Top 4 Sites and Apps for Free and Paid Online Courses
By: Alejandro Matos
Tags: Online, Apps, Courses, Websites, Free

1. Udemy

Udemy is an online learning platform that allows users to take online courses, as also make their own courses and publish them. This is a leading platform and there so many courses that you can take for free and paid. The price is set by the teacher but honestly I can tell you that paid courses are not as expensive as you may expect.

In this case Udemy is both, an application as well as a website and it’s easy to register and start taking online courses.

Pros

Udemy has a wide range of courses.

has a wide range of courses. Many courses are free.

You can learn by using the application on the go.

It is easy to use.

Cons

There are probabilities to pay for courses that are poorly taught.

Udemy doesn’t control the quality of courses, so, you might pay for a course which the audio quality is not that good, teacher doesn’t seem to know anything about the topic, video quality and many others.

I have taken courses in this platform and I can tell you personally is a really good platform for acquiring skills and yes, you can get a certificate after you finish the course, I do not assure you that this is going to help you on getting a job because the certificates aren’t validated by any organization. If you are working on a personal project and need to get a skill to continue, this is good for you.

Click here to visit Udemy.com.

2. LinkedIn Learning

Lynda.com, now LinkedIn Learning. This is a platform made by LinkedIn in order to bring online courses focused on computer science, specially in the industry of Software, Business and Creativity.

LinkedIn Learning is not a free platform, you can get it paying either a monthly or annual subscription as well as paying for individual course. For the monthly subscription you have to pay 29.99$USD, for the annual subscription 239.88$USD saving up to 30% and if you are wanting to buy an individual course the price for each is around 30-50$USD. Keep in mind that if you pay this subscription LinkedIn Premium will be included too so that you can get a job easier.

Pros

High quality courses with proficient teachers.

There are learning paths that allow you to learn as beginner to advanced as if you were taking a professional career.

Ability to watch and download video courses with the mobile app.

First month is free.

Cons

It’s quite expensive.

Teachers may be experts but hard to find entertaining ones.

Click here to visit LinkedIn Learning.

3. Google Digital Garage

This is a website made by Google in order to help people discover tools to make their business succeed, improve interview skills and prepare for the career you want as it’s described on the main page.

Google offers free online courses about Tech, Digital Marketing and Career Development. There’s only one course with an included certificate at the moment but this is only in the English version because there is a Spanish version with more courses with certifications and subtitles support. These certifications are validated by organizations, universities and institutions.

Pros

High quality courses.

Certifications are well recognized by universities.

Live Webinars that you can watch.

Cons

There is not an application, this is just on the web.

Limited amount of courses.

Not all the courses include certifications.

I have taken courses in this website and personally I can tell you that this is a good platform to learn but needs more courses, the teachers are really good at teaching, forgive the repetition, and I learned a lot from these courses, the Spanish version isn’t that bad and with subtitles you can still learn something and get certified for free.

Click here to visit the English version. / Click here to visit the Spanish version

4. Udacity

Udacity is an amazing platform well focused on tech courses, it’s courses catalogue is small but they are highly recognized.

This platform allows you to take some of their courses for free but you’ll need to pay for the certifications which from what I can tell, are really expensive but if you see it from the right angle it is a personal investment to improve a lot your resume.

Pros

Highly rated courses.

These courses are aimed to turn beginners into advanced, so, you’ll learn a lot.

Experienced teachers.

There’s an application but it’s not available in some countries.

Cons

Expensive courses, but I said before, you’ll be investing on improving your resume with the courses.

The catalog is only focused on technology, so, if you want to learn about marketing, social media or any other not related to technology, this isn’t for you.

As I was explaining, if you are planning to take a free course in Udacity, keep in mind that after you finish it the certificate will not be included until you buy it. Honestly the main thing on taking courses is getting the needed skills and even though the certificate is important is also good to have the knowledge.

Click here to visit Udacity.com