Santiago Mallea
Content Writer At Gradehacker
Udemy Free Courses
If you are looking for online classes to learn new skills, Udemy’s free courses can be one of your best options.
They are one of the most well-known learning platforms and offer a wide range of online video courses that anyone can take just by creating an account. They offer a simplified experience with short and quick on-demand video classes..
But since Udemy is one of the biggest educational platforms, they have many courses making it hard to choose some of its most helpful courses for adults and college students. And because its lessons can be too short or basic, you also need to know beforehand if what they offer is good enough for you.
Here at Gradehacker, we are the non-traditional adult student’s most trusted resource. We know that college is not the only way you can learn valuable skills for your life and that nowadays, you can find information without paying a dime.
That’s why today we are sharing our curated list of the best free online courses you can find on Udemy.
But first, let’s start with…
How Do Udemy Free Courses Work?
Because of its enormous collection of courses (over 185,000), we included Udemy as one of the best online learning platforms. Be sure to watch our video if you want to see which other alternatives you can find.
Even though Udemy grants certificates of completion when you finish one of its paid courses, its free options don’t share all of these features.
Free courses don’t have a certificate of completion. Also, you can’t access the Q&A section or their direct messaging option with the instructor, and you only get to see all the relevant course content.
Plus, most of these Udemy courses don’t last longer than 2 hours. They work as introductory lessons that only give you basic knowledge of the topic and that you can continue learning about by paying for the premium course.
Tips To Choose The Best Free Courses
- Choose online courses with positive student feedback
- Check your instructor profile and search for them on Google
- Pick one from their ‘Recommended’ section
Are Udemy Free Courses Worth It?
Udemy’s courses are a great choice if you want to learn a specific practical skill in a short time. They have a wide variety of courses about all types of subjects, and anyone can learn from them because of their simplified learning experience.
However, if you are looking for more robust classes that last longer and can help you gain more professional skills, we recommend you check out Coursera. Alongside Udemy, they are one of the most popular learning platforms, and while their free courses don’t give you a certificate of completion either, you can get one later if you need it by paying for it.
You can read our in-depth Coursera review to clear all your doubts or check out our tailored list of Coursera’s free courses for non-traditional students.
Even though Udemy’s free courses can be too simple, this is the reason we recommend them. If you are a busy student with an over-packed schedule and only have a few hours of free time per week, these short lessons will be the best way to learn something new without needing a huge time commitment.
These are the free Udemy courses we recommend:
Best Udemy Free Courses
- Time to Completion: 1 hour
- Rating: 4.3/5
First, we have an excellent course for students who want to improve their writing skills.
The “Make Your Writing Stand Out” class is a brief course on writing that will tighten your prose by teaching you everything you need to know to communicate better. Here, you’ll learn how to increase the effect of each sentence, build credibility, and persuade your reader.
Even though this course has only 1 hour of video on demand, its content is broken into four sections, each with two different strategies. These steps will guide you to improve clarity, flow, structure, presentation, and results in your writing.
Once you are done with each lecture, you’ll have a specific exercise to apply what you’ve learned. However, you’ll have to test yourself since you can’t communicate with the class’ experienced instructors.
What You'll Learn Here
- How to write concise and activated sentences
- Optimization of word order
- Persuade your reader
- Develop healthy writing habits
- Time to Completion: 1 hour 52 minutes
- Rating: 4.5/5
If you are a college student who struggles when creating PowerPoint presentations for class and doesn’t have a clue on how you can make them better, then this course is for you.
Andrew Pach is a graphic designer with many courses in Udemy, and this one is intended for inexperienced designers who want to learn how to use Microsoft PowerPoint better. This course is a basic introduction to everything you need to know.
It’s a super beginner-friendly class where you’ll get familiarized with how this software works. You’ll learn how to explore the interface, add slides, and edit shapes, texts, and pictures. Plus, you’ll see how to take your presentations to the next level by using transitions and animations.
Definitely, a great choice if you barely know how to use PowerPoint, but you should skip it if you already understand the basics.
What You'll Learn Here
- Basic PowerPoint usage
- PowerPoint animation
- Designing skills
- Time to Completion: 4 hours 53 minutes
- Rating: 4.5/5
Now, if you want to take your very first steps into the programming world, this course has what you are looking for.
It’s one of Udemy’s longest and most robust free options and is designed for complete beginners who want to learn how to create a website. And because they know that the best way to learn these development skills is through practice, each section of the course will guide you on how to build a website step by step.
By the time you finish, you’ll gain a solid knowledge base of HTML and CSS, which will be more than enough to start your site from scratch and control how it looks and works.
What You'll Learn Here
- Basic HTML
- CSS stylesheets
- How to build a typical website
- Time to Completion: 37 minutes
- Rating: 4.4/5
If productivity is not your thing and you constantly struggle with setting tasks and meeting due dates, this brief course will show you the best tips on how you can improve your time management.
It heavily focuses on productivity tips, as it explains how you can do 3 hours of work in 1 hour, points to the “traps” most people fall into, and shares helpful techniques to better manage your time, like the 80/20 rule.
If you want to discover other useful tips on how you can be more productive, you can check out our blog post. And if you want to take the extra step, you can start incorporating one of the best time management methods by learning what the Pomodoro Technique is.
What You'll Learn Here
- Increase productivity
- Avoid time management traps
- 80/20 rule
- Time to Completion: 30 minutes
- Rating: 4.6/5
If you’ve ever worked from your home, you know that while it has its fair share of benefits, it also comes with some issues. Sometimes, working in the same space where you rest, eat, and sleep can be challenging.
But according to this course, there are many things you can do to stay productive while working from your place. This 30-minute class will be most helpful if you are new to working remotely or feel that you are not as effective as when you work in an office.
It’s a quick and easy guide to the best practices every remote worker should know.
What You'll Learn Here
- Digital communication
- Productivity tools to work from home
- How to structure your day
- How to create a workspace
- Time to Completion: 57 minutes
- Rating: 4.5/5
If you are shy or don’t feel comfortable speaking to an audience, this course is for you.
Public speaking can be hard, and mastering your communication skills can be useful for your college and professional life. In this short class, you’ll learn how to tame your fear and take control of the room.
You’ll learn how to use your tone, the words you should use and avoid, and some of the most essential tips. Plus, there is a quick lesson about body language and how to implement it to take your communication skills to the pro level.
What You'll Learn Here
- How to speak to a crowd
- Communicate more effectively
- Speaking techniques
Learn a New Skill With Udemy Free Courses
And those are just a few of the varied free courses Udemy offers!
Even if none of these options provide a certificate of completion, remember that the knowledge you gain can be more important than a piece of paper. And if you need that certificate to grow in your professional career, you can always invest in it and pay for any of their premium courses, which do include diplomas.
And if you haven’t found a course that sounds interesting, we recommend checking their “Free Courses” section and start looking until you find one that suits your needs.
We hope this list was helpful. If you want more tips on how to improve your life and learn new skills, check out our related blog posts:
Santiago Mallea
Santiago Mallea is a curious and creative journalist who first helped many college students as a Gradehacker consultant in subjects like literature, communications, ethics, and business. Now, as a Content Creator in our blog, YouTube channel, and TikTok, he assists non-traditional students improve their college experience by sharing the best tips. You can find him on LinkedIn.
