12 Free Online Certifications
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is a platform that offers free certifications after the successful completion of the course.
To participate, you need to have a LinkedIn profile and then choose your plan. Two paid plans cost $20 to $32 per month; however, there is a free one-month trial where you can access the materials without paying.
You’ll enjoy the following benefits when you join the platform;
- Access to over 16000 online courses taught by real professionals.
- You can take your lessons anytime and download the sessions for online viewing.
- The courses are personalized to meet your needs.
- You’ll get an online certificate that you can attach to your LinkedIn profile.
- The sessions are interactive, and you can access files and quizzes.
- You have access to LinkedIn premium, including job recommendations, InMail credits, unlimited profile viewing, and salary insights.
Also, employers can enroll their employees in the courses and get certifications.
You can download the app and get the most out of the training. After completing the course, you can showcase your certificate on your LinkedIn profile or download it to your PC for printing.
Google is the largest search engine with more than 70% of the market share. As well, it offers free online certifications through the Google Digital Garage platform.
There are over 100 online courses mainly in the following fields;
- Data & Tech
- Digital Marketing
- Career Development
- Google Cloud Platform
- Business communication
- Social psychology
The courses are free, and you can get accredited certificates which you can download and put on your resume.
Google Digital Garage has the following advantages;
- Unlimited access
- Instructional videos
- Comprehensive modules
Google also offers free live training sessions to help you build new skills. You only need to choose a course and pick a date.
In addition, the website has a list of upcoming webinars, including Digital marketing strategy, find your career goals, and how to build your resume.
The platform has tools and resources to help you develop skills, and these include;
- G Suite Learning Centre
- Grow My Store
- Good Ads Tools
Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Learn is a free online training platform that offers interactive sessions on Microsoft-based products.
The main objective is to help users become more proficient in modern technology and gain essential skills in fun and interactive sessions.
The platform offers role-based training as well as learning paths for:
- Azure developers
- Solution architects
- Administrators
- Microsoft Power BI
- PowerApps,
- Dynamics365
- Microsoft365
- Office and Visual Studio
You can access the following resources when you sign up:
- Track progress of the learning activities
- Create and share the course modules
- Save bookmarks on preferred topics
- Accrue points and your achievements
- Use and benefit from free Azure resources
- Access personalized recommendations
Coursera
Coursera is a web-based platform that partners with over 200 universities to deliver online courses to students worldwide.
Some of the resources include hands-on projects, courses, degree programs, and downloadable certificates.
You can also access the courses by downloading the Coursera app from App Store and Google Play.
Additionally, the platform also offers lecture videos, discussion forums, and course readings.
To access a free course;
- Create a free account
- Search for a course
- Click the section, ”Enroll for Free.”
- Click on the section Audit the Single Course and start your free course.
Example of free courses under Coursera platform:
| Course Title | University |
|---|---|
| Machine Learning | Stanford University |
| Indigenous Canada | University of Alberta |
| The Science of Well-Being | Yale University |
| Financial Markets | Yale University |
| Introduction to Psychology | Yale University |
| Writing in the Sciences | Stanford University |
| Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills | University of Michigan |
| Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand, and Behaviour | University of London |
| Stanford Introduction to Food and Health | Stanford University |
| First Step Korean | Yonsei University |
Udemy
Udemy Summary
- Wide target audience of learners
- Earn passive income from your courses
- Get your payments within 1 to 2 days
- Short minimum course duration (30 min)
Udemy was founded in May 2010 and has over 50,000 courses in more than 65 languages.
The platform allows individuals to create online courses, upload videos, and make them available to learners.
The courses cost $10 to $199, and some have up to 10% coupons on the purchases.
However, you can also find Udemy free courses in Design, Development, Marketing, E-commerce, IT & Software, and Office Profitability.
After completing your course, they will send the certificate to your email, and you can download it for printing.
Harvard CS50 Course Series
Harvard CS50 Course Series is a computer science-based course that teaches learners to solve problems and think algorithmically. Harvard CS50 rewards students with Free CS50 Certificate after submitting a 70% score on the course and project.
The course takes up to 8 weeks, and the lessons are structured every week, as shown below.
| Week | Lesson |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | C |
| Week 2 | Arrays |
| Week 3 | Algorithms |
| Week 4 | Memory |
| Week 5 | Data Structures |
| Week 7 | SQL |
| Week 8 | Information |
FutureLearn
FutureLearn offers flexible online courses, degrees, and certifications from organizations and top universities, including; Monarch University, University of Michigan, John Hopkins University, and King’s College London.
The platform offers free topics on;
- Business & Management
- Healthcare & Medicine
- Teaching
- Mental Health
- Computer Science
- Featured courses
You can get started by browsing through the course list and selecting the course. Most courses take two to ten weeks to complete.
You’ll not be charged to access the courses, videos, audios, and articles. Also, the lessons are interactive, and can get short quizzes to suit your understanding.
Once you complete the course, can receive a printable certificate to use for your career.
EdX
EdX has over 3000 free online courses from 140 plus global institutions, including Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University System of Maryland, and Boston University.
When you join the platform, you can get new skills as well as a printable certificate after completion.
You can explore top Computer Science courses such as;
- Programming for the Web with JavaScript
- Computer Science 101
- Introduction to Programming in C++
You can also enroll in data science, business, design, and healthcare courses.
Financial Markets
OpenLearn was launched in 2006 and is a platform under Open University where you can explore free courses and certificates for learners.
There are over 900 short courses, including;
- Money & Business
- Financial Markets
- History & Arts
- Languages
- Nature & Environment
After going through the course list, you can choose one that suits your career inspirations. The courses are interactive and you can ask questions in areas that you don’t understand.
The courses are packed with articles, tests and interactive videos, games as well as audio.
To access the free courses, you only need to create your OpenLearn profile, scroll through the lessons, pick your favorite topic and start learning.
Codeacademy
Codeacademy is a web-based platform where you can learn code without paying anything. Once you’ve finished the free coding lessons, you can get free certification and apply your skills on websites.
Codeacademy free online courses center around interactive lessons to read, type your code and observe results.
The classes are available in 14 programming languages, including libraries, frameworks, and tech subjects.
Examples of free coding lessons on this platform include;
- HTML & CSS
- Java Script
- PHP
- Python
- Ruby
- The Command Line
The pro membership costs $39.99 per month and gives you access to quizzes, hands-on projects, and personalized plans along with walkthrough videos.
You can download the Codeacademy Go on your Android or iOS devices and learn coding on the go.
Skillshare
Skillshare Summary
- Earn over $100,000 per year as a teacher
- Large target audience of over 12 million
- Short class length of 30-40 minutes
- 2 ways to earn – royalties and referrals
Skillshare is an online platform that aims to empower students to get inspired, learn new skills, and make discoveries.
You only need an email to sign up for the free 30 days trials. After it ends, you can join the paid membership which costs $32 per month.
The program offers access to interactive sessions and live classes. There are also monthly workshops to equip you with the right skills.
Skillshare offers over 35000 free online classes in;
- Animation
- Creative Writing
- Film & Video
- Fine Art
- Music
- UI/UX Design
- Web Development
- Marketing
- Lifestyle
- Productivity
You can also access the courses for your team, which is a good option if you’re an employer looking to equip more skills for your workforce. However, these are paid plans and can cost up to $139 per user per year.
Udacity
Udacity is a platform where students can get the right skills, land jobs, and build careers. Stanford tutors founded it, and currently, there are 160000 plus students in over 190 countries.
Udacity offers a wide collection of courses, some free while others may cost up to $1000. There’s also a scholarship program for needy students with details on the website.
The platform also partners with companies such as Google, Intel, or Facebook and has a broad catalog of over 200 online courses.
You can search for your preferred topic on the website and select your plan.
Examples of free plans that you will find include;
- AWS Machine Learning Foundations
- AI Fundamentals
- Big Data Analytics in Healthcare
- Intro to Descriptive Statistics