Important Facts
Aditi Bhardwaj Sep 23, 2025 25.5K Reads
Short Des: The demand and usefulness of online educational courses are rapidly increasing with the growth of technology and the effects of the global pandemic that caused long lockdowns. Several online learning platforms and portals in India provide students with free online courses with certificates across a wide range of specializations. In this blog, we explain what online courses are, their important details, and highlight some of the top online learning platforms where you can explore different courses in 2025.
To begin with, it is important to understand what online education actually means before enrolling in an online course. Online education refers to learning that is delivered through the internet using digital platforms and virtual classrooms. The course content is shared with students through technology-based tools and electronic devices. Learners can access study materials and lectures via an online portal using a computer, laptop, or mobile device.
An online course may include prerecorded video lectures or live interactive sessions. The most common methods of teaching in online education are live classes, recorded lessons, digital assignments, case studies, and study resources such as PDFs, e-books, and PPTs. Online courses are offered in different formats and durations. Students can find options at the school level, undergraduate level, postgraduate level, as well as short-term certification or crash courses designed for working professionals. Today, you can even pursue full-fledged degrees, diplomas, and certifications through online education.
Now that you know what an online course is, the next step is to identify who should go for it and whether it is the right learning choice for you. Below, we have listed some of the situations where choosing an online course can be the best option. Online courses are open to everyone, but they are especially useful for certain groups:
When choosing an online course, it is essential to verify the credibility of both the course and the platform offering it to ensure it is reliable and valid. So, it is essential that you carefully select the online course from a reliable platform.
Here we have listed the top 10 best online learning platforms in 2025 offering online courses to students:
These are two online learning platforms by the search engine giant Google that offer a variety of online certificate courses to students. Grow.Google is a creative online learning platform that provides students with a number of certificate courses to students in domains such as business development, start-ups, personal growth and enhancement, teaching, cultural organizations, NGOs, etc. Many of these courses are provided to students free of cost, along with accredited certificates.
Google Digital Garage is another online learning platform by Google that offers students a number of certificate courses online related to the field of digital technology, digital marketing, career development, data, etc. This platform allows the added advantage to students to choose between various other online learning platforms by providing similar courses offered by the different platforms in the same place. There are a variety of courses available for students to choose from, including online workshops, live training programmes, certificate courses, etc. Paid and unpaid courses are provided here.
Since this platform also has collaborations with other learning platforms, it can be said to be an accredited source for completing online courses. Some of the top features of this platform have been tabulated below:
Grow.Google and Google Digital Courses Online Certificate |
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Course Types |
|
Course Levels |
General, Suitable for All Learners |
Paid or Unpaid |
Both Paid & Unpaid Courses Available |
Course Areas |
|
Trending Courses |
|
This is a portal created by the Government of India as an initiative to extend the support of online education to students from a variety of backgrounds. Being an initiative from the Government of India, it is a completely reliable platform for online educational courses with a certificate, and offers courses to students in a large variety of subjects, at the school, graduate, as well as post-graduate levels. Courses are provided by faculty from prestigious bodies and institutes such as the NCERT, UGC, AICTE, IGNOU, IIM-Bangalore, etc.
All the courses are provided to students free of cost, but if they wish to transfer the course credit to their main degree/diploma, then they can pay a nominal fee and appear for the proctored examination. This is one of the most affordable and reliable online learning platforms for students residing in India.
It is well-accredited since the course coordinators are well-accredited bodies of India, such as the UGC, AICTE, NCERT, etc. The basics of this platform have been listed below:
Swayam Portal Online Courses with a certificate |
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Course Types |
|
Course Levels |
|
Paid or Unpaid |
Unpaid (Nominal Fee needed for Credit Transfer) |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
|
Trending Courses |
|
LinkedIn is one of the top professional social media creative online learning platforms that provides a large number of services to people, including forming professional networks and points of contact, finding jobs, etc. It has now extended the same support to providing online learning courses to students.
It includes a large variety of short-term online courses with a Certificate for students across a large number of areas. The courses on this platform are paid, although a free trial for the courses is offered to students. Professionals, industry practitioners, as well as experienced faculty provide the courses to students.
The basic details of the platform are provided below:
LinkedIn Learning (Formerly Known as Lynda) Online Courses with a certificate |
|
Course Type |
Certification Courses |
Course Level |
General Courses in a Specific Professional Domain |
Paid or Unpaid |
Paid with 1 Month Free Trial |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
Industry Experts and Professionals |
Trending Courses |
|
Coursera has emerged as one of the top names in the domain of online learning in recent times. It collaborates with a large number of universities and colleges, including Ivy League colleges, to provide degree, diploma, and certificate courses. There are options for choosing both paid and unpaid courses with a certificate and degree, and the subject domains explored in this platform are diverse.
Coursera can be an excellent platform for online education for a large number of students with varied needs and areas of interest. It is well-accredited as it has collaborations with well-reputed universities and colleges across the world. The details about this learning platform are given below:
Coursera Online Courses |
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Course Types |
|
Course Levels |
|
Paid or Unpaid |
Both Unpaid and Paid Courses |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
|
Trending Courses |
|
edX online learning platform is another well-known name for online courses with certificates and degrees, and provides students across a large number of subject areas. Courses are offered to students in the form of certification and degree programmes. It collaborates with various prestigious universities to offer the support of higher education to students irrespective of the constraints of location and time. There are provisions for both paid and unpaid courses, although certificates are provided only for the paid courses. Several degrees and certification courses are available for students to pursue. edX Learning is a reliable and well-accredited source for obtaining education through online courses.
The basic details about this platform are given below:
edX Learning Online Courses |
|
Course Type |
|
Course Level |
|
Paid or Unpaid |
Both Paid and Unpaid (Certificates Only Available for Paid Courses) |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
|
Trending Courses |
|
Udemy is an online learning platform that allows students to pursue skill development in specific domains such as Business, IT and Software, Design, Development, etc. It is not strictly an academic platform but rather offers students a large number of online courses with a certificate in specific professional and other areas. There are paid and unpaid courses, with or without certifications. The courses are taught by experienced industry professionals and subject matter experts.
More details about the platform are provided here:
Udemy Online Courses with Certificate |
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Course Type |
|
Course Level |
General Courses for Professional and Other Skills Development |
Paid or Unpaid |
Both Paid and Unpaid Courses |
Course Areas |
|
Course Partners |
|
Trending Courses |
|
Skillshare is an innovative and unique online learning platform that focuses on skill development of individuals in areas that may or may not necessarily be professional or academic. It is a platform that allows students to pursue areas of interest further by enhancing their adeptness at them. Some of the commonly explored domains on this platform include animation, design, lifestyle, photo and film, business, illustration, writing, etc.
There is a one-month free trial for the courses, after which the students need to enrol for a paid membership for further access. However, one thing to keep in mind is that Skillshare is mainly a skill enhancement platform and hence offers courses without any certificate or other credentials.
The basics about the platform have been listed below:
Skillshare Online Courses with Certificate |
|
Course Types |
Skill Development Courses without Certificates |
Course Levels |
General Courses for any level of the Learner |
Paid or Unpaid |
Free Trial for 1 Month followed by Paid Membership |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
Industry Experts, Subject Matter Experts, and Professionals |
Trending Courses |
|
Udacity is another very useful learning platform that specializes in extending professional learning support through an online mode. The unique educational framework of Udacity provides students with nanodegrees, which are courses of 3-4 months duration that provide rigorous education to students in a specific domain.
The courses are offered to a variety of professional target audiences, including individual professionals, enterprises as well and companies. Being a professional learning platform, its courses are paid and specific to professional domains such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data sciences, cybersecurity, etc.
Find more details about the platform here:
Udacity |
|
Course Types |
Certification and Nanodegree Programmes |
Course Level |
Professional Level Courses |
Paid or Unpaid |
Unpaid Free Access for 1 Month |
Course Areas |
|
Course Partners |
|
Trending Courses |
|
A unique online learning platform, Masterclass joins hands with celebrity figures to provide online courses to students in specific areas such as writing, food, arts and entertainment, science and tech, etc. This platform enables students to learn directly from professionals who have made it big in their careers.
This is a paid platform where students can take up various courses of 30-day duration, with an email of confirmation after successful completion of a course. The platform has over 150 courses for students based on monthly subscriptions. However, one limitation of this platform is that there is no certification provided to students after course completion.
The basic details of the platform are given here:
Masterclass Online Courses |
|
Course Type |
Courses of 30 Days without Certification |
Course Level |
General, open to all |
Paid or Unpaid |
Paid Membership |
Course Areas |
|
Course Partners |
Famous Professionals Like
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Trending Courses |
|
Unacademy is an Indian online learning platform that has emerged to fame in the past few years. It specialises in providing students with free and paid training courses and coaching in academic and professional domains, as well as entrance examinations. Its most striking aspect is that it provides high-quality coaching and educational services to students at par with offline courses at nominal costs.
The details of the learning platform have been provided here:
Unacademy Online Courses |
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Course Type |
|
Course Level |
|
Paid or Unpaid |
Both Paid and Unpaid Courses |
Course Areas |
|
Course Coordinators |
Well-Qualified Faculty from Renowned Educational Institutions |
Trending Courses |
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If you’re exploring online education, you’ll find many benefits along with a few challenges. Here are some top reasons why students and professionals choose online courses:
While online education offers many benefits, it also comes with some limitations that students should know before enrolling. Here are the main disadvantages of online courses:
Considering both the advantages and disadvantages, students can make a balanced decision about whether an online course is the right choice for their education and career.
Some of the best online courses in 2025 that add to the essential professional and academic skills and knowledge of a student.
Such courses are very highly demanded today because of their utility in professional and industrial domains. Some of the most sought-after online courses today have been listed below:
Trending Best Online Courses In 2025 |
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Data Science |
Cybersecurity |
Big Data |
Business Analytics |
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence |
Corporate Financing |
Digital Marketing |
Management Courses (BBA, MBA, etc.) |
Animation |
Foreign Language |
Graphic Designing |
Computer Applications (BCA, MCA, etc.) |
Apart from online learning platforms that collaborate with universities, there are also a number of universities and educational institutions that offer full online courses independently.
Some of the top online universities of India offering degree courses in online or online-distance mode have been listed below:
Top Accredited Online Universities of India In India |
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University |
Location |
Accreditations |
IGNOU |
Multiple Branches |
UGC, UGC-DEB, AICTE, NAAC (A++) |
D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth-Centre for Online Learning (DPU-COL) |
Pune |
UGC, NAAC, AICTE, ISO etc. |
Amity Online University |
Noida |
UGC-DEB, NAAC (A+), AICTE, WES, AIU etc |
LPU Online |
Phagwara |
UGC, AIU, NIRF |
Manipal Online |
Jaipur |
UGC, NIRF, AICTE |
Jain Online University |
Bangalore |
UGC-DEB, AICTE, NAAC, NIRF etc. |
Hindustan University-Centre for Open and Digital Education (CODE) |
Chennai |
UGC, AICTE, NBA, NAAC, NIRF etc. |
We hope that the above blog was helpful to you for finding out more about online education and about the best platforms you can pursue courses from.
Yes. Coursera offers many free courses along with paid ones. Learners can audit most courses for free, which allows access to video lectures and materials. However, if you want a certificate, Coursera usually charges a small fee.
Yes. edX offers both free and paid courses. Students can learn for free, but to get a verified certificate, they need to pay a fee. edX also provides full online degree programs in partnership with global universities.
Yes. Certificates from the Swayam portal are recognized by the Indian government and UGC. Students can also transfer credits earned through Swayam courses to their main degree program under the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS).
Yes. Many trusted platforms like Google, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, edX, Alison, and Swayam provide free online courses. These can help you upgrade skills, earn certificates, and boost your resume.
No, a full MBA degree is not available for free. However, learners can pursue free management and business-related certificate courses from platforms like Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn. These are useful for skill development and career growth.
Platforms like Google Digital Garage, Coursera, edX, Alison, and Swayam offer free courses with certificates. Some certificates are free, while others may require a small fee.
For Indian learners, Swayam and NPTEL are among the best platforms for free government-recognized courses. Coursera, edX, and Google also provide international free courses with certificates.
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