20 Best FREE Online Courses with Printable Certificates 2022
Are you looking for the best free online courses with printable certificates? We’ve outlined the top 20 choices for you in 2022.
With the internet at the tip of our fingertips, access to information has never been faster. Anyone looking to learn new things and pick up new skill sets has it easier these days. Because the web deprives us of no shortage of the best online courses with printable certificates, learning at our own pace has been a lot more feasible.
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Platforms like SkillShare, for example, allow us to sign up and create accounts, then breeze through their extensive catalog of classes. From pottery to cooking and InDesign to sales, there is an absolute plethora of diverse course offerings virtually anyone can enjoy and grow from.
Whether you’re a creative exploring new spaces or a professional wanting to leap into another industry, you’ve come to the right place. For this blog post, we’re detailing all the leading learning platforms that hand out certificates at the end of each course.
A note on “free”! – Read this before buying
While many of these online course providers state they offer “free courses and certificates” this often comes with a catch.
Some providers hide their certifications behind a paywall which means consumers will have to buy the certification upon completion of the “free course”.
Most certificates range in cost from $15 to $300 depending on the course provider and if it is a digital certificate or a printed certificate that you receive in the mail.
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Thankfully, there are some great online course providers that give you both the free course and a free certificate! Let’s jump in to our feature on the best free online courses with printable certificates.
Best FREE Online Course Providers that Offer Printable Certificates – Overview
- LinkedIn Learning – The largest database of online courses with certificates
- Udemy – Great for marketing, development, design, coding
- Alison – Great for IT, language, marketing, science, design, coding
- Domestika – Great for creatives, artists, designers, illustrators
- Springboard – Great for data, design, coding and cyber security
- developmentGoogle Digital Garage – Best for data and tech, digital marketing and career
20+ Best FREE Online Courses with Printable Certificates in 2022
The largest database of online courses with certificates
Price: 1-month free trial | Courses available: 17,000+ | Certification: Free certificates included for all courses
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LinkedIn Learning, owned by the social media company, is an online educational platform that provides an extensive array of courses. Led by experts and reputable creative leaders, users are treated to thousands of courses, each packing valuable insight, able to further anyone’s career and skillsets in their chosen paths.
Courses LinkedIn Learning Offers
LinkedIn Learning offers a vast selection of courses in the business, technology, and creative fields. With over 16,000 courses and counting, this provider also allows you to include on your LinkedIn profile which courses you’ve completed. Not only does this improve your CV, but you’re also more able to organically attract people who gravitate around the skillsets you’re set to foster, making it easier to build a network and land a gig or score a job. Here are LinkedIn Learning’s top categories:
- Data Science
- Project Management
- Marketing
- Graphic Design
- Software & Web Development
- IT
- Photography
- Business Strategy, and so much more!
LinkedIn Learning’s Popular Courses
Great for marketing, development, design, coding
Price: Free | Courses available: 620 free or 1550,00 paid | Certification: Free certificates included for 620 courses
Udemy is one of the more popular online learning platforms that offer top-notch course offerings to its users. Aimed at professionals and young adults, this 11-year old Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider boasts a 40 million consumer base, all composed of learners and instructors from different parts of the globe.
Courses Udemy Offers
Udemy provides a breadth of courses categories ranging from music technology to entrepreneurship. With over 155,000 online video courses to choose from and new additions published every month, it’s hard not to find an offering that piques your interests. Still, it’s worth mentioning that the platform’s most popular classes revolve around marketing disciplines, web design efforts, and software development practices. Here are Udemy’s top categories:
- Design
- Development
- Marketing
- IT and Software
- Personal Development
- Business
- Photography
- Music
Udemy’s Popular Courses
View our feature on the best courses on Udemy.
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Great for IT, language, marketing, science, design, coding
Price: Free | Courses available: 1050+ | Certification: Free certificates included for some courses
Founded in Ireland in 2007, Alison is also home to thousands of multilingual courses. Because it generates the bulk of its income stream from online advertisements, learners can enjoy the platform’s many courses for free. And like all the e-learning providers mentioned on the list so far, users too can print certificates after completing each course.
Courses Alison offers
As of this writing, Alison hosts more than 3,000 courses, each of which is free. As it is a popular MOOC provider, the platform offers a wide selection, as well, ranging from advanced parenting and professional caregiving classes to a diploma in high school physics and the basics of delivering a TedTalk. Here are Alison’s nine leading categories:
- Sales and Marketing
- Language
- Information Technology
- Health
- Business Management
- Personal Development
- Engineering and Construction
- Teaching and Academics
Alison’s Popular Courses
Great for creatives, artists, designers, illustrators
Price: Free | Courses available: 620 free or 1550,00 paid | Certification: Free certificates included for 620 courses
An equally established e-learning platform, Domestika is one of the more popular go-to providers for thousands of users. Right off the bat, one of the biggest differences between this MOOC and its contemporaries is how high quality and well-produced its recorded classes are.
In other words, Domestika’s numerous courses are all filmed by production experts. Furthermore, the majority of the platform’s courses are in Spanish, although subtitles in English, German, and Portuguese are also available.
Courses Domestika offers
Domestika has a sea of courses for every learner, although the chunk of its themes is geared toward creatives. That said, the provider’s main consumer base consists of freelancers, creative agency professionals, marketing firm leaders, and everyone else in between. Here are Domestika’s leading categories:
- Illustration courses
- Marketing & Business
- Craft
- Photography & Video
- Design
- 3D & Animation
- Architecture & Spaces
- Technology
- Calligraphy & Typography
Domestika’s Popular Courses
View our feature on the best courses on Domestika.
Great for data, design, coding and cyber security
Price: Tuition starts at $1,150/month | Courses available: 12 | Certification: Free certificate for every paid course
It’s only fair to say that Springboard is on a league of its own, considering how very centered on IT courses this platform is. Designed for aspiring learners in the tech space, Springboard boasts of a one-on-one mentorship to mentee arrangement. Anyone hoping to land a job after completing a course here will also be pleased to know that the platform helps provide jobs to their students.
Additionally, one of the more apparent differences between this e-learning provider from its contemporaries is that this platform isn’t in the video-on-demand category; that means students will have to complete a course that can last up to 6 months. If that doesn’t sound exciting enough, Springboard also grants its students access to career coaches, allowing them to team up with industry experts in strategizing how to improve their CVs.
Courses Springboard Offers
Unlike the other mentions on this list, Springboard only offers eight courses. Also referred to as boot camps, students can choose from any of the platform’s selections and be confident that they’re bound to land a gig after they complete their course in months. The provider’s key categories are:
- Data
- Design
- Coding
- CyberSec
Springboard’s Popular Courses
Best for data and tech, digital marketing and career development
Price: Free | Courses available: 156 courses | Certification: Free certificate for one course
You hear the word “Google ” and automatically it needs no introduction. Best suited for aspiring marketing professionals, Google Digital Garage extends an enviable array of courses made for digital believers and modern entrepreneurs. Furthermore, because this provider is owned by Google, you can expect only the best and most engaging courses on-demand here. And since the majority of classes are free, anyone looking to explore what else they can become on the internet should easily glide through acquiring new skillsets on the platform.
Courses Google Digital Garage Offers
As the e-learning platform name implies, Google Digital Garage offers more than a hundred courses tailor-fit to learners looking to establish a successful career in the digital space. From software development to internet advertising, eager users will have plenty of choices to keep themselves busy, productive, and knowledgeable. The platform’s key categories are:
- Digital Marketing
- Career Development
- Data & Tech
Popular Google Digital Garage Courses
Best FREE Online Learning Platforms without Certificates in 2022
The best overall subscription-based e-learning platform
Price: Free for 2 weeks then $99/year | Courses available: 1k+ courses| Certification: Not Available
If a certificate isn’t something that bears irreplaceable weight for you at the moment, SkillShare might be your best bet.
Whereas a few online learning platforms exist to hand-hold their students and foster meaningful mentorship programs, SkillShare thrives by providing educational videos to anyone looking to learn whatever new skill or theory they want to pick up.
Led mostly by experts and industry professionals, users are treated to over 25,000 video courses on the platform.
Courses SkillShare Offers
Arguably one of the more diverse course-on-demand providers, SkillShare’s subjects cover themes across all types of industries. Here are its leading categories:
- Graphic Design, Logos & Branding
- Photography
- Illustration
- UI/UX Design
- Creative Writing
- Animation
- Fine Art
- Music
- Lifestyle
- Film & Video
- Marketing
- Productivity
- Freelance & Entrepreneurship
- Web Development
Popular SkillShare Courses
View our feature on the best classes on Skillshare.
The best personality-led e-learning platform
Price: $180/Year | Courses available: 100+ | Certification: Not Available
One of the more reputable e-learning providers that have ever graced the world wide web, MasterClass is a crowd favorite platform by many because of the top-tier production quality.
Taught by iconic household names, it’s not every day you can say you’ve picked up an exclusive lesson or two from Gordon Ramsay, James Cameron, Neil Gaiman, and Anna Wintour.
Courses MasterClass Offers
Perfect for creatives and business leaders of all types, MasterClass provides top-notch courses that fall under the lifestyle and entertainment scenes. Here are MasterClass’s leading categories:
- Film & TV
- Music & Entertainment
- Writing
- Culinary Arts
- Business, Politics & Society
- Sports & Games
- Design, Photography & Fashion
- Lifestyle
- Science & Technology
Popular Courses in MasterClass
View our feature on the best classes on Masterclass.
Even More FREE Online Courses with Printable Certificates in 2022
Here are even more top free online course providers with printable certificates:
20+ Best FREE Online Courses with Certificates in 2022 Summary
Overall, there is no shortage of e-learning platforms creatives can turn to. Whether online courses with certificates or not, the capacity to learn new things and gather theories we want to when we want to is a breakthrough in itself. The internet has made it much more feasible for us to take on pursuits that are closer to our passions, and many times, it all begins with one digital course.
We hope our list of best free online courses with printable certificates helps you streamline your search.
Stay creative!