Coursera, founded in the heyday of the MOOC hype, is one of the world’s largest online course providers and boasts an active catalog of over 15,000 courses, up from 12,000+ last year.

Boosted by the momentum provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to online education companies, Coursera went public in March, 2021. Class Central’s analysis of Coursera’s IPO filing showed that the company made $293.5M revenue in 2020. In 2021, the company made $415.3M. To learn more about Coursera, read our analysis of their business: A Deep Dive Into Coursera’s Financials.

In 2022, Coursera’s stock dropped by 20% due to a degree enrollments slowdown in the US as well as headwinds for their consumer and business segments in Europe.

Coursera experienced strong growth in 2023, adding 24 million new learners and increasing revenue by 21% to $636 million, driven primarily by its consumer business and tech partnerships. However, the company faced challenges in early 2024, revising down its revenue projections and experiencing a significant stock price drop, while focusing on expanding its AI-related offerings and proprietary content to drive future growth.

At one time, Coursera’s courses were completely free. But as time went on and Coursera focused on monetization, graded assignments and certificates were put behind a paywall. Eventually the courses went from free to “free to audit”. In mid-2025, Coursera introduced Preview Mode, all but eliminating free to audit mode and drastically reducing the number of completely free courses.

But an investigation by Class Central found that there are still 300 completely free courses on Coursera (minus the certificate). If you have trouble signing up for audit or preview mode, please read our guide on How to Sign up for Coursera Courses for Free.

100 Most Popular FREE Coursera Courses

Here’s a quick summary of Coursera’s 100 most popular free online courses of all time, based on the number of enrollments:

• Enrollments range from 6K to 1.4M. Only one course has over 1M enrollments
• Together, they account for over 7M enrollments, with an average of 71K per course
• 88 courses are in English; the rest are in various other languages
• They’ve received 726 reviews on Class Central, averaging 12 reviews each
• Average rating: 4.57/5.0
• 35 courses are beginner level, 15 are intermediate level, and 2 are advanced level. The rest are mixed levels.
• In total, the courses offer 1,500+ hours of learning.

Here are the courses:

1. Algorithms, Part I from Princeton University ★★★★☆(62)
2. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies from Princeton University ★★★★★(19)
3. Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose from Princeton University ★★★★★(1)
4. Lesson | Small Talk & Conversational Vocabulary from Georgia Institute of Technology ★★★★★(1)
5. Algorithms, Part II from Princeton University ★★★★★(21)
6. Computer Architecture from Princeton University ★★★★☆(6)
7. Calculus: Single Variable Part 1 – Functions from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(8)
8. Science Matters: Let’s Talk About COVID-19 from Imperial College London ★★★★★(7)
9. The Age of Sustainable Development from Columbia University ★★★★★(14)
10. Computer Science: Algorithms, Theory, and Machines from Princeton University
11. Lesson | Express Yourself: Pronunciation from Georgia Institute of Technology
12. Applying to U.S. Universities from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★☆(9)
13. Analysis of Algorithms from Princeton University ★★★★☆(6)
14. Lesson | Business English Skills: How to Write Effective Openings and Closings to Emails from University of Washington
15. Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”) from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(190)
16. General Chemistry: Concept Development and Application from Rice University ★★★★☆(5)
17. Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas from Curtis Institute of Music ★★★★☆(15)
18. Fundamentals of Sales and Marketing, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(27)
19. Paradoxes of War from Princeton University ★★★★☆(13)
20. Grow Your Business with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(67)
21. Fundamentals of Business Finance, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(56)
22. Audio Signal Processing for Music Applications from Stanford University ★★★★★(1)
23. Lesson | Business English Skills: How to Navigate Tone, Formality, and Directness in Emails from University of Washington ★★★★★(1)
24. Effective Altruism from Princeton University ★★★★★(12)
25. 竞争策略（中文版） from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
26. Digital Marketing Strategy with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs
27. Imagining Other Earths from Princeton University ★★★★☆(3)
28. Lesson | Business English Skills: Introducing Yourself in Business Settings from University of Washington
29. Property and Liability: An Introduction to Law and Economics from Wesleyan University ★☆☆☆☆(1)
30. Calculus: Single Variable Part 2 – Differentiation from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(5)
31. Fundamentals of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence from Amazon Web Services
32. MOS Transistors from Columbia University ★★★★★(1)
33. Calculus: Single Variable Part 3 – Integration from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★☆(4)
34. Health Across the Gender Spectrum from Stanford University ★★★★★(5)
35. Lesson | Get Ready for the Interview from Georgia Institute of Technology
36. Statistical Mechanics: Algorithms and Computations from École normale supérieure ★★★★★(4)
37. Giving 2.0: The MOOC from Stanford University ★★☆☆☆(1)
38. Fundamentals of Financial Planning, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(15)
39. Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world from Sciences Po ★★★★★(2)
40. Fundamentals of Leadership, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(46)
41. Fundamentals of Management, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(11)
42. Approximation Algorithms Part I from École normale supérieure ★★★★★(2)
43. Calculus: Single Variable Part 4 – Applications from University of Pennsylvania ★★★★★(3)
44. Enjoyable Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam ★★★★☆(1)
45. Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality, Freedom from Rutgers University ★★★★☆(5)
46. Teaching and Assessing Clinical Skills from University of Michigan ★★★★★(4)
47. Fundamentals of Negotiation, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(23)
48. Analytic Combinatorics from Princeton University ★★★★☆(3)
49. Getting started in cryo-EM from California Institute of Technology
50. Lesson | Telephone Language from Georgia Institute of Technology
51. Les transitions énergétique & écologique dans les pays du Sud from École normale supérieure
52. Bacterial Bioinformatics from University of Virginia
53. Sleep Deprivation: Habits, Solutions, and Strategies Teach-Out from University of Michigan ★★★★★(1)
54. Foundations of Diversity and Inclusion at Work TeachOut from University of Virginia
55. CompTIA Security+ 701 from Infosec
56. America Through Foreign Eyes from Rice University ★★★★★(4)
57. Lesson | Understand and Be Understood on the Phone from Georgia Institute of Technology
58. Fundamentals of Operations, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(15)
59. Fundamentals of Customers and Competition, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(12)
60. Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München ★★★★★(3)
61. Fundamentos do Google para o Ensino from Fundação Lemann
62. Hands-on quantum error correction with Google Quantum AI from Google ★★★★☆(1)
63. Fundamentals of Funding, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(8)
64. Michigan Sport-Related Concussion Training Certification from University of Michigan ★★★★☆(3)
65. Space Medicine from Duke University ★★★★★(1)
66. Essentials of Prompt Engineering from Amazon Web Services
67. Cartographie thématique from École normale supérieure
68. Lesson | Video Conferencing: Face to Face but Online from Georgia Institute of Technology
69. U101: Understanding College and College Life from University of Washington ★★★★★(1)
70. 高阶竞争策略（中文版） from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
71. Ebola: Essential Knowledge for Health Professionals from University of Amsterdam ★★★★★(4)
72. Алгоритмы, часть I from Princeton University
73. Climate Change and Human Rights from New York University (NYU) ★★★★★(1)
74. Lesson | Organize Your Pitch from Georgia Institute of Technology
75. Generative AI for University Leaders from Vanderbilt University
76. Approximation Algorithms Part II from École normale supérieure
77. Theatre and Globalization from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
78. A la recherche du Grand Paris from Sciences Po
79. ChatGPT Teach-Out from University of Michigan
80. Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) from Infosec
81. Structural Equation Model and its Applications | 结构方程模型及其应用 (普通话) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong
82. Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Part 2 from Curtis Institute of Music ★★★★★(1)
83. Introduction à la théorie de Galois from École normale supérieure
84. Applying to College 101 from University of Pennsylvania
85. Revolutionary Ideas: Borders, Elections, Constitutions, Prisons from Rutgers University ★★★★★(2)
86. Cities are back in town : sociología urbana para un mundo globalizado from Sciences Po
87. Fundamentos de las Ventas y el Marketing con Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs ★★★★★(3)
88. Ukraine: History, Culture and Identities from University of Washington
89. Data Engineering on AWS – Foundations from Amazon Web Services
90. Inclusive Online Teaching Teach-Out from Johns Hopkins University
91. Introduction to UX Design MasterTrack Certificate Program from University of Minnesota
92. Cities are back in town : sociologie urbaine pour un monde globalisé from Sciences Po
93. Akademiskt skrivande from Lund University
94. Global Systemic Risk from Princeton University ★★★★★(2)
95. Voces de cambio social from Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
96. Lecture Series for Preventing and Controlling COVID-19 from Xi’an Jiaotong University ★★★★★(1)
97. Amazon Bedrock – Getting Started with Generative AI from Amazon Web Services
98. Innovation Strategy with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women from Goldman Sachs
99. Research kitchen from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
100. Exploring Artificial Intelligence Use Cases and Applications from Amazon Web Services