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Learn React

Scrimba's free flagship React course, taught by Bob Ziroll across roughly 15 hours of interactive scrims that end in two apps you build yourself.

Quick answer​

Learn React is Scrimba's free, intermediate-level React course: about 15 hours across six modules, taught by Bob Ziroll. You build components, manage state, handle side effects, and finish two capstone apps (Tenzies and Assembly: Endgame). It assumes you can already write JavaScript. If you can, it is the strongest free starting point for modern React.

Is it worth your time?​

It is free, so the only thing it costs you is time, and the format earns that time. Editing the instructor's code directly in the player suits React especially well: you change a piece of state and watch the component re-render in the same window, which is the thing static tutorials cannot show you.

The honest caveat is the level. This is labelled Intermediate, and it means it. The course moves quickly through JSX, props, and state, and assumes you can already write functions, use array methods like map and filter, and follow basic asynchronous code. If that does not describe you yet, you will struggle around the State module, not because React is hard but because the JavaScript underneath it is unfamiliar.

What you'll learn​

Course curriculum

6 modules · 157 lessons

  1. Static pages2.4 hrs22 lessons
  2. Data-Driven React2.3 hrs22 lessons
  3. React State5.2 hrs57 lessons
  4. Side Effects108 min18 lessons
  5. Capstone Project #1: Tenzies86 min17 lessons
  6. Capstone Project #2: Assembly: Endgame2.2 hrs21 lessons

The sequence is deliberate. You start by rendering static components, then drive them from data, and then spend the single largest block (React State, over five hours) on the part that actually trips people up: lifting state, controlled inputs, and re-renders. Side Effects covers fetching data and talking to APIs. The two capstones are where it stops holding your hand and you assemble the pieces yourself, which is the point.

Who it's for, and who should skip it​

It fits you if you are comfortable with JavaScript and want to learn React by building rather than watching. It is a natural anchor for anyone on the Frontend Developer Path.

Skip it, for now, if you have never written JavaScript. Do Learn JavaScript first and come back. Also skip it if you specifically need class components or older lifecycle patterns for a legacy codebase; this course teaches modern hooks-based React, and the class-based material lives in a separate course.

Prerequisites​

Working JavaScript is the real prerequisite: variables, functions, array methods, and a basic grasp of asynchronous code. Comfort with HTML and CSS helps. You do not need any prior React.

Where it fits​

Learn React is the React anchor for two paths: the Frontend Developer Path and the Fullstack Developer Path. The usual next step after it is Advanced React, which goes deeper into performance, patterns, and the parts this course leaves out.

Free or Pro​

The course itself is free, with no subscription required to start or finish it. Scrimba Pro is a separate decision: it unlocks the structured career paths, the coding challenges, the private Discord, and the path certificates. If you only want this course, you never have to pay. See current plans if you later want the path structure around it.

Strengths and limits​

What it does well: it is free, it teaches modern hooks-first React, it ends in two projects you actually build, and Bob Ziroll is a clear, well-paced instructor. The interactive format is a genuine fit for the subject.

Where it is limited: the Intermediate pacing is unforgiving if your JavaScript is shaky, it does not cover routing or data libraries (you go to React Router and other courses for those), and fast peer help depends on the Pro Discord rather than the free tier.

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