On edX, free means the audit track. Most courses can be audited at no cost: you enrol, choose Audit this course, and get the readings, video lectures, discussion forums and any ungraded practice exercises. Two things are not included. Graded assignments and exams are locked to the paid verified track, and there is no certificate of any kind for auditing.
Audit access is also time-limited. edX's help centre states that it expires after the estimated course length has passed; for a self-paced course that means the listed number of weeks from the day you enrol, not the whole period the course is open, and edX shows the expiry date inside the course. If you want to keep access, complete graded work and earn a certificate, you upgrade to the verified track before the upgrade deadline. The price is shown on each course page, and the records here carry it in US dollars as displayed.
Not every product on edX has an audit track. Boot Camps and Executive Education courses are paid only, and programmes such as XSeries, Professional Certificates, MicroMasters and MicroBachelors are made of individual courses that edX says you audit one at a time. Every edX record on this site is marked free to audit with time-limited access, and the certificate is always paid.
Filters
Free Online Courses from edX
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Course
Subject
Cost
Certificate
Level
Duration
Open
1
Introduction to LinuxIntroduction to Linux (LFS101x) is the Linux Foundation's entry-level Linux course on edX.IT · Beginner · 14 weeks
HTML5 and CSS FundamentalsHTML5 and CSS Fundamentals is the World Wide Web Consortium's own introductory course on building web pages, offered…Programming · Beginner · 6 weeks
JavaScript IntroductionJavaScript Introduction is W3C's beginner course in the language that adds interactivity to web pages, developed with…Programming · Beginner · 5 weeks
CSS BasicsCSS Basics is a World Wide Web Consortium course on edX about styling web pages with CSS, taking pages, as the page p…Programming · Beginner · 5 weeks
Introduction to Web AccessibilityIntroduction to Web Accessibility is the World Wide Web Consortium's foundation course on making websites and apps us…Programming · Beginner · 4 weeks
Introduction to KubernetesIntroduction to Kubernetes (LFS158x) is the Linux Foundation's primer on the container orchestration system, offered…IT · Beginner · 14 weeks
Introduction to Project ManagementIntroduction to Project Management is Adelaide University's beginner course on edX for applying project management pr…Management · Beginner · 6 weeks
How to Learn OnlineHow to Learn Online is edX's own short course on being an effective online learner, and the techniques apply on any p…Courses for Seniors · Beginner · 1 week
Communicating with PresenceCommunicating with Presence is a one-hour Stanford Medicine course on the Presence 5 model, a set of five practices f…Psychology · Advanced · 1 week
Introduction to Food & HealthIntroduction to Food & Health is a short Stanford Medicine continuing-education course hosted on edX, where it is off…Nutrition · Advanced · 1 week
A Hands-on Introduction to Engineering SimulationsA Hands-on Introduction to Engineering Simulations is a six-week CornellX course taught by Rajesh Bhaskaran, Swanson…Mathematics · Intermediate · 6 weeks
Academic and Business WritingAcademic and Business Writing is a six-week BerkeleyX course led by Maggie Sokolik, Director of College Writing Progr…Writing · Beginner · 6 weeks
Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1 is Tim Roughgarden's StanfordOnline course on edX, the first half of a two-pa…Computer Science · Intermediate · 6 weeks
Bridging DifferencesBridging Differences is an eight-week BerkeleyX course from UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, taught by Rodo…Psychology · Beginner · 8 weeks
Computer Science 101Computer Science 101 is Nick Parlante's StanfordOnline course on edX for people with no prior experience of computer…Computer Science · Beginner · 6 weeks
Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to ContractContract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract is taught by Charles Fried and introduces the range of issues that ar…Law · Intermediate · 8 weeks
Data Analysis: Basic Probability and StatisticsData Analysis: Basic Probability and Statistics is built for people new to probability or wanting an approachable ref…Mathematics · Beginner · 7 weeks
Data ExplorationData Exploration is a four-week BerkeleyX course taught by Richard Huntsinger and belongs to UC Berkeley's Data, Stat…Data Science · Intermediate · 4 weeks
Data Science: Building Machine Learning ModelsData Science: Building Machine Learning Models introduces machine learning by having you build a movie recommendation…Data Science · Beginner · 8 weeks
Data Science: Linear RegressionData Science: Linear Regression covers how to implement linear regression in R and how to use it to adjust for confou…Data Science · Beginner · 8 weeks
Data Science: ProbabilityData Science: Probability, part of HarvardX's Professional Certificate in Data Science, teaches the probability theor…Data Science · Beginner · 8 weeks
Data Science: R BasicsData Science: R Basics is the first course in HarvardX's Professional Certificate in Data Science and introduces the…Data Science · Beginner · 8 weeks
Data Science: WranglingData Science: Wrangling deals with the messy first stage of most data projects: getting data out of files, databases…Data Science · Beginner · 8 weeks
Empathy and Emotional Intelligence at WorkEmpathy and Emotional Intelligence at Work is a four-week BerkeleyX course from Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Simon-Tho…Psychology · Beginner · 4 weeks
Exercising Leadership: Foundational PrinciplesExercising Leadership: Foundational Principles is an introductory Harvard course on leading through adaptive challeng…Management · Beginner
Fundamentals of EconomicsFundamentals of Economics is a four-week BerkeleyX course taught by Eric Van Dusen, a lecturer in data science and ec…Business · Beginner · 4 weeks
How to Write an EssayHow to Write an Essay is a five-week BerkeleyX course from Maggie Sokolik of UC Berkeley's College Writing Programs…Writing · Beginner · 5 weeks
Introduction to Data Science with PythonIntroduction to Data Science with Python is HarvardX's course on using Python for data science and the first steps of…Data Science · Intermediate · 8 weeks
Introduction to ProbabilityIntroduction to Probability teaches how to reason about uncertainty and randomness and how to make good predictions.Mathematics · Intermediate
Introduction to PythonIntroduction to Python is a seven-week BerkeleyX course taught by lecturer Michael Ball and forms part of UC Berkeley…Python · Intermediate · 7 weeks
JusticeJustice, taught by Michael Sandel, is a critical examination of classical and contemporary theories of justice applie…Law · Intermediate · 12 weeks
Leadership DevelopmentLeadership Development is a four-week OxfordX course from Saïd Business School, taught by Emeritus Professor Tim Morris.Management · Beginner · 4 weeks
Machine Learning and AI with PythonMachine Learning and AI with Python starts from the simplest machine learning algorithm, the decision tree, and build…Data Science · Intermediate
Managing HappinessManaging Happiness, taught by Arthur Brooks of Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, introduces the mod…Psychology · Beginner
Marketing Psychology: How We DecideMarketing Psychology: How We Decide is a four-week OxfordX course taught by Andrew Stephen, Associate Dean of Researc…Marketing · Beginner · 4 weeks
Masterpieces of World LiteratureMasterpieces of World Literature surveys how great writers have engaged with the wider world and how their works are…English · Beginner · 12 weeks
Mindfulness and Resilience to Stress at WorkMindfulness and Resilience to Stress at Work is a four-week BerkeleyX course taught by Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Si…Psychology · Beginner · 4 weeks
Remote Work Revolution for EveryoneRemote Work Revolution for Everyone addresses the shift to remote work that many organisations made rapidly during th…Management · Beginner · 3 weeks
Shakespeare’s Hamlet: The GhostShakespeare's Hamlet: The Ghost, led by Stephen Greenblatt, takes a single figure, the Ghost of the dead King of Denm…English · Beginner · 4 weeks
Statistical Learning with PythonStatistical Learning with Python is StanfordOnline's edX course by Trevor Hastie, Robert Tibshirani and Jonathan Tayl…Data Science · Beginner · 11 weeks
Strategic Finance for Nonprofit LeadersStrategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders, taught by James Honan and adapted from his Harvard Kennedy School classroom…Business · Beginner · 6 weeks
Tangible ThingsTangible Things uses objects from Harvard's museums, libraries and collections to teach how historians, curators, arc…History · Beginner · 10 weeks
Teaching & Learning in the Diverse ClassroomTeaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom is a five-week CornellX course from Cornell's Center for Teaching Innova…Psychology · Beginner · 5 weeks
The Architectural ImaginationThe Architectural Imagination teaches how to understand architecture as both cultural expression and technical achiev…Art · Beginner · 10 weeks
The Health Effects of Climate ChangeThe Health Effects of Climate Change, created with support from the Harvard Global Health Institute, explains how ris…Nutrition · Beginner · 7 weeks
The Science of HappinessThe Science of Happiness is an eleven-week BerkeleyX course taught by Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Simon-Thomas of UC…Psychology · Beginner · 11 weeks
Using Python for ResearchUsing Python for Research is aimed at people who have finished an introductory Python course and want to apply the la…Python · Intermediate
edX free courses with certificate: what is actually free
On every course published by edX itself in the table above, the certificate is paid. The audit track costs nothing and never includes a certificate. The few free certificates on edX-hosted courses listed on this site come from a university, not from edX.
Verified certificate prices on the listed edX courses
Prices were read from each course page in US dollars. The verified track adds the graded work and the certificate.
Harvard's CS50 courses, such as CS50's Introduction to Computer Science, award a free CS50 Certificate through cs50.harvard.edu for scoring at least 70% on the graded work. On edX the same courses are free to audit with a paid verified certificate, $219 for CS50x.
The steps are the same on every course listed here.
Create a free edX account and open the course page.
Enrol and choose Audit this course.
You get the readings, video lectures, discussion forums and any ungraded practice exercises.
Graded assignments and exams stay locked to the verified track.
edX shows an expiry date inside the course; audit access ends when the estimated course length has passed.
To keep access, complete graded work and earn the certificate, upgrade before the upgrade deadline.
How long edX audit course free access lasts
edX's help centre states that audit access expires after the estimated course length has passed, counted from the day you enrol on a self-paced course. That means about fourteen weeks for Introduction to Linux and about 1 week for How to Learn Online.
Which edX products cannot be audited
Boot Camps and Executive Education courses have no audit track, so none are listed. XSeries, Professional Certificate, MicroMasters and MicroBachelors programmes are made of individual courses that edX says you audit one at a time.
What you can study free on edX
The edX-published courses listed here are mostly technical. Data science and mathematics come from university partners instead; see the Harvard hub and the data science hub.
HarvardX courses on edX follow the audit model above: free to audit for the estimated course length, with graded work and the verified certificate in the paid track. The verified certificate on the HarvardX courses listed on this site costs $69 to $299. Tangible Things is $69, Justice is $209 and Introduction to Data Science with Python is $299. The CS50 family is the exception, with its free certificate issued by Harvard. The full list is on the Harvard hub; the Harvard certifications page covers the credential question.
MIT OpenCourseWare vs edX
MIT OpenCourseWare publishes the materials of on-campus MIT classes: lecture videos, notes, problem sets and exams, free of charge, with no account, no deadline and no certificate, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence. Linear Algebra is a typical example. MIT's graded online courses, such as Introduction to Computer Science & Programming Using Python, run on MITx Online, where auditing is free and the certificate track is paid, $149 for that course.
The MIT courses listed on this site are on MIT's own channels rather than edX. Choose OpenCourseWare for self-study with no time limit; choose MITx Online, or an edX course above, for graded work and a certificate. The MIT hub has the full list.
Yes. Choosing the audit track costs nothing. You get the course materials and discussion forums but not the graded assignments, and no certificate is issued for auditing.
How long does audit access last?
Until the course's estimated length has passed, counted from when you enrol. A course listed as six weeks gives you about six weeks of audit access even if it stays open longer; edX shows the expiry date inside the course. Upgrading to the verified track extends access.
How much is an edX verified certificate?
It varies by course and partner. The records on this site show the price stated on each course page, from 29 US dollars for edX's own How to Learn Online to 249 US dollars for the W3C web development courses.
Which edX courses cannot be audited?
Boot Camps and Executive Education courses have no audit track, according to edX's help centre, and none are listed here. For courses inside XSeries, Professional Certificate, MicroMasters and MicroBachelors programmes, edX points to separate steps for enrolling in the audit track course by course.