Best Free Scrimba Courses in 2026 (And the Ones That Are Dated)
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Scrimba has roughly 17 fully free courses you can take without a subscription, and they range from genuinely excellent (Bob Ziroll's 15-hour Learn React is still the best free React course I know of) to noticeably dated. This is the catalog-reviewer's honest take: which ones to start with, which ones to skip, and what they cost in time.
Quick answer: Start with Learn React (15.1 hrs, Bob Ziroll) or Learn JavaScript (9.4 hrs, Per Borgen). They're the two strongest free courses on the platform and they're current. Avoid the Bootstrap 4 course (CSS practice has moved on) and treat the Space Travel Website and Imba courses as curiosities, not learning paths.
Last reviewed: May 2026. Free course availability changes. Verify on the Scrimba course catalog.
Who this is for
Anyone trying Scrimba without paying: budget-conscious learners, people who want to validate the format before subscribing, students supplementing The Odin Project or freeCodeCamp.
These are full courses, not previews. You don't need a credit card. The list below is sorted by what I'd actually recommend taking first.
The two free courses worth your time first
1. Learn React (the strongest free course on the platform)
Learn React
FreeTaught by Bob Ziroll
The free course people actually link to on Reddit when someone asks how to learn React. 157 lessons, two capstone projects, Bob Ziroll is one of the better instructors in the JS world.
Start free on Scrimba (opens in a new tab)Ziroll is a known commodity in the JS teaching world (his older Frontend Bootcamp on freeCodeCamp's YouTube has tens of millions of views; see his FCC playlist) and the course feels like it. It's the gold-standard free React course on Scrimba and probably the single most cited free React course in 2026 recommendations.
2. Learn JavaScript
Learn JavaScript
FreeTaught by Per Borgen
Per Borgen is Scrimba's CEO and a competent teacher. 140+ challenges, three small projects (game, browser extension, mobile app).
Start free on Scrimba (opens in a new tab)Solid beginner course. The pace is friendlier than Ziroll's React course, which makes it the better choice if JavaScript itself is new to you. Take this first if you don't already know JS.
Strong free courses, take after the first two
3. Learn HTML and CSS
Learn HTML and CSS
FreeTaught by Per Borgen
Fundamentals plus five deployable projects. Reasonable starting point for absolute beginners, though MDN's own docs cover the same ground for free with more depth.
Start free on Scrimba (opens in a new tab)4. Learn TypeScript
Learn TypeScript
FreeTaught by Bob Ziroll
Types, interfaces, React and Express integration. Ziroll again. Take this after you've used JavaScript on a real project.
Start free on Scrimba (opens in a new tab)Worth flagging: the 19 free courses include the platform's flagship React, JavaScript, and TypeScript courses, all taught by Bob Ziroll. That's not the case on most paid platforms, where the headline product is gated. If you want to feel the format before reading further, the public demo scrim (opens in a new tab) needs no signup. For the structural comparison to a bootcamp, see Scrimba vs coding bootcamps.
5. Learn CSS Grid
Learn CSS Grid
FreeTaught by Per Borgen
One-hour focused course on a specific topic. Still relevant; CSS Grid is the same in 2026 as it was when this was filmed.
Start free on Scrimba (opens in a new tab)Useful but narrow free courses
| Course | Duration | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Intro to Mistral AI | 84 min | Quick intro to an LLM API. Useful as a sample of the AI catalog. |
| OpenAI Assistants API | 30 min | Worth checking that Assistants API hasn't been deprecated in OpenAI's current docs before relying on it. |
| Learn React Class Components | 80 min | Mostly historical now (modern React is hooks). Skip unless you're maintaining a legacy codebase. |
| Build a Product Card with Tailwind | 75 min | Tiny project course. Fine for an hour. |
| Deploying with Netlify | 23 min | Useful pointer; deployment hasn't changed much. |
| Learn Markdown | 37 min | Quick utility skill. |
| CSS Challenges | 2.6 hrs | Practice rather than instruction. |
| Build and Deploy Your Portfolio | 2.4 hrs | Decent end-to-end portfolio walkthrough. |
The free courses that are showing their age
Be honest with yourself about these. They were good when filmed; they aren't where modern practice lives.
- Learn Bootstrap (Bootstrap 4) (55 min). Bootstrap 5 has been out for years and most new projects use Tailwind or component libraries. Skip unless you're maintaining a Bootstrap 4 codebase.
- Build a Space Travel Website (6.8 hrs). The duration looks impressive but it's an older project course. Take the modern Learn React and Learn JavaScript instead.
- Learn Imba (2.9 hrs). Imba is a niche language created by Scrimba's co-founder Sindre Aarsaether. Genuinely interesting but you should not be learning Imba in 2026 unless you specifically want to.
There's nothing wrong with these existing as free archives. Just don't let the duration trick you into thinking they're the strongest free option.
What requires Pro
The big sequenced products are all behind the subscription:
- All four career paths (Frontend, Fullstack, Backend, AI Engineer)
- Advanced React, React Router, React Challenges
- Node.js, Express, NestJS
- Interview prep courses
- Most of the AI catalog beyond the intro courses
See Pro vs free for the full breakdown.
How to use the free tier well
- Pick one course (Learn React if you know JS, Learn JavaScript if you don't).
- Block 90 minutes a day on your calendar for two weeks.
- Don't open a second course until you've finished the first. Resist the urge to sample everything.
- After two weeks of consistent showing-up, decide on Pro from a position of evidence.
If you make it through Learn React and want the rest of the Frontend path, that's the moment Pro starts paying back. If you didn't make it through Learn React, no subscription will fix that. See is Scrimba worth it for the full ROI argument.
Free alternatives outside Scrimba
If even the free Scrimba courses don't click, the credible all-free alternatives are:
- freeCodeCamp (text + projects, also has many YouTube full courses including from Bob Ziroll himself)
- The Odin Project (open-source curriculum, strong community)
- MDN Web Docs for HTML/CSS/JS reference
- JavaScript.info for deep JS
See Scrimba vs freeCodeCamp and Scrimba vs The Odin Project for the side-by-side.
Related reading
- Scrimba review 2026 - the platform review this post anchors to
- Is Scrimba worth it? - whether to upgrade after the free tier
- Scrimba discount codes 2026 - the legitimate ways to pay less
- All Scrimba courses
- Career change to coding 2026
Sources
- Scrimba's all-courses page - the live list, since free availability changes.
- freeCodeCamp YouTube channel - Bob Ziroll has full free courses there too.
- MDN partners with Scrimba - context for why the React/Frontend material is taken seriously.
Frequently asked questions
Learn React if you already know basic JavaScript. Learn JavaScript first if you don't. Those are the two strongest free courses on the platform.
Yes. No credit card, no trial. The free courses are permanently free, though Scrimba occasionally rotates which ones are free. Check the all-courses page for the current list.
The headline ones (Learn React, Learn JavaScript, Learn HTML and CSS, Learn TypeScript) are current. A handful of older free courses (Bootstrap 4, Imba, Space Travel) are dated and shouldn't be your starting point.
No. Certificates only come from completing a Pro-tier career path. See our certificate guide for what the certificate actually does.
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