15 Best Programming Courses for Beginners
We compared 15 Programming courses currently listed on Coursera, edX and Udemy, priced from $19.99 to $79.00. 6 come from a named university or institution, including Vanderbilt University, Duke University and University of California San Diego. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.
- Courses compared
- 15
- Price range
- $19.99 – $79.00
- Providers
- Coursera, edX, Udemy
- Last updated
- 18 Sep 2026
How these 15 courses were chosen
Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Coursera, edX, Udemy, matched to "programming" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.
The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.
There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $19.99 to $79.00, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.
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1
Introduction to Programming with MATLAB
Offered by Vanderbilt University
This course teaches computer programming to those with little to no previous experience. It uses the programming system and language called MATLAB to do so because it is easy to learn, versatile and very useful for engin...
$49.00listed price -
2
Python Programming Fundamentals
Offered by Duke University
This introductory course is designed for beginners and individuals with limited programming experience who want to embark on their software development or data science journey using Python. Throughout the course, learner...
$49.00listed price -
3
Biology Meets Programming: Bioinformatics for Beginners
Offered by University of California San Diego
Are you interested in learning how to program (in Python) within a scientific setting? This course will cover algorithms for solving various biological problems along with a handful of programming challenges helping you...
$49.00listed price -
4
Introduction to C++ Programming and Unreal
Offered by University of Colorado System
This course is all about starting to learn how to develop video games using the C++ programming language and the Unreal Engine on Windows or Mac. This course assumes you have previous programming experience in some other...
$49.00listed price -
5
Programming Fundamentals
Offered by Duke University
Embark on your programming journey! This introductory course teaches you the fundamental principles of programming in C that are applicable to any language you might want to learn. Master a powerful seven-step problem-so...
$79.00listed price -
6
Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals
Offered by Duke University
Take your first step towards a career in software development with this introduction to Java—one of the most in-demand programming languages and the foundation of the Android operating system. Designed for beginners, thi...
$49.00listed price -
7
Introduction to Rust Programming and Core Concepts
Offered by Packt
Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as yo...
$49.00listed price -
8
Introduction to Computer Science and Programming
Offered by Institute of Science Tokyo
The term “Computation” refers to the action performed by a computer. A computation can be a basic operation and it can also be a sophisticated computer simulation requiring a large amount of data and substantial resource...
$79.00listed price -
9
C, Go, and C++: A Comprehensive Introduction to Programming
Offered by University of California, Santa Cruz
This specialization is intended for all programming enthusiasts, as well as beginners, computer and other scientists, and artificial intelligence aficionados seeking a comprehensive introduction to programming. Starting...
$49.00listed price -
10
Java Programming Fundamentals
Offered by IBM & SkillUp
Java remains one of the top four popular programming languages (TIOBE Index), and entry-level Java developers earn a good salary from the start, USD 86,000 annually on average! Whether you're just starting your programmi...
$49.00listed price -
11
Introduction to Programming with Python
Offered by Logical Operations
Though Python® has been in use for more than 30 years, it has become one of the most popular languages for software development, particularly within the fields of data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence,...
$49.00listed price -
12
The Complete C# Programming Course for Beginners
Offered by Packt
This course features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the co...
$49.00listed price -
13
The Fundamentals of RDMA Programming
Offered by NVIDIA
Welcome to the Fundamentals of RDMA Programming Course! Remote Direct Memory Access, RDMA, enables server-to-server data movement directly between application memory without any CPU involvement. RDMA technology empowers...
$49.00listed price -
14
Java School 1: Basic Programming for Students and Beginners
Welcome to Java School, the perfect course for anyone looking to learn programming from the ground up! This course is designed for:High school students who are approaching coding for the first time.First-year university...
$24.99listed price -
15
C++ for Beginners: Learn Programming, OOP, STL & Projects
C++ is one of the most important programming languages used in software development, system programming, and game development. It’s also the foundation for learning data structures, algorithms, and competitive programmin...
$19.99listed price
Best Programming Courses for Beginners compared
Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.
What the prices here tell you
The 15 priced courses on this page run from $19.99 to $79.00, with the middle of the range around $49.00 — a spread of $59.01. The options are closely priced, so cost is unlikely to be your deciding factor. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.
Who is behind these courses
These courses come from Coursera, edX and Udemy. The platforms differ in how they sell: some charge once per course, others expect a subscription, and the listed price is not always what you pay at checkout after a promotion. 6 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including Vanderbilt University, Duke University and University of California San Diego — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.
Before you enrol
Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 18 September 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.