The median annual wage for web developers was $69,430 in May 2018, and employment is projected to increase by 15 percent from 2016 to 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
It’s a great time to get into this burgeoning field, and fortunately, it’s easy to develop your coding skills from the comfort of your own home with the help of online web development courses.
Whether you want to become a developer or just looking to beef up your resume, we have put together this list of affordable and free online courses to get you started quickly. While there are many options out there, we have picked the courses that teach the three core tenets of modern web development — Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript.
We also chose programs that will have you developing websites and web applications in a very short time.
Here are our handpicked online courses and programs for beginners in web development.
Introductory Courses in Web Development
1. Introduction to Web Development
Offered by UC Davis, this Introduction to Web Development course is designed to start you on a path toward future studies in web development and design, no matter how little experience or technical knowledge you currently have. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to create dynamic web pages using a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, apply essential programming language concepts when creating HTML forms, select an appropriate web hosting service, and publish your webpages for the world to see.
- College credits: NO — Course Certificate only
- Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Course Certificate
- Financial aid or scholarship: YES
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: Approximately 15 hours
- Languages: English with subtitles in English & Spanish
- Vendor: Coursera
Note: Prices for all courses listed in this article are true on the date of publishing, but are subject to change.
2. Front-End Web Development Quick Start With HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript
For the beginner, starting to learn web development can be daunting. In this course, Shawn Wildermuth shows you step-by-step how to use client-side web development techniques to create immersive web sites.
- College credits: NO — Certificate only
- Price: 10-day free trial and then $35 billed monthly or $299 billed annually for Personal plan; $449 billed annually for Premium plan
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 3 hours, 4 minutes
- Languages: English
- Vendor: Pluralsight
3. Front End Web Development: Get Started
In this Front End Web Development: Get Started course, you will learn the basics of all of the different aspects of front end web development, and how to hone and keep your skills up to date.
- College credits: NO — Certificate only
- Price: 10-day free trial and then $35 billed monthly or $299 billed annually for Personal plan; $449 billed annually for Premium plan
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 3 hours, 47 minutes
- Languages: English
- Vendor: Pluralsight
4. Introduction to Web Development
Introduction to Web Development is a one-stop course that covers all of the tools you’ll need to create websites. The course contains in-depth discussions of each of “the big three” tools used for Website development — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — as well as getting started with GitHub and Node.js. This course will give you the skills you need to be a professional web developer.
- College credits: NO — Certificate only
- Price: 10-day free trial and then $35 billed monthly or $299 billed annually for Personal plan; $449 billed annually for Premium plan
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 10 hours, 58 minutes
- Languages: English
- Vendor: Pluralsight
5. The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0
This Complete Web Development course from Rob Percival teaches you how to start building professional, career-boosting websites. Whether you are a beginner or someone who is coding already and wish to take things to the next level, this course covers the entire process of building websites on the front end as well as the back end.
- College credits: NO — Certificate only
- Price: $34.99 on sale ($44.99 regular price)
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 30 hours
- Languages: English
- Vendor: QuickStart
6. Create a Website from Scratch using HTML CSS step by step
This Create a Website from Scratch using HTML CSS step by step course is designed to be easy to follow along. You will be provided with resources, source code, and everything you need to learn to make websites. You will start with simple HTML structure as the instructor explains how it integrates with CSS. This step-by-step course will show you the code you need to know to create websites.
- College credits: NO — Certificate only
- Price: $10
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 10 hours
- Languages: English
- Vendor: QuickStart
7. Web Developer Bootcamp
This Web Developer Bootcamp course is the only one you need to learn web development — HTML, CSS, JS, Node, and more! This is a course designed for the complete beginner, yet it covers some of the most exciting and relevant topics in the industry.
- College credits: NO — Certificate of Completion only
- Price: $11.99 on sale ($199.99 regular price)
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 46.5 hours
- Languages: English with subtitles in English with subtitles in English, Chinese (traditional), Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, & Turkish
- Vendor: Udemy
8. The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0
In the Complete Web Developer Course 2.0, taught by Rob Percival, you will learn web development by building 25 websites and mobile apps using HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Python, MySQL & more.
- College credits: NO — Certificate of Completion only
- Price: $11.99 on sale ($199.99 regular price)
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 30.5 hours
- Languages: English with subtitles in English, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, & Spanish
- Vendor: Udemy
9. The Complete Web Developer in 2019: Zero to Mastery
In the Complete Web Developer in 2019: Zero to Mastery course, you will learn to code and become a web developer in 2019 with HTML, CSS, Javascript, React, Node.js, machine learning, and more.
- College credits: NO — Certificate of Completion only
- Price: $11.99 on sale ($199.99 regular price)
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Time needed for completion: 31.5 hours
- Languages: English with subtitles in English, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, & Spanish
- Vendor: Udemy
Introductory Programs in Web Development
10. Web Design for Everybody (Basics of Web Development and Coding) Specialization
Offered by the University of Michigan, this Web Design for Everybody Specialization will teach you how to write syntactically correct HTML5 and CSS3, and how to create interactive web experiences with JavaScript. Mastering this range of technologies will allow you to develop high-quality web sites that work seamlessly on mobile, tablet and large screen browsers. There are 5 courses in this program.
- College credits: NO — Specialization Certificate only
- Price: FREE to audit, but there’s a fee to earn and buy a Specialization Certificate
- Financial aid or scholarship: YES
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Hours needed for completion: Approximately 3 months (7 hours/week)
- Languages: English with subtitles in English & Serbian
- Vendor: Coursera
11. Front End Web Development Techdegree
In the Front End Web Development Techdegree program, you will learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create engaging and interactive websites. Upon the program’s completion, you’ll be ready for an entry-level job as a Front End Web Developer. This program has 9 projects and 30 courses.
- College credits: NO — Treehouse Techdegree only
- Price: 7-day free trial and then $199/month thereafter
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: NO
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Hours needed for completion: Approximately 4 months
- Languages: English with subtitles in English & Serbian
- Vendor: Treehouse
12. Front-End Web Developer Professional Certificate Program
In this Front-End Web Developer Professional Certificate program, designed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), creator of the web standards, you will learn all of the necessary skills needed to build interactive and responsive user experiences on the web. This program will deepen your knowledge of the three foundational languages that power the web: HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. You will be guided, step-by-step, on how to use all client-side web development techniques to create and innovate on the web! Each course will also include interactive examples to help you practice and code the correct way. There are 5 courses in this program.
- College credits: NO — Professional Certificate only
- Price: $1,075.50 on sale ($1,195 regular price)
- Financial aid or scholarship: NO
- Mobile learning: YES
- Self-paced learning: YES
- Flexible deadlines: YES
- Hours needed for completion: 5-7 hours/week (7 months in total)
- Languages: English
- Vendor: edX
For more online courses, check TUN’s list of curated classes, or use the online classes search engine to find the best online courses in any subject.