8 Best Raspberry Pi Courses & Certifications Online in 2026

Last updated: 28 October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. Every course below was opened on its platform on 28 October 2026 to confirm it is live and to read its rating, enrollment and last-updated date; hardware facts come from raspberrypi.com. See our review methodology.

Quick verdict

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A Raspberry Pi is a small, single-board computer that runs Linux. It can host a web server, run a home-automation hub, read sensors, drive a robot or simply teach you Python, and because it is a full computer rather than a microcontroller it handles projects that need networking, storage or a screen. The best courses teach it hands-on, alongside Python and the Linux command line, and leave you with a working build.

This guide was rebuilt in October 2026. We re-checked every pick live, dropped a course that had not been updated since 2017, and added the current Raspberry Pi 5 beginner course, UC Irvine’s interfacing follow-on and two Johns Hopkins project courses that cover the electronics side most Pi courses skip.

The best Raspberry Pi courses at a glance

Ratings, review counts and update dates as shown on each course page on 28 October 2026.

1. Raspberry Pi Full Stack — best hands-on project

Peter Dalmaris’s course builds one substantial project end to end: an internet-connected Raspberry Pi application with sensors, a database and a web front end. Along the way you learn the Linux command line, Python, wiring sensors to the GPIO pins, and enough web development to put your data on a page. It holds 4.7 stars from 1,552 ratings with 14,882 students.

The trade-off is age. The course was last updated in June 2023, before the Raspberry Pi 5, so some setup steps and screenshots will not match a new board exactly. The concepts carry over, and the full-stack project is still the most complete single build on Udemy. If you are on a Pi 5 and new to the hardware, take pick 3 first and come back to this one for the big project.

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2. Raspberry Pi Platform and Python Programming (Coursera) — structured, with a certificate

Ian Harris of the University of California, Irvine teaches this course as part of Coursera’s “An Introduction to Programming the Internet of Things” specialization. It covers what the Pi is, how to set up its Linux operating system, and how to program it in Python, in a graded format that ends with a shareable certificate. It is rated 4.7 from 2,779 reviews and has 138,556 enrolled learners; Coursera estimates about 10 hours of work.

Choose it over the Udemy courses if you want structure, deadlines you set yourself, and a credential for a profile. Note that the course page says it has no discussion forums, so questions go unanswered unless you take them elsewhere. You can enroll for free to read the material; the certificate needs a paid enrollment or Coursera Plus.

Start the UC Irvine course on Coursera

3. Raspberry Pi For Beginners – 2026 Complete Course (Udemy) — best current beginner course

Edouard Renard updated this course in January 2026 and builds it on the Raspberry Pi 5, which makes it the most current large beginner course we found. Its 10.5 hours start with setting up the board and Raspberry Pi OS, then move through Python 3, the GPIO pins, the camera module and a Flask web server, ending with projects that combine them. It holds 4.8 stars from 3,131 ratings with 23,921 students.

It suits a complete beginner who has just bought a Pi and wants one clear path. It does not go deep into electronics theory, so if you want to understand resistors, transistors and circuit design, add pick 6 later.

See the Raspberry Pi beginner course on Udemy

4. Interfacing with the Raspberry Pi (Coursera) — the next step after pick 2

The follow-on to pick 2 in UC Irvine’s Internet of Things specialization, again taught by Ian Harris. It moves from programming the Pi to connecting it: sensors and actuators, networking, and using APIs to pull data from web services. It is rated 4.7 from 1,619 reviews with 87,094 enrolled learners and runs about 12 hours across four modules.

Take it once you are comfortable with Python on the Pi. Like pick 2, it has no discussion forums and the certificate needs a paid enrollment.

See Interfacing with the Raspberry Pi

5. Beginning Custom Projects with Raspberry Pi (Coursera) — best for planning your own builds

Drew Wilson of Johns Hopkins University teaches the first course in the four-course Raspberry Pi Projects specialization. Instead of following one fixed project, it teaches you how to plan your own: choosing hardware, installing software and using the Pi’s interfaces to build something you designed. It is rated 4.8 from 56 reviews with 9,714 enrolled learners and runs about 10 hours.

It is a good fit if you already have a project in mind, such as a weather station or a camera trap, and want a framework for building it rather than a recipe.

See the Johns Hopkins project course

6. Designing Hardware for Raspberry Pi Projects (Coursera) — best for the electronics side

A common complaint among Pi learners is that most courses teach the code and skip the electronics. This Johns Hopkins course, also by Drew Wilson, covers exactly that gap: simulating circuits, drafting schematics, designing a printed circuit board and co-designing it with the mechanical parts it fits into, using open-source tools. It is rated 5.0 from 35 reviews, has 6,266 enrolled learners and takes about 10 hours.

The review count is small, so treat the rating as early evidence. When your project outgrows a breadboard, our guide to the best PCB design courses goes further into KiCad.

See the hardware design course

7. Raspberry Pi Foundation Training Hub — best free short courses

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, the charity behind the hardware, runs a Training Hub of free online courses. Most are aimed at teachers and club leaders, but several work well for anyone, including an introduction to physical computing and electronic circuits (about two to three hours) and courses on machine learning and object-oriented Python. You need a free Raspberry Pi account to enroll and track progress.

These are short and well produced. They will not take you as far as a full paid course, but they cost nothing and come from the people who make the board.

8. Raspberry Pi Projects library — best free step-by-step builds

The Foundation’s project library is a large, free collection of step-by-step projects sorted by difficulty, from first setup to games, physical computing and robotics. Each project lists what you need and walks you through it with code you can copy and change. It is written with young learners in mind, so adults will move quickly, but it is the best free source of build ideas there is.

A note on ‘Raspberry Pi Essential Training’

If you searched for Raspberry Pi Essential Training, the current LinkedIn Learning course with that name is by Liz Upton and Negroni Venture Studios: a 1 hour 11 minute introduction released in July 2025. Mark Niemann-Ross, whose name is often attached to the search, teaches LinkedIn’s longer Raspberry Pi Weekly series and a Raspberry Pi: GPIO course. We don’t partner with LinkedIn Learning, so we can’t link these directly.

If you already have a LinkedIn Learning subscription, the Essential Training course is a quick overview. If not, pick 3 covers the same ground in more depth, and the free Foundation material below takes you further into building things.

Free ways to learn Raspberry Pi

You can learn a great deal about the Pi without paying anything. The free options worth your time:

• The Raspberry Pi Projects library (pick 8): guided builds sorted by difficulty.
• The Training Hub (pick 7): free short courses, including physical computing and electronics.
• The official documentation at raspberrypi.com: setup guides, the GPIO pinout and the camera software, always current for the latest boards.
• Raspberry Pi Official Magazine: each issue is sold in print and offered as a free PDF on the magazine’s issues page.
• Coursera’s free enrollment: you can read the UC Irvine and Johns Hopkins course material without paying; you pay only for graded work and the certificate.

Because the Foundation’s mission is education, a paid course mainly adds one guided path, a single instructor and a big project arc. If you are disciplined, the free route gets you a long way.

Is there a Raspberry Pi certification?

There is no professional Raspberry Pi certification that employers look for. The Pi is a learning and prototyping platform, not a job title. What you can earn are course certificates: Coursera’s UC Irvine and Johns Hopkins courses issue a shareable certificate on a paid enrollment, and Udemy issues a certificate of completion. They are fine for a LinkedIn profile.

What actually demonstrates skill is a finished project with its code on GitHub. If you are heading toward a career, the Pi is a gateway to skills that do carry weight: Linux, Python, networking and embedded or IoT work. For those, see our guides to Linux courses and IoT courses.

What to look for in a good course

Raspberry Pi courses vary in how hands-on and how current they are. Look for:

• A real project. The Pi is best learned by building something complete, such as a server, a sensor system or a robot. Prefer project-based courses over feature tours.
• Python included. Python is the Pi’s main teaching language. A good course teaches it alongside the hardware rather than assuming it.
• Current hardware. Check whether the course uses a Raspberry Pi 5. Older courses still teach transferable skills, but setup steps differ.
• Linux basics. The Pi runs Linux. A course that covers the command line gives you skills far beyond the Pi itself.
• Some electronics. If you plan to wire sensors and motors, make sure the course explains the circuits, not just the code.

The Pi’s real value is as a low-stakes sandbox for skills that matter professionally. Break something on a hobby board and you have lost little, but the command-line comfort and project experience transfer directly to server, DevOps and embedded work.

Which Raspberry Pi to learn on in 2026

For learning, the main choice is between a Raspberry Pi computer and a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller.

Prices as listed on raspberrypi.com product pages on 28 October 2026; reseller prices vary by country.

If you want to learn computing, Linux and Python, start with a Raspberry Pi 5; a model with modest memory is plenty for learning. If you want to learn electronics, the Pico is cheaper and closer to the hardware. Many makers end up using both. Older boards such as the Pi 4 or Pi 3 still work for most beginner projects, but newer courses assume a Pi 5, so expect small differences.

How to learn Raspberry Pi as a beginner: a four-week plan

1. Week 1: set it up and learn the basics of Linux. Install Raspberry Pi OS, connect over SSH, and get comfortable with files, packages and permissions on the command line. Learners who skip this step struggle later.
2. Week 2: Python and the GPIO pins. Blink an LED, read a button, then a temperature sensor. Pick 3 or the free project library covers all three.
3. Week 3: one complete project. Choose something you will use: an ad blocker for your network, a weather station, or a camera that records motion.
4. Week 4: share it. Put the code on GitHub, write a short README, and then decide what to learn next: networking, electronics (pick 6) or a full-stack build (pick 1).

If you want help planning your own build rather than following one, pick 5 teaches exactly that.

Raspberry Pi or Arduino or Pico for learning electronics?

A recurring frustration among learners is that Raspberry Pi courses teach code and leave the electronics out. That is partly because the Pi is a computer first. If the electronics are what interest you, start with an Arduino or a Pico, where the code sits right on top of the hardware, then bring a Pi in when the project needs networking, storage or a screen. For the theory, pick 6 covers circuits and boards, and our embedded systems courses guide goes deeper into microcontrollers. If you are curious about programming the hardware directly, our assembly language courses guide includes ARM assembly, the instruction set the Pi runs on.

Frequently asked questions

Which Raspberry Pi should I buy to start?

For most learning, a Raspberry Pi 5 is the safe choice because new courses assume it. You do not need the 16GB model for learning; a lower-memory version runs Python, the desktop and beginner projects. Buy a kit with the official power supply and a microSD card to avoid problems. If you mainly want electronics, a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 is much cheaper.

Do I need to know Python before learning Raspberry Pi?

No. The Pi is a good place to learn Python, and most beginner courses, including Edouard Renard’s 2026 course and UC Irvine’s Coursera course, teach the two together. If you already know some Python you will move faster.

What can I build with a Raspberry Pi?

A network ad blocker, a home-automation hub, a web or file server, a weather station, a retro games console, a security camera, a media center or a robot. The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s free project library has step-by-step builds sorted by difficulty.

Raspberry Pi or Arduino: which should I learn first?

If you want to learn computing, Linux and Python, start with the Raspberry Pi. If you want to learn electronics and directly control hardware, start with an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi Pico. They complement each other, and many projects use both.

Is there a free Raspberry Pi course?

Yes. The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Training Hub courses and project library are free, and you can read Coursera’s UC Irvine and Johns Hopkins Raspberry Pi courses for free, paying only if you want graded work and a certificate.

Is there a free Raspberry Pi course with a certificate?

Not a widely recognized one. The Coursera courses issue a certificate on a paid enrollment, and Udemy issues a certificate of completion with a paid course. Financial aid is available on many Coursera courses. For most learners, a finished project on GitHub says more than any certificate.

Is Raspberry Pi hard to learn?

No, if you take it in order. The hardest part for most beginners is the Linux command line, not the Pi itself. Spend your first week on setup and basic Linux commands and the rest gets much easier.

How long does it take to learn Raspberry Pi?

You can set up a Pi and finish a first project in a weekend. A complete beginner course such as Edouard Renard’s runs about 10.5 hours of video, and the Coursera courses estimate about 10 to 12 hours each. Getting comfortable enough to plan your own projects usually takes a few weeks of regular practice.

Related: for microcontroller work below the Raspberry Pi, and for embedded Linux on other boards, see our guide to the best embedded systems courses.

Related: when a Raspberry Pi project outgrows jumper wires, our guide to the best PCB design courses shows how to design your own board, starting with free KiCad. Robotics builds? See our robotics courses.

Related course guides

Best Arduino Courses • Best Coding Courses • Best Linux Courses • Best Python Courses • Best IoT Courses • Best Embedded Systems Courses

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