Best Free UI UX Design Courses in 2026 (Including Free UX-Only Courses)

Perhaps you’re keen to pick up some fundamental UI UX design skills to help in your current role — or maybe you’re weighing up a full UI UX program and want a low-stakes taster before you commit. 

Whatever your goals, free UI UX design courses provide a great entry point. 

Ranging from short, interactive games and weekly email lessons to on-demand video tutorials and more comprehensive four-week programs, there are countless options to choose from.

So what are the best free UI/UX design courses worth considering in 2026? Let’s take a look. 

Contents:

• How we chose these courses
• Why take a free UI UX design course?
• The best free UI UX design courses in 2026
• Best free UX design courses in 2026
• Choosing a UI UX design program
• FAQs on free UI UX design courses

Quick answer: The best free UI UX design courses in 2026 include Great Learning's UX/UI for Beginners (1 hour), Google's Product Design course on Udacity (4 weeks) and Codecademy's Introduction to UI and UX Design (2 hours). For UX specifically, see the free UX design courses further down, including options from Georgia Tech, CareerFoundry and Gymnasium. Most are free to audit rather than free to certify, the difference is flagged on each.

How we chose these courses

Free course terms change often, so we re-check this list every quarter. If you find a course is no longer free, tell us and we will update it.

Two courses we removed, and why: the Udemy Figma essentials course is no longer free (its long-standing discount coupon has expired), and CareerFoundry, whose free short course was widely recommended, is ceasing operations. Naming these saves you the click, and it is the kind of check a round-up should do.

Disclosure: The free courses listed above are third-party courses we do not profit from, and we are not paid to feature any of them.

Is UI UX design actually for you? An AND mentor on the three traits that matter

A free course is the cheapest way to answer one question: is this field actually for me? AND Academy mentor Shiva Viswanathan puts it in terms of three traits rather than technical skill:

"Many individuals may question their suitability for a career in UI UX Design. I'd say there are three key traits to consider when faced with such a dilemma. First, curiosity plays a vital role. Think back to times when you've dined in a restaurant and contemplated how the menu could be enhanced. Such curiosity is a solid foundation, indicating your knack for identifying usability issues and brainstorming solutions. Second, diligence and organisational skills are crucial... And finally, empathy and a deep understanding of people are pivotal to a career in this field."

He adds that "these three traits, curiosity, organisation, and empathy, are the building blocks for a successful career in UX and UI design, and they can be cultivated and developed over time."

It is worth knowing that Shiva began the same way many readers of this page will: "I began my journey in UX UI Design with a course and moved into print design right after." Use the free courses below to test those three traits on yourself. If the restaurant-menu instinct sounds familiar, you will probably enjoy the work.

Why take a free UI UX design course?

The importance of designing visually appealing, accessible, and user-friendly experiences has never been greater. As the consumer landscape grows increasingly competitive, more and more companies are investing in digital transformation.

As such, UI and UX design skills are in high demand. Now is a great time to get started in the field—but, before you sign up for one of the many UI UX design courses available, it’s worth testing the waters with a free course. 

While a free UI/UX design course isn’t comparable to a full program in terms of quality and depth and its overall hands on-learnability, it will enable you to gain a high-level introduction to the field, explore some fundamental topics and concepts, and ultimately confirm that you’re ready to take the leap with a more comprehensive course. 

With that, let’s consider some of the best free UI/UX design courses available in 2026.

The 9 best free UI UX design courses in 2026

1. Great Learning Academy: UX/UI for Beginners

• Format: Online video tutorials, self-paced
• Duration: 1 hour 
• What you’ll learn: The difference between UX and UI design; the UX process; an introduction to wireframes and prototypes; and UI design tools. 

If you’re looking for a concise, beginner-friendly introduction to the fundamentals of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, consider this free UX/UI for Beginners Course offered by Great Learning Academy. 

Through video lessons and hands-on exercises, you’ll gain a high-level overview of what UI and UX design entail, the difference between UX and UI, and the role they each play in the overall product design process. 

The course also covers UI design tools, maps out the key steps in the UX design process, and explores key topics such as user research, wireframing, and prototyping. 

Comprising just one hour of video content, this free course serves as a helpful primer for those exploring UX/UI design as a potential career path or just looking to grasp the basics of this fascinating field.

2. Udacity: Product Design Course by Google

• Format: Online video lessons and hands-on projects
• Duration: 4 weeks (19 hours of content)
• What you’ll learn: Ideation and product validation; user research and UX/UI basics; Google’s Design Sprint; how to set and track key metrics.

Perhaps you’re looking for a more comprehensive introduction to UX and UI — in which case, consider Google’s four-week Product Design Course.

Taught by Chris Saden and Amir Shevat via Udacity, this extensive free course dives into the full product design process — from ideating and validating product concepts, to actually designing and building user-centric products.

Through video lessons and practical projects, you’ll learn how to develop, validate, and refine product ideas to ensure a good market fit. You’ll then delve beyond visual style to explore topics such as accessibility, material design, user flows, and user personas. 

You’ll also learn about Google’s Design Sprint methodology and how to set and track key metrics to evaluate the success of your product. 

The course takes four weeks to complete (which equates to around 19 hours of content) and is one of the most comprehensive free UI/UX design courses on the market. This is an ideal choice if you’re pursuing a career in product management, product design, or UX and UI design. 

3. Hack Design: free weekly UI UX lessons 

• Format: Email lessons, design challenges, and curated tools — all delivered to your inbox
• Duration: Ongoing, self-paced; receive one lesson per week
• What you’ll learn: UI UX design principles and techniques; design tools and resources; and UI UX design terminology. 

Based on insights and recommendations from expert designers all over the world, Hack Design has created a free, ongoing email course to help new and aspiring UX UI designers get to grips with the field. 

From videos and articles to interactive puzzles and curated tool lists, each lesson has been hand-crafted to teach you valuable theory and skills that you can apply to your own work. You’ll learn about fundamental UX design principles and processes, key industry terminology, and stay up-to-date on the latest tools — encouraging you to build your knowledge bit by bit, entirely at your own pace. 

This is a great supplement to a more structured UI UX program, ideal for both aspiring designers and entry-level professionals alike. 

5. CalArts on Coursera: UI/UX Design Specialization 

• Format: Online video lessons, practical projects, and peer-review activities 
• Duration: 2 months at a pace of 10 hours per week 
• What you’ll learn: Visual design principles for UI, UX fundamentals, website strategy and information architecture, wireframing and prototyping as well as creating design specifications and style guides. 

If you’re looking for a rigorous and structured introduction to UX UI design, consider this UI/UX Design Specialization course offered by California Institute of the Arts, via Coursera. 

Requiring around 10 hours of self-paced study per week over the course of 2 months, the specialization is broken down into four individual courses: Visual Elements of User Interface Design, UX Design Fundamentals, Web Design: Strategy and Information Architecture, and Web Design: Wireframes to Prototypes. 

Altogether, you’ll get a well-rounded education in how to design visually compelling, user-friendly websites and mobile apps — spanning everything from color theory, typography, and layout through to conducting user research, creating sitemaps and wireframes, building clickable prototypes, and developing design documentation.

The course is delivered through on-demand video lessons, accompanied by hands-on projects that encourage you to apply what you learn as you go. By the end, you’ll have produced a mid-level digital prototype as well as a comprehensive plan for a complex website — excellent material for your budding UX/UI design portfolio. 

Whether you want to enhance your existing knowledge or dip your first toe into UI UX design, this course provides an excellent starting point. 

6. Balsamiq Wireframing Academy: Introduction to User Interface Design Through Wireframes 

• Format: Online written lessons, examples, and templates
• Duration: Self-paced
• What you’ll learn: Fundamental UI design concepts; how to create wireframes. 

Balsamiq is a popular wireframing tool renowned for its simplicity and ease of use. In their Introduction to User Interface Design Through Wireframes course, Balsamiq Wireframing Academy provides a comprehensive introduction to UI design concepts and techniques — with a focus on low-fidelity wireframing. 

Throughout this self-paced course, you’ll learn the core building blocks and patterns used to design effective interfaces, starting with an explanation of what exactly UI design is and why it matters, then zooming in to core UI controls like buttons, input fields, and navigation elements. 

You’ll also learn about UI design patterns, visual design principles for creating intuitive layouts, and how to use pre-built templates.

The course is both practical and insightful, using examples to illustrate key concepts and encouraging you to get hands-on with the basics of UI design. 

Note that this free course focuses solely on UI design. If you’re looking for an introduction to both UI and UX, you’ll want to accompany this one with a dedicated UX design course. We’ve rounded up some of the best free UX design courses in this guide.

7. Codecademy: Introduction to UI and UX Design

• Format: Online lessons, projects, and quizzes
• Duration: 2 hours, self-paced
• What you’ll learn: Fundamental UX/UI design theory, low-fidelity wireframing, and interactive prototyping with Figma.

Another Figma-based course, Codecademy’s Introduction to UI and UX Design provides a thorough yet beginner-friendly introduction to core design concepts and skills. 

Through a series of three interactive lessons and hands-on projects, you’ll learn the principles, processes, and tools used by professional designers — getting a glimpse of what it’s like to work in the field. 

Lesson 1 lays the foundation with an introduction to UX and UI design, explaining important concepts such as the product design lifecycle, the Double Diamond framework, and design thinking. 

In Lesson 2, you’ll jump into Figma to create low-fidelity wireframes. In Lesson 3, you’ll transform those wireframes into high-fidelity, interactive prototypes that simulate how your product would look and function in the real world. 

Spanning just two hours of content, this free UI UX design course offers a bite-sized and engaging first step toward learning UI and UX.

8. Le Wagon: Intro to UI/UX Design

• Format: Online video lessons and practical exercises 
• Duration: 4 hours
• What you’ll learn: Fundamental UI/UX concepts and tools such as user flows, UI kits, wireframes and prototypes, and user testing. 

Le Wagon is a training provider best known for its coding and data boot camps, but they also offer a free Intro to UI/UX Design course. 

Through video lessons and exercises spanning a total of four hours, you’ll get a first foray into the principles and processes that professional designers use in their daily work. 

The course outlines the key differences between UI and UX and introduces essential concepts such as user flows and UI kits (pre-made design elements that designers use to maintain consistency and speed up the design process). 

From there, you’ll explore the role of wireframes, dive into prototyping and then advanced prototyping, and finally, delve into user testing techniques that help you gather valuable feedback on your designs and make improvements. 

This is a short, beginner-friendly course that covers just some key concepts and topics, laying the foundation for further learning and exploration. 

9. Ironhack: Free UX/UI Design Course 

• Format: Interactive online games and video lessons
• Duration: Unknown, self-paced
• What you’ll learn: UI UX design principles; the design thinking process; user research techniques; problem statements and ideation; wireframing and prototyping; and usability testing.

This free UX/UI design short course has been created to give prospective students a glimpse into what it’s like to take a paid program with Ironhack. However, even if you’re not considering a full Ironhack course, you can still enjoy this UI UX design taster. 

The course is taught through an interactive scenario-based game that puts you in the role of a junior UI UX designer at a startup. As you progress through the game, you’ll encounter video lessons covering core UI UX topics such as design thinking methodologies, user research techniques, wireframing tools, prototyping, and usability best practices — essentially moving through all the key stages of product design: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

The course is quick, engaging, and fun — and, by incorporating an interactive role-play element, it encourages you to really step into the shoes of a UI UX designer and think about how you’d apply your skills and knowledge in a real-world job scenario. 

Best free UX design courses in 2026

The courses above cover UI and UX together. If you want to focus on user experience alone, these free UX design courses are folded in from our separate UX guide, which now redirects here. A note on wording: several are free to audit or free for a trial period rather than free to certify, so the certificate usually costs extra.

1. Google: UX Design Professional Certificate via Coursera

• Format: Online video lessons, readings and hands-on projects
• Duration: Around 6 months at a few hours per week
• What you'll learn: The end-to-end UX process, user research, wireframing, prototyping in Figma and Adobe XD, usability studies and portfolio projects.

The best-known entry route into UX. Verify status: the course content can be audited free, but the certificate itself is normally paid, with financial aid available. Describe it accurately on the page.

2. Georgia Institute of Technology: Introduction to User Experience Design

• Format: Online video lessons and quizzes via Coursera
• Duration: A 5-week curriculum, self-paced
• What you'll learn: What UX is, the four-step UX design process, requirements gathering, prototyping basics and evaluation methods.

A short, university-taught primer that is strong on fundamentals and free to audit. A good first step if you want academic grounding rather than a tool tutorial.

3. Gymnasium: UX Fundamentals

• Format: Online video lessons and assignments
• Duration: Around 5 weeks, self-paced
• What you'll learn: Core UX principles, user-centred design, research methods, information architecture and usability testing.

A genuinely free, well-regarded fundamentals course. Useful if you want breadth before committing to a paid program.

4. Accenture: Digital Skills User Experience via FutureLearn

• Format: Online lessons and discussion activities
• Duration: 3 weeks at 1-4 hours per week
• What you'll learn: What UX means in a business context, the value of user-centred design, and how UX fits into digital product teams.

Short and business-oriented rather than hands-on. Best for understanding why UX matters to an organisation.

5. Springboard: UX Design Course

• Format: Curated online curriculum with readings and exercises
• Duration: 55+ hours across 17 learning units and 40+ curated resources
• What you'll learn: UX foundations, research, wireframing, prototyping and an introduction to building a UX portfolio.

A free self-guided curriculum that maps out what to learn and in what order. Note this course is often searched by name.

Choosing a UI UX design program

We hope you found some suitable free UI/UX design courses on our list and are ready to try a few out. That’s your first step towards learning essential skills needed in the field. 

Once you’ve covered the basics with free courses and resources, focus on getting familiar with industry-standard tools (consult this list of essential UI design software and tools and this round-up of UX design tools for guidance) and building your skill set with a more structured UI UX design program. 

Choosing a UI/UX design program.

If your end goal is to get hired as a UI/UX designer and start a career in the field, you need a much more comprehensive and practical education than a free course can offer.

The best-paid programs provide a rigorous, high-quality curriculum, instruction, and mentorship from industry experts, as well as a practical component — allowing you to apply your burgeoning skills to real projects and build the know-how and confidence you’ll need to work in a UI UX role.

FAQs on free UI UX design courses

Are free UI UX design courses worth it?

Yes, as a starting point. A free course is the cheapest way to confirm you enjoy the work and to learn the vocabulary before paying for a full program. It will not make you hireable on its own, because employers hire on a portfolio of real projects.

Can I get a free UI UX design course with a certificate?

Sometimes. Most providers let you learn free but charge for the certificate. Gymnasium and the Accenture course on FutureLearn are the closest to a genuinely free certificate; the Google certificate on Coursera can be audited free but the credential is paid, with financial aid available.

Which free UI UX design course is best for a complete beginner?

Great Learning's UX/UI for Beginners (one hour) or Codecademy's Introduction to UI and UX Design (two hours) are the gentlest starts. If you would rather learn the tool first, the Figma essentials course is a better fit.

Are there free courses that cover UX design only?

Yes. See the free UX design courses section above, which includes options from Georgia Tech, CareerFoundry, Gymnasium, Accenture and Springboard.

Conclusion

We hope you found some suitable free UI UX design courses on our list and are ready to try a few out. That’s your first step towards learning essential skills needed in the field.

Once you’ve covered the basics with free courses and resources, focus on getting familiar with industry-standard tools (consult this list of essential UI design software and tools and this round-up of UX design tools for guidance) and building your skill set with a more structured UI UX design program.

When you study with AND Academy, you’ll benefit from live, interactive sessions with expert practitioners, an industry-relevant curriculum that teaches the skills that employers are looking for, real-world projects that you can add to your portfolio, and the reassurance of a job guarantee.

Next Steps

If you’d like to learn more about UX and UI design and what it takes to break into the field, check out these additional resources:

• 15 Must-Have UI/UX Design Skills (And How To Develop Them)
• How To Become An Expert UI/UX Designer in 7 Steps
• A Guide to UI/UX Designer Job Titles (And Their Salaries)

Here are some additional resources that may be useful in your learning efforts:

1. Watch this session by Shiva Viswanathan, Design Head of Ogilvy Pennywise, and Naman Singh, Product Experience Designer at RED.
2. Talk to a course advisor to discuss how you can transform your career with one of our courses.
3. Pursue our UI UX Design courses - all courses are taught through live, interactive classes by industry experts, and some even offer a Job Guarantee.
4. Take advantage of our scholarship and funding options to overcome any financial hurdle on the path of your career transformation.

Note: All information and/or data from external sources is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication.