25 Best & Free Online Certification Courses

Last Updated on 10 months by Anoob P T

Here are 25 Best & Free Online Certification Courses to Complete.

Free online certification courses are a great way to improve yourself during this COVID-19 pandemic times.

If you are like me, you are probably locked down at home, working remotely and may be even getting bored.

If you want to learn new skills, this is the perfect time to learn and there are plenty of great free courses to consider.

25 Best & Free Online Certification Courses

20 Free Life Hacks to Inspire You to Excel in Business &Life (Udemy)

About the Course

The course helps you to boost your confidence and excel in business life. You will find your career path and happiness in life after taking this course.

It is aimed at improving your confidence and enhancing your business skills. It is a career development course offered by Udemy to make you optimistic and passionate about your goals.

USP of Course

• You can find your career path in business after taking this course.
• You will be able to stay focused and save a lot of money.
• Anybody interested in a career in Business or finance can take up this course.
• You will aim at better and higher productivity as well as achieving your goals from this course.
• The classes are handled by Chris Haroun, an award-winning MBA Professor, Venture Capitalist and Author.

Time to Complete: 2 hours 11 minutes

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Algorithms Specialisation (Coursera)

About the Course

Offered by Stanford University, the course helps you to master the fundamentals of design and analysis of algorithms.

Algorithm has countless practical applications as well as intellectual depth. You will learn about Graph Search, Shortest Paths, and Data Structures.

The course also covers topics like Greedy Algorithms, Minimum Spanning Trees, and Dynamic Programming.

USP of Course

• The course makes you confident and fluent with algorithms necessary for any programming language.
• The course instructor, Tim Roughgarden is a professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University and has taught and published extensively on the subject of algorithms and their applications.
• The multiple choices quiz conducted every week helps you to understand the fundamentals of various important concept.
• Weekly assignments are given to improve your practical knowledge and experience as well as to enhance your programming skills.
• The certificate you receive after completing the course opens up many new career opportunities for you.

Time to Complete: 4 months/ 3 hours a week

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Price: Free

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Probabilistic Graphical Models Specialization (Stanford University)

About the Course

Probabilistic Graphical Models are the basis for the state-of-the-art methods in a wide variety of applications, such as medical diagnosis, image understanding, speech recognition, natural language processing, and many, many more.

The whole course is designed in a sequence of three, which are representation, inference and learning.

The course starts with a detailed content on the two basic PGM representations: Bayesian Networks, which rely on a directed graph; and Markov networks, which use an undirected graph.

USP of Course

• You can master a new way of reasoning and learning in complex domains through Probabilistic Graphic Models.
• The whole course curriculum is divided into three important modules to build a strong foundation for learners.
• The course is handled by Stanford University Professor with years of experience and expertise.
• Through various lectures, quizzes, programming assignments and exams, learners in this specialization will practice and master the fundamentals of probabilistic graphical models.
• You will earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

Time to Complete: 4 months/ 11 hours per week

Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: Free

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Machine Learning (Coursera)

About the Course

This course provides a broad introduction to machine learning, datamining, and statistical pattern recognition.

The course is offered by Stanford University, one of the reputed educational institutions in the world.

Through this course, you will learn about Logistic Regression, Artificial Neural Network, Machine Learning (ML) Algorithms and Machine Learning.

Other areas covered are how to apply learning algorithms to building smart robots (perception, control), text understanding (web search, anti-spam), computer vision, medical informatics, audio, database mining, and so on.

USP of Course

• Besides theory, the course also draws numerous case studies and applications which helps you to gain practical knowledge.
• The most effective machine learning techniques are also dealt with in the course.
• You will learn about some of Silicon Valley’s best practices in innovation as it pertains to machine learning and AI.
• Flexible deadlines are beneficial to learn at your own pace and reschedule according to your convenience.
• Top instructors and staff support to clarify your doubts.
• Assignments and practice sessions to put theory into practice.
• Financial aid is also available from Coursera.

Time to Complete: 54 hours

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Price: Free

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Introduction to Mathematical Thinking (Coursera)

About the Course

School math typically focuses on learning procedures to solve highly stereotyped problems.

Professional mathematicians think a certain way to solve real problems, problems that can arise from the everyday world, or from science, or from within mathematics itself.

The course mainly analyses the use of language in mathematics, which is very different form the usual concepts of calculations in it. 

USP of Course

• The course helps you to develop a crucial and innovative way of thinking regarding the subject of mathematics.
• You will achieve skills in Number Theory, Real Analysis, Mathematical Logic and Language.
• Flexible deadlines which you can reset and maintain according to your schedule.
• Course is handled by one of the top instructors and supported by Stanford University.
• In-lecture quizzes to help you understand the concepts clearly and thoroughly.
• You will earn a certificate that you can proudly add to your resume.

Time to Complete: 40 hours

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Price: Free

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CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python (edX)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn to use machine learning in Python and artificial intelligence.

The course explores the concepts and algorithms at the foundation of modern artificial intelligence, diving into the ideas that give rise to technologies like game-playing engines, handwriting recognition, and machine translation.

You will emerge with experience in libraries for machine learning as well as knowledge of artificial intelligence principles that enable them to design intelligent systems of their own.

USP of Course

• Being Self-Paced helps you to set and maintain flexible deadlines and learn at your own speed.
• You will gain expertise in one of the fastest-growing domains of computer science from the creators of one of the most popular computer science courses ever, CS50.
• Through hands-on projects, students gain exposure to the theory behind graph search algorithms, classification, and other topics in artificial intelligence and machine learning as they incorporate them into their own Python programs.
• This course will enable you to take the first step toward solving important real-world problems and future-proofing your career.
• You will earn a professional certificate which you can proudly add to your resume.

Time to Complete: 7 weeks

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Statistics and R (edX)

About the Course

The course is aimed at teaching the R programming language in the context of statistical data and statistical analysis in the life sciences.

You will learn the basics of statistical inference in order to understand and compute p-values and confidence intervals, all while analyzing data with R code.

The course also covers problem sets requiring R programming, visualization techniques, statistical techniques and R scripts to analyze data.

USP of Course

• You will learn about Random variables, Distributions, Inference: p-values and confidence intervals, Exploratory Data Analysis and many more with this course.
• The course is self-paced and you can learn at your own speed.
• You will be provided R programming examples in a way that will help make the connection between concepts and implementation.
• You are required to have some knowledge about basic programming and mathematics.
• You are taught by top-rated instructors with world class expertise on the subject.
• You will receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution’s logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects.

Time to Complete: 4 weeks

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Excel 2016 Essential Training (Lynda)

About the Course

The course on Essential Excel training by Lynda can be taken up by both beginners and work professionals.

In this course, you will learn how to easily work with multiple worksheets, do speedy calculations through simple functions, and create Pivot tables and charts.

Other concepts discussed in the course are COUNTIF, VLOOKUP, and other data analysis tools.

USP of Course

• The whole course is designed to include and discuss in detail all the concepts of Excel.
• Classes are handled by Dennis Taylor, an Excel expert who has 25+ years of
• experience in spreadsheet authoring and training.
• You will learn to use shortcut menus and Mini toolbar and create powerful sheets easily, enter data with Auto fill feature and many more with this course.
• Exercise worksheets are given for you to practice the theory concepts.
• You can also access the materials offline for this course.

Time to Complete: 8 hours 53 minutes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Python Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)

About the Course

Python has become the scripting language of choice for many large organizations, including Google, Yahoo, and IBM. A thorough understanding of Python 3 will help you write more efficient and effective scripts. This course covers the basics of the language syntax and usage, as well as advanced features such as objects, generators, and exceptions. You will learn how to use Python 3 to create well-designed scripts and maintain existing projects.

USP of Course

• The course has included concepts for real-world application like how types and values are related to objects; how to use control statements, loops, and functions; and how to work with generators and decorators.
• The course instructor is Bill Weinman, a tech advocate, entrepreneur, and expert in programming languages such as C++ and Python.
• Curriculum is well-structured into modules covering the basics to build a strong foundation for students.
• Examples and practical applications are demonstrated for you to improve familiarity and experience with Python.

Time to Complete: Self-Paced

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Price: Free

Link: https://www.Linkedin.com/learning/python-essential-training-2

Free Python Certification Course

Introduction to Web Design and Development (LinkedIn Learning)

About the Course

 The course introduces the fundamental concepts, tools, and learning paths for web design.

Along with the modules and concepts of web design, you will get to know about five prominent designers and developers, who have each found success in a different corner of the web. 

The course covers about building a brand-new site, from web design software and content management systems, to testing and prototyping tools and development frameworks.

It also discusses about subjects such as standards and accessibility, responsive design, and the three core web technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

USP of Course

• Being a beginner course, you need not require any prior knowledge and can learn all the important concepts and techniques of web design from this course.
• A lot more career opportunities open up for you as Software Developers and Information Technology Consultant.
• You will be given additional resources and practice sheets to enhance both your theoretical and practical knowledge.
• The course instructor is a top-rated expert who has web, print, and digital video experience.

Time to Complete: Self-Paced

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Price: Free

Explore Data Science: Computational Thinking Course

Data Science: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

About the Course

This course teaches you foundations of data science, statistics, and machine learning which is an in-demand skill right now.

You will also learn how to develop machine learning algorithms that can be used to extract information from data, clusturing methodologies and probabilistic modeling.

USP of Course

• Learn from fundementals.
• Learn machine learning using Python.
• Real-world examples and applications will make you much more familiar with the concepts and builds your experience level.
• The course is handled by top professors in Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• According to an IBM report, there will be 364K new job openings in data-driven professions which makes your skills highly relevant.

Time to Complete: 1 Year 2 months.

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Price: $1450 for full course.

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Marketing Analytics: Products, Distribution and Sales (UC Berkeley)

About the Course

In this marketing course, you will learn how to apply advanced concepts such as conjoint analysis and decision tree methodologies to product decisions, as well as learn the best ways to distribute and sell your offerings to consumers.

You will also learn how to apply conjoint analysis to identify the product features that your consumers want most. Analytics-based marketing is increasingly important in determining a company’s spending and ROI.

This course will equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to immediately see practical benefits in the workplace.

USP of Course

• This course will help you to identify what your consumers want in a product and the best distribution and sales channels to engage with your chosen markets.
• The course being self-paced, you can learn at your own speed.
• Exclusive how-to videos on applying the R programming language to analytics.
• Live discussion platforms on the use of R in analytics.
• You will get an official and verified certificate after completing the course.

Time to Complete: 4 weeks/ 5-7 hours per week

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Price: Free

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Online MBA Alternative – The modMBA (Udemy)

About the Course

This course by Udemy is an online MBA alternative for an unaccredited MBA- level of experience.

You will start from the basics like Business Idea Generation, naming a Business and pivoting a Business in this course. It also covers further business concepts that can be really helpful for your career prospects.

The course also includes Business Models and Plans, Pitch Decks and Pitching Business Ideas, MBA Business Skills and Online Marketing.

USP of Course

• You will learn how to grow and scale your business with proven, real world tools and strategies.
• Online workshops are conducted for those who want to excel in business and life.
• You will be taught the real-life lessons you need to be successful in business.
• The course is handled by experts and professionals in the business field.
• Your queries and doubts are clarified instantly with a complete support team for learners.
• You will have lifetime access to the video lectures of the course.

Time to Complete: 3 hours 3 min

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Ultimate Marketing and Selling Course (Udemy)

About the Course

This course helps you to master powerful marketing and selling techniques. You will learn how to boost traffic and increase sales to your website, product or service as well as understand customer buying habits and how to target them.

The course includes ways of digital marketing, SEO and social media promotion too. You can create, develop and optimize your own marketing campaigns and become successful and effective today with E-Commerce.

USP of Course

• After learning this course, you will be able to make your products or business stand out from the competition.
• No prior knowledge or prerequisites are required to enroll for this course.
• The course features high-quality content and lectures which you can learn at you own pace.
• The course is great for business owners, freelancers and those who want to learn more about marketing and selling in more detail.
• You will also be able to access free downloads including marketing plans, business card templates, social media planning and lots more.

Time to Complete: 20 hours 37 minutes

Rating: 4.3

Price: Free

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Adobe Photoshop Complete Mastery Course Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)

About the Course

The course helps you to master Adobe Photoshop easily and quickly. the course covers both beginner and advanced versions and features that can be used in Adobe Photoshop.

You will learn all of the most important tools, plus how to edit photos, do touch-ups, whiten teeth, crop social media pics, change backgrounds and more.

You will also be taught about the interface, including where the tools are and how to customize your workspace.

USP of Course

• You can master and learn the advanced Adobe Photoshop version even if you start from scratch.
• It moves forward in an easy-to-follow, logical way, building your skills up until you feel confident using Photoshop for your photo editing.
• You will be able to crop, fix blemishes, and cut out and move parts of your images in the beginning class itself.
• The hands-on project helps you to build experience and makes you confident in using Photoshop.
• You will get lifetime access to the video lectures of the course

Time to Complete: 5 hours 45 minutes

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Photoshop CC for Web Design Beginners (Udemy)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn to use the Photoshop to create graphics for the web. The course teaches you to create a simple web page design to be used in creating a nice minimal site.

Other topics which are covered in the course are explanation about the interface of Photoshop cc, using the paint brush, using shapes and making custom shapes, using layers and groups and explanation about moving and resizing.

USP of Course

• Being a beginner level course, you need not require any prior knowledge or skills in Photoshop to start this course.
• You will also learn some keyboard shortcuts during the course.
• Video lectures with illustrations and clear explanations will help you learn faster.
• You are given workout files and practice sheets to get handy with Photoshop.
• You will finally be able to create a web page design at the end of the course.

Time to Complete: 2 hours 7 min

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Animation for Illustration: Adding Movement with Procreate & Photoshop (Skill Share)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn how to quickly and easily animate your work with Procreate. This simple approach to animation will unlock your ability to create custom, hand-drawn work with beautiful motion.

You will learn to create your initial sketch with an eye toward animation and use procreate layers to plan movement and motion. You will be taught to activate your animation in Photoshop with just a few clicks and export your work as a GIF or video.

USP of Course

• The course is well-designed to give a clear and thorough understanding about illustration in Photoshop and Procreate.
• The course is handled by Libby VanderPloeg who is a professional illustrator and designer.
• The course applies easy techniques like adding motion to your work with just a few simple tweaks to your original illustration.
• The discussion and interactive forums help you to clarify doubts.
• Projects like creating your own animation is given to improve your practical skills at the end of the course.

Time to Complete: 51 minutes

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Price: Free

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IllustRating in Procreate: Drawing a Shareable Time lapse (Skill Share)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn to use Procreate to transform your digital illustrations into magical time lapses.

You will learn how to plan your drawings to bring out magic and movement in a final, shareable time lapse piece without any animation skills.

The course includes techniques for creating charming characters and building dream-like environments for your character. You will be taught about tips and tricks on how to fill your artwork with life and energy from beginning to end.

USP of Course

• You need not require any animation skills to begin with this course.
• You will be able to create engaging characters and transform everyday environments into wondrous, whimsical worlds.
• The course includes real-time discussion platforms to enhance your knowledge about animation and clarify your doubts.
• Course is handled by Vashti Harrison, an expert illustrator and designer.
• Projects are given to help you with practical knowledge and skills.

Time to Complete: 1 hour 6 minutes

Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: Free

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Motion Graphics in Cinema 4D: Design an 80s-Inspired Animated GIF (Skill Share)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn how to create looping landscapes in Cinema 4D before adding finishing touches in After Effects and Photoshop.

You will also be taught about building basic landscapes with Cinema 4D and animation techniques to create an endless loop.

The course also helps you to add color and texture as well as render GIFs. You can explore other design courses in Skill Share too that would be helpful.

USP of Course

• The well-designed curriculum helps you learn easily and faster.
• The course is handled by Gustavo Torres, who is an art director, motion designer and illustrator.
• Gustavo shares personal tips and tricks to maintain a natural feel while using bright colors and perspective to achieve a surreal, sci-fi feeling in your work.
• This class will show you how Gustavo creates his signature look and inspire you to push creative boundaries to make work that’s all your own.
• Projects and resources enhance your practical knowledge, experience and skills to open many career opportunities.

Time to Complete: 1 hour 5 minutes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Data Structures and Software Design (edX)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn how to select, apply, and analyze the most appropriate data representations in your code and design high quality software that is easy to understand and modify.

The course includes efficient means of storing and retrieving data in a Java program and how to identify the data structure that best represents the problem at hand.

You will be able to assess and improve the quality of software design with respect to object-oriented principles and convert a set of requirements into a high-quality software design.

USP of Course

• The course helps you to write efficient code that is easy to read, understand, and modify.
• The whole course content covers both core and advanced data structures as well as about soft ware design and its implementation.
• You will learn how to determine which data structure is the most appropriate for solving the problem at hand, and see how to use the implementations that are part of the Java library.
• Classes are handled by Chris Murphy, Associate Professor of Practice, School of Engineering and Applied Science at University of Pennsylvania.
• Self-paced course in which you can keep flexible deadlines.

Time to Complete: 4 weeks

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Google IT Support Professional Certificate (Coursera)

About the Course

This 5-course certificate, developed by Google, includes innovative curriculum designed to prepare you for an entry-level role in IT support.

You will be introduced to the world of Information Technology and Computer Networking. You will also learn about Binary Code, Linux, Troubleshooting, Domain Name System (DNS), Ipv4, Network Model, Powershell, Linux File Systems, Command-Line Interface and many more.

USP of Course

• You can learn everything about computer networking through this single Google course.
• No prior requirements are needed to enroll for this course.
• Flexible schedule helps you to maintain and set flexible deadlines.
• You will get job opportunities with top employers like Cognizant, GE Digital, Hulu, Infosys, Intel, KForce, MCPc, PNC Bank, RICOH USA, Sprint, TEKSystems, Google and many more.
• Video lectures and quizzes help you to get a thorough understanding and build a strong foundation of the course. 
• Hands-on projects are given to promote practical knowledge and experience in the networking field.

Time to Complete: 8 months/ 5 hours a week

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Price: Free

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Developing Applications with Google Cloud Platform Specialization (Coursera)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn how to design, develop, and deploy applications that seamlessly integrate managed services from the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

The course is aimed at giving you an idea about how to use GCP services and pre-trained machine learning APIs to build secure, scalable, and intelligent cloud-native.

You will learn to perform repeatable deployments with containers and deployment services, choose the appropriate application runtime environment and many more functions.

USP of Course

• The course is aimed at application developers who want to build cloud-native applications or redesign existing applications that will run on Google Cloud Platform.
• The course is offered by Google Cloud, and there is no doubt about having a better course provider for this course.
• You can choose to complete labs in your favorite language: Node.js, Java, or Python.
• Classes will be conducted through a combination of presentations, demos, and hands-on labs which makes portions easily comprehensible for you.
• Practice quizzes and programming assignments with feedbacks will be beneficial for quick learning and building a strong foundation.
• You will earn a professional certificate that can increase the job opportunities in your future.

Time to Complete: 1 month/ 14 hours a week

Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: Free

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Intro to Cloud Computing (Udacity)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn foundational cloud computing skills that will set you on your path to a career in cloud computing.

The course covers fundamental concepts such as the advantages of cloud computing, deployment models, and the similarities and differences across major cloud service providers.

You will also learn about using AWS to create identity and access management policies, store data in an S3 storage bucket, and launch an ec2 instance and set up automated provisioning. You will be introduced to serverless architecture and data storage using AWS Elasticache.

USP of Course

• Udacity ensures that rich learning content is offered to you that will lead to more career opportunities.
• Interactive quizzes help in refreshing your memory and having a strong foundation in various concepts of the course.
• Classes are handled by industry professionals who promise complete support for your queries and doubts.
• Being a self-paced course, you can learn it at your own speed and convenience without compromising any concept.
• You will gain valuable hands-on practice through different assignments and workout sheets.

Time to Complete: 2 months

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Microeconomics: Price and Trade (Alison)

About the Course

This course is aimed at price and trade in microeconomics.

You will learn about the price system, which helps to coordinate global economic activity and acts as a signal for shortages and surpluses, helping firms and consumers respond to changing market conditions.

Concepts like how trade increases competition, lowers world prices, breaks down domestic monopolies, and many more are discussed on this course.

Besides business entrepreneurs, this course is helpful for all individuals who are interested to know about economic activities around the world today.

USP of Course

• The whole course is divided into well-structured modules to help students learn easily and quicker.
• You will learn about international trade, economy, government economic policies and many more updated contents happening around you.
• This course brings a lot of career opportunities in many disciplines and inter-disciplinary fields.
• There will be a final course assessment to ensure how thorough you are with the concepts dealt in the classes.
• A certificate is issued after completing the course.

Time to Complete: 1-2 hours

Rating: 5 out of 5

Price: Free

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Transform, Grow and Innovate in Finance (Alison)

About the Course

In this course, you will learn how to transform and develop your finance business through the stages of personal transformation, people transformation, process transformation, and systems transformation.

You will also learn how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your business and plan a strategy for success. With this course, you can build your business and become successful.

USP of Course

• You will learn how to achieve transformation, growth and innovation in modern finance with this free online course.
• More importantly, this course is focused on self-evaluation, reflection and strategic planning to make you confident and successful.
• You will be able to assess your business and implement profitable strategies for it after completing the course.
• You will receive a professional certificate of course completion after course assessment. 

Time to Complete: 3-4 hours

Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Price: Free

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Frequently Asked Questions about Free Online Certification Courses

Are there any good Free Online Certification Courses?

Yes, here is a list of 25 free online certification courses you can consider.

Are Free Online Certification Courses Recognized?

Free online certification courses can only be used to demonstrate that you have basic knowledge in the domain. You cannot expect to replace a college degree with a Free Online Certification Course.

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