Python continues to dominate the programming world, making it a top choice for newcomers. And thanks to its popularity, there are tons of learning resources for it out there. Sounds great, right?
Well, if you’ve tried researching for Python resources, you’ll know that there are far too many 💩 and 💸 courses out there. It’s easy to feel swamped when looking for the best course to embark on your Python journey.
Fortunately for you, I’ve taken the time to sift through the maze of courses available so you don’t have to.
In this Best Courses Guide (BCG), you’ll discover the cream of the crop when it comes to online Python courses. I’ve focused on courses that are comprehensive with lots of coding exercises to practice, and to my surprise there’s quite a few hidden gems in this collection. Not only are the majority of them free or free-to-audit, three of them even offer a free certificate or badge upon completion. That’s right, you can get top-notch education without the hefty price tag while receiving a certificate as proof of your accomplishments. How awesome is that?
Python’s versatility stretches across various domains, from web development and data analysis to artificial intelligence and scientific computing. Keeping this in mind, I’ve curated a mix of courses to cater to diverse interests, whether they’re offered by prestigious universities, innovative open-source projects, or passionate individuals eager to share their expertise. Dive in and find the course that fits your aspirations perfectly!
Click on the shortcuts for more details:
Here are our top picks
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What is Python?
In the ever-evolving landscape of programming, some languages come and go, while others, like Python, solidify their place in the pantheon of coding giants.
Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language lauded for its simplicity. Created by Guido van Rossum in the late 1980s, Python was built with readability at its core, which not only speeds up the development process but also makes it an excellent entry point for beginners. That is why it is the most taught introductory language in U.S. universities, as well as being a very popular language among scientists and academics.
Python’s versatility is evident in its wide range of applications, from web development using frameworks like Django and Flask, to scientific computing with tools like SciPy and NumPy, and even video games with PyGame. A testament to its popularity is its ranking on the TIOBE index, where it currently tops the leaderboard. Similarly, on GitHub, a hub for coders to collaborate, Python proudly holds the second spot in usage. Not to be left behind, the 2024 Stack Overflow survey places Python as the third most favored language, following closely behind JavaScript and HTML/CSS.
Especially in the spheres of machine learning and data analysis, Python stands out. Various surveys have indicated a majority of professionals lean towards Python, largely thanks to robust libraries like TensorFlow, Keras, and Pandas. Coincidentally, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, the demand for machine learning and data science specialists will be growing faster than for any other field through 2025.
Courses Overview
- Eight courses are entirely free or free-to-audit. Two are paid
- Three of the courses offer free certifications
- All except two courses are beginner-friendly
- All courses use Python 3.
If you’re an avid reader of my BCGs (thank you :D), you might suspect my love for Helsinki’s MOOCs. And Python Programming MOOC 2024 is no exception.
What makes this Helsinki course so great from the rest of the crowd?
- Completely free to enroll, with access to all of the course content. Nothing of the usual limited free-trial / free-to-audit hanky panky
- Accessible to anyone and everyone, no prior programming experience needed
- Incredibly comprehensive and easy-to-understand lessons with optional video lectures
- Over 250+ well-designed coding exercises and quizzes with instant feedback and automatic grading. Hands-on experience is absolutely crucial when starting out. You’ll start doing exercises in the browser before moving over to Visual Studio Code, a popular code editor, once you have enough experience. Every exercise has a model solution for you to compare your answers with
- Official community support channel on Discord
- And best part of all, after completing the exams (dates here), you can get a certificate of completion for free!*
After reading all of that, you better be as excited about the course as I am. In fact, I’m quite jealous as the materials here are better than what my university taught.
Now, let me get to the content of the course. This course is actually made up of two courses: Introduction to Programming and Advanced Course in Programming. Upon completion of both courses, you’ll be able to write programs and understand how they work, including the topics like algorithms, control structures, subprograms, and object-oriented programming. And you’ll prove this by creating a fully-fledged video game that’ll be peer reviewed by fellow learners.
*If you wish to have the course completion and the ECTS credits entered in the University of Helsinki’s student records, enroll through the Open University once you have completed the course.
| Institution | University of Helsinki |
| Level | Beginner to Advanced |
| Workload (in ECTS) | 140 + 140 hours |
| Cost | Free |
| Exercises | Available, graded exercises and exams |
| Certificate | Free |
A strong contender to Helsinki’s course is Harvard’s CS50x course, Introduction to Programming with Python. Not only does it match the comprehensive content and thorough assessments of Helsinki’s offering, but it also takes a leap forward in its impeccable production value.
With the course drawing in references from contemporary pop culture for its examples and exercises, along with the instructor, David Malan, himself being an excellent presenter to listen to, you’ll find that the lectures in this course are strangely addictive!
Another bonus? There’s no need for additional software installations. You’ll be able to dive into coding using an in-browser version of VSCode, customized specifically for the CS50 experience.
And the cherry on top: Unlike the majority of edX courses, the entirety of the CS50 courses is accessible for free. That means unhindered access to all resources, including the auto-graded exercises, notes, projects, etc. And to showcase your accomplishment, you can secure a free but unverified certificate or opt for a verified one for a nominal fee. See Manoel’s guide for more information.
Thus if you rather much prefer learning from video lectures rather than reading blocks of text, CS50x is right for you.
| Institution | Harvard University |
| Provider | edX |
| Instructor | David J. Malan |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 30–90 hours |
| Enrollments | Over 1M |
| Cost | Free |
| Exercises | Available, graded exercises and final project |
| Certificate | Free (unverified) or Paid (verified) |
Any Python course guide can’t really be considered complete if it doesn’t have Dr. Chuck’s course, can it?
Programming for Everybody (or Python for Everybody) is an excellent course meant for absolute beginners. And I really mean it when I say absolute beginners. Whereas other beginner courses might skip over some introductory stuff for the sake of brevity and that “it’s intuitive to understand”, this course doesn’t. Dr. Chuck explains how computers and programming work in a very friendly and understandable way, to the point where you’ll never get bored listening to him! So I really recommend this course for anyone who finds the abstractness of programming scary.
Now, just because this course is for absolute beginners doesn’t mean that the things it teaches are absolutely basic — far from it. It delves into everything you need to know about Python in order to create web applications, including object-oriented programming, a way to represent code like real-world objects. It discusses how data is passed from your PC to a server, explains web protocols like HTTP or APIs like JSON, as well as databases that can store huge amounts of data. And if you’re paying for the course, you’ll also work on not-so-trivial projects throughout this course, such as a search engine or visualizing email data. Don’t worry if you’re not though, you won’t be missing out on hands-on experience, for you’ll find many quizzes and exercises to complete.
Since this course is super duper popular, there are multiple ways to take this course: book or video form. The book the course is based on has been translated into many different languages and formats, but the book I recommend you follow along is the interactive one.
If you want to learn by watching videos, you can choose from the following: Coursera, edX, YouTube, or his website. The first three offer a paid certificate. Otherwise if you don’t want to pay a dime for the course, go for the website as not only is it completely free, but it also offers an equivalent learning experience to the other course providers I’ve mentioned, such as a grade book, auto-graded assignments, peer-graded exercises, discussion forums, and even free badges.
| Institution | University of Michigan |
| Provider | Coursera |
| Instructor | Charles Severance |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 28 hours |
| Enrollments | 3.1M |
| Rating (Coursera) | 4.8 / 5.0 (228K) |
| Cost | Free-to-Audit / Free |
| Exercises | Available, graded exercises |
| Certificate | Paid |
