Looking for the best coding websites for kids and teens? Today we'll dive into the world of coding education, exploring a wide range of free and paid coding websites for kids that offer an interactive and engaging learning experience. Whether your child is a beginner or an advanced programmer, these websites and free coding classes provide the perfect platforms to develop their computer science skills and unlock their potential. So explore the best coding websites for kids, and ignite your child's passion for coding!
Discover the Best Free Coding Websites for Kids and Teens
For each website, we break down what you can expect to find on it and who it’s best for. We share some pros and cons, and for paid classes, we break down the options and costs. We hope to save you some time as you research the best computer science education options for your child!
Best Free Coding Websites for Elementary School Students
The best coding websites for elementary students pique their interest in this life-changing subject. Much like learning to ride a bike, once they get started, they'll never want to stop! Here are a few helpful free websites to explore with your student.
1. Scratch
Scratch coding is a fun way to engage students with coding through play. Children create animations using block code developed by lead educators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. It’s great for kids because of its colorful and user-friendly design coupled with the depth and engagement its software offers. It’s easy to get started but also super fun and encourages exploration. Ideally, Scratch is designed for elementary to lower middle school and it is intended for eventually being replaced by higher languages like Python or Java. As students get older, there is less for them on Scratch though it can be fun for adults who want to learn about coding as well.
Ages: 5+
Why it’s great for kids: Ages 5 and up can already begin to navigate Scratch. Ideally, Scratch is designed for elementary to lower middle school students.
- Pros: Highly interactive, easy to use, and fun
- Cons: As students get older, there are less challenges for them on Scratch
2. Create & Learn
Create & Learn offers free introductory live video coding courses for kids K-12 in Scratch, robotics, mobile apps, game development, and more. The curriculum was designed by experts from Google, MIT, and Stanford with kids in mind. The courses are taught in small groups in a collaborative environment where each kid gets specialized attention from a professional coding teacher. Children have the opportunity to earn a coding certificate for every milestone they hit. Classes are scheduled around student availability and they can be done on a weekly or daily basis.
Ages: 5+
Why it’s great for kids: In a live online environment, kids don't get stuck on concepts. They're able to get instant feedback to help work through any problems they encounter.
- Pros: Collaborative, fun way to learn from experts live in small groups, and personalized learning paths from a best-in-class curriculum
- Cons: Can't watch on-demand, need to pick a scheduled class time ahead of time
3. Code.org
Code.org's website offers free coding resources and games. Courses and activities are free and super engaging! Any child can learn from this site, and it is divided into bands of difficult based on their grade in school. It has both free and paid options, but it has a wealth of material for free. It’s easy to use and full of choices that will keep kids interested for hours. Beware that kids might need help navigating the platform as the sheer number of sources might make it hard to know where to start.
Ages: 5+
Why it’s great for kids: Any child 5 and up can learn from this site. The activities are designed for grade bands so you know which games fit your child best!
- Pros: Easy to access and lots of choices
- Cons: Sometimes with so many choices, it is hard to know where to start
4. Toy Theater
Toy Theater is a collection of educational games for kids that are free, fun, and interactive. There are courses on coding, but also other subjects like Math, Reading, Art, and Music. It’s a great website that is well-designed, user friendly, and cute enough for younger kids, but deep enough for older students. They have been around since 2001 and have over a million users per year, so they offer free resources that are well-made and high quality. They also have tools for teachers who want to incorporate games into their lessons.
Ages: 5 - 13
Why it's great for kids: This platform keeps kids engaged and learning through games across a wide variety of subjects. So once they're familiar with how to use it, they can learn a lot!
- Pros: Tons of subjects, including reading and music
- Cons: No way to keep going if a child gets stuck on a game
5. Blockly
Blockly Games is a series of instructional games designed around teaching coding. Designed for kids with little to no prior experience with computer programming, it has puzzle games, music videos, cute animals, and platform games to clarify coding concepts, which makes learning fun and progressively more challenging. The games use visual-coding similar to Scratch and by the end, young coders are ready to progress to traditional text-based languages.
Ages: 7 - 13
Why it's great for kids: Similar to building a puzzle, kids can slot code together to bring things to life. This makes it a simple program to pick up, while learning core coding concepts.
- Pros: Learning through gaming keeps kids excited
- Cons: It's less popular than Scratch
Best Free Coding Websites for Middle School Students
The best free coding websites for middle school students help them build lifelong computer science proficiency, while mastering key creative and problem solving skills - and they make it fun! Find the best starting point for your child below.
6. VEXCode VR
Robotics is the future. VEXcode VR uses a Scratch-inspired, block based coding language to teach children about robotics concepts including programming, sensors, automation, and algorithms to ensure they have the skills to thrive in the future, robot-driven world. It’s especially great because it allows kids who can’t afford a sophisticated physical robot to use a virtual one, and in the process they will learn how to code. It’s a great resource for kids, and it has both free and paid versions. Kids start coding using blocks before progressing to Python, scaffolding their knowledge and building on their previous experience.
Ages: 8+
Why it's great for kids: This is a great way really help kids see their code come to life, using an object in a virtual world.
- Pros: No need to buy a robot kit, but you can if you want
- Cons: Can be a bit challenging to navigate without the help of an expert, but we have a fun live class you can join!
7. EdX
This site offers top university courses all in one place. EdX’s top-notch choices on design, data science, computer science and engineering, plus relevant experiences allow kids to explore university level courses in a free, self-paced environment. Ambitious students can even pay to get a Certificate of completion for a modest fee. It’s great for kids because it opens the door to the exciting world of higher education that is often shockingly different from middle and high school. It connects students to real-life applications of coding. There’s lots to explore but the level of difficulty might be very challenging for younger kids.
Ages: 13+
Why it’s great for kids: This site is good for kids ages middle school and up. It connects students to real-life applications of coding.
- Pros: Explore lots of applications of computer science relevant to industry
- Cons: Lots of choices and levels might be intimidating
8. Bit Degree
Bit Degree offers top-notch courses to prepare individuals for future careers in STEM. This program is designed for students ages middle school and up. It has a wide variety of options from beginner to advanced. If your child wants real-world preparation, this site is excellent. It will put them in contact with many relevant career connections and teacher expertise, but the upper level classes might be too difficult for younger students.
Ages: 12+
Why it’s great for kids: This program is designed for students ages middle school and up. It has a wide variety of options from beginner to advanced. If your child wants real-world preparation, this site is excellent.
- Pros: Many relevant career connections and teacher expertise
- Cons: High level might not be attractive to some students
9. Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers basic tutorials in computer science that students can complete at their own pace. And they offer activities and videos to engage students. While most of their courses are taught using videos, their Programming classes for kids use “Talk Throughs” that are more interactive and very high quality for free content. Khan Academy is designed for kids ages middle school and up. This site is great because it is not intimidating, self-paced, and easy to read. It doesn’t contain games, rather functions more like individual tutoring.
Ages: 7+
Why it’s great for kids: Khan Academy is designed for kids ages middle school and up. This site is great because it is not intimidating, self-paced, and easy to read.
- Pros: Basic coding skills with an easily laid out format
- Cons: Not gamified much for younger students
10. Code Monster
Code Monster from Crunchzilla is an interactive tool for kids that focuses on activity. Code changes immediately demonstrating interactive, visible results. Projects start simple, rapidly progressing into exciting lessons on animation and geometry. Important programming concepts like variables, loops, conditionals, expressions, and functions are introduced by example. Code Monster is a soft introduction to coding fundamentals. It is a first step in learning to program and it’s great in that it focuses on text-based language. It is not intended to teach all of computer science and programming.
Ages: 10+
Why it’s great for kids: It's a great way to see how interested your child is in learning coding, and piquing their interest.
- Pros: Kids get feedback about their work immediately
- Cons: Only provides a quick introduction to coding, website isn't securely served
Best Free Coding Classes for High School Students
The best free coding websites for high school students challenge them to learn lifelong computer science skills, while keeping them engaged with interactivity and using real-world applications. Find the perfect coding website for your teen.
11. Coursera
Coursera offers many free courses from many reputable universities where students can learn to code among other subjects ranging from History to Finance. It is designed for older kids and adults, so it might be intimidating for younger kids, though its self-paced and free design make it a great option for kids in need of a greater challenge, or those interested in college. It’s vast selection and paid certification program is great and has a huge variety of resources to teach coding.
Ages: 11+
Why it’s great for kids: It's designed for middle and high school children, so it provides a challenge while also helping students build lifelong skills.
- Pros: Wide variety of topics and offerings from awesome sources
- Cons: Might be challenging for a newer coding student
12. Harvard's CS 50
CS50 is the most-popular and most-widely taught course at Harvard University that is the first class that any Computer Science student at Harvard takes. For the past decade, it has been offered for free online via, EdX, Harvard’s Website, and Youtube. It’s an amazingly designed course taught by a passionate Harvard professor that begins with Scratch before quickly progressing through C, Python, and advanced coding concepts like API’s, Networks, and Data Science. The popularity of the course led them to create a new version focused solely on Python, and both are totally free, though there are paid options which include a certificate of completion that can be shared on LinkedIn. While the course is designed for university level students, high school students should have no trouble following along.
Ages: 13+
Why it’s great for kids: Learn from one of the most prestigious colleges in the country from home.
- Pros: Covers a broad range of coding topics
- Cons: The completion certificate costs a fee
13. MIT App Inventor
MIT App Inventor was designed to encourage everyone to become technology creators and not just consumers. It is an interactive, visual programming environment that allows kids to build apps for Android phones, iPhones, and Android/iOS tablets. New users can have a simple first app running in less than 30 minutes. Their blocks-based tool facilitates the creation of complex apps with real-world applications faster than traditional programming. The MIT App Inventor project seeks to democratize programming by empowering all people to design their own mobile software.
Ages: 10+
Why it’s great for kids: Quick way to build an app that really works.
- Pros: Uses a simple block-based tool to accelerate results
- Cons: Need to have access to a phone to fully enjoy your app
14. The Odin Project
For many, a self-driven education in Software Development begins with CS50 or with the Odin Project. It is an open-source curriculum and website designed around collaboration that can bring any student from a total beginner to being well-versed in the most up-to-date and in-demand computer programming languages that jobs demand. The projects are taught with scaffolding and students learn by actually building projects. The great thing is that their curriculum also helps students to use collaborative tools like Git, GitHub, and Stack Overflow, which allows students to progressive build a portfolio of programs that could be used to apply for future jobs. It requires commitment and good organizational skills to complete, but it’s a fundamentally useful program.
Ages: 13+
Why it’s great for kids: It provides a range of material across many skill levels, so can help students proceed from beginner to advanced on the same platform.
- Pros: Uses collaborative tools common in workplaces
- Cons: Self-guided education, so students need to hold themselves accountable and may have trouble progressing
15. W3Schools Online
This site offers free coding tutorials in many languages! It has robust information and it is totally free. This site is great for kids that are 5th grade and up. The lessons are simple, interactive, and don’t require previous experience. They offer interactive queries where students can click and engage with a huge variety of classes and different coding languages. It can be reading heavy, so younger students might struggle alone, though with a tutor or parent, they should be able to complete most of the projects.
Ages: 10+
Why it’s great for kids: This site is great for kids that are 5th grade and up. They offer interactive queries where students can click and engage with the tutorial.
- Pros: Lots of variety within the site for coding languages
- Cons: Very reading heavy for younger students
Best paid coding websites for kids and teens
Ready to advance your students' learning further? Here are some of the best paid options for your children to conquer coding. Paid options typically offer more content, live teaching, more access to technology, and more curriculum to set your student up for success.
Best Paid Coding Websites for Elementary School Students
16. Scratch Ninja
Since being created in 2003 by the Scratch Foundation, a non-profit organization run by MIT computer scientists, Scratch has become the largest community for kids to learn coding. Scratch uses block based coding so that children can learn computer science fundamentals in a colorful and fun environment. Create & Learn's coding instructors can guide your kids through the stages of coding simple programs in Scratch 1 toward complex games and animations in Scratch 2 and 3. This is our most popular class, and we are so sure that your kids will love it.
Ages: 7 - 13
Why it’s great for kids: Kids can build their own animations already within the first session because the lessons are very accessible!
- Pros: Live expert guidance ensures your child learns and has fun, curriculum designed by experts from MIT, Stanford, and Google ensures they learn real-world concepts
- Cons: Need to find a time that works for your schedule
17. Coding with Kids
Coding with Kids is a coding academy with many options for topics, class types, and frequency of courses. Course selection is tiered based on your child’s age and interest. It’s very organized and leveled to ensure kids are placed in a space where they can thrive and be challenged. It has lots of choices, but time schedules are somewhat rigid. It’s perfect for younger kids, though even middle schoolers will enjoy their courses if it’s their first introduction to coding.
Ages: 5 - 13
Why it’s great for kids: Kids ages 5 and up will enjoy this site. You can tier the course selections based on your child’s age and interest.
- Pros: Very organized and leveled to ensure your child is properly placed.
- Cons: Lots of choices and rigid times
18. Codemoji
This site is designed for children to learn the basics of web development. The learning program is adaptable and easy to use. Codemoji's programming curriculum allows elementary and middle school students to learn the basics of web development and coding, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Kids can code to create their own websites, animations and much more. Emphasizing play, children are challenged and stimulated while learning and having fun. It’s a great introduction to coding, but for more advanced students it might be too simple. The affordable yearly subscription make it an easy choice in any case.
Ages: 5 - 12
Why it’s great for kids: This site is best suited for 1st-8th graders. The site creates a play space where children are challenged and stimulated to learn.
- Pros: Adaptable, engaging, and fun.
- Cons: Limited interest for more advanced coding students
19. Kodable
Kodable teaches coding through the basics using touch-based visual programming. It was designed with kindergarten students in mind and is challenging enough to keep kids engaged up to fifth grade. Kodable uses games and creative activities designed to grow problem solving and critical thinking. It’s accessible and adorable, and the optimization feature allows you to find the right starting point for your child. It has been described by the New York Times as one of the best tools for kids to learn coding. It requires self-discipline and might lack the guidance and structure some kids need to best learn.
Ages: 5-9
Why it’s great for kids: It's accessible to children 5 and up. The optimization feature allows the system to be tiered for your child’s ability and interest.
- Pros: Learning tools and progress updates are exciting for parents and teachers.
- Cons: Requires dedication from student and self-discipline
20. CodaKid
CodaKid is a kids coding platform that teaches kids how to use real programming languages and professional tools by creating games, coding apps, programming drones, building websites, and more. Designed by a former developer from SEGA with over thirty years of experience in game development, CodaKid offers paid private tutoring in 1-on-1 classes led by an experienced coding teacher. They have courses in Scratch, Python, and other languages, and all lessons are self-paced to allow new and advanced students to move at their own pace.
Ages: 7 - 13
Why it’s great for kids: Private coding lessons from home help students learn at their own pace.
- Pros: Lessons catered to the specific child's pace
- Cons: Not as collaborative as an environment and less fun when not with other students their age
Best Paid Coding Websites for Middle School Students
21. Juni Learning
Like CodaKid, Juni Learning offers one-on-one coding courses for children. Students purchase a membership for access. Children get personalized attention and a course that is structured around their needs, skill level, and learning goals. Kids can learn a variety of languages and types of applications. The only downside is that kids don’t get the opportunity to collaborate with their peers, so developing professional communication skills is lacking. It’s great for students who need more support on their coding journey.
Ages: 8 - 18
Why it’s great for kids: Children get personalized attention and get to be met where they are in their coding journey.
- Pros: 1:1 teacher
- Cons: No collaboration with peers
22. Tynker
Tynker offers a fun interface to teach coding through storytelling. They are one of the largest online learning communities for kids, with over 60 million students throughout the world. Their goal is building confidence and their curriculum features over 70 award-winning courses suitable for all ages and skill levels. Students can learn block code and text code depending on their level. It’s backed by hundreds of tutorials, hands-on projects, and interactive evaluations to test knowledge retention. Their immersive puzzles are fun, but they can become frustrating if a student is not ready for a specific level
Ages: 5 - 18
Why it’s great for kids: Students can learn block code and text code depending on their level.
- Pros: Global reach and endorsed by many viable companies
- Cons: Immersive puzzles can get frustrating if a student is not ready for a specific level
23. CodeSpark
This app allows children to learn coding through games. It’s great for younger kids and it is a fun, non-academic introduction to coding. It works well on mobile devices and it’s a low investment and entertaining tool to teach coding while keeping your child occupied for an hour or two at a time. Despite its gamified experience, it provides an excellent building block for building early digital literacy skills. It lacks live instruction and it is completely game based, so choosing a coding course with a teacher alongside it is recommended for serious students.
Ages: 5-13
Why it’s great for kids: Great for younger kids (middle school and under). This is a fun, non-serious way to immerse your child in code. It is low investment and engaging.
- Pros: Building blocks to early literacy
- Cons: No live instruction; completely game-based
24. Beginner Roblox Game Coding
The best way to start learning Roblox game coding! This live online class is designed for students to become equipped with foundational Roblox coding skills without having to use the standard and very complicated game development tool most commonly used for Roblox, Lua. Instead students get to use simple block coding to bring their ideas to life, without having to worry about typing complicated syntax. Students will learn important coding concepts such as if/then, loop, and variable in the context of Roblox coding, as well as how to have game elements respond to interactions from players such as clicks, movements, and more! Plus they'll make a cool dodgeball game, multiplayer games, and even a game modeled after the highly popular infinity run game where players must turn, dodge, and jump to avoid obstacles and gain points.
Ages: 8 - 13
Why it’s great for kids: This class builds on a game students already love, to help them broaden their creativity and modify it in all sorts of original ways while learning valuable coding skills.
- Pros: Students learn how to build multiplayer games which they can enjoy with friends! The class covers everything to get started with Roblox coding and proceed to fairly advanced concepts, all with the help of a live expert instructor.
- Cons: Need to find a schedule that works for your student, but there are lots of times to select from.
25. Minecraft Code to Mod
Kids love Minecraft. Aside from being the best-selling game of all time, it is also a great way for kids to learn about coding. By mining and crafting, kids gain confidence and have fun, and our classes take things to the next level by pairing them with an experienced coding teacher. This process is thrilling for any Minecraft fan because the get to go from being a user of technology to a technology creator, which brings a spark to the eye of many eager students. It is an exciting experience to build new components to the games we love, and our coding instructors can guide your child through creating and launching their own unique Minecraft mods.
Ages: 8-15
Why it’s great for kids: This class builds on a game students already love, to help them broaden their creativity and modify it in all sorts of original ways while learning valuable coding skills.
- Pros: Covers beginner through advanced Minecraft coding with the help of a live expert instructor.
- Cons: Fairly complex setup before coding can begin during the first class. Students get information to begin setup ahead of class, and then the instructor guides them through the last 30 minutes in class.
Best Paid Coding Websites for High School Students
26. Modern Website Design with Wix
This class covers a wide range of topics in Web Design, starting from the basics of how to use WIX and how to structure your website, to designing layout, choosing color schemes, and even to creating a web store to sell products. Whether you are thinking about doing a website to showcase your own art or hobbies, feature school/community events, publicize your sports teams or clubs, or to help local businesses and non-profit organizations, this class will teach you how to make it.
Ages: 14 - 18
Why it’s great for kids: Learn a practical skill that can be applied to any hobby or job.
- Pros: Learn from an expert in the comfort of your home
- Cons: You'll need to find a class time that works for you, as the class is live
27. Python for AI
Learn one of the most in-demand coding languages. Join this award-winning Python for AI class, and gain experience in this essential computer programming language. Python is a high-level coding language used by companies such as Amazon and Apple, and it is also used for web development, game development, building apps, machine learning, and so much more. This live online class covers not only the basics of Python coding, but also puts a strong focus on the elements of Python that are most relevant to Artificial Intelligence, including data structures and libraries.
Ages: 14 - 18
Why it’s great for kids: Learn a top real-world programming language they can use again and again throughout their careers.
- Pros: Learn how to employ Python’s powerful modules to build games, stories and real-world data projects.
- Cons: Little bit of homework required - students will practice reading code written by other people and leveraging the Python documentation to accomplish new things.
27. Colt Steele Web Developer Bootcamp
For the self-driven and advanced students who want to know everything about Web development this free course is an excellent option. With over 700,000 students, this course offered through Udemy comprises 63 hours of video tutorials and hands-on project building. It is an asset on a LinkedIn page or a resume, especially if you want to apply to a Bachelor’s program in Computer Science. Learn everything you need about frontend development to build your own interactive websites and mobile applications. This is not an easy course, and it requires concentration and determination to complete, but it does not require previous coding experience to get started.
Ages: 15+
Why it’s great for kids: This is an advanced course that can really challenge teens.
- Pros: Learn real-world development skills that map well to a specific job
- Cons: No live interaction with instructor or fellow students
28. Angela Yu 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Bootcamp
While Colt Steele’s Web Dev bootcamp teaches everything you need to know to become a professional web developer, Angela Yu’s course on Udemy offers a comprehensive introduction to backend programming through Python. The course is aimed at total beginners to programming, and uses excellent video tutorials and hands-on projects that are fun but also useful additions to a professional portfolio, and includes help on common technical interview questions required to apply to Software Engineering jobs. This course is self-paced, but it’s encouraged to follow the daily progress path as doing self-paced online courses suffer from eager starts, but also procrastination and non-completion. It’s worth the investment of time and money to complete this course as it will also support students in AP Computer Science and University classes.
Ages: 15+
Why it’s great for kids: Starts with the very basics for beginners.
- Pros: Lots of video tutorials help support your student's learning
- Cons: Self-paced and not many resources if you run into issues
29. Coursera Plus
Coursera is an excellent free resource for programming. But if you decide to use the paid version, you gain ultimate access to over 7,000 Coursera courses designed by elite universities and colleges from around the world. Learn from the best educators in the world in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. Students of any age can join, but the courses are designed for students in high school and above. The best part about the paid subscription is that you get a Certificate for all courses you complete at no additional cost.
Ages: 15+
Why it’s great for kids: Learn with courses from some of the best universities from the comfort of home.
- Pros: Earn a certificate
- Cons: Too challenging for teens younger than high school
30. Roblox Studio Coding with Lua
Through a combination of configuring and scripting/coding, students can create their own game world using a built-in 3D design tool and coding interactions with the world, in this live online class. Coding is done via Lua, a scripting language that is relatively easy to use. The course starts with simple coding concepts such as loop and conditional to get students familiar with text-based coding, and gradually goes deeper to more advanced concepts such as variables, arrays, and more.
Why it’s great for kids: It's a great way to unleash your student's interest in Roblox to learn important computer science skills.
- Pros: Get questions answered right away by a live expert
- Cons: Need to have advanced Scratch coding experience before beginning
Explore the Best Coding Classes for Kids
The best coding classes for kids create a fun, creative, and supportive environment. They do not tell children what to think. Rather they prompt students with how to think. To get started with a fun coding class that's perfect for your student, check out the best online coding classes for kids.
Free Coding Websites for Self-Study
Self-starters and advanced learners can check out some of the best websites to learn coding for free:
- Coursera: From Python for Everbody to C++, find just what you need to get started.
- Udemy: Try self-paced courses in basic coding in JavaScript, an introduction to Python and more.
- General Assembly: They hold free workshops.
- Upskill: They offer over 200 free courses to learn programming.
- Learn by Google Developers: Explore the Google Developer Library and much more.
Enjoy the Best Websites to Learn Coding for Free
We hope you enjoyed finding out more about the best free and paid coding websites for kids. As you consider your options, try to keep in mind your child’s interests, goals, and how they learn best. There are many viable websites to teach your student computer science in a way that resonates with them.
Up next, get started with free coding classes for kids, or begin your coding adventure by learning how to make a tic tac toe game in Scratch.
Written by Lauren Mauel, a Create & Learn instructor with 8 years of teaching experience. She also has a BS in Mathematics, an MS in Analytics, and is a PhD candidate. She loves seeing kids' creativity come alive.
