8 of the Best Web Design Courses Online

Searching for the best web design courses online so that you can level up your knowledge without leaving the comfort of your home?

While there’s already an abundance of blogs and learning platforms that offer web design courses, it’s important to note that they’re not all equal. Some of those web design programs could turn out to be a waste of not just your time but also your money.

Now, to save you from such an unfortunate outcome, we’ve reviewed our favorite website design schools and identified their best free and paid web design classes.

Best web design courses online in 2023 🏆

With the growth of e-learning, it’s suddenly become possible for beginners to learn the basics of web design using just online classes.

That’s the category of programs that we’ll focus on in this roundup. The eight web design courses featured here are especially perfect for beginners because they teach, among other things, the fundamentals of web design.

• The Webflow Masterclass
• Web Design for Beginners – Udemy
• Design 101: Product & Web Design Course for Beginners
• Web Design for Everybody – Coursera
• Treehouse Web Design Track
• Introduction to Web Development – FutureLearn
• Complete Web Design – Skillshare
• User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide – Interaction Design Foundation

Upon comparing the programs and offerings, your selection for the best web design course will probably come down to things like price and course length. Otherwise, if you’re looking for professional accreditation, you could additionally factor in the web design certificates that accompany the courses.

1. The Webflow Masterclass

First on our list of the best web design courses is The Webflow Masterclass by Ran Segall, a web designer with more than 17 years of experience. The program is available at Flux Academy, a renowned web design school that he founded.

In total, the Webflow Masterclass web design course is comprised of 12 hours of online lectures, through which Ran tries to make web design easy. The training here is consistently delivered in a manner that is not intimidating to beginners.

By the time you’ve sailed through all the web design classes, you’ll have learned how to build a website from scratch using Webflow. And while at it, you’ll be getting personalized feedback from experts.

Overall, the course covers the basics of website development, HTML/CSS, CMS, animations, and interactions, as well as case studies that help you understand the subject better.

But, you won’t be getting a web design certificate from the program. Instead, the Webflow Masterclass will connect you to a network of more than 3,500 web designers who have taken the course.

⏱️ Duration:

12 hours

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Introduction to Webflow
• Webflow basics
• Project implementation
• Dynamic websites
• Animations & interactions
• Advanced use cases
• Web development process
• Project management

💵 Pricing:

$278 per month for three months ($834 total) OR $695 one-time payment.

2. Web Design for Beginners: Real World Coding in HTML & CSS – Udemy

If you are intimidated by the technical jargon of HTML and CSS, this web design course is for you. Ideal for beginners, the online learning program has 52 downloadable resources divided into 11 hours of on-demand video. You just pay a one-time fee and you’ll have lifetime access to all that content.

This web design course is sold through Udemy and taught by Brad Schiff, a tutor and professional web developer. Brad has, so far, taught web development to over 10,000 learners and 100 companies.

Many of his students happen to be beginners, and they like how he tries to simplify HTML and CSS in a way that makes web design training easily accessible. Instead of going through huge chunks of information, you will find the content divided into 22 easy-to-read sections.

You’ll learn not only how to build a website, but also using CSS3 animations and effects to set up responsive layouts. The web design training will further teach you the basics of creating a mobile-friendly layout.

Then once you complete the course, you will earn free web design certification.

⏱️ Duration:

10-11 hours

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• HTML Essentials
• Adding Media to a Web Page
• Text Basics
• Semantics & Organization
• Forms
• Tables
• CSS Essentials
• Intermediate CSS
• Less Exciting Yet Still Necessary CSS Tasks
• CSS Typography
• Developer Timeout!
• CSS Backgrounds
• Responsive Web Design
• What is Flexbox in CSS?
• CSS3 Special Effects
• Leveraging JavaScript without Writing JavaScript
• What is Bootstrap?
• Sass
• Pushing a Website Live Up Onto The Web
• Cross-Browser Compatibility.

💵 Pricing:

Full price is $129.99. But like many other Udemy courses, you can often get it on sale for just $19.99 – so make sure to jump on that price if you see it.

3. Design 101: Product & Web Design Course for Beginners – Design-lab

Design 101 is a four-week online web design program for beginners. This short course will take you through the entire process of product and website design from ideation to handoff. You’ll do all the stuff practically like you would in an actual company or a studio.

What sets it apart from other online web design programs is the 16 hands-on projects you get to work on. Not many courses can link you up with an expert mentor for one-on-one training on how to define details like color therapy, imagery, and typography. You’ll be working together on all the basic tweaks that make websites more attractive and effective.

The Design 101 web design course suits both beginners and working professionals who want to expand their knowledge. But, you don’t need any design experience to get started.

When you’re done with the project work, you’ll even get a professional website design certificate to showcase on your landing pages.

⏱️ Duration:

40 hours

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Website design, ideating, and sketching
• Color theory, imagery, typography
• Website layout and composition, designing the details
• Going Hi-Fi, design teams, and handoff

💵 Pricing:

$399

4. Web Design for Everybody – University of Michigan @ Coursera

Web Design for Everybody is a Coursera course from Colleen van Lent and Charles Russel Severance of the University of Michigan. It’s targeted towards beginners and covers everything you need to know to start designing and creating websites.

You’ll learn how to structure web pages using HTML and CSS (following responsive design principles, of course), as well as how to add interactivity using JavaScript. You’ll also complete a hands-on project as part of the web design course, which should give you real experience in building a site.

All those web design classes are estimated to take six months – but, they’re self-paced and you can always pause or speed up your web design training. All in all, though, the online instructors here recommend a pace of around three hours of web design learning per week.

Your efforts will, in the end, be capped off with a shareable website design certificate.

⏱️ Duration:

Six months at three hours/week.

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Introduction to HTML5
• Introduction to CSS3
• Interactivity with JavaScript
• Advanced styling with responsive design

💵 Pricing:

Free

5. Treehouse Web Design Track

The Treehouse Web Design Track isn’t a single course. Rather, it’s a series of courses put together in a cohesive “track” to help you learn all the basics of web design. It starts with a basic introduction to HTML and CSS and then builds up to more advanced topics like Flexbox, mobile-first and responsive layouts, etc.

The track does not touch on JavaScript at all – it’s 100% focused on HTML, CSS, and general web design principles.

Overall, this is a great option if you’re starting from zero and want to quickly get up to speed.

⏱️ Duration:

41 hours across the entire track. Individual topics range from 45 minutes to four hours.

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Introduction to HTML and CSS
• The web design process
• CSS basics (layouts, selectors, etc.)
• HTML basics (forms, tables, etc.)
• Responsive and mobile-first design
• More advanced CSS topics like Flexbox, Bootstrap, transforms, Sass, and more.
• How to prototype a website in your browser

💵 Pricing:

You can access all the courses in the track for one price – $25 per month. You also get a seven-day free trial.

6. Introduction to Web Development – FutureLearn

This online web design program is from the Raspberry Pi Foundation – and it will teach you how to build a website using HTML, style it using CSS, and make it interactive with JavaScript. Through the same online classes, you will also learn more about the box model and how web browsers render a finished website from your code.

In essence, FutureLearn has proven to be one of the best web design courses for learning JavaScript and HTML. Even when you sign up as a beginner, you’ll soon understand how JavaScript code interacts with the Document Object Model (DOM).

That notwithstanding, however, it does help to be familiar with the basic programming structures before you take this online web design course. But, don’t expect to graduate from the program with a certificate of completion.

⏱️ Duration:

Suggested timing is three weeks at two hours/week, but the course is self-paced.

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• HTML tags and attributes
• Styling web pages using CSS
• CSS classes and IDs for styling web page elements
• Layouts in CSS, including the box model and responsive design
• Using JavaScript to make interactive web pages
• The Document Object Model
• Validation

💵 Pricing:

Taking the course is free. If you want a course certificate, it will cost you $49.

7. Complete Web Design: from Figma design to Webflow development – Skillshare

Ideal for beginners, this six-part web design program is available on Skillshare. It includes several free web design classes, modules, and assignments, all of which add up to about 19 hours of online learning.

Each of the online lessons even comes with corresponding module-wise notes, which should save you the trouble of preparing notes from scratch. The organization of the classes is also outstanding, making it easy and convenient for you to understand and grasp your web design training.

Accompanying all that is a student Discord chat, where you can interact with some of the 6,250+ other students who have taken the course.

⏱️ Duration:

19 hours.

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Secrets of good website design
• Practice design like a pro
• Webflow development
• Client project from start to finish
• Freelancing
• Advanced topics

💵 Pricing:

It’s a free web design course.

8. User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide – Interaction Design Foundation

This is an online course from the Interaction Design Foundation that introduces you to the principles of user experience, with the primary goal being to teach you how to create delightful web experiences for your product’s users. You will learn all about the impact of visual perception on the web viewing experience, the design mistakes you must avoid, and why it’s important to prioritize usability over aesthetics.

That makes it one of the best web design courses for UI/UX designers. Once you’re registered, you’ll have lifetime access to its training material, online classes, plus optional meetups.

Within weeks, it provides beginners with a good foundation for blending the key principles of UX/UI design. You’ll also get a web design course certificate on completion.

⏱️ Duration:

Estimated 18 hours over 12 weeks, but the course is self-paced.

👩‍🎓 What you’ll learn:

• Introduction to user experience
• The psychological principles that are the foundation of user experience
• How visual perception affects user experience
• Why usability always trumps aesthetics
• Real examples of good and bad user experience
• How to empathize with your users

💵 Pricing:

Whereas this is a free online course for Interaction Design Foundation members, joining the foundation is not free. Membership for course access alone costs $264 per year. Or, you can pay $2,880 per year to get your own personal coach.

Get started with web design courses online today 🧑‍🏫 💻

If you are keen to learn web design and development with Webflow from an expert in the industry, the Webflow Masterclass by Ran Segallis is an ideal choice. Considering the vast module and an expert tutor, it is worth the money.

Introduction to Web Development from FutureLearn is an ideal pick if you’re seeking a free web design program and would want to begin with the basics. It’s particularly suitable for novices who want to try their hand at designing. The course outline is even shorter than other online training programs.

Web Design for Everybody from Coursera and Complete Web Design from Skillshare are permanently free web design courses. Both offer a hands-on approach, complete with a final project that showcases your understanding of the subject.

Web Design for Beginners has an extensive module that will take you deep into web design for an affordable cost of $115.

Design 101 suits those who already have basic knowledge and understanding of web designing and ideating, but it requires a longer-than-average time commitment.

And if you are a UX/UI professional who is looking to expand on your knowledge and continue learning more in the future, consider User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide by the Interaction Design Foundation.

For some more ways to level up your web development knowledge, you can check out our roundup of the five best online WordPress courses.

Have any questions about any of these courses? Let us know in the comments!