Back in October 2011, Stanford professors launched three free online courses, open to the public. One by one, these courses went massive, with enrollments topping 100,000 students each. Soon the media was calling these courses MOOCs, short for massive open online courses.
Since then, more than 1,500 universities around the world have launched free online courses. In addition to the larger global MOOC platforms (Coursera, edX, FutureLearn), many national governments around the world have launched their own country-specific MOOC platforms, including India, Italy, Israel, Mexico and Thailand.
Ten years after their popularization, in 2021, over 220 million students had signed up for at least one course on one of the these platforms, and 40 million did so in 2021 alone (excluding China). MOOCs and MOOC platforms continued to grow, even after the crazy “Year of the MOOC” prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.
At Class Central, we try to catalog as many MOOCs as possible, and our listing currently includes more than 250,000 online courses, from MOOC platforms and other online learning platforms. But due to limited resources (and sometimes a language barrier), we cannot index every single one. If you’re looking for online courses from around the world (many in languages other than English), this list is our best attempt to catalog all different platforms that are out there.
The list has been adapted with permission from Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential by Barbara Oakley (Tarcher-Perigee, April 2017). We first published this list in 2017.
Table of Contents
MOOC Platforms from North America & United States
- Coursera / United States
- edX / United States
- Udacity / United States
- Canvas Network/ United States
- Kadenze / United States
- Complexity Explorer / United States
- MéxicoX / Mexico
MOOC Platforms from Europe & United Kingdom
- FutureLearn / United Kingdom
- France Université Numérique (FUN) / France
- EduOpen / Italy
- Federica Web Learning / Italy
- European Multiple MOOC Aggregator (EMMA) / Europe
- OpenHPI / Germany
- MOOC.fi / Finland
- Prometheus / Ukraine
- Open Education (openedu.ru) / Russia
MOOC Platforms from Asia/Oceania (excluding Chinese MOOC Platforms)
- SWAYAM / India
- NPTEL / India
- JMOOC / Japan
- gacco / Japan
- OpenLearning / Japan
- K-MOOC / Korea
- ThaiMOOC / Thailand
- Edraak (Arabic) / Jordan
- Campus-Il / Israel
- UTas / Australia
Chinese Language MOOC Platforms
- XuetangX / China
- Chinese University MOOC / China
- Zhihuishu / China
- Xue Yin Online / China
- Open Education (openedu.tw) / Taiwan
- eWant — education you want / Taiwan
- A massive list of all Chinese language MOOC platforms
MOOC Platforms from North America & United States
Coursera / United States
Two Stanford professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, officially launched Coursera in January 2012. In March 2021, the Coursera monetization journey took an important turn, with an IPO (NYSE: COUR). More recently, we discussed Coursera’s 2025 Strategy.
With over 175 million learners and over $500 million raised in funding, Coursera is the biggest MOOC platform in the world. Currently, Coursera offers over 16,000 courses from over 370 partners. Beyond single courses, Coursera offers its own credential, known as a Specialization. Coursera’s catalog currently lists more than 1000 Specializations. The MOOC platform also hosts a flurry of fully-online degrees in fields such as computer science, data science, business, and public health. Coursera for Business makes online courses available to business clients.
edX / United States
Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX used to be a nonprofit. But In 2021, edX was acquired by 2U for $800M and has endured ongoing financial struggles since. EdX is one of the largest MOOC platforms in the world, with more than 86 million learners after its acquisition. The platform offers over 6000 courses and boasts more than 260 institution partners.
Additionally, edX offers different certificate programs, including MicroMasters and MicroBachelors (which offer a pathway to credit), XSeries, and Professional Certificates. Like Coursera, edX has launched multiple online degree programs.
Udacity / United States
Udacity has pivoted away from its prior identity as a MOOC platform. It was the first of the original MOOC platforms to reach unicorn status (over $1 billion valuation), and it partners with technology companies to create Nanodegrees that train students for technology-focused jobs. Nanodegrees cost around $1,000, and they can take a few months to complete. Although Udacity has largely stopped releasing new free courses, it still has some courses in its catalog that are free to audit. In 2024, Udacity was acquired by Accenture.
Kadenze / United States
Kadenze is a MOOC platform that specializes in creative and arts education. It partners with some of the best art institutions and universities around the world to launch online courses. It was co-founded by Ajay Kapur, a classically trained Indian musician and computer scientist. He is Associate Provost for Creative Technologies at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). In October 2013, he taught a course called “Introduction to Programming for Musicians and Digital Artists” on Coursera. However, he soon realized that some of the things he wanted to do with arts education were not possible with Coursera, so he created his own MOOC platform.
Kadenze has also launched its own certificate initiative, which is called Kadenze Programs. Typically, the first course in a Program is free. Students can also earn academic credit for many Kadenze courses and Programs.
Canvas Network / United States
Canvas Network might not have the big names, but the MOOC platform does have a number of free online courses taught by instructors from various institutions. Some of their courses still offer free badges. They shifted their focus to professional development (PD) courses for educators, removing some courses that were not in this specific field and currently listing 20+ courses.
Canvas Network is based on the Canvas LMS, which was developed by Instructure.
Complexity Explorer / United States
The MOOC platform Complexity Explorer provides online courses and educational materials about complexity science. Complexity Explorer is based out of the Sante Fe Institute. Three of their courses, Introduction to Complexity, Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Chaos, and Fractals and Scaling, have been part of Class Central’s Best Online Courses of All Time.
MéxicoX / Mexico
MéxicoX is a MOOC platform funded by the Mexican government, and it has more than 40 partners (universities and institutions from the Federal Public Administration). Launched in 2015, it has more than 2.6 million registered learners, a majority of whom are located in Mexico.
- MéxicoX homepage
- MéxicoX: Meet the MOOC Platform Funded by the Mexican Government
- MéxicoX: Growth, Monetization, Stability: How Will These Challenges be Faced?
MOOC Platforms from Europe & United Kingdom
FutureLearn / United Kingdom
FutureLearn is a UK-based MOOC platform with 19 million users. The Open University launched FutureLearn at the end of 2012. It was later jointly owned by the Open University and the Australia-based SEEK Group. And more recently, it was acquired by GUS after a tumultuous year. Most of its university partners are located in the UK and Europe, but it also has a few university partners in other countries, including the United States, Australia, and South Korea.
FutureLearn offers its own credential program, which is known as FutureLearn Programs. In 2021, FutureLearn launched a new type of microcredential, ExpertTrack.
France Université Numérique (FUN) / France
FUN is the official MOOC platform for France. The French Ministry of Higher Education launched the project in July 2013. FUN has more than 140 partners among higher education institutions that create MOOCs, including three universities in Belgium, one in Switzerland, and two in Tunisia. FUN has more than 700 MOOCs and has more than two million registered students.
- FUN homepage
- FUN courses on Class Central
- France Université Numérique: Meet the MOOC Platform Funded by the French Government
EduOpen / Italy
EduOpen is a MOOC platform funded by the Italian government, launched in April 2016. EduOpen is a network of Italian universities, but it is also open to EU universities. At the moment it has over 440 courses, 167K students, and involves 33 institutes, which include a mixture of larger and smaller institutions from both northern and southern Italy.
- EduOpen homepage
- EduOpen Courses on Class Central
- EduOpen: a new MOOC Provider Funded by the Italian Government
Federica Web Learning / Italy
Federica.eu is a MOOC platform created by the University of Naples Federico II. Currently it has over 550 free online courses listed on its platform. One of its courses, Connectivism and Learning, is taught by Stephen Downes, who is credited with teaching the first ever MOOC.
European Multiple MOOC Aggregator (EMMA) / European Union
EMMA, which started as a 30-month pilot action supported by the European Union, aggregates and hosts courses provided by European universities that wish to provide their courses in multiple languages.
OpenHPI / Germany
OpenHPI is a MOOC platform hosted by Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam, Germany. It offers courses in English and German. It was one of the early players in the MOOC space and was launched in September 2012.
MOOC.fi / Finland
MOOC.fi is a MOOC platform from University of Helsinki’s Department of Computer Science. The MOOC platform offers more than 30 open, free and beginner-friendly courses in computer science such as Elements of AI, Data Analysis with Python, and Ethics of AI. Around 8 courses provide free certificates. The course Elements of AI is on Class Central’s The Best Free Online Courses of All Time list.
- In-Depth Review: Elements of AI
- Massive List of Thousands of Free Certificates and Badges
- The Best Free Online Courses of All Time
Prometheus / Ukraine
Like many other MOOC platforms, Prometheus is a non-profit organization. It was launched in October 2014 and it partners with Ukrainian universities and companies to launch free online courses. It has over 450 courses and more than 3.2 million registered users.
Open Education (openedu.ru) / Russia
This MOOC platform was created by the Association “National Platform of Open Education,” founded by leading universities: MSU, SPbPU, St. Petersburg State University, NUST, MISA, NRU “Higher School of Economics”, MIPT, UFU, and ITMO. It currently lists more than 1400 courses.
MOOC Platforms from Asia (excluding Chinese Language MOOC Platforms)
SWAYAM / India
SWAYAM is India’s national MOOC platform. It offers over 2000 courses taught by over 1,300 instructors from 200 Indian universities. One aspect that sets it apart from other platforms is that it allows students in India to earn academic credit online. Since the platform was launched in 2017, over 30 million learners have enrolled on SWAYAM, making it one of the largest MOOC platforms in the world.
- SWAYAM homepage
- SWAYAM Courses on Class Central
- SWAYAM + NPTEL Courses Full List
- 500 UGC-Approved Online Degrees from India’s Top Universities
- In India, MOOCs Are Now Part of the Education System
- SWAYAM: Inside India’s Massive Bet on MOOCs
NPTEL / India
The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) is a collaborative project of some of India’s best higher education institutions to deliver university-level online courses covering engineering and science. NPTEL’s catalog has now been integrated into SWAYAM, India’s national MOOC platform. NPTEL also has a YouTube channel with over 2.1 million subscribers where you can watch the video lessons comprised in their courses.
JMOOC / Japan
Established in November 2013, JMOOC is not really a MOOC platform, but it is a non-profit association aimed at promoting MOOC education in Japan. It has its own certification standards process which assesses the quality of MOOCs in Japan. The courses that pass this examination process are qualified as JMOOC-certified courses. Three Japanese MOOC platforms have courses that have been JMOOC certified. JMOOC currently offers over 600 courses.
gacco / Japan
Gacco is a MOOC platform part of JMOOC (Japan Massive Open Online Education Promotion Council) that partners with universities in Japan to offer online courses in Japanese. Gacco has over 95k students enrolled on its platform. The MOOC platform has other features like peer grading and a premium face-to-face learning service.
OpenLearning / Japan
OpenLearning Japan, as the name suggests, is a MOOC platform. It was launched by Net Learning Inc., an education service company based in Japan.
K-MOOC / Korea
K-MOOC, or Korean MOOC, is the official MOOC platform of Korea. The MOOC platform was initiated by the Ministry of Education and first went live in 2015. Currently, it lists over 4000 courses. Over 3 million learners have registered on the MOOC platform.
ThaiMOOC / Thailand
ThaiMOOC is one of the newest MOOC platforms in this list. It was launched in March 2017. It is the official MOOC platform for Thailand. The ThaiMOOC platform is built on Open edX and currently lists more than 700 courses.
- ThaiMOOC Homepage
- ThaiMOOC courses on Class Central
- The 1st Asia-Pacific MOOCs Stakeholders Summit Takes Place in Thailand
Edraak (Arabic) / Jordan
Edraak means “realization” in Arabic, and this is a non-profit Arabic MOOC platform. It was launched in May 2014 and is affiliated with the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF). Edraak has ten million learners registered on the MOOC platform.
- Edraak homepage
- Edraak, MOOC Platform for the Arabic-Speaking World, Crosses 2M Users
- Edraak, an Arabic language MOOC portal backed by Queen Raina of Jordan goes live with 10 MOOCs
Campus-Il / Israel
Campus-Il is the national MOOC platform of Israel. The MOOC platform offers courses in Hebrew and Arabic. It is run by the Israeli Ministry of Social Equality. Courses are directed at an Israeli audience that includes university students and professors, high school students preparing for university, job seekers, and government workers. The MOOC platform also includes courses designed to serve underprivileged communities, on topics such as digital literacy and financial literacy.
UTas / Australia
In 2017, the University of Tasmania released a top-quality free MOOC titled Understanding Dementia. It proved amazingly popular, and since then, the university has produced MOOCs on Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), and traumatic brain injury.
- Wicking Centre/UTas homepage
- Menzies Institute/UTas homepage
- UTas courses on Class Central
- Meet the Independent MOOC Whose Performance Rivals the Big Platforms
Chinese Language MOOC Platforms
XuetangX / China
XuetangX is China’s first and biggest MOOC platform. It was founded in 2013 by Tsinghua University under the supervision of China’s Ministry of Education Research. It’s probably the fastest growing MOOC platform. When Class Central interviewed XuetangX’s Chairman of the Board back in October 2016, the MOOC platform had five million users. By the end of its 8th birthday on October 10 2021, XuetangX had crossed 80 million registered users.
The MOOC platform was originally built upon a heavily customized version of Open edX but moved away from it, redesigned the platform and went international in the beginning of 2020. Over 7000 free courses, boot camps and certification programs are offered on the MOOC platform.
XuetangX also has a cloud learning management system (LMS) product that is used by universities across China, and which had been used by more than 48 million Chinese students by the end of 2020.
- XuetangX homepage
- Massive List of Chinese Language MOOC Platforms
- XuetangX articles on Class Central
Chinese University MOOC / China
Chinese University MOOC, also often called iCourse, is the fruit of a collaboration between the Chinese internet giant NetEase and the original iCourse learning platform. The MOOC platform offers over 10,000 free university courses, including nationally-recognized MOOCs. Free digital certificates are automatically available when students pass quizzes and final exam.
- Chinese University MOOC homepage
- Massive List of Chinese Language MOOC Platforms
- China’s Largest MOOC Platforms Go International, Launch Courses in English
Zhihuishu / China
Zhihui Shu, which translates to “Wisdom Tree”, was launched in December 2012. It has the particularity of allowing its university partners to share credit-bearing courses with one another, facilitating academic credit mobility across China.
Of the over 14,000 courses offered on the platform, about 75% are credit-granting courses only for on-campus students. And there are also microcredential programs available.
Xue Yin Online / China
Xue Yin Online launched in November 2017. It was developed by The Open University of China and the Chaoxing Group. The purpose of this online course platform is to serve as a “credit bank” for vocational skills, facilitating the transfer of credit and the recognition of prior learning across different universities. The platform offers around 16,000 course with a free digital certificate.
Open Education (openedu.tw) / Taiwan
OpenEdu is a MOOC platform from Taiwan. The MOOC platform is based on Open edX and offers over 480 courses in subjects including computer science, business management, humanities and art.
eWant — education you want / Taiwan
eWant is a MOOC platform that was launched by National Chiao Tung University in 2013. National Chiao Tung University is one of Taiwan’s leading public research universities, located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It hosts more than 5000 courses from over 100 different universities.
A massive list of all Chinese language MOOC platforms
We have a complete article dedicated to MOOC platforms in China.
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