Learning coding is a must for everyone. It is a skill that will help you to create apps, websites and advance your career as a programmer. In fact, learning coding can be as easy as downloading an app. However, the app stores are full of apps all claiming to be the best way to learn coding for free.
You will also find a number of free online tutorials that offer coding lessons. However, choosing the right tool can be tricky.
Code Avengers
“Code Avengers has built-in tools, video tutorials and quizzes that all provide a way to apply what you are learning through the free online course. It’s easy to follow for anyone, including someone who has never tried to code before.” – Angela Ruth, Calendar
Coursera
“Coursera has great tools that teach the fundamentals of computer science taught by some of the best university professors. You can take classes such as Fundamentals of Computing and Computer Architecture. I refer back to some of the courses if I ever need a refresher.” – Jared Atchison, WPForms
edX
“Several years ago, I wanted to learn how to code my own websites and apps so I didn’t have to rely on a full-time webmaster. I enrolled in six free computer science courses on edX.org (developed by Harvard and MIT). Now I’ve developed two apps for clients, and we’re launching one this winter to go with our newest e-commerce web property.” – Kristin Marquet, Creative Development Agency LLC
freeCodeCamp
“freeCodeCamp is a great place to learn to code, and you can feel good about doing it. Start with the basics of HTML and get through to advanced coding. They offer up to 1,200 hours of instructions, as well as up to 800 hours of open-source coding for nonprofit websites. freeCodeCamp coders have provided approximately $1.7 million worth of code to various nonprofit and charitable organizations.” – Erik Bullen, MageMail
Hour of Code
“For most people, learning how to code seems like a long and tedious task; that’s why most people don’t get started. I recommend committing to a one-hour challenge via Hour of Code to see how much fun it can be. After you do a couple of small projects, you will be hooked.” – Alejandro Rioja, Flux Chargers
Khan Academy
“As a self-taught professional software developer, I recommend Khan Academy. It has tons of in-depth videos and interactive exercises. It invested heavily in data science to study learning, and it shows. Its cheerful animal guides promote a growth mindset by providing much-needed encouragement.” – Kevin Tao, NeuEve
Mimo
“Mimo is a free mobile app that allows you to learn to code on the go. Whether you are interested in learning how to build an app, a website or a game, Mimo makes it easy to understand the basics of each platform. I am constantly on the move, so I enjoy the luxury of learning basic code no matter where I am.” – Duran Inci, Optimum7
MIT OpenCourseWare
“If you’re trying to learn a language like Python or JavaScript, spend some time on MIT’s OpenCourseWare platform learning computer science fundamentals. Having that background will make learning specific languages easier, because you’ll have an understanding of the underlying mechanics.” – Ashish Datta, Setfive Consulting
PyLadies and other meetups
“I’ve been a member of PyLadies for over five years; it’s a free meetup for women working with Python. What your local meetup offers depends on where you are. PyLadies PDX does at least one beginner-friendly class every year, as well as a place to connect with more experienced programmers willing to help out newer programmers.” – Thursday Bram, The Responsible Communication Style Guide
Swift Playgrounds
“If you have no previous coding experience, Swift Playgrounds, an educational app from Apple, is the perfect way to learn the basics while solving puzzles in a graphical environment. Swift isn’t the most useful language outside the Apple ecosystem, so if you already have a grasp of the basics, try taking a JavaScript course on Code School.” – Vik Patel, Future Hosting
Treehouse
“Treehouse is a fantastic site full of high-quality video tutorials. Its library has grown significantly to include all things related to coding, and it now offers tutorials on web design as well.” – Ben Lang, Spoke
Visual Studio Code
“Visual Studio Code is a programmer’s text editor from Microsoft. It’s free and has features for both experienced developers and learners. VSC is particularly strong as a JavaScript development environment, with helpful features like IntelliSense for highlighting and smart completion, built-in Git support, and integrated debugging. You can code in any editor, but VSC is one of the most helpful.” – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.
WPBeginner
“I think a lot of people dive into coding only to get discouraged because they’re not building things quickly enough. If you start by creating a WordPress site, you can use free guides and tutorials on WPBeginner to get started. Once you’ve built a couple of websites, try to build a plugin and go from there.” – Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
YouTube
“There are many YouTube videos, all of them free, that walk you through the basics of coding. There is nothing more important in learning than getting your hands on it. Watch the videos and go step by step to build your first HTML site, then go onward from there.” – Andy Karuza, FenSens
Coding Tools for Kids Aged 4 to 8
Scratch Junior
- Type of Resource: iOS and Android tablet app
- Recommended Age Range: 5 to 7
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Interacting with a graphical interface, programming, general problem-solving
Scratch Junior believes that “coding is the new literacy.” With this accessible app, kids aged five to seven can craft their own games, interactive stories, and solve problems.
Part graphical and part code, young coders can use Scratch Junior’s program to combine code blocks with on-screen elements and make avatars dance, since, move, and jump. Kids can even insert their own photos, add sounds, and use the paint editor to customize their characters.
Inspired by MIT’s Scratch programming language, Scratch Junior is geared towards the youngest demographic of new coders. All features are developmentally appropriate for young children, supporting their emotional, social, and interpersonal development.
Best of all, Scratch is available as a free iOS and Android app for tablets. The app supports English and Spanish learners and is chock-full of colorful widgets that are sure to engage young learners.
Codeable Crafts
- Type of Resource: iOS and Android mobile app
- Recommended Age Range: 3 to 8
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Storytelling, animation, illustration, coding
Codeable Crafts provides easy-to-use tools that allow creative kids to create simple animations, drawings, and programs. This game introduces young learners to the most fundamental programming principles via simple, easy-to-understand code blocks.
Children can work on both their verbal and visual storytelling skills by creating story arcs based on general themes and app-prompted questions. Once they have coded to their hearts’ content, they can anonymously share the drawings and stories they have made.
The iOS- and Android-supported mobile app is suitable for kids who want to deep-dive into color, animation, and programming. Each pre-programmed coding block features a brief explanation to allow children to pick up the underlying programming principles.
Robot Turtles (Board Game)
- Type of Resource: Board game
- Recommended Age Range: 4 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Problem-solving, basic programming concepts
Want something a little more hands-on and off-screen? Robot Turtles is the most-backed board game in Kickstarter history; to date, it has empowered over 50 million customers worldwide to introduce kids to coding.
Geared towards players aged four and up, this intuitive board game is designed to develop kids’ critical thinking by stealthily introducing them to foundational programming principles such as coding and functions. Robot Turtles allows kids to write programs with brightly-illustrated playing cards and can be scaled up to higher difficulty levels as children gain more knowledge of programming basics.
Kids’ First Coding and Robotics Kit
- Type of Resource: Board game
- Recommended Age Range: 5 to 7
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Robotics, coding, mathematics, adventure-based storytelling
Designed to teach the fundamentals of coding and robotics to children in grades K-2, the Kids’ First Coding and Robotics Kit requires no software, apps, or smart devices.
The game features an engaging, full-color 64-page manual that guides young players through exciting building lessons and programming exercises. Six different storylines are included, encompassing a plethora of model-building lessons for curious kids. Users build widgets on top of a plug-and-play coding block that scans for instructions before performing an exercise. With 38 different map cards included, kids can run increasingly complex programs that their self-built robot performs.
Each of the thirty coding lessons is aligned with teaching standards developed by the International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE), Code.org, and the CS Teachers Association.
Want a more mathematical version? This kit includes a special math mode that offers instruction in logic gates, number comparison, algorithms, and hands-on exploration.
Coding Tools for Children Aged 8 to 12
Scratch
- Type of Resource: Website, iOS, and Android app
- Recommended Age Range: 8 to 16
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Programming, animation, systematic reasoning, collaboration
Developed by the MIT Media Lab, Scratch is a kid-friendly programming language and online community where kids can create programs, share stories, and animate their creations. When using Scratch, kids can “snap” coding blocks together to create compelling visual stories. The program is designed to stretch a child’s creative thinking to the limit and encourage collaborative work.
As you can likely guess, Scratch is a souped-up version of Scratch Junior and is intended for users aged 8 to 16. For offline work, children can download the Scratch App for both iOS and Android smart devices.
SpriteBox Coding
- Type of Resource: iOS and Android app
- Recommended Age Range: 8 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Coding fundamentals, problem-solving, basic Java/Swift syntax
SpriteBox is a sandbox adventure game that gets kids excited about coding.
By solving puzzles with icons and text-based commands, children are eased into full-blown computer programming. Kids learn the fundamental building blocks of coding through parameterization, loops, procedures, Java syntax, and sequential commands.
Though the application is geared towards children, SpriteBox is perfect for all first-time coders who want a lightweight introduction to programming. The app has been used by thousands of teachers worldwide and boasts an active, 20 million-strong user base.
Hopscotch
- Type of Resource: iOS and Android app
- Recommended Age Range: 10 to 16
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Coding, project management, collaboration
Hopscotch is a powerful programming platform that allows kids aged 10 to 16 to create games, animate drawings, and build almost anything. Creative kids can submit their code to a community, thereby sharing their creations with friends and family members.
Hopscotch’s creators believe that good code is as much an art as it is a science; children are encouraged to express novel ideas and experiment. It’s even possible to browse other users’ creations to get ideas for new projects.
In Hopscotch, nothing is a mistake — there’s no way to make a syntax error, so children can dabble in programming without fear of running into a frustrating bug.
Osmo Coding Jam
- Type of Resource: Board game
- Recommended Age Range: 6 to 12
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Coding, music, problem-solving, pattern recognition
This colorful board game encourages kids to create music beats by pasting together preconfigured coding blocks. As a basic introduction to programming fundamentals, the board game pairs with any iPad or Fire Tablet to bring your child’s musical compositions to life.
Coding Jam also functions as a music trainer, encouraging kids to develop rhythm, harmony, and melody through custom-made music samples. Creations can be shared safely online with family and friends, who have the power to vote on the best tune of the day.
The kit includes 23 magnetized coding blocks with sequences such as walk, jump, grab, loops, sequential, block multipliers, and sleep. It requires the Osmo base and a smart device tablet to play.
Coding Tools for Children Aged 12 to 16
Minecraft
- Type of Resource: Web browser game
- Recommended Age Range: 7 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Programming, best coding practices
Minecraft isn’t just a video game — it’s a learning experience! This creativity-sparking application encompasses countless “Hour of Code” tutorials that allow kids to customize their in-game experience.
Users can build interactive story-based game sessions, aquatic voyages, adventuring games, and interior designed homes. Each project comes with a full video-based lesson plan, a computer science curriculum, and certified teacher training.
Don’t have an internet connection? Your child can download the offline version of Minecraft Adventurer to get started coding wherever, whenever!
CodeCombat
- Type of Resource: Web browser game
- Recommended Age Range: 10 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: JavaScript, Python, coding fundamentals, critical thinking
CodeCombat is one of the most exciting ways to learn computer science. Recommended for students and new learners alike, this adventure-based game allows teens to master “the lost magic of programming” to save their world.
In this game, kids create full-fledged Python and JavaScript programs as they navigate the world and employ trial-and-error, creativity, and critical thinking to the challenges they face. Unlike other platforms, CodeCombat is uniquely designed to make it easier for kids to create independent games and websites upon completion.
Parents and instructors can also personalize instruction by opting into built-in assessments that measure a child’s retention of core concepts. Conveniently, children can also tackle practice lessons and activate hints as soon as they get stuck!
Swift Playgrounds
- Type of Resource: iPad and Mac app
- Recommended Age Range: 10 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Swift, iOS/Android programming
Swift Playgrounds is geared towards kids that want to get started creating iOS and Android apps. By solving puzzle-based problems with Swift language basics, kids progress through a series of challenges and step up to more advanced playgrounds.
Kids work their way through a colorful, 3D-rendered world by creating reusable Swift functions. The app doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, either: kids use the same concepts that professional developers employ every day on the job.
Older kids learn the basics of function creation, loops, parameterization, conditional code, variable assignment, mathematical operators, bug fixing, and variable typing.
Turing Tumble (Board Game)
- Type of Resource: Board game
- Recommended Age Range: 8 and up
- Necessary Coding Experience: None
- Skills Learned: Problem-solving, computer architecture
Featuring over 60 puzzles of varying difficulties, Turing Tumble allows children to play as Alia, a deep-space engineer who must escape a forgotten planet to get back home. The most difficult puzzles are exceptionally challenging, even for older teens and adults.
This hands-on, off-screen board game encourages kids to problem-solve by guiding a marble through a customized map. Teens learn the basics of sequential processing, conditional operations, and logic gates.
Practicum by Yandex
Created by engineers from Yandex, a top tech company, Practicum is an online coding bootcamp aimed at sparking career change. They stand by the quality of their program; if you don’t secure a position within six months of graduating, they’ll refund your money — guaranteed.
They currently have three professions to choose from: Web Developer, Data Analyst, and Data Scientist. Each bootcamp includes full access to an interactive online platform, real-life projects, tutor support from experienced professionals, code reviews, live-coding sessions, and career acceleration programs from resume building to job offer negotiation with an average employment rate of 71%.
Pick your desired profession and get your career change underway.
💰Price: $500-600 a month for 6-8 months or a one-time payment of $3,000-5,000 depending on the profession you choose.
Codecademy
Codecademy is entirely free, and it’s the coding resource where many people get their start. (It’s actually the first place I started learning, back while I was living in Thailand.) Instead of having video lectures, they offer interactive learning; you type the lessons into your desktop, and it shows you the results almost instantly. They also have a Pro account in addition to their existing free material.
“Whether learning the basics of HTML/CSS or trying to understand the benefits of data science, Codecademy.com has some great courses. The courses have projects and quizzes just like a traditional education source, but they are easy to use at your own pace. While not the best long-term, it can get you off the ground.” – Michael Averto, ChannelApe
💰 Price: Free or $19.99 a month, billed yearly (or $39.99 a month, billed monthly) for their Pro plan
Team Treehouse
Carries videos of everything from HTML to Ruby on Rails and PHP. So far, I have used Treehouse to learn JavaScript primarily. I like Treehouse because they have periodic quizzes as well as code challenges throughout the lessons. These quizzes and assignments help keep you on your toes!
💰 Price: $25/month (free 2 weeks trial)
Udemy
Udemy is an online learning platform where anyone can create and upload courses on just about any topic. There are over 35,000 courses on the platform, from cooking to coding. You can find coding resources for beginners or more advanced programmers there. Some of their popular coding classes include Learn and Understand AngularJS, The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0, and others. They have programming courses on almost any language and framework imaginable. However, you can check out 15 of the best web development ones here.
💰 Price: varies based on course (typically free – $300)
Conclusion
Here is the ultimate list of the best learn coding tools to learn coding for free. Whether you want to build a blog, a website, a chatbot/app, a computer program for work or even a game, these websites can help you learn to code fast.