How to Take Harvard's Free Online Courses

There are two routes. The CS50 courses on cs50.harvard.edu are free in full, including a certificate if you score at least 70% on the graded work. HarvardX courses run on edX, where auditing is free for a limited time and the verified certificate costs $69 to $299 per course in our records. Neither route carries Harvard credit or admission.

The two routes to a free Harvard course

Harvard publishes free courses in two ways, and "free" means something different in each. The CS50 family is OpenCourseWare on cs50.harvard.edu: every lecture, note and problem set is open, and a free certificate is available for completing the graded work. HarvardX courses are listed at pll.harvard.edu and hosted on edX, where the material is free to audit but the certificate is paid.

Both routes are on the Harvard hub, where each course shows whether the certificate is free or paid and at what price; the edX hub explains the audit model in general. This guide covers the sign-up steps for each route and where to start by subject.

You do not apply, and there is no start date. Harvard's course pages say anyone who is not a Harvard student is welcome to take the course for free by working through its weeks of material. The steps below are for CS50's Introduction to Computer Science; the other CS50 courses follow the same pattern.

Open the course site (cs50.harvard.edu/x for CS50x). The lectures, notes, problem sets and final project are all there without an account.
Work through the material week by week. For each of the eleven weeks of CS50x you watch the lecture, then the recommended section and shorts, then do the problem set.
Create a free edX account. This is what you use to submit problem sets and projects for feedback; the course material itself does not require it.
Score at least 70% on each problem set and lab and on the final project. For the follow-on courses it is 70% on each problem or project.
Collect the free CS50 Certificate. It is issued at a unique URL, so anyone you share the link with can check it.
Optionally, register at cs50.edx.org for a verified certificate from edX instead. This one costs a fee: Harvard's listing gives $219 for CS50x.

What the free CS50 certificate is and how it is verified

Harvard's CS50 courses page states that each course offers both a free certificate and a paid verified certificate. The free one is issued using a unique URL, which is how it is checked. The verified one goes through edX's verification process, and Harvard notes that others may therefore regard it as more authentic. Every released CS50 course in our records is marked free with a free, verifiable certificate. The verified certificate prices Harvard's listings state are $219 for CS50x, $199 for the web programming course, $299 for the AI course, $299 for the Scratch course and $299 for the law course. For the Python, SQL, cybersecurity and R courses the listing shows no price.

CS50 Harvard free course: which one to begin with

Harvard rates CS50x introductory, at 10 to 20 hours a week over eleven weeks of material. It is the course to take if you want computer science fundamentals rather than a single language. CS50's Introduction to Programming with Python is lighter, at 3 to 9 hours a week over ten weeks. Harvard says it can be taken before, during or after CS50x. Complete beginners who would rather not type code first can start with CS50's Introduction to Programming with Scratch, nine weeks of block-based projects.

HarvardX courses work only the second way. Harvard's own course page shows the course as "Free", with "Audit for Free" as the credit option, a line reading "Add a Verified Certificate for" a stated price, and edX as the platform. The enrol button on that page takes you to edx.org.

Find the course on pll.harvard.edu and check the price line: Free, Audit for Free, and the verified certificate price.
Follow the enrol link to the edX course page and create a free edX account if you do not have one.
Choose the audit track when edX asks how you want to enrol. This costs nothing.
Use the readings, videos and practice exercises. Graded assignments are locked to the paid verified track, and no certificate is issued for auditing.
If you decide you want the certificate, upgrade to the verified track before the upgrade deadline shown inside the course.

How long free audit access lasts

Audit access on edX is temporary. edX's help centre explains that a free audit learner has temporary access to all course materials except graded assignments, does not earn a certificate, and loses access once the estimated course length has passed. So a course listed as eight weeks, such as Data Science: R Basics, gives about eight weeks of audit access from the day you enrol; after that you upgrade or enrol in a future session. Every HarvardX record on this site is therefore marked free to audit with time-limited access.

What a HarvardX verified certificate costs

The price is set per course and printed on Harvard's page. Among the HarvardX courses listed here it runs from $69 for Tangible Things to $299 for Introduction to Data Science with Python and $299 for Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract. Paying adds the graded assignments and the certificate; the readings and videos are the same on both tracks.

Do Harvard free online courses give credit, and are they transferable?

No application to Harvard is involved. The answer is plain: CS50 courses need only a free edX account to submit work, HarvardX courses are open enrolment on edX, and none of them carries Harvard credit or admission. Because no credit is awarded, there is no credit to transfer. What you can take away is a certificate: free for CS50, paid for HarvardX. Whether a school or employer gives weight to it is their decision, and nothing on Harvard's pages promises that they will.

Are Harvard free online courses worth it?

It depends on what you want. For the teaching, both routes give you the full lectures and materials at no cost, and the CS50 route adds a free, checkable certificate for finishing the graded work. For a credential from a HarvardX course, budget the stated price, $69 to $299 in our records. Plan to finish inside the course's listed length because audit access ends when it does.

Weigh the time as well. Harvard's listings put CS50x at 10 to 20 hours a week and CS50's AI course at 10 to 30 hours a week. Every level, length and weekly effort in our records was read from Harvard's own course page on the last verified date shown on the course.

Where to start, by subject

The lists below name only courses in our records. If a subject you searched for is missing, it is because no such Harvard course is listed here.

Computer science and programming

Start with CS50x if you want the full foundation. CS50's Introduction to Databases with SQL (seven weeks, 6 to 12 hours a week, introductory) and CS50's Introduction to Programming with R (seven weeks) each stand alone. CS50's Web Programming with Python and JavaScript is intermediate and expects CS50x or another language first. CS50's Introduction to Cybersecurity needs no programming at all. It runs five weeks at 2 to 6 hours a week. See the computer science hub for other providers.

AI and data science

CS50's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python is the free-certificate option, rated intermediate with CS50x or a year of Python as the prerequisite. On edX, Machine Learning and AI with Python ($299 verified certificate) and Data Science: Building Machine Learning Models ($149) are free to audit. Beginners in R can start with Data Science: R Basics ($219). More options are on the data science hub.

Statistics and mathematics

Data Analysis: Basic Probability and Statistics is introductory, seven weeks at 3 to 5 hours a week, with a $149 verified certificate. Statistics and R is an intermediate course of four weeks ($219), and Introduction to Probability is rated intermediate at 5 to 10 hours a week ($209). Calculus Applied! ($209) is a supplement for people who already know calculus, not a first course.

Business, leadership and government

For business and management, Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles ($209), Remote Work Revolution for Everyone (three weeks, $149) and Strategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders (six weeks, $199) are all introductory and free to audit.

The closest match to government searches is Leadership for Purposeful Change: Creating Public Value, a Harvard Kennedy School course ($209); Justice ($209) covers political philosophy. No Harvard course on the constitution, and no nursing course, is listed here.

Writing and public speaking

Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking runs eight weeks at 2 to 3 hours a week with a $209 verified certificate. It includes writing an opinion editorial and a short speech. Structure and Function of Argument: Introduction to Critical Thinking is listed at eight weeks with a $209 verified certificate. Both are free to audit on edX, and both appear on the writing hub.

Sources

Published 16 Sep 2026; last updated 16 Sep 2026. Facts were read on the pages listed above on the update date; see the editorial policy.