Do you want to master blockchain technology and smart contract development on networks like Ethereum, Polygon, Celo, Solana, and more? Look no further! I've curated a list of FREE learning websites and courses just for you.
In this article, I'll take you through the top resources and platforms to help you understand how blockchain works and how to build and deploy smart contracts. Whether considering a career switch or just looking to expand your knowledge, these resources offer hands-on experience and free NFTs and Certificates upon completion. Don't miss this opportunity to level up your skills and become a blockchain pro! Let's dive in.
1. Ethereum.org
Ethereum.org is the community-run technology powering the cryptocurrency Ethereum and thousands of decentralized applications. This platform curated a list of Ethereum development tutorials and articles featuring over 100+ lessons to help you master smart contract development on the Ethereum blockchain.
2. QuestBook
This decentralized university is where you learn to code, build, and earn crypto and NFTs in Web3 for free. It covers Ethereum, Solana, NEAR, Polygon, Flow, and learning tracks for blockchain fundamentals.
3. Buildspace
Buildspace accelerates your journey into Web3, whether you're just starting or a seasoned developer transitioning from Web2. It is one of the best communities for Web3 builders.
4. Web3Learn
It offers cohort-based courses where you can also learn from basic to advanced concepts of blockchain development, build industry-ready projects with community support, participate in hackathons and complete bounties, earn NFTs and tokens once you complete the project-based courses, and also have a chance to connect with top Web3 protocols for opportunities.
5. Consensys Academy
ConsenSys Academy aims to develop the global blockchain ecosystem by bridging the Ethereum knowledge gap. They have self-paced free courses on the basics of blockchain and blockchain essentials to teach how to make educated business decisions with your foundational understanding of blockchain.
6. LearnWeb3 DAO
LearnWeb3 is a high-quality, holistic education platform to onboard you as a Web3 developer. You will gain skills for Web3, earn NFT on completion of each track, and make friends within the community.
The learning path consists of four tracks for the Progressive level:
Freshman: Learn the absolute basics of Web3.
Sophom*ore: Dig deep and build decentralized applications (dApps).
Junior: Get embedded in the ecosystem.
Senior: Learn Web3 security and hacking.
The Growth level comprises tutorials on Celo and Flow blockchain networks.
7. Blockchain at Berkeley
Blockchain at Berkeley is a university-based and student-run organization at UC Berkeley focused on blockchain innovation via education, research, and consulting.
8. ProtoSchool
ProtoSchool is an educational community that teaches decentralized web protocols and tools through online tutorials. The self-guided interactive tutorials introduce you to decentralized web concepts, protocols, and tools.
9. Dacade
It is a peer-to-peer learning platform that enables you to learn, earn cryptocurrency, build unique projects, and get peer feedback.
It comprises practical lessons on:
Blockchain Theory: Learn about essential concepts of blockchain technology.
Algorand Community: Get to know Algorand, learn how to write Algorand contracts, and build dapps. You will get USDC rewards on completion of the lesson.
Ethereum Community: Learn Ethereum smart contract and decentralized application development. You will earn DAI stablecoin at the end of the lesson.
NEAR Community: Get to know NEAR and learn how to write NEAR contracts and dapps. The reward for course completion is in NEAR.
Celo Community: Learn essential concepts and how to write smart contracts and Dapps on Celo. The Learn2Earn reward is in Celo's stablecoin, cUSD.
10. Figment
Figment is the Web3 education platform for developers, by developers. It is one of the best beginner-friendly courses on Avalanche, Celo, Ceramic, Cosmos, Ethereum, Mina, Near, Oasis, Polkadot, and Polygon.
11. Finematics
Another great resource in terms of Web3 education. It is an education platform that familiarizes learners with decentralized finance (DeFi) topics, terms, and trends.
Meta school is a platform where developers hang out to learn Web3 with each other, collaborate on projects, earn NFTs for completing their work, and connect with talented folks building the future of the web.
13. Near University
NEAR University is the best place to explore courses and tools and start learning about everything NEAR by yourself at your own pace.
14. Kerala Blockchain Academy
Kerala Blockchain Academy(KBA) is a center of excellence under the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (formerly IIITM-K) for offering blockchain training, research, and consultancy in multiple domains.
They have a cutting-edge curriculum designed in guidance with industry and academia that offers free blockchain-powered digital certification in blockchain technology.
15. DApp University
DApp University, founded by Gregory, offers a step-by-step guide with code examples and written instructions to start your blockchain developer journey today. You will learn to create blockchain applications from scratch with Ethereum, Web3.js, and Solidity smart contracts.
16. The Blockchain School
The Blockchain School solves a pressing need in the blockchain industry for competent professionals by equipping you with knowledge about everything blockchain through community sessions, live cohorts, and much more.
This learning platform provides an immersive learning experience and bridges the gap between employers and the best talents. Some of the free available courses are:
Polygon 101: Fundamentals and Frameworks
NEAR Protocol Education Program
Tezos 101: Fundamentals, Protocols, and Network
17. Ethereum Blockchain Dev
Ethereum-blockchain-developer.com offers web developers, enterprise developers, and software development professionals self-paced video courses with interactive labs to become successful Ethereum Blockchain Developers.
Developers created courses and guide for learning smart contract development and Solidity for developers by taking feedback from over 100,000 students who already took the course. It also offers minor introductory courses into diverse topics such as docker, DevOps, and frontend development with libraries such as React, traditional backend services, and many more.
18. Cryptodappy
CryptoDappy is a mission-based online course directed at developers who want to get started learning blockchain development on the Flow blockchain network.
19. Chainshot
Chainshot fast-tracks your Ethereum developer career in an instructor-led and challenging Bootcamp focused on core blockchain cryptography skills, deep understanding of Ethereum, build & deploy decentralized application deployment, and smart contracts development.
The Ethereum-focused course includes:
Introduction to Programming: Learn programming fundamentals with JavaScript coding tutorials.
Introduction to Solidity: Learn the basics of Solidity to start coding smart contracts.
Introduction to Ethers.js: Learn how to interact with the Ethereum blockchain using the ethers.js library.
Introduction to Chainlink: Learn how to use decentralized oracles in your smart contracts using Chainlink.
Aave Protocol: Build smart contracts that integrate with AAVE to borrow, lend and execute flash loans.
Ethereum Dev Bootcamp: Learn Solidity in-depth and fast-track your Ethereum Developer career.
20. UseWeb3
Useweb3 is a platform for developers to explore and learn about Web3. Whether you are a new dev getting your hands dirty for the first time, or a seasoned developer making the transition into the Web3 space. It also features a section to browse all jobs to find your preferred web3, Solidity, or blockchain jobs. The resources are categorized as books, guides, podcasts, movies, websites, challenges, courses, tutorials, and videos.
21. Web3 University
Here, you can access comprehensive and free educational resources on blockchain development with the most useful tutorials across the web3 ecosystem.
22. Cadena
Cadena helps developers learn how to develop on the blockchain and transition their careers into Web3 by coding smart contracts, NFTs, tokens, and more. You will build real projects that you can add to your portfolio, like your own meme coin and wallet, and use the skills and learn to ship your own projects like an NFT marketplace. And also, earn a shareable NFT certificate upon completion to showcase on your LinkedIn, resume, or CV.
The self-paced courses cover the following:
Blockchain fundamentals
Deploying your first smart contract on Ethereum
Using tools & libraries like hardhat, alchemy, and Ethers.js
Creating your own NFT with OpenZeppelin contracts
23. Cryptohunt.it
This is truly one of the most simple courses for aspiring blockchain developers and crypto enthusiasts, as it explains everything about crypto and blockchain in plain English.
24. Tacode
On Tacode, you learn how to build your smart contract and Dapps on the Tezos blockchain, earn TEZ tokens, and get peer feedback.
25. NFTschool
NFT School is open-source community education on best practices and how-tos for developers in the non-fungible token space. As a collective of web developers and technology enthusiasts, you have the privilege of getting familiar with the core technologies that make NFTs possible, like smart contracts, content-addressed storage, and other concepts such as content persistence, designing a minting app, managing NFTs and auditing NFTs.
26. StartonSolana
StartonSolana has quests to kickstart your development journey on Solana and start contributing to ecosystem projects.
This platform features courses on introduction to Rust for Solana and how to build roulette game, calculator, personal cryptocurrency, NFT Minting Machine, Pokemon NFT minting website, messaging app, personal Solana wallet, airdrop program, and more using Rust with Solana.
27. Learn NEAR Club
Learn NEAR Club offers an all-inclusive hands-on onboarding platform to NEAR Protocol – connecting NEAR ecosystem projects to pro-active community members via the Learn2Earn method and earn a Certificate of Completion that represents the ability to design, develop, test, and deploy smart contracts on the NEAR platform.
28. Cryptopedia
Cryptopedia is a platform designed to provide the world with open-source, high-quality, comprehensive crypto content & education.
With over 400 articles on web3 topics such as cryptocurrencies, security, trading/investing, DeFi, and NFTs. It is also a platform that crypto experts can leverage to deliver a deeper level of understanding about specific crypto projects and initiatives to the public.
29. Snakecharmers
Snakecharmers is an Ethereum developer blog with how-to guides, resources, best practices, and articles for Python and Web3.py developers.
30. Pointer
On Pointer, you will learn Web3 development skills with fun interactive tutorials and get paid in crypto while you learn.
Some of the courses to explore are:
Setting up your wallet: In this tutorial, we'll walk you through how to set up a wallet and, more importantly, what a wallet is.
Solidity: Build a full-stack Solidity and NextJS app that allows users to create custom Mechanical Keyboards on-chain.
NFT: Learn how to use the thirdweb to build an NFT Lootbox app.
Create a web3 forum with Polygon: Build a full-stack decentralized forum powered by Polygon.
Taking payments IRL with Solana Pay: Learn to take payments both online and in IRL with Solana Pay.
Build a DEX on Stacks: Build a decentralized exchange using Stacks, Clarity, and Clarinet!
Build a drawing game on Solana with Rust.
Build a collaborative pixel art app using Solana and Anchor.
Create a Tippable Q&A Forum on Polygon with its own native ERC20 Token.
Build a Solana NFT collection.
31. Soldev
This website features everything Solana and Rust from news, latest releases, tutorials, articles, how-to guides, community, newsletter, bounty, grants, Twitter threads, and job boards.
32. Codiesalert
Codiesalert offers completely free beginners and advanced courses to help you understand all the core Blockchain concepts, how to write gas-efficient smart contracts and deploy them on a blockchain, and interact with Dapps from the front end. At the end of each course, you will earn a certificate of completion.
33. Soliditytips
This is a go-to place to learn Solidity and Web3 through step-by-step guides and articles. It features detailed tutorials about how to start writing smart contracts and creating Web3 apps on Ethereum.
34. Alchemy University
Alchemy University is the ultimate ecosystem for learning to build and interact with Web3. The goal is to teach you everything you need to know about Solidity and start building in Web3, from hands-on boot camps to starter code that expedites your workflow.
The courses involve professional instructors, hands-on projects, videos, written content, and an incredible builders community. It was formerly coined The Road To Web3 as ten weeks, self-paced Web3 developer program with a learning path from beginner to advanced level. The contents are released weekly with live sessions, interactive coding challenges, videos, written guides, and weekly projects.
The program courses are grouped into these tracks:
JavaScript Fundamentals: This covers the basics of programming through advanced topics like asynchronous requests and promises.
Ethereum Developer Bootcamp: This comprehensive course teaches you the fundamentals of Web3 development. The course includes everything from cryptography to smart contracts to fully functional dApp development. This is the number one resource to jumpstart your Web3 career.
Road to Web3: This is a 10-project self-paced course; you will learn from industry experts on the cutting edge of Web3, meet fellow developers, supercharge your skills through real-world applications, and mint Proof-of-Knowledge NFTs. You can build DeFi DApp, NFT gallery, staking application, NFT marketplace, blockchain betting game, decentralized Twitter app, and more.
35. DeveloperDAO Academy
DeveloperDAO Academy is on a mission to educate coders about the exciting possibilities of building Web3 Open Source. This learning platform offers in-depth and beginner-focused lessons on Web3 and smart contracts.
36. Teach yourself Web3
Teach Yourself Web3 is designed so you can get foundational knowledge to start your path of becoming a Web3 Engineer.
The self-paced 25 hours long course will teach you how Ethereum works, gas cost, hacking contracts, the philosophy of a smart contract audit, and more.
37. Web3 Freecodecamp
The FreeCodeCamp Web3 curriculum is currently under development and sub-divided into:
Web3: The courses will teach you blockchain concepts in a protocol-agnostic way so that you can use what you learn with any protocol. With this lesson, you can build a video game marketplace, peer-to-peer network, Web3 client-side package for your dApp, and more.
NEAR: You will learn how to build and deploy a smart contract to the NEAR test blockchain network (Testnet).
Solana: Interactive project and guide on how to build and deploy a smart contract to a Solana blockchain.
38. Emerald Academy
Emerald Academy offers online Bootcamp and Flow educational resources. You will learn everything about the Flow Blockchain and how to start writing smart contracts in Cadence programming language.
39.Stackup Academy
StackUp Academy enables developers to level up, grow and connect with a global Dev community – all while being rewarded for their time.
40. MetaMask Learn
Through a series of interactive lessons, MetaMask Learn will show you what Web3 is, why it’s important to you, and how to use MetaMask along the way. They cover classes on Web3, crypto wallets, the era of digital identity, self-custody, the advent of digital ownership, NFTs, and more.
Conclusion
With these carefully curated learning resources, you'll be well on your way to mastering Web3 and blockchain technology and becoming an expert in smart contract development. Whether you're an absolute beginner or an intermediate developer looking to make a career transition, these platforms offer invaluable knowledge without fees.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this article as much as I've enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to share them below. And if you want to see more of my writing, follow me on Twitter. Happy learning!
