If you are a total beginner who learns by building, start with Angela Yu’s 100 Days of Code. If you want the cleanest fundamentals-only course, pick Jose Portilla’s Complete Python Bootcamp. If you want a recognized credential rather than a completion certificate, look at Python for Everybody (free to audit) or the Google IT Automation with Python certificate. The rest fit narrower goals, and we say exactly who each one is for.
One thing to keep in mind before you read on: Udemy list prices swing wildly, and the platform runs sales almost constantly. A course priced at $199.99 today is often the same course you can buy for $10 to $20 during a sale. Always check the live price at checkout, and never pay the full list price on Udemy if a sale banner is showing.
The 10 best Python courses at a glance
| # | Course | Provider | Best for | Platform rating (late Jul 2026) | Our score |
| 1 | 100 Days of Code: Complete Python Pro Bootcamp | Udemy (Angela Yu) | Beginners who learn by building | 4.7 | 93 |
| 2 | The Complete Python Bootcamp: Zero to Hero | Udemy (Jose Portilla) | Cleanest core fundamentals | 4.6 | 89 |
| 3 | Python for Everybody | Coursera (Univ. of Michigan) | Free start with a real institution | 4.8 | 92 |
| 4 | The Complete Python Developer (Zero to Mastery) | Udemy (Andrei Neagoie) | Aspiring professional developers | 4.6 to 4.7 | 90 |
| 5 | Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp | Udemy (Jose Portilla) | Moving into data and ML | 4.6 | 88 |
| 6 | Google IT Automation with Python | Coursera (Google) | IT and DevOps career credential | 4.8 | 90 |
| 7 | Python Mega Course: Build 20 Real-World Apps | Udemy (Ardit Sulce) | Portfolio and app builders | 4.6 | 87 |
| 8 | Learn Python Programming Masterclass | Udemy (Tim Buchalka, JP Roberts) | Deep, slow, thorough fundamentals | 4.6 | 86 |
| 9 | Automate the Boring Stuff with Python | Udemy (Al Sweigart) | Non-programmers automating work | High, see note | 85 |
| 10 | Intro to CS and Programming Using Python | edX (MIT) | Rigorous computer-science grounding | Not shown as a star average | 88 |
Ratings and enrollment figures change constantly. Everything below was verified on 30 July 2026.
1. 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp (Udemy, Angela Yu)
Our score: 93 / 100. Platform rating: 4.7 from roughly 431,000 ratings, about 1.86 million students. Last updated June 2026.
This is the course we recommend to most complete beginners, and it is also one of the highest-rated courses in Udemy’s history. The format is the hook: 100 days, one project per day, running from tiny console programs up to Flask web apps, automation scripts with Selenium and Beautiful Soup, and an introduction to data science with Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, and Scikit-Learn. It is roughly 60 hours of video plus a large stack of articles and downloadable resources.
Who it is for: absolute beginners who stay motivated by finishing something every session, and career changers who want a visible portfolio of small projects. Angela Yu teaches clearly and without ego, which learners repeatedly single out.
The honest drawbacks: the “one hour a day” promise is optimistic. Most learners report that the later days take much longer, and the pace ramps up hard in the second half. It is a marathon, and a meaningful share of buyers never reach day 100. That is a discipline problem, not a content problem, but go in expecting real effort.
Price reality: this is a paid Udemy course with a list price often shown near $199.99, frequently discounted to $10-$20. At the sale price, it is one of the best-value beginner courses anywhere. At full list, wait for the inevitable sale.
Verdict: the best all-round starting point for beginners who like building. Worth it at the sale price for almost anyone new to Python.
2. The Complete Python Bootcamp: Zero to Hero (Udemy, Jose Portilla)
Our score: 89 / 100. Platform rating: 4.6 from roughly 522,000 ratings, about 1.9 million students, around 22 hours of video.
If Angela Yu’s course is a project marathon, this is the tight, no-filler fundamentals course. Jose Portilla is exceptionally clear at explaining core concepts: data types, control flow, functions, scope, object-oriented programming, error handling, modules, and a handful of small games and projects. It covers both Python 2 and Python 3, which is useful only if you expect to touch legacy code.
Who it is for: people who want to truly understand Python itself before specializing, and learners who prefer concise, well-sequenced lessons over sprawling project lists. Many data science students say this course gave them a stronger base than their formal programs.
The honest drawbacks: the scope is deliberately narrow. It teaches Python, not web development, not data science, not in-depth automation. You will need a follow-up course to specialize. And the freshness is a genuine question mark: some listings show a last-updated date around 2023, so verify the current date on the course page before buying. The language fundamentals have not changed, but the tooling around them has.
Price reality: list often shown at $119.99-$199.99, routinely on sale for about $12.
Verdict: the cleanest fundamentals course on this list. Best for beginners who want to learn the language properly before branching out. Check the last-updated date before you buy.
3. Python for Everybody (Coursera, University of Michigan, Dr. Charles Severance)
Our score: 92 / 100. Platform rating: 4.8, one of the highest on Coursera. The first course alone has more than 3 million enrollments. Free to audit.
This is the pick for anyone who wants a course from a named university, taught at a genuinely gentle pace, that costs nothing to learn from. “Python for Everybody” is a five-course specialization: Getting Started, Data Structures, Using Python to Access Web Data, Using Databases with Python and SQL, and a Capstone. Dr. Chuck Severance is a beloved teacher, and the whole thing is data-oriented rather than software-engineering-oriented, which suits non-programmers.
Who it is for: true beginners, career changers on a budget, and anyone in a data-adjacent field (research, journalism, analysis) who wants practical Python without heavy math. There is a genuinely free path: the same material is available to read and watch.
The honest drawbacks: the pace can feel slow if you already program, and the specialization certificate carries no university credit. If you want the shareable Coursera certificate, you have to pay for a subscription, though financial aid is available, and the learning itself can be audited for free.
Price reality: free to audit. The certificate is included with a Coursera subscription (typically $49-$59 per month), so the cost depends entirely on how quickly you finish.
Verdict: the best free-to-learn beginner option, and the best pick if institutional backing matters to you. Situational note: choose a Udemy project course instead if you learn better by building lots of small apps.
4. The Complete Python Developer: Zero to Mastery (Udemy, Andrei Neagoie)
Our score: 90 / 100. Platform rating reported between 4.6 and 4.7 across sources, with more than 400,000 students. Last updated August 2025, using a recent Python 3 release.
This is the most “become an employable developer” course among the Udemy picks. Beyond syntax, it covers object-oriented programming, Git and GitHub, working with APIs, databases, web scraping, testing, deployment, PEP8 style, and short introductions to web development and machine learning. It also includes a section on the career side of being a Python developer, which most courses skip.
Who it is for: people specifically targeting a developer job rather than general Python literacy, and learners who value an active community. Andrei’s Zero to Mastery community and support are frequently praised.
The honest drawbacks: worth knowing that Andrei’s own Udemy profile states he no longer teaches new material on Udemy, and his freshest content lives on his separate Zero to Mastery subscription platform (around $39 per month for all his courses). The Udemy course itself remains available and was updated in August 2025, so it is current, but factor in where the ecosystem is heading if you want ongoing new material.
Price reality: Udemy lists often range from $119.99 to $199.99, with frequent sales. The ZTM subscription is a separate product with a different model.
Verdict: the strongest Udemy pick for career-focused beginners who want a developer workflow (Git, APIs, deployment) baked in from the start. Compare it against the ZTM subscription if you plan to keep learning past this one course.
5. Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp (Udemy, Jose Portilla)
Our score: 88 / 100. Platform rating: 4.6 from roughly 147,000 ratings, about 740,000 students, around 25 hours across 100-plus lectures.
If your goal is data rather than general programming, this is the efficient on-ramp. It covers NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn, and Plotly for analysis and visualization, then Scikit-Learn for the core machine learning algorithms (linear and logistic regression, K-nearest neighbors, decision trees and random forests, K-means, support vector machines), plus touches of natural language processing, neural networks, and Spark for big data.
Who it is for: people who already know Python basics and want a fast, practical tour of the data and ML toolkit with ready-to-use notebooks.
The honest drawbacks: this is not a beginner’s first course. It assumes you can already write Python, and although there is a short crash-course section, absolute beginners will struggle. It is also a breadth-first tour: it shows you how to use the algorithms, not the deep math behind them. Treat it as a launchpad, not a complete data science education.
Price reality: list often near $119.99, routinely on sale to about $16.
Verdict: best for learners with Python basics who want to move into data and ML quickly. Take a fundamentals course first if you are brand new.
6. Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate (Coursera, Google)
Our score: 90 / 100. Platform rating: 4.8 from roughly 40,000 reviews, about 845,000 enrolled—a six-course certificate, designed for about 6 months at 10 hours per week.
This is the pick when you want a career credential with a recognizable name attached, aimed squarely at IT, support, and DevOps-adjacent roles. It teaches Python for scripting, then Git and GitHub, using Python to interact with the operating system, troubleshoot and debug, perform configuration management (including Puppet), and automate in the cloud. It finishes with a capstone and connects to an employer consortium.
Who it is for: people already in or near IT who want to move toward automation, systems administration, or DevOps, and who value a structured, credentialed path over a cheap one-off course.
The honest drawbacks: Google labels this as designed for people already in the industry, and it assumes a baseline level of comfort. It does not cover containers (Docker or Kubernetes), which are now common in many automation and DevOps job postings, so you will have a gap to fill. And a certificate is not a job. Recruiters like it, but you still need projects on GitHub to stand out.
Price reality: available through a Coursera subscription, typically $49-$59 per month, so roughly $354 if you finish in the recommended 6 months. Faster finishers pay less. Individual courses can be audited for free without a certificate.
Verdict: strong value for IT professionals moving toward automation and DevOps. Not the right first course for someone with zero IT background who wants to learn Python for its own sake.
7. Python Mega Course: Build 20 Real-World Apps and AI Agents (Udemy, Ardit Sulce)
Our score: 87 / 100. Platform rating: 4.6 from roughly 73,000 ratings, about 362,000 students. Last updated March 2026.
Ardit Sulce’s course is built around one idea: you learn Python best by shipping real applications. The recently revamped version has you build 20 apps across web development, data, automation, and AI agents, with a suggested 60-day cadence. If a stack of finished, portfolio-ready projects is what you want, this delivers more variety than most.
Who it is for: beginners and early-intermediate learners who want a portfolio, and people who lose interest in pure theory and need to see working software quickly.
The honest drawbacks: breadth over depth again. Building 20 apps means you touch many tools without going deep into any one of them, and some topics receive lighter treatment than a specialized course would. Sulce is an experienced Python instructor, though he is less of a public “name” than Yu or Portilla, which matters only if instructor reputation sways you.
Price reality: list often around $89.99 to $119.99 with heavy discounts during sales.
Verdict: best for project-driven learners who want a broad, varied portfolio. Pair it with a deeper fundamentals course if you want to understand what is happening under the hood.
8. Learn Python Programming Masterclass (Udemy, Tim Buchalka and Jean-Paul Roberts)
Our score: 86 / 100. Platform rating: 4.6 from roughly 103,000 ratings, more than 400,000 students, and around 60-plus hours across nearly 490 lectures.
This is the course for people who want everything explained slowly and thoroughly, line by line, by instructors with decades of professional software experience. It goes deep into fundamentals and object-oriented programming, with strong coverage of software engineering habits and best practices, plus updated coding exercises. It covers both Python 2 and 3.
Who it is for: methodical learners who prefer depth over speed, and people struggling with college programming courses who want a patient, exhaustive alternative.
The honest drawbacks: the length is a double-edged sword. At 60-plus hours, it is a big commitment, and its thoroughness can feel slow if you learn quickly or want to get building. Some of the material (Python 2 coverage) is less relevant in 2026 than it once was.
Price reality: list often near $119.99, routinely on sale to about $12. It carries Udemy’s standard 30-day refund window.
Verdict: best for learners who want the most thorough, patient fundamentals course and do not mind the runtime. Skip it if you want to be building projects in your first week.
9. Automate the Boring Stuff with Python (Udemy, Al Sweigart)
Our score: 85 / 100. The companion book has sold over 500,000 copies and is free to read online. The Udemy video course is short and inexpensive, with the first lessons available to preview for free.
This is the most practical, least intimidating entry on the list, and the best pick for people who never wanted to be programmers but do want to stop doing tedious manual computer work. It teaches just enough Python to automate real chores: renaming files in bulk, editing spreadsheets and PDFs, scraping web pages, sending emails, and similar tasks.
Who it is for: office workers, administrators, academics, and anyone whose goal is “make my computer do this boring thing for me” rather than “get a developer job.”
The honest drawbacks: it is deliberately narrow and shallow in computer science theory. It will not prepare you for a software engineering interview, and it is not a data science or web development course. The video course follows the earlier edition of the book, so the free online book (now in a newer edition) is, in places, more current than the videos. We were not able to independently confirm a specific current Udemy star rating during this research, so treat the platform rating as unverified and lean on the free preview and the free book to judge for yourself.
Price reality: the book is available online for free under a Creative Commons license. The Udemy course is low-cost, and Al Sweigart regularly posts links to free or discounted access.
Verdict: the best value on this list for non-programmers with a practical automation goal. Read a few free chapters first, since you may not need to pay for anything at all.
10. Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python (edX, MIT)
Our score: 88 / 100. Free to audit. One of the most enrolled courses in edX history. Roughly 9 weeks at about 15 hours per week.
This is the rigorous, academic pick, taught by MIT and aimed at people who want to understand computation, not just memorize Python syntax. It covers computational thinking, algorithms, algorithmic complexity, simple data structures, testing and debugging, and object-oriented programming, using Python 3. It is genuinely challenging, and finishing it is an accomplishment.
Who it is for: learners who want a real computer-science foundation, students planning to go further into CS, and self-directed people who thrive on difficulty and want an MIT-level treatment for free.
The honest drawbacks: this is the steepest learning curve on the list. It expects comfort with basic algebra and rewards persistence over hand-holding. If your goal is to build a web app or automate a spreadsheet this month, it is the wrong tool. It is a foundations course, not a project course.
Price reality: free to audit, which is the real draw. A verified certificate typically costs around $75, and an optional academic-credit path through a partner college costs more (in the region of $300 for the credit). You lose nothing by auditing first.
Verdict: best for people who want rigorous CS fundamentals and are willing to work for them. Audit it for free before deciding whether the certificate is worth paying for.
How to choose the right Python course for you
Match the course to your goal, not to the biggest number of students. Here is the quick decision path.
If you are a complete beginner who learns by building, 100 Days of Code (paid, project marathon) or Python for Everybody (free to audit, gentler, university-backed).
If you want to understand the language cleanly before specializing, The Complete Python Bootcamp: Zero to Hero, then a specialization course.
If you are targeting a developer job, The Complete Python Developer (Zero to Mastery) for the workflow skills, and build real projects on GitHub alongside it.
If your goal is data and machine learning, learn fundamentals first, then take the Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp.
If you are in IT and want a credential, Google IT Automation with Python, and add Docker separately afterward.
If you want to automate boring office tasks: Automate the Boring Stuff, and read the free book before you pay.
If you want rigorous computer science, MIT’s Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python is available for free.
On budget: two of these (Python for Everybody and the MIT course) can be learned for free, and the Automate the Boring Stuff book is free online. On Udemy, never pay the full list price. Wait for a sale, which usually brings courses down to $10-$20. Coursera certificates are subscription-based, so your cost depends on how quickly you finish; finishing quickly saves money.