IBM free online courses with certificate: what each listed course gives
Every IBM course listed here is free to study, and every course page says a credential is offered. What differs is the platform, Cognitive Class or IBM SkillsBuild, which decides what you receive and how.
Cognitive Class courses with a free certificate of completion
Cognitive Class pages list the price as free, and the platform's FAQ says learning there costs nothing but your time. IBM's terms describe the credential as a certificate of completion for students who demonstrate mastery of the material; on Cognitive Class that means passing the review questions and the final exam. These courses, plus the three security courses further down, all state that a certificate is offered:
- Python for Data Science, 18 hours, beginner
- SQL and Relational Databases 101, 5 hours, beginner
- Data Science 101, 11 hours, beginner
- Machine Learning with Python, 20 hours, beginner
- Data Visualization with Python, 10 hours, beginner
- Docker Essentials: A Developer Introduction, 3 hours, beginner
- Introduction to Cloud, 6 hours, beginner
- Prompt Engineering for Everyone, 5 hours, beginner
- Deep Learning Fundamentals, 3 hours, no level stated
IBM SkillsBuild free courses and the Credly badge
IBM SkillsBuild is IBM's free learning site for adult learners and students; its FAQ answers whether it is really free with a plain yes. Cybersecurity Fundamentals is the SkillsBuild item listed here: 7.5 hours, open to all learners, in English and fifteen other languages.
The credential is a digital badge, not a certificate of completion. You pass the end-of-course assessment with 80 percent or higher, and the badge is issued through Credly, whose badge page lists the cost as free. Only one SkillsBuild course is listed because the catalogue cannot be browsed without logging in.
IBM digital badges on Cognitive Class
Cognitive Class's badges page lists Credly course badges for Python for Data Science, Machine Learning with Python, Data Visualization using Python and Docker Essentials. No live page states what those badges cost, so our records describe the free certificate and mention the badge where one exists. z/OS Networking Security Foundations describes its own badge on the course page, earned by passing a quiz at 80 percent.
Why IBM's Coursera courses are not listed
IBM courses and Professional Certificates on Coursera require a Coursera subscription, and Cognitive Class's own Professional Certificates are a paid subscription product. This site lists only courses that are free in full. Application Security for Developers and DevOps Professionals also belongs to a paid IBM Professional Certificate on Coursera, but the course itself is free on Cognitive Class. Every IBM credential listed here is collected under free IBM certifications.
How to start a free IBM course
The two platforms grade work and issue credentials differently.
On Cognitive Class
Grading happens inside the course, module by module.
- Open the course page and use the free enrolment button; every listed page shows the price as free.
- Work through the modules of short videos or readings in order.
- Do the labs in the browser-based Jupyter environment the platform provides. Docker Essentials is the exception: you must install Docker Community Edition or use Play-with-Docker, and hold a Docker Hub account for the third lab.
- Answer the review questions at the end of each module; in most courses they are worth 50 percent of the mark.
- Sit the timed final exam: the other 50 percent, a passing grade of 70 percent, and typically two attempts per question.
On IBM SkillsBuild
The course sits behind a login and Credly issues the badge.
- Create a free SkillsBuild account; you sign in with an IBMid, Google or GitHub.
- Complete the Cybersecurity Fundamentals course and pass the end-of-course assessment with 80 percent or higher.
- Look out for the email from Credly with instructions for claiming your badge; IBM shares your name, email address and badge earned with Credly to issue it.
What you can study for free with IBM
The listed courses fall into three clusters; there are no IBM courses here in marketing, design or the humanities.
Python, data science and machine learning
Python for Data Science is the entry point, with basic maths as the only listed prerequisite. Machine Learning with Python lists it as a prerequisite and names Data Analysis with Python as the bridge, but that course is not listed here. Data Visualization with Python has the same two requirements, so treat it as a third step.
Data Science 101 has no coding. Deep Learning Fundamentals is concept videos only; its page notes that the module on platforms and libraries covers tools of its era. SQL and Relational Databases 101 has hands-on exercises in every module. See also Python and data science.
Cloud, containers and AI
Introduction to Cloud needs no cloud knowledge and covers service and deployment models, storage and cloud-native trends. Docker Essentials: A Developer Introduction is three labs and a final exam. Prompt Engineering for Everyone has no technical requirements and runs through nine short labs; its page says you can work in English or your own language.
Cyber security
Four listed courses cover security; two are rated intermediate. For paths beyond IBM, see free cyber security certifications.
- Cybersecurity Fundamentals on SkillsBuild, 7.5 hours, assessment-based rather than hands-on
- Fundamentals of Encryption & Quantum-Safe Techniques, 3 hours, beginner, videos and slides with a quiz per section
- Application Security for Developers and DevOps Professionals, 17 hours, intermediate, for people who already code
- z/OS Networking Security Foundations, 8 hours, intermediate, for z/OS users only