Best Augmented Reality (AR) Courses in 2026 (Reviewed)

Last updated: 16 October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

The best way to learn augmented reality development in 2026 is Unity with AR Foundation, which builds one project for
iPhone, Android phones and headsets. Start with Unity’s free Mobile AR Development pathway, then take a
project course such as Build 15 Augmented Reality (AR) apps with Unity & Vuforia on Udemy (4.6 from
4,156 reviews). If you want a university-backed overview first, Coursera’s Extended Reality for Everybody
from the University of Michigan is the strongest choice.

What is augmented reality, and how is it different from VR?

Augmented reality (AR) adds digital objects to your view of the real world, usually through a phone camera or a
see-through headset: a sofa placed in your living room, a face filter, directions drawn on the street. Virtual reality (VR)
replaces your view entirely with a digital world inside a headset. Mixed reality (MR) sits in between: a headset shows you
the room through its cameras and places objects in it, which is how Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro work.

For learners the skills overlap heavily. All three use a 3D engine, tracking and the same interaction ideas, so an AR
course also prepares you for VR. If headsets interest you more than phones, read our
virtual reality courses guide too.

The best augmented reality courses at a glance

Ratings, enrollment and update dates were checked on 16 October 2026.

1. Unity Learn: Mobile AR Development (best free start)

Unity’s own Mobile AR Development pathway is free and is
the closest thing to an official AR curriculum. It takes about eight weeks and builds apps that run on iOS and Android
devices. You start by deploying a test project to your phone. Then you build a basic face filter, an interactive face
filter, a marker-based AR app and a plane-detection app, and you finish with AR experience design. It uses Unity’s visual scripting, so
you do not need to know C# first. On 16 October 2026, 2,283 learners had completed it.

Its limits: the pathway is built for Unity 2022.3 and 2021.3 rather than Unity 6, and Unity Learn gives you
experience points rather than a certificate. Neither matters much for learning the concepts, but expect some editor
differences if you install the newest Unity.

2. Build 15 Augmented Reality (AR) apps with Unity & Vuforia (best project course)

Dinesh Tavasalkar’s Build 15 AR apps with Unity & Vuforia
is the most-reviewed AR course on Udemy that is still reasonably current: 4.6 stars from 4,156 reviews and 39,745 students
on 16 October 2026, about 18 hours, last updated November 2023. It works through fifteen small apps, from AR business cards and
book covers to markerless placement, which is good practice for the image-tracking projects clients actually ask for.

It is built on Vuforia, a commercial AR SDK that Reddit developers recommend mainly for high-quality image and object
tracking. For plane detection and general phone AR, Unity’s own AR Foundation is now the more common choice, so pair this
course with the free Unity pathway above.

See Build 15 AR apps →

3. Extended Reality for Everybody, University of Michigan (best university course)

Michael Nebeling’s Extended Reality for Everybody specialization on
Coursera covers AR, VR and mixed reality together: the concepts, the technology behind them and how to build simple
experiences with WebXR, Unity and Unreal. It is three courses, beginner level, about two months at 10 hours a week, and
had a 4.7 rating from 605 reviews with 19,667 learners enrolled on 16 October 2026.

It is the best fit if you want to understand the field before choosing a platform, or if you need a university name
on a certificate. It is less hands-on than the Udemy and Unity options, so follow it with a project course.

See Extended Reality for Everybody →

4. Building AR Apps in RealityKit & ARKit (best for iPhone)

If you only want to build for iPhone and iPad, learn Apple’s own frameworks: ARKit for tracking and RealityKit for
rendering, written in Swift. Mohammad Azam’s Building AR Apps in RealityKit & ARKit
had 4.3 stars from 332 reviews and 3,035 students on 16 October 2026, last updated December 2023. Apple has added features since,
so use the course for the fundamentals and Apple’s free developer documentation for anything new.

See the RealityKit course →

5. Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARCore, Google (a quick overview, with a caveat)

Google’s Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARCore is the most-enrolled AR course
on Coursera: 101,485 learners and a 4.5 rating from 3,896 reviews on 16 October 2026. It is short, about a week at 10 hours, and
explains what makes AR feel real and how AR experiences work. But its syllabus still lists Google Poly as a building tool and
credits Daydream’s ARCore team, and Google has since shut down both Poly and Daydream. Treat it as a concepts overview, not
a guide to current tools.

6. Virtual Reality Specialization, University of London (XR foundations)

The University of London’s Virtual Reality Specialization is a VR program, but its
first courses on 3D interaction, presence and Unity apply directly to AR. It is five courses, about two months at 10 hours a
week, with a 4.7 rating from 2,092 reviews on 16 October 2026. Take it if you expect to work on headsets as well as phones.

ARKit, ARCore or Unity: which should you learn?

Unity’s AR Foundation supports provider plug-ins for Android (ARCore), iOS (ARKit), visionOS, HoloLens 2, Meta Quest and
Android XR, so learning it keeps your options open. That is why both Unity’s own pathway and most Reddit advice point new
developers there. Learn Swift and ARKit only if you are sure you will stay on Apple devices.

AR platforms that have shut down (avoid courses built on them)

• Meta Spark. Meta shut down Meta Spark’s platform of third-party tools and content on 14 January
  2025, so Instagram and Facebook AR effects can no longer be built with it. Courses teaching Spark AR Studio, and Meta’s
  old AR developer certificate on Coursera, are no longer useful.
• 8th Wall’s hosted platform. Access to the 8th Wall hosted platform was retired on 28 February
  2026; existing projects stay hosted until 28 February 2027. 8th Wall is now released as free and open software, so
  older WebAR tutorials need adapting.
• Google Poly and Daydream. Both are gone, which dates Google’s own ARCore introduction on Coursera.

Before buying any AR course, check its tools against this list and look at the last update date. AR moves quickly,
and the older courses with the most reviews are often the most out of date: Rapidly Build 12 iPhone/Android AR Apps,
for example, still has a 4.3 rating but was built on Unity 2017.2 and last updated in December 2017.

Free augmented reality courses (and certificates)

Unity’s Mobile AR Development pathway is the best free AR course, and Unity Learn has shorter AR Foundation tutorials
too. Apple’s and Google’s developer sites have free documentation and sample projects for ARKit and ARCore. Free options
rarely include a certificate: Unity Learn awards experience points, not a credential. If you need a certificate, the
Coursera programs above issue one when you complete the paid track.

One question people search for is a university AR/VR professional certificate, such as the one NYU Tandon used to
advertise. We could not find it listed on NYU Tandon’s professional education page on 14 October 2026, so check with
the school directly before planning around it.

Is augmented reality a good career skill in 2026?

AR is a smaller field than general software or game development, and much of the paid work is in retail (try-on and
product placement), training, industrial maintenance and marketing. The skills that get people hired are the general ones
underneath: Unity or a native mobile stack, 3D math, performance tuning on phones, and good interaction design. That is
why we suggest learning AR as an extension of Unity or mobile app development
rather than on its own.

Headsets are where the platforms are moving: Meta Quest headsets, Apple Vision Pro and the first Android XR headset
(Samsung’s Galaxy XR) all run mixed reality. A portfolio with one phone AR app and one headset prototype shows you can work
across both.

What developers say on Reddit

We read three r/augmentedreality threads from developers asking how to start (14 October 2026; the threads date from
2022 and 2023). The advice was consistent: learn Unity first, use AR Foundation, pick one small app you actually want to
build, and treat Vuforia as a specialist tool for image tracking. Two posters said Unity Learn had good AR tutorials but
no guided path at the time; the Mobile AR Development pathway now fills that gap.

How we chose these courses

On 16 October 2026 we loaded every course page in a browser and recorded its rating, enrollment and last update, and we
checked platform status on Apple’s, Google’s, Unity’s, Meta’s and 8th Wall’s own sites. We ranked courses on whether they
teach current tools, how much they make you build, learner ratings and value. We have not taken every course end to end.
Some links earn us a commission (Udemy and Coursera); Unity Learn and the vendor documentation earn us nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best augmented reality course?

For most learners, Unity’s free Mobile AR Development pathway followed by a project course such as Build 15 Augmented Reality (AR) apps with Unity & Vuforia on Udemy (4.6 from 4,156 reviews). For a university-backed overview, take Extended Reality for Everybody from the University of Michigan on Coursera.

Is there a free augmented reality course with a certificate?

Free AR courses rarely include a certificate. Unity’s Mobile AR Development pathway is free and awards experience points on Unity Learn. Coursera’s AR and XR programs issue a certificate on the paid track.

Should I learn ARKit, ARCore or Unity?

Most learners should start with Unity and AR Foundation, which supports Android, iOS, visionOS, Meta Quest, Android XR and HoloLens 2 from one project. Learn ARKit with Swift only if you will build for Apple devices alone.

What is the difference between augmented reality and virtual reality?

Augmented reality adds digital objects to your view of the real world, usually through a phone or see-through headset. Virtual reality replaces your view with a digital world inside a headset. The development skills overlap heavily.

Can I still learn Spark AR?

No. Meta shut down Meta Spark’s platform of third-party tools and content on 14 January 2025, so courses built on Spark AR Studio are no longer useful.

Do I need to know how to code to learn AR?

Not to start. Unity’s Mobile AR Development pathway uses visual scripting. For professional work you will want C# (Unity) or Swift (ARKit).

How long does it take to learn AR development?

Unity’s Mobile AR Development pathway takes about eight weeks. Expect two to three months of steady practice before you can build a small AR app on your own.

Related course guides

For headsets, see our virtual reality courses guide. For the engine most AR apps
use, read the best Unity courses; for native phone development, the
mobile app development courses.

Related guide: Zenva Academy review.