Best ARKit Courses & Tutorials in 2026 (Ranked & Reviewed)

By Josh Hutcheson · Last updated November 2026 · How we review. Every course below was opened and checked live on 1 November 2026.

The best ARKit course for most people is The Complete ARKit Course – Build 11 Augmented Reality Apps by Rayan Slim: 4.2 stars from 2,284 ratings, more than 17,000 students and, importantly for a fast-moving framework, last updated in May 2025. It is the most-reviewed dedicated ARKit course online and walks you through 11 real iOS AR apps. But Apple’s AR stack has moved: SceneKit, the renderer that course uses, is now officially deprecated in favor of RealityKit, so the right course depends on whether you want classic ARKit or the modern path. We cover both below.

ARKit is a niche where most courses quietly rotted: many top search results teach iOS 11–12-era ARKit with Unity tooling from 2018. We opened every recommendation here on 1 November 2026 to confirm it is live and to read its rating and last-updated date, and we say plainly which courses are dated and which framework Apple is steering developers toward.

AT A GLANCE

The Best ARKit Courses in 2026 at a Glance

1. The Complete ARKit Course – Build 11 AR Apps – Udemy (Best Overall)

Rayan Slim’s course is the one we recommend first because it is the rare ARKit course that is both well-reviewed and recently maintained: 4.2 stars from 2,284 ratings, 17,333 students, last updated May 2025. You build 11 augmented reality apps and learn the core ARKit toolkit hands-on: plane detection, placing and anchoring 3D objects, hit-testing, measuring real-world distances, image and face tracking, and physics.

The honest catch: it renders with SceneKit, which Apple deprecated as of iOS 26. That does not make the course useless; the ARKit half (tracking, anchors, sessions) is exactly what you still need, and SceneKit is a clear way to see how AR on iOS works. Just plan to move your rendering to RealityKit afterward, ideally with pick #2.

2. Building AR Apps in RealityKit & ARKit – Udemy (Best for the Modern Stack)

If you are starting fresh, this is the forward-looking pick. Mohammad Azam’s course teaches AR with RealityKit, Apple’s Swift-first rendering and simulation framework, alongside ARKit, covering gestures, physics, occlusion, image and object tracking, location anchors and persistence. At 4.3 stars from 333 ratings (3,039 students), it is the most current RealityKit-centered course we found.

The honest catch: it was last updated in December 2023, so it predates the visionOS releases of the past two years and the SceneKit deprecation notice. RealityKit’s core ideas (entities, components, anchors) have held steady, so the course still teaches the right model; check Apple’s RealityKit documentation for anything newer. RealityKit is also the foundation of spatial apps on visionOS, so this is the course to take if Apple Vision Pro is your goal.

ARKit and Unity: Build a Drivable Car in Augmented Reality

Many people land here searching for this specific course. Here is the honest picture: the most-shared version was an older LinkedIn Learning title, and there is a same-named course on Udemy. The Udemy version, ARKit and Unity: Build a Drivable Car in Augmented Reality, is still live but dated: 3.8 stars from 125 ratings, last updated February 2019, built on Unity’s old ARKit plugin rather than today’s AR Foundation.

If you specifically want the drivable-car project, it still works with that caveat. For most people a current course is the better use of time: the Complete ARKit Course above for the native Apple route, or our Unity courses guide if you want Unity as your AR engine. The Pluralsight Unity AR course we used to suggest here has since been removed from Pluralsight’s catalog, so we dropped it.

ARKit vs RealityKit vs visionOS: Which Should You Learn in 2026?

This trips up most beginners, so here is the plain version:

• ARKit is Apple’s AR tracking engine: it understands the camera, surfaces, faces and the world around the device. You still need it in 2026.
• SceneKit is the older 3D renderer many ARKit courses pair with it. Apple now marks it deprecated (“use RealityKit instead”). It still works, but it is no longer where Apple invests.
• RealityKit is Apple’s Swift-first rendering and simulation framework, available from iOS 13 and now on tvOS too. It is the supported way to draw and animate AR content and it underpins visionOS.
• visionOS is the Apple Vision Pro platform; its spatial apps are built on RealityKit and ARKit. Learning RealityKit now is the most direct on-ramp.

Practical advice: learn ARKit fundamentals (the Complete ARKit Course), then RealityKit (Azam’s course) to stay current or move into visionOS. Avoid sinking time into 2018-era Unity AR tutorials unless you specifically need Unity.

What You’ll Learn in an ARKit Course

A complete ARKit course should cover the building blocks of an AR app:

• World tracking and plane detection: placing content on floors, tables and walls.
• Anchors and hit-testing (raycasting): pinning 3D objects to real-world positions.
• 3D content: importing USDZ models, lighting and physics.
• Tracking modes: image tracking, object detection and face tracking, the technology behind AR filters.
• Occlusion and people occlusion: making virtual objects look like they are really there.
• Persistence and sharing: saving AR sessions and multi-user experiences.

What You Can Build With ARKit (and Who Hires for It)

AR has moved past novelty filters into real products, which is why the skill is worth learning:

• Retail and ecommerce: “view in your room” furniture and product placement, and virtual try-on.
• Games and entertainment: tabletop and world-scale AR games.
• Education and training: 3D anatomy, machinery and step-by-step guided overlays.
• Enterprise and field service: equipment overlays, remote assistance and warehouse navigation.
• Real estate and interiors: measuring spaces and previewing furnishings in place.

On the hiring side, ARKit and RealityKit are a differentiator for iOS developer roles, AR and creative agencies, and the spatial-computing work around Apple Vision Pro. It is usually a specialization layered on iOS development rather than a standalone job title, which is why our iOS development courses guide is the other half of the path.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

• Skipping Swift. ARKit assumes iOS basics; learn the language first or you will fight two things at once.
• Following a 2018 Unity AR tutorial. You will spend more time fixing deprecated APIs than learning AR. Check the update date before starting.
• Building new work on SceneKit. It is deprecated. Learn from SceneKit-based courses if they teach ARKit well, but render new projects with RealityKit.
• Testing only in the Simulator. AR needs a real camera and motion sensors; test on a device.
• Overloading scenes. Heavy, unoptimized 3D models tank performance; learn to keep models lean early.

Free Ways to Learn ARKit

Apple’s own material is excellent and free:

• Apple Developer documentation for ARKit and RealityKit, with downloadable sample-code projects.
• WWDC session videos. The annual talks are the best source for what is new each year; WWDC25 session 288 covers moving from SceneKit to RealityKit.
• Reality Composer tools. Apple’s tools for assembling AR scenes visually, useful for prototyping before you write code.

Free resources are strong for fundamentals and staying current. A paid course adds structure and a guided, project-based path from zero to a finished app.

Do You Need to Know Swift First?

Yes. Basic Swift and a little iOS experience (Xcode, views, simple apps) are real prerequisites for ARKit. AR adds 3D math and device APIs on top of normal iOS development, so learning both at once is rough. If you are new to the language, start with our guide to the best Swift courses, then come back. If you already build iOS apps, you can go straight to the Complete ARKit Course.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ARKit still relevant in 2026?

Yes. ARKit remains Apple’s world-tracking engine for AR on iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro. What changed is the rendering layer: Apple deprecated SceneKit as of iOS 26 and points developers to RealityKit instead.

Should I learn ARKit or RealityKit?

Both, in order. Learn ARKit fundamentals first to understand tracking, then RealityKit for rendering, since it is Apple’s supported framework and the path to visionOS.

Is SceneKit deprecated?

Yes. Apple’s SceneKit documentation now reads “SceneKit is deprecated, use RealityKit instead,” with the deprecation marked from iOS 26 and the other 26-series releases. Existing SceneKit apps keep working, but new projects should render with RealityKit.

Do I need an Apple device to learn ARKit?

Yes. You need a Mac with Xcode to develop and a reasonably recent iPhone or iPad to test, because AR features depend on the device’s camera and motion sensors. The Simulator cannot stand in for real tracking.

How long does it take to learn ARKit?

If you already know Swift, you can build basic AR apps within a few weeks of steady practice. Reaching polished, production-quality AR takes longer and depends on the 3D modeling and design side as much as the code.

Is the drivable car in AR course worth it?

Only if you specifically want that project. It is dated (last updated February 2019, 3.8 stars, built on Unity’s old AR tooling). For current skills, a maintained ARKit or RealityKit course is a better use of your time.

What is the best free way to learn ARKit?

Apple’s own ARKit and RealityKit documentation, sample code and WWDC session videos. They are free, current and written by the people who build the frameworks; a paid course adds a guided, project-by-project path.

SceneKit Is Deprecated: What It Means for ARKit Learners

With the iOS 26 generation of its platforms, Apple made official what ARKit developers had expected for a while. The SceneKit documentation now opens with “SceneKit is deprecated, use RealityKit instead,” and marks the whole framework deprecated from iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, visionOS 26 and the other 26-series releases. Apple’s WWDC25 session 288 walks through the move.

What it means for you:

• Existing SceneKit code keeps working. Deprecated is not removed; apps built on it still compile and run.
• The ARKit lessons in SceneKit-based courses still apply. Sessions, configurations, anchors and tracking are ARKit, not SceneKit, and they carry straight over.
• New rendering work belongs in RealityKit. That is where Apple adds features, and it is the only renderer that carries over to visionOS.
• Expect courses to lag. Most ARKit courses still teach SceneKit, including our #1 pick. Use them for ARKit, then add pick #2 or Apple’s RealityKit samples.

Current Apple Versions to Check Before You Start

Course videos age quickly in this niche, so compare what a course shows with what you will install. As of 1 November 2026, Apple’s developer releases page lists iOS 27.2 (released 26 October 2026), visionOS 27.2 and Xcode 27.2 (29 October 2026), and the current Swift release is Swift 6.4.2.

None of our picks was recorded on these versions, which is normal: the ARKit concepts are stable. Expect menus, project templates and some API names to differ from the videos, and keep Apple’s documentation open alongside any course.

Other ARKit Courses We Checked (and Why They Are Not Ranked)

• Master ARKit Development: Build and Deploy iOS AR Apps (Coursera, EDUCBA). A short, intermediate course of about seven hours in three modules, included with Coursera Plus ($59 a month). It is new enough that it showed no public rating when we checked, and it teaches with SceneKit and SpriteKit, so it is a useful overview rather than a first pick.
• visionOS Fundamentals (Udemy). A short beginner introduction with only five ratings (3.7) when we checked. Too thin to rank.
• RealityKit Workshop Recording (Udemy). A recorded workshop with three ratings. Promising topic, too little evidence.
• Apple Augmented Reality by Tutorials (Kodeco book). Recommended in an r/iOSProgramming thread and well structured across Reality Composer, RealityKit and ARKit, but its current edition dates from February 2022 (iOS 15, Xcode 13).

What Developers on Reddit Recommend

We read r/iOSProgramming and r/arkit threads from developers starting their first native AR app. Paraphrased: Kodeco’s AR book was recommended as the most complete structured resource (with the note that it needs a paid account), the original poster collected free intro video tutorials alongside it, and a developer who normally works in React Native chose to build a client’s AR prototype natively in Swift instead. There were only two relevant recent threads, so treat this as a small sample.

Related guides

Best Swift Courses · Best iOS Development Courses · Best Augmented Reality Courses · Best React Native Courses · Best Unity Courses · Game Development Courses

Related guide: best SpriteKit tutorials and courses for 2D games on Apple platforms.