University of HelsinkiFree certificate
Elements of AI
The gentlest way in: a University of Helsinki course with no code and no maths beyond school level. It takes about 24 to 48 hours and the certificate is free.
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Free AI courses, rated by level
Pick the right free AI course for your level. Every course is rated on the same five-step heat scale, so you can tell in five seconds whether it's worth your evening.
- courses in the catalogue
- 23
- platforms covered
- 10
- with a genuinely free certificate
- 11
- step-by-step learning paths
- 9
Find your starting point
Which course should you start with?
Answer for where you are today, not where you'd like to be. Two questions, no sign-up.
- 1. Your coding
- 2. Your maths
- 3. Your course
Where most people should start
Featured courses
DeepLearning.AIPaid certificate
AI For Everyone
Andrew Ng's non-technical primer on what AI is good for and how to plan around it at work. It takes 7 hours on Coursera, and the certificate is paid.
never codedai literacy
DeepLearning.AIPaid certificate
Generative AI for Everyone
What large language models can actually do for you and your team, without writing a line of code. Andrew Ng teaches it in 6 hours on Coursera, certificate paid.
never codedai literacypromptingllms
How we rate
One heat scale for every course
Heat always means something here. On a course, it tells you how hard it is: how much code and maths you'll face. Cream is gentle, plum is research-level.
- 1No code, no maths beyond school level
- 2Light code or maths; follow-along exercises
- 3Real Python projects; some statistics or algebra
- 4Assumes solid Python; calculus and linear algebra appear
- 5Research-level; reading papers, implementing from scratch
The score out of 10 blends five checks:
- Clarity
- Hands-on
- Up to date
- Depth
- Truly free
Freshly checked against the course page
Recently reviewed
- HarvardCS50's Introduction to AI with Python
CS50's Introduction to AI with Python runs 7 weeks with 12 projects, costs nothing and gives a free CS50 Certificate if you score 70% on every project.
Reviewed - DeepLearning.AI and StanfordMachine Learning Specialization
The Machine Learning Specialization has 3 courses and 95 hours of Andrew Ng's lessons. Coursera's FAQ says you cannot take it for free, so check the cost first.
Reviewed - Hugging FaceHugging Face LLM Course
Hugging Face LLM Course has 12 chapters of 6 to 8 hours each, costs nothing and has no certificate. You learn LLMs with the Transformers library.
Reviewed - fast.aiPractical Deep Learning for Coders
Practical Deep Learning for Coders has 9 lessons of about 90 minutes, costs nothing and has no certificate. You deploy your own model by the end of lesson 2.
Reviewed
Multi-course routes
Learning paths
One course rarely gets you all the way. Each path chains courses so that no step jumps more than one heat level.
Keep going
Where to go next
Start with the course reviews, then follow a path, pick a tool or compare platforms.
- All free AI courses, ratedFilter the whole catalogue by level, topic and certificate.
- Free AI learning pathsCourses in the order to take them, with a project after each.
- AI tool rankings13 categories, each tool with its free plan and cheapest paid plan.
- AI video workflowsWhich tool to use at each step of making a video.
- Best AI courses by audiencePicks for your job or situation.
- Compare course platformsCoursera, edX, fast.ai and others side by side.
- AI learning guidesAnswers to the questions that come up before you start.
- AI glossaryPlain-English definitions of AI terms.
- AI skill roadmapsWhat to learn, in order, for a given AI role.
- Elements of AI review36 hours, no code, free certificate.
- AI For Everyone review7 hours on Coursera, for people who decide about AI.
- Generative AI for Everyone review6 hours on Coursera, for using chat assistants well.
- Best AI chat assistantsFree plans compared.
The best free AI courses to start with are Elements of AI, AI For Everyone and Generative AI for Everyone, and the right first one depends on whether you code. FreeAICourses.com is an independent guide that rates free AI courses, picks one for your level and tells you what to take next.
If you have never coded, begin with Elements of AI: 36 hours, no programming and a free certificate. If your job is to decide about AI, take AI For Everyone (7 hours) or Generative AI for Everyone (6 hours) on Coursera, where the certificate price is shown when you enrol.
If you can already write a little Python, skip the no-code courses and follow the Python for AI, from zero learning path, which orders the courses and sets a small project after each one. If you want a job-shaped plan instead, the skill roadmaps list what to learn for each AI role.
Courses are only half of it. We also rank AI tools in 13 categories, list each tool's free plan, and link the free courses that teach the skills behind it. Scores are our editorial opinion, and nobody pays to be rated.
Questions people ask
Where can I learn AI for free?
The best free places are university and company courses you can take at no cost, such as Elements of AI from the University of Helsinki, and Coursera courses from DeepLearning.AI. Our course catalogue rates each one on clarity, hands-on work, how up to date it is, depth and whether it is truly free.
Which free AI course should I start with?
If you have never coded, start with Elements of AI. It takes 36 hours, needs no programming and scores 8.4 out of 10 on our scale. If you already use AI at work and decide where it goes, AI For Everyone (7 hours) is the better first step.
Are free AI courses any good?
Some are as good as paid ones, and some are thin. The good ones come from universities and AI companies and set real exercises. We score each course out of 10 and name the catch, such as a paid certificate or no hands-on work. AI For Everyone, for example, scores 8.0, and loses points on hands-on work because there is nothing to build.
Do free AI courses give certificates?
Some do. Elements of AI gives a free certificate if you complete at least 90% of the exercises and get at least 50% of them right. On Coursera, the certificate price is shown when you enrol, so check it first.
Can I learn AI for free without knowing how to code?
Yes. Elements of AI, AI For Everyone and Generative AI for Everyone all need no code. Together they take 49 hours, which is about 10 weeks at 5 hours a week on our learning path for non-coders.
How do you rate free AI courses?
Each course gets a score out of 10 from 5 sub-scores: clarity, hands-on work, up to date, depth and truly free. The scores are our editorial opinion. We check hours and certificate rules on each course's own page, and affiliate links never change a score.
Are there free AI tools to use alongside the courses?
Yes. Our tool rankings cover 13 categories, from chat assistants to video editing, and list each tool's free plan and cheapest paid plan from the maker's own pricing page. Each ranking links the free courses that teach the skills behind the tool.
How long does it take to learn AI for free?
A first course takes 6 to 36 hours: Generative AI for Everyone is 6 hours, AI For Everyone is 7 and Elements of AI is 36. Our learning path for non-coders chains all three over about 10 weeks. Going further, into building models, takes much longer.
Last checked : course hours, certificate rules and Coursera pricing wording on each published review.
Stop comparing. Start learning tonight.
Two questions and you'll have a course to open this evening, free, and matched to where you actually are.