Top 18+ Best Free Online Python Courses & Certificates
Python has become increasingly popular in 2024 due to its versatility and dominance in areas like AI, machine learning, robotics, computing, and research.
So if you are looking to dive into any of those fields and make a career for yourself using Python, you’ve come to the right place!
After much research, I have compiled a list of the best free online Python courses and certificates in 2024 that will teach all you need to know about Python.
Also, with many of these online courses, you will be learning from industry experts, working with hands-on projects, and getting certificates of completion in most cases. So let’s begin!
| TOP PICKS FOR FREE ONLINE PYTHON COURSES | ||
|---|---|---|
Recommended  | Skillshare: Python 3 - A Beginner’s Guide to Python Programming
| Try This for Free → |
Degree Program  | Udacity: Learn Intermediate Python
| Learn More → |
Top Rated  | LinkedIn Learning: Python Essential Training
| Try This for Free → |
Industry Bootcamp  | edX: Professional Certificate in Python Data Science – IBM
| Learn More → |
For Beginners  | Udemy: Introduction to Python Programming
| Learn More → |
Top 18+ Best Free Online Python Courses, Classes & Certificates 2024
1. Python 3: A Beginner’s Guide to Python Programming (Skillshare)
First on my list is an outstanding beginner-level course that will teach you the foundations of Python so you can start tackling bigger challenges in no time. Over 15,000 students are already enrolled in this course so it comes highly rated.
Your instructor for this online class will be Tony Staunton, who is an entrepreneur, software developer, who has earned several awards from his various products and startups.
In this 7 ½ hour-long course broken down into 129 lessons, you will learn a number of fundamental Python 3 topics including variables, lists, input/output, dictionaries, conditionals, loops, functions, classes, files, errors handling, and much more. There are also 7 class projects where you can implement your new skills in an actionable way.
Currently, you can get one 1-month of Skillshare Premium for free if you are a new user, and benefit from a collaborative environment where learners share their own projects and learn from each other! Overall, hands down one of the best free online Python courses!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 7 ½ hours long
- Taught by software developer
- 1-month Skillshare premium for new users
- Collaborative learning environment
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
2. Learn Intermediate Python (Udacity)
If you already have a basic understanding of Python, then this intermediate-level Nanodegree program from Udacity might be perfect for you. You’ll complete this course with the ability to harness the advanced capabilities of Python and optimize complex applications such as data mining and object classification.
According to Udacity and their industry partners who hire from this program, successful completion means you’ll leave with a ” portfolio that demonstrates your ability to apply practitioner-level Python skills on the job”. You’ll also become proficient in key concepts like object-based design, code extension, and developing systems at scale.
Your instructors for this program are Sam Redmond and Gabriel Ruttner.
- Sam is the co-founder of Hedron Vision and holds a BS in Math and MS in Computer Science from Stanford, where he created CS 41: The Python Programming Language and lectured for four years.
- Gabe is the CTO at FeatherDocs and has built cloud-based machine learning and natural language processing services for early stage tech companies. He holds technical degrees from Cornell University and Stony Brook University.
Strengths of this online course:
- Intermediate Nanodegree Program with Certificate of completion
- 2 months long (estimated 10 hours/week)
- Hands-on projects led by veteran industry expert
- Technical mentor support & career services
- Financial aid available
3. Python Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
Employees at Google, Yahoo, and IBM use Python as their language of choice to write efficient and effective scripts. So if you are looking to follow in their footsteps and learn how to create well-designed scripts and maintain ongoing projects, this LinkedIn Learning course is an invaluable resource.
As for your instructor, you will be taught by Bill Weinman, an expert in Python who has been programming for more than three decades and has built his own consultancy/computer manufacturing company.
Through this beginner-level online course comprising of 4 ¾ hours of video lessons, you will learn everything from Python’s basic anatomy, conditionals, operators, loops, functions, and more advanced topics such as classes, exceptions, input/output, and many more.
You can access this online Python course for free if you are a new user on LinkedIn Learning and also get a verified certificate of completion at the end to showcase your newly acquired skills!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 4 ¾ hours long
- Taught by veteran industry expert
- Free access for new users
- Certificate of completion
4. Professional Certificate in Python Data Science – IBM (edX)
Whether you have just entered the job market or are looking to upgrade your data science career, this Python certification by IBM comprising of 5 progressive courses will make your career and promotion ready in the domain of Python Data Science.
You will have a 5-member team of elite data scientists from IBM taking you through the courses and teaching you everything: Joseph Santarcangelo, Ph.D., Alex Aklson, Ph.D., Linda Liu, Sourav Mazumder, and Saeed Aghabozorgi, Ph.D.
During the estimated 6 months that it will take you to complete the courses, you will get the opportunity to understand the language and how it is favorable for data science, practice data science using IBM’s Jupyter notebooks, learn to use the libraries pandas and NumPy, build data visualizations using matplotlib, folium, and seaborn, build machine learning models and solve real-life problems.
You will have the flexibility to learn completely at your own pace, and will become a certified data science practitioner at the end!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner-to-advanced
- 5 courses
- Taught by elite data scientists from IBM
- Estimated time to complete: 6 months
- Data science oriented
- Professional certification
5. Python 3: Programming in Python for Beginners (Skillshare)
For those of you without any prior programming knowledge at all, this beginner-level Python course offers the right amount of beginner lessons balanced with practical exercises to get you comfortable with writing programs in Python.
Arkadiusz Włodarczyk, a professional teacher and programmer with over 10 years of experience, will be taking you through the course contents. His teaching style is also extremely easy to follow, even for complete beginners.
Over the span of 11 ¼ hours of content broken into 73 online video lessons, you will learn to import basic Python libraries, write functions, manipulate strings, handle files, make a mini-game, install external packages, and operations to name a few.
Students can also benefit from a community of 5500+ students, 21 class projects, and the ability to talk directly with the instructor. There is also a 1-month free trial available for new users looking to learn Python online.
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 11 ¼ hours long
- Professional teacher and programmer
- A community of 5500+ students
- Free 1 month of Skillshare premium for new users
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
6. Introduction to Python Programming (Udemy)
If you are someone who is interested in entering the world of Python programming/software development for writing your own scripts and functions. This Udemy course, which has over 520,000 students enrolled, might be the right fit for you.
For this online Python course, you will be taught by Avinash Jain, a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Computer Science and Electrical Engineering who is also the founder and CEO of TheCodex.me. So for up-to-date lessons and teachings from an industry-leading expert, you can’t go wrong.
In this 4 ½ hours long beginner-level course, you will be taught all the basics of Python from variables, operations, functions, loops, and conditionals. There are also some additional lessons on more advanced topics such as exceptions, object-oriented programing, inheritance, and file-handling.
Also included in this Udemy course is a verified certificate of completion (for a small fee), class projects, resources, the ability to download lessons, and the option to learn on mobile devices. Overall, this is one of the best free online Python courses in 2024!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 4 ½ hours long
- Taught by the founder of an online educational platform
- 30-day money-back guarantee by Udemy
- Certificate of completion
7. Programming for Everybody – Getting Started With Python (Coursera)
First in a five-course specialization on Coursera titled ‘Programming for Everybody’ is a beginner-level online course specifically tailored for the Python programming language.
Charles Russell Severance will be teaching you in this course who is a Professor at the University Of Michigan School Of Information, and a top instructor on Coursera who has more than 2 million students.
For those looking to learn from a leading expert from one of the top universities in America, this is an outstanding opportunity.
Over a span of 19 hours, Dr. Charles will teach you how to set up Python on your computer and write your first program, store, retrieve, and calculate information using variables, be able to work with the basics of the programming language and implement functions/loops to name a few.
Currently, there is a 7-day free trial available for those wanting to take this online course which also provides a printable certificate of completion. Overall, this is a comprehensive online Python course taught by one of the leading experts in the field.
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 19 hours long
- First in 5-part specialization
- Taught by author of book ‘Python for Everybody’
- Financial aid available
- Certificate of completion
8. Python Quick Start (LinkedIn Learning)
You may have an idea for a project or application in mind and received a suggestion that you should implement it using Python. To find out if Python really is the best language for your needs, this short 1 ½ hour-long introduction to Python should help you make that decision.
Your instructor for this course is Lavanya Vijayan, who is part of the Coder School in Berkeley and has also been a First Code Academy instructor. Lavanya has also contributed to two programming courses at the University of California Berkeley including Introduction to Data Science.
In this beginner-level class, you will be first taught about the background of Python itself, what makes it a good option for various tasks, and then you will move on to programming basics such as types of data, variables, functions, lists, conditionals, loops, recursive functions, and much more.
If you are a new LinkedIn Learning user, you can access the course contents for free and earn a verified certificate of completion when using the 1-month free trial.
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 1 ½ hour long
- Experienced instructor
- Free access for new LinkedIn users
- Certificate of completion
9. Python in 90 Minutes (Skillshare)
For those who want to learn the basics of Python, and are short on time, this 90-minute beginner-level course on the fundamentals of Python is a great introduction.
As for your tutor, you will be led by Max S., a self-taught programmer who is proficient in multiple programming languages such as C, C++, and Python, and has been working as a Senior Data Scientist for the past few years.
In the 1 ½ hours that it will take you to complete the course, you will learn all the basics of Python which consist of variables, data types, comments, lists, Booleans, loops, conditionals, functions, modules, indentations, arithmetic operations, and many more.
Students can also further enhance their learning by interacting with the 2400+ students who are also taking the course. There is also a 1-month free trial that new users can take advantage of!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 1 ½ hour long
- Self-taught programmer
- 1 Month free trial of Skillshare premium
- A community of 2400+ students
Activate FREE Skillshare Trial
10. Python for Absolute Beginners! (Udemy)
Just as the title suggests, you should get yourself enrolled in this beginner-level Python course on Udemy if you are an absolute beginner and have no prior experience of programming in any language whatsoever. Join the community of 50,000+ students who have already enrolled in this course.
You will be instructed in this course by two skilled professionals: Joseph Delgadillo, a best-selling instructor with over 870,000 students on Udemy and an average rating of 4.2; and Nick Germaine, a Canadian software engineer with an average rating of 4.2 and over 720,000 students.
Through 2 ¼ hours of video lessons, you will learn a wide range of topics including how to install Python, how to run the scripts in a terminal, how to set up the PyCharm IDE, how to work with numbers, strings, and other data types, and implement functions, arguments, loops and much more.
You will have the opportunity to consolidate your learning by applying the skills you acquire in a final project, and earn a certificate of completion!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 2 ¼ hours long
- Top-rated instructors
- Certificate of completion
- Final project
11. Grow Your Python Skills (Pluralsight)
Next on my list is a one-stop-shop on Pluralsight for all things Python, and if you are serious about climbing the ladder of Python programming and becoming an advanced developer, you should definitely head over to this collection of 27 courses that will make you into an expert.
Instructors for these courses are recruited by Pluralsight itself, which selects the top educators and professionals from around the world so you can be sure that the learning process will be seamless and full of hands-on practice.
In the 27 courses that span a total of 57 hours, you will be taught everything from the very basics including variables, loops, functions, conditionals, operators, and object-oriented programming, to more advanced topics like code organization best practices, full-stack web development, and much more.
With Pluralsight, you will have the option to take a free 10-day trial to audit the content, and benefit from the experience of the instructors by staying up to date with the latest industry trends!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner/intermediate/advanced
- 27 courses with total of 57 hours of lessons
- Taught by top industry experts
- Free 10-day trial
- Flexible timeline
12. Introduction to Python (DataCamp)
If you have decided to learn Python so that you can get started with data analytics and carve out a career for yourself in the data science domain, then this DataCamp course is the perfect fit for you. The course has had close to 2.5 million participants including employees of top companies like Intel, EA Sports, and Roche.
Your instructor for this course will be Hugo Bowne-Anderson, an educator, writer, podcaster, and data scientist at DataCamp who is the host of DataFramed, the official podcast of DataCamp.
Through 4 hours of video lessons and 57 exercises, you will first learn all the basics of programming with Python including writing a simple script and understanding the data types.
You will then move on to working with lists, functions, and packages, before diving into NumPy, a Python library built for practicing data science.
If you are part of a team, you can benefit from DataCamp’s premium membership plans for teams that are much cheaper than those for single users!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner-to-intermediate
- 4 hours long
- Taught by expert data scientist
- Data science-oriented
- Learn NumPy
13. Learn Python 3 (Codecademy)
If you want to join the league of employees from top companies like Google, Facebook, NASA, and IBM who consolidated their Python skills online, then you should consider getting yourself enrolled in this course by Codecademy and join more than 45 million people who are learning and upgrading their skills.
Codecademy recruits educators to teach you who have a solid understanding of the subject matter and a deep passion for teaching, so you can rest assured that the question of having quality instructors for this course has already been taken care of.
In this 25 hours long beginner-level course, you will start with basics like syntax, functions, control flow, lists, loops, and strings, and then move on to more advanced topics like modules, dictionaries, files, classes, and function arguments.
Join this course if you want to work on several real-world projects that will really put your skills to the test and make a Python expert out of you!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 25 hours long
- Top-quality instructors
- Hands-on learning with multiple real-world projects
14. Using Python for Automation (LinkedIn Learning)
The ability to automate menial, boring and repetitive tasks has become quite sought-after in modern workplaces. So if you want to learn how to automate at will using Python and a couple of useful libraries (Beautiful Soup and Selenium), this is the right course for you. Join a community of over 40,000 other learners and become a master in the art of time-saving.
As for your instructor, you will be taught by Sam Pettus, an expert Python developer who has considerable experience consulting for various businesses and helping them raise the efficiency of their processes through automation.
Over the course of an hour in this advanced-level course, you will learn a lot of topics related to automation, including reading and writing files, organizing directories, using Beautiful Soup for web scraping, automating web browsing with Selenium, automating with APIS, creating API requests, linking API calls, and much more.
With LinkedIn, you can access the course for free if you are a new user and earn a certificate of completion at the end to share with your professional network!
Strengths of this online course:
- Advanced level
- 1 hour long
- Taught by an expert developer
- Free access for new users
- Certificate of completion
15. Python for Data Science Essential Training Part 1 (LinkedIn Learning)
Next on my list is a Python course on LinkedIn that is geared towards helping students learn the essentials of data science and utilize these skills in their workplace to make productive use of data. This intermediate-level course has over 54,000 students enrolled.
You will be instructed in this course by Lillian Pierson, P.E., who is a sought-after expert in the field of big data and data science and has authored several books, including the well-known Data Science for Dummies.
In this 6 hour long course, Lillian will be teaching you a wide range of data science topics, including filtering and selecting data, visualizing data using best practices, performing basic linear algebra, multivariate analysis, natural language processing, collaborative analytics, and much more.
You will have the opportunity to work on a project to bring all of your knowledge together and earn a certificate of completion at the end!
Strengths of this online course:
- Intermediate level
- 6 hours long
- Taught by published data scientist
- Data science-oriented
- Certificate of completion
16. Python Core and Advanced (Udemy)
This course is perfect for those of you who have had some experience of programming in Python at some point in your career but have gone out of practice and need to fill gaps in your knowledge. If that is you, this beginner-to-advanced course on Udemy is the perfect way for you to refresh and consolidate your skills.
Bharath Thippireddy, a best-selling instructor on LinkedIn with more than 300,000 students and 25 courses in various areas of technology and programming, will be your instructor for this course. He has an average rating of 4.4 stars given to him by over 44,000 students.
Through this 8 ½ hour-long course, Bharath will teach you an incredible breadth of topics, including writing your first program, using logic, conditionals, and loops, watching the input and output functions in action, getting deep into object-oriented programming, understanding inheritance and interfaces, using abstract classes, handling exceptions, and much more.
Although you can access the course contents for free, you can pay a nominal fee and get a verified certificate of completion and instructor Q&A service! Overall, this is one of the best free online Python courses.
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner-to-advanced
- 8 ½ hours long
- Best-selling instructor
- Free access to course contents
- Certificate of completion
17. Python from Beginner to Intermediate in 30 min (Udemy)
If you are looking for a course that will in a very short amount of time take you from a complete beginner with no knowledge of programming to someone comfortable with the basics and ready to dive into advanced topics, this Udemy offering is the perfect choice for you.
Your teacher for this course will be Gautam Devaraj, a web application developer who has more than 4 years of experience in the information security field and over 3 years of experience teaching online. Gautam has 75,000+ students on Udemy and a rating of 4.1 stars.
In this 1 ½ hour-long beginner-level online course, you will learn all the basics of the Python programming language that will enable you to efficiently program in Python, understand all the aspects of the language such as syntax, variables, and functions, and become comfortable enough on the basics to start learning more advanced topics.
You can take advantage of free access to learning material by enrolling in the free version of the course, or buy the course for a nominal fee and get a verified certificate!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 1 ½ hour long
- Taught by an experienced developer
- Free access to course contents
- Certificate of completion
18. Google’s Python Class (Google)
This ‘course’ is straight out of the vaults of Google – it has been used previously as a quick 2-day crash course in Python for Google employees who have a little bit of programming knowledge and need to get comfortable with writing code in Python. This is the perfect choice for you if you want to get learn at a rapid pace without missing out on hands-on practice.
Nick Parlante will be your instructor for this course. He works in Stanford’s CS department as a lecturer, recently teaching classes on object-oriented systems and internet technologies. He is also working in the engEDU group at Google.
Through 8 hours of video lessons and 5 challenging assignments, you will be introduced to all the basics of programming in Python, including strings, lists, sorting, dictionaries, files, regular expressions, utilities, and much more.
You can benefit from data files, solutions, and written support material that come along with this course, which is absolutely free to complete!
Strengths of this online course:
- Beginner level
- 8 hours long
- 5 challenging assignments
- Taught by Stanford lecturer
- Free access
Final Thoughts
If you’re in the process of becoming a digital nomad, have a look and see what jobs are best suited for your new big data skills. And for two other useful, easy to lean languages, check out our course reviews on JavaScript and SQL.
We hoped you found these online Python course reviews helpful. If you think we missed anything, drop it in the comments below.
Finally, if you’d prefer to get some Python help from a pro, have a look at some of the gigs offered on Fiverr. They are perfect for short-term, fast turnaround projects or to try out a new provider before signing up long-term. I’ve had great success with them on my business personally. Here are a few to get you started.
