Top Free Online Courses and Continuing Education 2026
You want to continue your education online for free and also earn a certificate? In this article, you will learn which course providers are truly free and whether they also offer a certificate.
Over 500 free online courses | with certificate?
You want to continue your education online for free and maybe even earn a certificate? In this article, you'll find out which course providers are truly free and whether they also offer a certificate.Who offers free online courses?
Knowledge generally costs money, yet there are actually some free online courses and platforms.These providers are available:
- Free platforms (MOOCs): Massive Open Online Courses with a wide range of subjects and flexible start times.
- University lectures: Free lecture recordings and teaching materials from renowned universities.
- Other specialized platforms and courses: E-learning offerings for programming, book summaries, creative work, and marketing.
Are the online courses really free?
As already mentioned, there are indeed free courses; they are funded in different ways:1. Free platforms (MOOCs)
- Registration and participation in a MOOC are usually free.
- Only if you want an optional certificate at the end of the course will you be asked to pay.
- The participants who pay or donate for a certificate make it possible to keep the course accessible for all participants for free.
OpenHPI
Open vhb
KI-Campus
Google Zukunftswerkstatt
FutureLearn
Coursera
edX
Studyflix
Opencourseworld
Iversity
Oncampus
Kadenze
OpenLearn
Alison
Khan Academy
Udemy
2. Video lectures from universities
- Many universities make their lectures available online for free.
3. Other platforms and online courses
- These are often offered by companies. The companies hope to gain more attention or sell other products.
- E-learning platforms with free trial periods.
Blinkist
Getabstract
Bitdegree
JetBrains Academy
Freecodecamp
Codecademy
Skillshare
CreativeLive
Adobe
Facebook Blueprint
HubSpot Academy
Top free online courses | with certificate?
The e-learning platforms listed here offer a high number of courses and a wide range of topics. The description indicates whether the providers offer a certificate or a confirmation of participation.OpenHPI
- The e-learning platform of the Hasso Plattner Institute offers many free courses. To participate in the courses, you only need to create an account on the platform.
- The courses consist of: videos, reading materials, self-tests, quizzes, final exams.
- 📜You can receive a confirmation of participation, a certificate, or a paid qualified certificate.
Open vhb
- The virtuelle Hochschule Bayern offers free online courses consisting of texts, quizzes, and mostly videos.
- 📜After completing a course, a free certificate of participation can often be downloaded. I became aware of Open vhb through a comment on this post ; )
KI-Campus
- KI-Campus is an e-learning platform of the German Stifterverband and offers free German and English content.
- The courses are offered by various companies and universities, e.g., by IBM or TU Darmstadt. The learning content includes videos, texts, and infographics; after completing some lessons, there are module tests to check what you've learned.
- 📜At the end of a course, a free certificate can be downloaded.
Google Zukunftswerkstatt
- Google's online course platform offers many free online courses.
- 📜The course 'Fundamentals of Online Marketing' also offers a free certification.
FutureLearn
- FutureLearn has around 10 million learners and offers online continuing education courses on many topics.
- The courses in the 'short online courses' category are free in the basic version (without certificate).
- The courses usually last several weeks and take a few hours.
- The course language is English.
- 📜Certificates and actual degrees are subject to a fee.
Coursera
- Coursera is the largest provider of MOOCs worldwide with over 77 million course participants. The e-learning provider was founded in 2012 by two computer science professors from Stanford University. The learning platform therefore offers many learning contents from well-known universities.
- By registering for free and selecting the audit mode, you can take a course for free.
- Some courses can only be viewed with the premium version and you have to start a free trial subscription for that. You should be careful not to fall into the subscription trap.
- The course language is mostly English.
- 📜Certificates cost extra.
You can find more information about Coursera in the article about my experiences with Coursera.
edX
- The MOOC platform edX works similarly to Coursera and offers access to over 2500 courses.
- The course language is mostly English.
- 📜When you click 'Enroll Now', you can choose whether to receive a paid certificate or just be a free course participant (audit).
Studyflix
- The e-learning platform offers short animated videos for university students, school students, and trainees.
- The videos are free, but there are ad breaks between the videos.
- An alternative to Studyflix might be the YouTube channel Simpleclub.
- 📜No certificates or certificates of participation.
Opencourseworld
- Offers mostly free courses.
- There are relatively few courses on the platform.
- 📜Certificates are subject to a fee.
Iversity
- The online learning portal of Springer Natur publishing group.
- Among the many paid courses, you can also find some free ones; simply set the search filter to MOOCs.
- 📜The certificates cost extra, as is often the case.
Oncampus
- Offers online continuing education courses, degree programs, and online training.
- Among the extensive range of Oncampus, you can also find free video courses and continuing education courses.
- 📜Badges and continuing education certificates are available.
Kadenze
- The MOOC platform offers a lot of learning content for creative people.
- The course language is English.
- 📜Most continuing education courses are available in the stripped-down version with less content and without certificate free.
OpenLearn
- Is part of the Open University and offers a very large number of free e-learning courses.
- To take part in the courses, you first have to enter all your data into a registration form, which is a bit cumbersome, after that you can access all free courses.
- 📜At the end of the course you will receive a certificate of participation to download.
Alison
- The continuing education platform Alison was founded in Ireland and offers many different subject areas.
- In the free version, however, you always have to watch quite annoying ads to proceed to the next chapter.
- In my opinion, the courses also don't always have such high quality.
- 📜free certificates are available for some courses.
Khan Academy
- Online courses on mathematics, computer science, and natural science topics are offered. The platform is primarily aimed at school students.
- 📜No certificates
Udemy
- Udemy actually offers paid courses, but there are also some free ones on this page.
- 📜Certificates are only available for paid courses
Video lectures from universities:
English-language universities:- Harvard
- Yale
- Stanford
- 600 free courses - provided by 190 universities - A list created by Class Central
- 1500 free online courses from universities - An article created by Open Culture
Other platforms and online courses
📚 Books summarized
Blinkist
- The app summarizes the key points of non-fiction books in short texts and audio pieces.
- In the free Basic version, you get one selected summary for free every day.
Getabstract
- Works similarly to Blinkist, here too you get compressed book summaries.
- For students, access is completely free for a whole year.
🖥️ Programming and coding
Bitdegree
- BitDegree is an e-learning platform that is built on the blockchain.
- Occasionally you will find free programming courses here.
JetBrains Academy
- Helps you learn programming languages practically.
- The JetBrains Academy offers a free trial period.
- Courses in beta status are completely free because they are still in development.
Freecodecamp
- Freecodecamp is completely free, all courses for learning to code are included.
- 📜After completing all courses in a category, you receive a free completion certificate.
Codecademy
- Codecademy teaches you programming in online courses.
- Besides the premium version, there are many free courses.
💡 Tip: On Class Central you will find an up-to-date overview of free programming and IT certifications.
🎨 Creative courses
CreativeLive
- The learning portal offers thousands of courses for creative minds.
- The live online courses themselves are free.
Adobe
- Adobe sends a free livestream on Behance every day.
- Creative professionals show their work and explain Creative Cloud tools.
🛒 Marketing Courses
Facebook Blueprint
- Facebook Blueprint offers free online training in the marketing area.
- 📜Certificates are possible, but cost extra.
HubSpot Academy
- The software provider HubSpot offers free video courses on marketing, design, and sales.
- To register for the HubSpot Academy you need a company domain.
- The courses are available in German, English, French, and Spanish.
- 📜You can download certificates for free after the course ends.
Found the right course?
I hope you found the online course that suits you. If you haven't found what you're looking for yet, here is a list of 10 top online courses compared. I find it a bit unfortunate that there are hardly any online courses with a free certificate. Most providers charge an extra fee of between €30 and €100 or even more. Support this blog by sharing this post if you liked it. Can you think of any more free courses or platforms? Write them in the comments and help the community. I also appreciate broken links and feedback ; ) I do not guarantee that the courses or certificates are actually free, as providers could change that at any time.Table of contents
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Free
Flexible self-study
No certificate
English
