edX
Online course platform founded by Harvard and MIT.
- Global
Coursera hosts online courses from universities and companies worldwide, with graded assignments and verified certificates for those who pay.
Its distinguishing feature is institutional backing: courses are produced by named universities and carry their branding, and some stack into full degrees recognized by the awarding institution.
Most courses can be audited free without graded work or a certificate — worth doing first, since course quality varies considerably even within the same university.
Online Courses
Online course platform founded by Harvard and MIT.
Free foundational courses with strong math and science coverage.
Skills marketplace with a large catalog of coding and design courses.
Chinese university MOOC platform offering for-credit courses.
Chinese MOOC platform founded by Tsinghua University.