about online software engineering bootcamps, coding temple software engineering bootcamp, thinkful software engineering bootcamp, hackbright academy software engineering program, general assembly software engineering bootcamp, devmountain java software engineering bootcamp, best for job guarantee.

Total Upfront Cost

Job Guarantee?

Official Hiring Partners

Accenture, Cisco, LinkedIn, Salesforce

Coding Temple offers an online software engineering bootcamp with flexible enrollment options. The part-time and full-time programs use live instruction, while the flex program is self-paced.

Learners build portfolios based on industry knowledge and skills. Graduates who fail to find a qualifying job within 270 days are entitled to a full tuition refund.

In addition to its job guarantee, Coding Temple provides detailed graduate outcome data. Graduates spend a median of 81 days looking for a job and report a median salary of $75,000.

• Time Commitment: 12 weeks at 50+ hours/week (full-time); 14 weeks at 30+ hours/week (part-time); six months, self-paced (flex)
• Bootcamp Enrollment Options: Part-time, full-time, self-paced
• Notable Bootcamp Courses: Foundations of web development, database management and manipulation, intermediate to advanced programming techniques
• Prerequisites: N/A
• Finance Options: Installment plan, deferred tuition
• Scholarships Available: Coding Temple offers more than $10,000 in scholarships each quarter

Best for students with busy schedules

Amazon, Google, IBM, Webflow

Thinkful’s software engineering bootcamp offers a flexible part-time schedule that takes as little as 20 hours per week. Its flexibility makes Thinkful’s program the best option for busy students, particularly those balancing work with a bootcamp.

Learners receive on-demand technical coaching, one-on-one mentorship and personalized career coaching. By partnering with mentors in the industry, students gain real-world insights into software engineering careers. Thinkful’s career support includes mock interviews, thematic workshops and career advancement resources.

• Time Commitment: 6 months at 20 to 30 hours/week
• Bootcamp Enrollment Options: Part-time
• Notable Bootcamp Courses: Software architectural style, Client side
• Finance Options: Installment plan, Deferred tuition
• Scholarships Available: N/A

Best for intensive learning

Eventbrite, Reddit, SurveyMonkey

Take real-time online courses in the remote software engineering bootcamp from Hackbright Academy . The accelerated program immerses learners in labs, lectures and projects.

Focused on Python, the bootcamp incorporates a demo week to share independent projects and career preparation. Students partner with professional mentors and experienced instructors to prepare for software engineering jobs.

Learners need 40 hours of coding experience to join the bootcamp. Hackbright offers a prep course, with a scholarship designed for graduates of the course.

• Time Commitment: 12 weeks at 40 hours/week
• Bootcamp Enrollment Options: Part-time, full-time
• Notable Bootcamp Courses: Data modeling, data structures and APIs, web technologies
• Prerequisites: 40 hours of coding experience; Hackbright offers a prep course
• Finance Options: Third-party loans
• Scholarships Available: Hackbright Changemaker Scholarship, Hackbright prep grad scholarship

Best for beginners

Apple, Cash App, Geico, Mastercard

The software engineering bootcamp at General Assembly incorporates live coding instruction and one-on-one career coaching. In this beginner-friendly program, students examine programming languages and frameworks while building professional-grade portfolios. Learners also explore ways to leverage AI as a software engineer.

The personalized student learning experience includes self-paced pre-work to enter the program prepared. General Assembly offers technical interview prep and exclusive access to career workshops. Graduates also benefit from a global network of hiring partners and alumni.

• Time Commitment: 12 weeks at 40 hours/week (full-time), 32 weeks at 15 hours/week (part-time
• Bootcamp Enrollment Options: Full-time, part-time
• Notable Bootcamp Courses: Front-end development, full-stack development, front-end frameworks and APIs
• Finance Options: Installment plan, third-party loans
• Scholarships Available: GA scholarships

Best for focused career preparation

With bootcamps in Java software engineering and Python software engineering, Devmountain prepares graduates for focused career paths. Learners build portfolios through live instruction and problem-solving projects.

Devmountain offers one-on-one career support, job negotiation training and interview coaching. Graduates also receive access to hiring events and networking opportunities.

Choose from full-time or part-time schedules, with flexible options for working professionals adding software engineering skills to enhance their careers. The Java software engineering bootcamp reports a 100% graduation rate for recent cohorts.

• Time Commitment: 16 weeks at 40 hours/week (full-time), 36 at 20 hours/week (part-time)
• Notable Bootcamp Courses: Spring Boot web framework, Computer science algorithms, Data structures

A tech bootcamp can save you time and money. But is it the right choice for you?

Bootcamps provide career-focused training in as little as 12 weeks. In a software engineering bootcamp, you’ll explore programming languages, full-stack development and software problem-solving techniques. Most programs use a project-based curriculum that culminates in a professional portfolio.

Choosing an online format gives you more options and greater flexibility. Rather than attending bootcamp classes in person, you’ll learn from home. Before investing in a bootcamp, make sure to research your options and consider your software engineering career goals.

Colleges and universities use accreditation to ensure quality and regulate higher education. In comparison, bootcamps operate with significantly fewer regulations. That means you’ll need to carefully research potential bootcamps to determine their quality and credibility.

So how can you find a reliable bootcamp? The Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR), a nonprofit organization, offers a standardized system for evaluating student outcomes among bootcamps. CIRR provides data on bootcamp graduation rates, job placement rates and job guarantee programs.

Your choice of software engineering bootcamp can make or break your experience. Even a top-ranked program might not fit your schedule or budget. Before committing to any bootcamp, consider the following factors.

What’s Your Availability?

Online software engineering bootcamps can take as little as 12 weeks, but your specific schedule will help determine the right bootcamp for you.

Many software engineering bootcamps require an intensive, full-time commitment. These programs are not designed for working professionals since they don’t leave enough time to maintain a full-time job. Other programs use part-time or self-paced schedules. Consider whether live class sessions fit your schedule or if you’d prefer recorded lectures.

What’s Your Budget?

The cost of a software engineering bootcamp varies widely. For our ranking, we evaluated bootcamps ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 in tuition.

Factor in financing plans when determining your budget. If you can afford to pay tuition upfront, you can often save money in the long run. Installment plans and income-sharing agreements might cost more over time, but they can also break up the total program cost to make budgeting more manageable.

Bootcamps offer several payment and financing options. But what’s the difference between installments and loans, and how does an income share agreement work? Understanding your financing options can save you money and make tuition payments easier to manage.

How Much Does an Online Software Engineering Bootcamp Cost?

The median cost of a coding bootcamp reached $9,500 in Nov. 2023, according to research by Forbes Advisor. However, the same bootcamp can cost different amounts depending on enrollment status and financing plan. For example, Coding Temple’s software engineering bootcamp costs $9,000 for the flex program, $13,000 for the part-time option and $16,000 for the full-time option.

Upfront Payment

You’ll probably pay the lowest total price if you opt for upfront payments, since many bootcamps offer a discount for paying your tuition in a lump sum. But with this payment option, you’ll need to pay your tuition in full before starting the program.

Pay in Installments

Installment plans break up the total cost of a bootcamp into several smaller payments. For example, for a 12-week bootcamp, you might make three monthly payments. However, you’ll usually pay more overall if you choose installments rather than an upfront payment.

Income Share Agreement (ISA)

With an ISA, you’ll complete your bootcamp in exchange for a percentage of your future income, often 2% to 10% of your monthly gross earnings for a predetermined period. Depending on the ISA, you may end up paying up to twice the cost of your program with this payment plan since you’ll have to pay a set percentage of your income regardless of how much money you’re making.

Unlike other types of loans, ISAs are largely unregulated, which can negatively impact borrowers.

Job Guarantee

Some bootcamps offer job guarantees, promising to refund tuition if graduates do not receive a qualifying job offer. Make sure to read the fine print on job guarantees. For example, bootcamps may require students to track job-seeking activity, pass mock interviews and show a strong attendance record to qualify for a tuition refund.

Loans, Scholarships and Other Aid

While federal student aid is largely unavailable for bootcamps, you may qualify for private loans, scholarships or aid from other resources. For example, you might use GI Bill® or VET TEC benefits for many online bootcamps. As with other payment options, carefully review the terms for loans or other forms of aid.

Are bootcamps worth it for software engineering?

A software engineering bootcamp can prepare you for a variety of tech careers. You’ll strengthen your programming and problem-solving skills through a career-focused curriculum. Choosing a bootcamp with strong career support can help boost your overall return on investment.

Can I become a software engineer with just a bootcamp?

Yes, you can become an entry-level software engineer or software developer with a bootcamp. Many top tech programs hire graduates from the best bootcamps.

Are online tech bootcamps worth it?

Yes, online tech bootcamps can be worth it . Bootcamps are faster and cheaper than degree-granting programs, and many companies hire bootcamp graduates. In a survey of coding bootcamp graduates , Forbes Advisor found that around 80% saw a moderate or significant increase in their salaries after completing their bootcamps.

Do companies hire software engineers from bootcamps?

Yes, many companies hire software engineers from bootcamps. Credible bootcamps often list their hiring partners, which include many major tech companies.

Genevieve Carlton holds a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University and earned tenure at the University of Louisville. Drawing on over 15 years of experience in higher education, Genevieve provides practical, research-based advice on college degrees, career training and other higher education topics.

The Best Free AI Training Courses You Can Start This August

92% of those working in information and communication technology will see “high or moderate transformation” thanks to AI tools, according to a new report .

If that’s your field, there’s one clear solution: Upskilling with some AI training courses that can help you figure out how to apply the new technology to speed up your tasks. Top areas to improve in include prompt engineering — the term for writing text commands to ChatGPT or similar generative text bots — as well as AI literacy and data analytics .

The good news is that learning the basics of AI won’t need to cost you a dime: Plenty of online courses are available for free to help the general public get their grounding in the new technology.

Here, we’ve rounded up all the top courses available this month, with a wide range that covers general and specific training areas, as well as those that will take months to complete alongside courses that can be covered entirely in one afternoon.

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Polytechnic University of Milan: Artificial Intelligence – an Overview Specialization

⏰ Length: About 24 hours

Italy’s biggest technical university has expanded online with this course, which is itself composed of five smaller courses that will last a grand total of 24 hours. If you fit in three hours a week, you can complete it in a tidy two-month period. Since it’s available in 21 different languages, you won’t have to worry about brushing up on your Italian, which is molto bene .

The five course titles you’ll complete include: Artificial Intelligence: An Overview; Ethics of Artificial Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence and Legal Issues; Technologies and Platforms for Artificial Intelligence; and, finally, Machine Learning: an Overview.

That’s a broad swath of key subject matter for AI beginners, all from a top university. It pairs management knowledge alongside concepts including algorithms and machine learning, so middle managers can benefit from the practical AI upskilling they need as well.

You can get started today, over on Coursera .

IBM: AI Foundations for Everyone Specialization

⏰ Length: About 33 hours

Join the 30,000 students of IBM’s own round-up of beginner courses for AI with a selection that starts with the straightforwardly titled “Introduction to AI,” and includes three others: Generative AI: Introduction and Applications; Generative AI: Prompt Engineering Basics; and Building AI Powered Chatbots Without Programming.

IBM has a long history of cutting-edge computing knowledge, making them the natural pick for an intro course on the latest tech tool, Large Language Models. The initial intro course is just 8 hours long, and you won’t have to commit to more than that if you’re just hoping to wade into the topic a little.

Stick with the entire suite of courses, however, and you’ll pick up knowledge that can help you distinguish between generative AI and discriminative AI, identify the typical models and tools used for generating text, code, images, audio, or video, and even digest the most common approaches when it comes to writing effective prompts.

You can check out all the IBM introductory courses now on Coursera.

3Blue1Brown: But What Is a Neural Network?

⏰ Length: About 1.5 hours

Look, sometimes Coursera is a little too much effort. But who isn’t a fan of YouTube essays? Check out this 6-video playlist for a fast-paced, digestible approach to teaching people about a single term that most average people know next to nothing about: neural networks.

YouTuber 3Blue1Brown breaks down physics and math concepts, with the overall goal of educating his audience on the principles behind STEM concepts rather than forcing them to tackle rote math problems. The videos are easy to follow, and if you’ve ever found yourself sucked into a four-hour YouTube video on something like a theme park before, you’re not going to be surprised to hear that this course is easily the most fun option in this guide.

Different videos cover concepts like gradient descent, GPTs, and backpropagation. In under two hours, you can emerge with a nuanced grasp on why neural networks are so interesting and potentially powerful. Head over to Youtube for the full playlist .

IBM: Machine Learning with Python

⏰ Length: About 13 hours

If you’re already familar with the popular programming language Python, perhaps you’re better off skipping the general-knowledge courses and hopping right into a specific one: IBM’s guide to machine learning in relationship to Python. It’s not just a huge programming language with a myriad of applications across the tech industry; it’s one of the biggest languages within the world of AI tech.

With this course, you’ll learn about the most common Machine Learning algorithms, as well as a range of linear classification methods, from multiclass prediction and support vector machines to logistic regression. Plus, you’ll write your own Python code for decision or regression trees, and learn the right metrics to use when evaluating data sets.

You can check out the Python course here, or you can head over to the larger AI engineering certificate that this course is just one element within.

DeepLearning.AI: Generative AI for Everyone

⏰ Length: About 5 hours

The AI-focused education technology company DeepLearning.AI has a handful of intro courses available. You can start with this generative AI course, but there are plenty of others that should be enough to keep you busy for a while.

Site founder Andrew Ng teaches it, covering basics including how the tech works, what opportunities and risks it presents, and “how to think through the lifecycle of a generative AI project, from conception to launch, including how to build effective prompts.”

Strategy and productivity are stressed as skills you’ll gain from this one, placing it high on the list of quick courses for general workers and managers who want to figure out how AI tools can actually help them speed up their daily tasks. Visit Coursera to get started on this one today.

Prompt Engineer Your Way Into AI Learning

AI won’t be fully taking over the world anytime soon. According to some, the hype cycle is already dying down.

But the overblown threat of AI wiping out entire career paths will likely give way to a more mundane reality: AI tools will slip into everyday use in tiny ways. AI won’t become a project manager, but project managers can use the right AI tools to become 10% more efficient when drafting emails or adding meetings to their calendar.

It’s all a matter of knowing what steps to take, which is why we have a host of guides ourself, from how to write AI prompts to creating your own resume templates to integrating a new ChatGPT-powered application into your workflow.

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• Artificial Intelligence

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27 of the best MIT courses you can take online for free

TL;DR: A wide range of online courses from MIT are available to take for free on edX.

edX hosts a wide range of free online courses from top educational institutions like MIT. And the courses cover seriously useful topics like AI, modern finance, Python programming, and much more.

We recommend taking some time to check everything out, but if that sounds like too much work, we've lined up a selection of standout options to get you started. These are the best free online courses from MIT this month:

Cell Biology: Cell-Cell Interactions

Cell Biology: Transport and Signaling

Circuits and Electronics 1: Basic Circuit Analysis

Circuits and Electronics 2: Amplification, Speed, and Delay

Circuits and Electronics 3: Applications

Collaborative Data Science for Healthcare

Data Analysis: Statistical Modeling and Computation in Applications

Derivatives Markets: Advanced Modeling and Strategies

Energy Economics and Policy

Financial Accounting

Foundations of Modern Finance

Foundations of Modern Finance II

Fundamentals of Statistics

Genetics: Analysis and Applications

Genetics: Population Genetics and Human Traits

Genetics: The Fundamentals

Introduction to Biology: The Secret of Life

Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science

Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python

Machine Learning with Python: From Linear Models to Deep Learning

Management in Engineering: Accounting and Planning

Mathematical Methods for Quantitative Finance

Supply Chain Analytics

Supply Chain Dynamics

Supply Chain Fundamentals

Sustainable Building Design

Sustainable Energy

These free courses do not come with a certificate of completion, but that's the only catch. You can still learn at your own pace with unrestricted access to all the course materials. That sounds like a pretty good deal, don't you think?

Find the best free online courses from MIT on edX.

Topics Artificial Intelligence Careers

Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming services, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.

Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable's sister site, AskMen.

Training Industry

2024 top online learning library companies.

Training Industry is the most trusted source of information on the business of learning. Our Top Online Learning Library List is based on thorough analysis of the capabilities, experience and expertise of online learning library providers.

A corporate learning library is a repository of on-demand content for corporate and individual learning and development. Online learning libraries can be internally created and curated, accessed by learners on external sites, or a blend of the two.

These companies are comprehensive or specialized online course providers that offer on-demand content solutions, that cover a range of subject areas or topics and offer advanced features and capabilities.

We continuously monitor the training marketplace looking for the best providers of online learning libraries that offer a breadth of capabilities and services. This annual list is designed to help buy-side organizations in their search for the right training partners.

Selection of this year’s Top Online Learning Library Companies List was based on the following criteria:

• Breadth and quality of courses, features and capabilities.
• Industry visibility, innovation and impact in the online learning library market.
• Client and user representation.
• Business performance and growth.

Looking for a online learning library provider for your organization?

Click on a company’s logo below to find more information about its products and services. Continue scrolling for this year’s  Online Learning Library Watch List Companies , representing companies with emerging or unique strengths and capabilities.

Click  here  for more online learning library solutions.

Due to the diversity of solutions included in online learning libraries, no attempt is made to rank the companies.

Top 20 Companies

Watch List Companies

Our 2024 Online Learning Library Companies Watch List  is intended to help buyers of training services evaluate online learning library providers, representing emerging or unique strengths and capabilities.

Selection of the Watch List is based on the same criteria used for Top 20 companies.

Click on a company’s logo below to find more information about its products and services.

CMR Institute

Click "View Company" to learn more!

Juice Talent Development T/A Recruitment Juice

getAbstract

Chart Learning Solutions

Syneos Health

Geigle Safety Group, Inc. DBA OSHAcademy

Interskill Learning

Dale Carnegie

NetCom Learning

KnowledgeCity, Inc.

Michael Management Corporation

UL Solutions

Bigger Brains

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Cowboys training camp: Trevon Diggs is back and doing what he does best

Trevon Diggs was back doing team period work for the first time on Wednesday, and he picked up where he left off.

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It's been a slow build-up for Dallas Cowboys star cornerback Trevon Diggs. Since he was officially removed from the PUP list on July 30th, the team has taken a deliberate approach to re-acclimating their star defender.

However, for the first time since his injury, Diggs was back amongst his teammates seemingly without restriction.

Trevon Diggs integrated back into the team period

In a unique decision, Dallas and the Los Angeles Rams chose to do another joint practice together despite doing so last week and already playing a preseason game against one another. The opportunity provided another situation for both teams to get organic repetitions against unfamiliar opponents.

It's quality work that both teams are going to benefit greatly from, and for the first time since tearing his ACL last season, Diggs was able to participate as well.

Trevon Diggs is taking first-team reps in full team scrimmage drills for #Cowboys against the Rams. pic.twitter.com/DtbKRklKlv — Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) August 14, 2024

Diggs was on the field and working with the first-team unit in his customary spot. It's something all who are connected with Cowboys Nation has been waiting on.

On the surface, it may appear that Diggs is just doing what everybody else is doing. And while that is true, it's another box checked on his road to being back to full-go following the injury and it plays an important part in the process.

However, what was unordinary about Diggs on Wednesday, serves as a reminder of just what the Cowboys were missing with him out last season. His ability to bait quarterbacks and take the football away at an elite level is something that is truly rare, and he was back to his old ways not long after being back.

Day 1 of team period and @TrevonDiggs is right back to doing what he does. ( : @calvinwatkins ) pic.twitter.com/KD6uTvRx88 — Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) August 14, 2024

Not only was he back participating, Diggs was back and making plays. Diggs is seen trailing his receiver, giving the quarterback just enough foolish confidence to actually throw the ball before the seasoned veteran leaps into action, snatches the football out of the air, and hauls in the interception.

The crowd, his teammates, and even the defensive back's coach, Al Harris, are all seen and heard hollering. It's because they know Diggs is back in action, and he's back to his old ways.

More From Blogging The Boys

• Cowboys trade: Dallas adds DT Jordan Phillips from Giants
• Cowboys would love to get more from Andrew Booth Jr. than their last CB swap
• Cowboys roster news: Dallas signing OT Cohl Cabral
• Cowboys training camp: Chauncey Golston flashes in Dallas’ second joint practice
• Trey Lance’s name might come up with the Vikings losing QB J.J. McCarthy for the season
• Cowboys 2024 training camp practice #13 live thread: Updates and open discussion

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