9 free learning apps for adults, no subscription required
Choose by what stays free: a continuing course, a limited preview, or browser access. Compare the learning limits and device options before you install anything.
Learning Cadence editorial, , updated , 10 min readHow we work
For fully free academic course materials and practice, start with Khan Academy or MIT OpenCourseWare. For flashcards, Anki is free on desktop and Android, with AnkiWeb available in a browser; the official AnkiMobile iPhone app is paid. These are different from a free tier, such as Cadence or Duolingo, and from limited course access, such as a Coursera first-module preview or a time-limited edX audit.
Choose by your learning goal as well as the price. Cadence builds a personal course on any topic you choose; Khan Academy covers math, science and economics; Duolingo focuses on languages; Anki supports recall practice. Cadence is our app, and its current public app is on iPhone. Cadence is also on Google Play for Android.
We checked each app's official pages on 20 August 2026 and compared what you can keep using without entering a trial. That distinction matters. Coursera now gives a free first-module preview of nearly every course, while edX still lets you audit nearly all courses free for a limited period.
What you get freeFree desktop app, AnkiDroid on Android, or AnkiWeb in a browser. The official AnkiMobile iPhone app is paid.
The apps
Every app, with what it is bad at.
Start with the job you need the app to do, then read the tradeoff.
01
Cadence
A learning app with a personal tutor, for any topic you choose
This is our app. See the disclosure above.
Cadence brings the best ideas from books, research, expert practice and standout articles into a course shaped to your goal. You choose the topic, from a work skill to a subject you are curious about, and say where you are starting. Cadence plans an ordered 7 to 30 lesson course around it and tutors you through it. Each lesson can be read or played as audio, Spark, the tutor, gives a hint when an answer misses and brings earlier ideas back for review, and practice gives feedback on your own answers.
Best for
Turning your own starting point into one coherent course you can keep progressing through.
Not for
Anyone who needs a recognized certificate, a named instructor, or a language course with speaking practice.
Price
Free to start, with 2 new lessons a day, audio and 4 lesson voices included, and 4 new custom courses a month. Plus makes new lessons, new courses, and Ask Coach unlimited and includes 10 practice sessions a day, adds 8 more voices for 12 in total, and raises live voice practice to 15 minutes a day, for US$49.99 a year on the web, with a 7-day trial.
Khan Academy is a nonprofit that publishes full course sequences in math, science, economics, and test preparation. Every lesson is free, there are no ads, and the practice sets tell you which idea you have not understood yet instead of only marking you wrong.
Best for
Rebuilding a foundation you missed at school, especially in math and science.
Not for
Soft skills, workplace situations, and creative subjects.
Price
Free. It is funded by donations, not subscriptions.
Kinnu offers general-knowledge pathways with short lessons and recall practice. Its site also lists separate exam-preparation products for SQE, BCBA, SAT, and CFA. Those products do not establish that the general-knowledge app has changed its purpose.
Best for
Exploring an existing topic pathway and returning to recall questions.
Not for
Assuming every personal goal or situation has a matching pathway. Check the topic catalog first.
Price
The general-knowledge app is advertised as free. Separate exam products have their own access terms.
Duolingo uses short exercises, daily goals, reminders, and a streak to make returning feel automatic. Its courses are available free, supported by ads and optional paid tiers. Language learning remains its main strength, while math, music, and chess broaden the free catalog.
Best for
Building a daily language habit with short, guided exercises.
Not for
Learning a broad workplace topic or reaching confident conversation through the app alone.
Price
Courses are free with ads. Paid tiers remove ads and add premium features.
Brilliant offers guided math, science, and computing courses with interactive problems and explanations. Try a sample to see whether the level and feedback suit you. We have not measured its learning outcomes against the other apps in this comparison.
Best for
People who want to work through interactive problems on a guided subject path.
Not for
Subjects outside math, science, and computing, or learners who need unlimited daily access without a subscription.
Price
Brilliant Free provides two keys a day. Each key unlocks one lesson or practice set, and free users move through courses in order. Premium removes the daily limit, allows jumping ahead, removes ads, and gives full Koji access.
edX lets you audit nearly all of its online courses at no cost for a set access period, usually four to twelve weeks. The audit track includes readings, videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments. A verified certificate and graded work require the paid track.
Best for
Following a current university course when you do not need the certificate.
Not for
Permanent course access or a verified credential, because free audit access is time limited.
Price
The audit track is free on nearly all courses. Verified certificates and full programs are paid.
MIT publishes the actual materials from its courses: lecture notes, problem sets, exams, and often video. There is no account, no upsell, and no certificate. It is the raw course, and you supply the discipline.
Best for
Self-directed learners who want depth and do not need a credential.
Not for
Anyone who needs structure, reminders, or someone to tell them what to do next.
A free first-module preview of university and company courses
Coursera lets you preview the first module of nearly every course at no cost, including the module's videos, readings, and assessments. Coursera introduced this model in August 2025 to replace broad audit access, so it is now best treated as a way to test a course before paying rather than a way to finish most courses free.
Best for
Trying the opening module before paying for a course or certificate from a university or company.
Not for
Completing most full courses without paying.
Price
The first module of nearly every course is free to preview. Continued course access, graded work beyond the preview, and certificates are generally paid.
Anki is a flashcard tool that schedules reviews using spaced repetition. You rate how well you recalled each answer, and the scheduler uses your reviews to estimate when to show a card again. Create cards or choose a shared deck, and check that the material fits what you need to learn.
Best for
Facts, vocabulary, and anything you must recall exactly.
Not for
Replacing explanations, worked examples, or practice in using an idea. Choose cards that support the subject you are studying.
Price
Free on desktop and Android. AnkiWeb is a free account-based option for studying in a browser; AnkiMobile for iPhone is a paid app.
Find the free route that fits your device and goal.
If your budget is zero, choose the route you can finish using, not just a free download. Here are four practical starting decisions, based on the official access pages linked in References.
I want flashcards on an iPhone without buying an app: use AnkiWeb in the browser with a free account. If you already have cards in desktop Anki, sync that collection first. The paid AnkiMobile app is a separate choice, not a requirement for browser study.
I want to finish university material without buying a certificate: look for edX's audit option on the course you chose and check its access deadline. If you need materials you can revisit without an audit window, consider MIT OpenCourseWare instead.
I only want to check whether a course fits: Coursera's first-module preview can help. Do not plan on finishing the rest free unless that course explicitly offers full free access or you receive financial aid.
I want a Cadence course around my own goal: get the free app on iPhone or Android and use Free.
Read this first
How to choose the right free learning app.
Start with the learning job, not the size of the catalog. A large library is useful only when it contains the subject and teaching format you need.
Choose Cadence when the subject is specific to your goal and a fixed catalog does not cover it closely enough.
Choose Khan Academy for guided academic foundations, or MIT OpenCourseWare when you want raw university-level depth and can direct yourself.
Choose Kinnu for broad general knowledge, Duolingo for languages, Brilliant for interactive STEM, and Anki for facts you need to recall exactly.
Choose edX when you want to follow a current university course free. Use Coursera's free first module to test whether a paid course is worth continuing.
Try before you settle
Use the free tier to run a seven-day learning test.
Do not install nine apps and compare their home screens. Choose the one that best fits a single learning job, use only its free path for seven days, and judge what changed in your understanding or ability. A useful test has one result, one normal place in your day, and one small piece of evidence at the end.
For a workplace skill, try one idea in a real low-risk conversation and record what happened. For an academic subject, solve a short problem without looking at the explanation. For facts, test recall after a day. The evidence does not need to be formal. It needs to show more than time spent or a streak preserved.
Fit: did the free material address the subject and level you actually chose?
Sequence: did today's activity build on yesterday's, or did it feel like a new fragment?
Practice: did you have to produce an answer, explanation, or action rather than only recognize one?
Return: after missing a day, could you see the next useful step without starting over?
Boundary: did the free limit interrupt the learning itself, or only reduce volume and optional features?
A changed boundary
Coursera and edX no longer offer the same kind of free access.
Older comparison lists often say that both services let you audit courses. That is no longer accurate. Coursera replaced broad audit access in August 2025 with a free preview of the first module of nearly every course. The preview includes that module's videos, readings, and assessments, but continuing usually requires payment.
edX still offers a free audit track on nearly all online courses. Audit access usually lasts four to twelve weeks and includes readings, videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments. You pay for graded work, longer access, and the verified certificate.
Worth knowing
An overlooked source of free access.
If you have a public library card, check whether your library provides LinkedIn Learning. Many library systems do, and cardholders get the full catalog at no cost. LinkedIn publishes a help page for library patrons explaining the sign-in, and you do not need a LinkedIn profile to use it.
The same is worth checking with your employer. A lot of companies pay for LinkedIn Learning or Coursera seats that go unused because nobody announced them.
Where we fit
Where the Cadence free tier is unusually strong.
We make Cadence. Its free plan is built for continued learning, not only a preview. Free gives you 2 new lessons a day on any course, the whole library is free to start, and you can build 4 new custom courses a month. Every lesson can be listened to with audio. Free also includes 10 practice runs a month, 3 minutes of live voice practice a day, 10 Ask Coach messages a day, progress, streaks, and reminders.
That makes Cadence a strong free choice when you want a guided course on a topic that a fixed catalog does not cover. You can keep moving through the course each day without starting a payment trial. Reopening a lesson you already opened never counts. Plus makes new lessons, new courses, and Ask Coach unlimited for one person learning, includes 10 practice sessions a day, adds offline access, and raises live voice practice to 15 minutes a day. Plus costs US$49.99 a year on the web, with a 7-day trial.
Cadence is strongest for a custom work or growth goal that needs a guided path. Choose Khan Academy for math, science, or exam preparation, Duolingo for a language, edX for a university course, and Anki for pure memorization. Use credentialed course platforms when you specifically need a recognized certificate or named instructor.
Put it into practice
Start it today, one lesson at a time.
Cadence builds a course around your goal, with lessons, practice and saved progress. Learn at your own pace. Cadence is our app.
Cadence is the best fit here for a personal course on any topic you choose, such as a work skill or a growth goal. Khan Academy is better for completely free math, science, economics, and test preparation. Duolingo is better for languages, edX for auditing a university course, and Anki for memorizing facts.
Which learning apps are completely free with no subscription?
Khan Academy's core videos, articles, lessons and practice questions are free and ad-free. Kinnu's general knowledge app is free, while its exam-preparation products are separate. MIT OpenCourseWare publishes materials from more than 2,500 MIT courses with no account or subscription. Anki is free on desktop and Android, while its iPhone app is a one-time purchase.
Can I take university courses for free?
Yes. edX lets you audit nearly all online courses free for a limited period, although graded work and certificates are paid. MIT OpenCourseWare publishes course materials free with no account. Coursera now offers the first module of nearly every course as a free preview instead of broad audit access.
Is Duolingo really free?
Yes. Duolingo says its courses are free and the free experience is supported by ads. Paid tiers remove ads and add premium features. Its strongest use remains building a daily language-learning habit.
How can I get LinkedIn Learning for free?
Many public libraries provide LinkedIn Learning free to cardholders, and LinkedIn publishes a help page for library patrons covering the sign-in. You sign in with your library card number and PIN, and no LinkedIn profile is required. Availability varies by library system, so check your library's website. Some employers also pay for seats that go unused.
Is Cadence free?
Yes. Cadence Free includes 2 new lessons a day with audio, 4 lesson voices, the whole library, and 4 new custom courses a month. Plus includes all 12 voices and makes new lessons, new courses, and Ask Coach unlimited and includes 10 practice sessions a day for US$49.99 a year on the web with a 7-day trial. Cadence is our app, so treat that as a disclosure, not an independent review.
Are free learning apps worse than paid ones?
No. Price does not determine teaching quality. Khan Academy, for example, is nonprofit-funded and provides full course sequences without a subscription. A free tier may instead limit volume, remove a certificate, or include ads, so inspect the actual boundary.
See it in concrete terms
Explore example courses for your goal.
These are Cadence courses you can start on the free plan. You can inspect the complete syllabus before you sign up.
We included apps adults use for self-directed learning that provide meaningful access without starting a payment trial. We then sorted them by the learning job each app does best and stated the free boundary before the paid features. Every classification comes from the current official pages linked below.
What we checked directly: On 20 August 2026, we checked the official access pages for the nine options. On 13 September 2026, we rechecked Anki downloads and AnkiWeb documentation, edX auditing, Coursera previews, Khan Academy core access, and Cadence device access for the added starting guidance. We did not repeat every signed-in flow.
Limits of this review: We did not subscribe to the paid tiers of apps we do not publish and did not test every signed-in limit. Free plans can change without notice. No exact competitor prices are quoted because they vary by region, platform, and offer. Library access to LinkedIn Learning varies by library system, so check with yours.
Learning Cadence is not affiliated with the other products named here. Product names belong to their owners.
Keep reading
Related guides.
Start with Cadence Free
Choose your next learning step.
Get Cadence free on iPhone or Android. Free includes 2 new lessons a day with audio, plus 4 new custom courses a month. You can use Free without starting the Plus trial. Cadence is our app.
