8 Sites with FREE or Affordable Online Courses (with and without certificates)

Last update: January 23, 2021 * * * First published: May 11, 2020

One often-repeated advice I hear from financial gurus and personal development coaches is that you must invest in yourself.

One way to do this is to put in the time and resources to grow your skills.

But even if you’re low on money right now, there’s a wealth of materials and courses online–ebooks, articles, workshops, and videos–that you can get for free or at affordable rates.

This post covers several sites offering free and/or affordable online courses–some with certifications–that will cost you less than $0 to $100. These are:

FVA Academy
HubSpot
Neil Patel
Udemy
Canva
Skillshare
Shopify Compass
Facebook Blueprint

Below is an overview of each site and their online course offerings.

1. FVA Academy

Paid, with certificates

The Filipino Virtual Assistance (FVA) Academy equips current and aspiring Filipino digital marketers, virtual staffs, and entrepreneurs with the skills they need to grow their careers or businesses.

FVA Academy’s action-oriented approach sets them apart from other online courses. Each lesson wraps up with a portfolio assignment, which students must complete within a specific period to get their certification. This approach allows students to have a certificate and a portfolio which they can include in their applications.

As of this writing, FVA Academy offers 30 courses online. Enrolment is open to those in the Philippines and abroad.

Freelancing Course
Social Media In-Depth Course
Amazon Dropshipping and Private Labeling Virtual Assistance
App (Software) Development
BPO Home Based Course
Brand Marketing and Advertising
Business and Product Development
ChatBot Marketing
ClickFunnels
Customer Service Representative

Digital Marketing
eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy and Poshmark
Email Marketing In-Depth Course
English for Freelancers
Facebook Ads Marketing Course
Full Stack Web Development
Graphics Design
Online Accounting
Online Bookkeeping
Online Teaching

Podcast Management and Marketing
Project Management
QuickBooks Certification Plus
Real Estate Virtual Assistance
SEO In-Depth Course
Shopify Virtual Assistance
Video Editing
Web Design
Xero Certification Plus
Front End Web Development

2. HubSpot Academy

Free, with and without certificate

HubSpot offers courses and certifications on digital marketing, sales, web design, web development, and more.

Their certifications include:

Inbound Sales
Email Marketing
Digital Advertising
Service Hub Software
HubSpot Sales Software
HubSpot Marketing Software
Platform Consulting
HubSpot Reporting

HubSpot CMS for Marketers
Frictionless Sales
Sales Management Training
HubSpot CMS for Developers
Growth-Driven Design
Sales Enablement
Growth-Driven Design Agency
Contextual Marketing

… and a lot more. Check out HubSpot Academy to get a full list of their courses.

3. Neil Patel

Free

Neil Patel has put together videos, templates, and other materials on SEO, ecommerce, content marketing, and social media.

Aside from the Digital Marketing Training, you can also speed up your learning by following his blog, YouTube channel, and podcast.

4. Udemy

Free/paid, with certificate for paid courses

Udemy offers both free and paid courses on a broad range of topics, from digital marketing, business, IT, and design to personal development.

Follow these steps to find free courses on a subject matter that interests you.

1. Go to Udemy’s homepage. In the search box, type the topic or skill you wish to learn.

2. In the results page, you will see several filter options on the left. Click on the dropdown menu beside “Price” and check the “Free” box.

3. Aside from the price, you can also filter the courses by:

level (beginner, intermediate, expert)
rating
language
closed caption language
video duration

5. Canva

Free

The graphic design tool Canva offers free tutorials and courses such as:

Getting started with Canva
Designing with Canva
Canva for Education
Canva Pro
Branding with Canva
Presenting with Canva

Personal Branding with Dr. Talaya Waller
Canva in the Classroom
Social Media Mastery
Graphic Design Basics
Branding Your Business
Presentations to Impress

6. Skillshare

Paid, with free trial

Skillshare has thousands of classes to help you sharpen your artistic skills, build your business, and enhance the quality of your life. They have classes on:

animation
creative writing
film & video
fine art
graphic design
illustration
music
photography

UI/UX design
web development
business analytics
marketing
leadership & management
freelance & entrepreneurship
lifestyle
productivity

To enjoy unlimited access to thousands of Premium catalog courses plus their offline viewing feature, you can sign up for their Premium plan.

If you’re on the fence about getting a Premium membership, you can start with a 7-day free trial.

If you want to be a Premium member but you don’t have the budget to spare at the moment, Skillshare offers two scholarships:

Student scholarship: You get a 50-percent discount on premium membership, provided you have a valid .edu address.
Premium scholarship: Skillshare awards scholarships based on financial capacity and “potential for making a creative impact.”