Amazon Web Services
Amazon Braket Learning Plan and Digital Badge (AWS Skill Builder)
AWS's free two-course plan: quantum computing basics, then Amazon Braket in notebooks. An AWS digital badge if you score 80% on the assessment.
Free Quantum Computing Courses
64 free courses from IBM, Google, MIT, Caltech, Xanadu, and leading universities worldwide. Covers free quantum programming, free Qiskit courses, and everything in between. All genuinely free, no credit card, no trial period.
Are free quantum computing and quantum programming courses actually good?
Yes, and this is unusual compared to most fields. IBM, Google, and Xanadu publish free courses because they want more people who can write programs for their machines. The free list on this page includes those courses.
MIT's quantum computing lectures, Caltech's Ph/CS 219 (John Preskill's course), and the Perimeter Institute recordings are the same graduate-level material taught to PhD students, just publicly available. There is no "paid tier" that's meaningfully better for most learners.
64 free courses
26 for beginners
21 intermediate
17 advanced / research
Learn quantum computing 100% free: the complete path
You can go from zero to quantum algorithms without paying anything. Here is the exact free sequence, using courses on this page plus our free tools and tutorials.
- 1. Build intuition
Understand what a qubit does before any math. Read What Is a Qubit? and Quantum Entanglement Explained, then skim the learning roadmap.
- 2. Learn the fundamentals
Work through IBM's free Basics of Quantum Information or the interactive PennyLane Codebook for the formalism: states, gates, and measurement.
- 3. Write your first circuits
Go hands-on with the free Qiskit Textbook, then practice live in our circuit builder and the Qiskit Hello World tutorial. No install needed.
- 4. Study the core algorithms
Implement the classics with our free tutorials: Grover's algorithm and Shor's algorithm, running code as you go.
- 5. Go deep (optional)
For graduate-level rigor, the free MIT Quantum Computation and Caltech PHYS 219 courses are the same material taught to PhD students.
Free Qiskit courses
Free quantum programming with Qiskit, IBM's open-source quantum framework. Includes IBM Learning, Qiskit Textbook, and IBM hardware access.
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IBM Quantum
Basics of Quantum Information (IBM Learning)
IBM's free interactive introduction to quantum information. Covers single and multi-qubit states, quantum circuits, and entanglement with interactive exercises.
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IBM Quantum
Designing and Leading Quantum Projects (IBM Learning)
IBM's free four-hour guide for teams starting a quantum initiative. Covers assembling a team, early-stage goals, partners, and metrics. Aimed at project leaders, not circuit programmers.
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IBM Quantum
Introduction to Quantum Computing with Qiskit (openHPI / IBM Quantum)
Dr. Elisa Bäumer and Carmen Recio Valcarce, IBM Quantum
Two-week free Qiskit course on openHPI, taught by IBM Quantum researchers. Deutsch-Jozsa and Grover, written out in code.
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Qiskit
Learn Quantum Computing with Qiskit Textbook
IBM Quantum / Qiskit Team
The original Qiskit Textbook, now archived on GitHub. Gates and circuits, Grover, Shor, error correction, and quantum machine learning, as Jupyter notebooks.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Business Foundations (IBM Learning)
IBM's free three-hour course for a business audience: what the machines do, and where a company might use one. Optional Credly badge after IBM's exam.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing (IBM SkillsBuild)
IBM SkillsBuild
IBM SkillsBuild's free beginner learning content on quantum computing fundamentals. Visual learning activities and virtual labs covering qubits, superposition, entanglement, quantum gates, and basic circuit building.
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Qubit
Quantum Computing 101: From Zero to Your First Circuit
QuantumComputingCourses
Nine free modules on this site, from what a qubit is to a circuit in Qiskit, using the Bloch sphere and the circuit builder. No signup.
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Coursera
Quantum Computing For Everyone - An Introduction
Fractal Analytics (Srinjoy Ganguly, Shalini Devendrababu)
Fractal Analytics on Coursera, for beginners. Two modules: history and theory, then qubits, gates, and circuits in Qiskit.
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Coursera
SpecialisationThe Complete Quantum Computing Course for Beginners
Packt
Packt specialization on Coursera, three courses. High-school maths to start, then Qiskit and algorithms on IBM hardware. No programming experience required.
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IBM Quantum
Use a Quantum Computer Today (IBM Learning)
Olivia Lanes (IBM Quantum)
IBM Quantum Learning, taught by Olivia Lanes. The notebooks use a quantum computer from the start. Optional Credly badge after IBM's exam.
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IBM Quantum
Fundamentals of Quantum Algorithms (IBM Learning)
Free intermediate course from IBM covering Grover's search, quantum phase estimation, and the fundamentals of quantum algorithm design.
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IBM Quantum
Integrating Quantum and High-Performance Computing (IBM Learning)
IBM's free six-hour course on hybrid quantum-classical workflows. Written for people who know either quantum computing or HPC, not both. Covers programming models, SQD and SKQD, and scheduling QPUs next to CPUs and GPUs.
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QWorld
QNickel: Oracular Quantum Algorithms (QWorld)
QWorld's free elementary workshop after QBronze. Jupyter notebooks on oracular algorithms: Deutsch, Deutsch-Jozsa, Bernstein-Vazirani, Simon, and Grover for Max-Cut, in Qiskit and Cirq. Self-study on GitLab, with periodic mentored workshops.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Chemistry with VQE (IBM Learning)
IBM Quantum (Victoria Lipinska and others)
IBM's free introductory VQE course aimed at chemistry. Hamiltonians, ansatze, classical optimizers, ground-state energies and bond lengths with Qiskit patterns. About 6 to 10 hours.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing for Natural Sciences with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Max Rossmannek, Julian Schuhmacher, Alexander Miessen, and Laurin Fischer, IBM Quantum
Free openHPI course on quantum simulation for chemistry and materials science, developed with IBM Quantum. Covers the second quantization, molecular Hamiltonians, VQE for molecular ground states, and Qiskit Nature.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing in Practice (IBM Learning)
IBM's free course on utility-scale quantum computing. Covers running large circuits on real IBM hardware, error mitigation, and near-term application areas using Qiskit Runtime.
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IBM Quantum
Understanding Quantum Information and Computation (IBM Learning)
John Watrous
John Watrous's four-course video lecture series covering quantum information theory, algorithms, error correction, and the general formulation of quantum operations. Graduate-level rigor, freely available.
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IBM Quantum
Variational Algorithm Design (IBM Learning)
IBM's free eight-hour course on hybrid variational algorithms. Covers cost functions, ansatze, optimizers, VQE, SSVQE and VQD, using IBM Quantum primitives.
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IBM Quantum
Foundations of Quantum Error Correction (IBM Learning)
John Watrous
John Watrous's fourth IBM Learning course. Quantum error-correcting codes, the stabilizer formalism, CSS codes, the toric and surface codes, and fault-tolerant computation. About 15 hours. Free, with an optional Credly badge.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Diagonalization Algorithms (IBM Learning)
IBM's free ten-hour course on quantum approaches to matrix diagonalization, including VQE, sample-based quantum diagonalization (SQD) and sample-based Krylov methods, with discussion of classical versus quantum scaling.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Machine Learning (IBM Learning)
IBM's free ten-hour Quantum Learning course on quantum methods in machine learning, including variational quantum classifiers and quantum neural networks implemented in Qiskit.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Machine Learning with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Dr. Christa Zoufal, Julien Gacon, Dr. David Sutter (IBM Quantum)
Free openHPI course, with IBM Quantum Research, on quantum machine learning: variational classifiers, quantum kernels, and QGANs, in Qiskit.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Optimization with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Julien Gacon, Dr. Daniel J. Egger, Dr. Stefan Woerner, Lucia Cuervo Valor (IBM Quantum)
Free openHPI course on quantum approaches to combinatorial optimization, developed with IBM Quantum. Covers QAOA, VQE, and the quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) framework with Qiskit implementation.
Free beginner courses
No background required, these start from the ground up
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Prof. Elias Fernandez-Combarro Alvarez, University of Oviedo
A Practical Introduction to Quantum Computing (CERN)
CERN openlab's free lecture series on quantum computing covering qubits, quantum algorithms, QAOA, VQE, and quantum machine learning. Taught by a University of Oviedo professor with no physics background required.
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Amazon Web Services
Amazon Braket Learning Plan and Digital Badge (AWS Skill Builder)
AWS's free two-course plan: quantum computing basics, then Amazon Braket in notebooks. An AWS digital badge if you score 80% on the assessment.
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Microsoft
Azure Quantum Learning Path (Microsoft)
Microsoft's free learning path for Azure Quantum covering Q#, quantum concepts, resource estimation, and the Azure Quantum platform.
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IBM Quantum
Basics of Quantum Information (IBM Learning)
IBM's free interactive introduction to quantum information. Covers single and multi-qubit states, quantum circuits, and entanglement with interactive exercises.
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NVIDIA
CUDA-Q Academic (NVIDIA)
NVIDIA's free open curriculum for hybrid quantum-classical computing on CUDA-Q. Interactive notebooks from a first qubit through QEC, chemistry, QAOA, QML and hybrid GPU-QPU workflows. Run locally, on Colab, qBraid, Brev or Braket.
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IBM Quantum
Designing and Leading Quantum Projects (IBM Learning)
IBM's free four-hour guide for teams starting a quantum initiative. Covers assembling a team, early-stage goals, partners, and metrics. Aimed at project leaders, not circuit programmers.
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IonQ
Introduction to Quantum Computers (IonQ Lecture Series)
IonQ Scientists and Engineers
IonQ's free 2-part lecture series taught by company scientists and engineers. Covers the history of quantum computing, trapped ion hardware architecture, and how to characterize quantum systems.
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D-Wave
Introduction to Quantum Computing (D-Wave)
D-Wave's free introduction. How annealing machines differ from gate-model computers, and which optimization problems they are sold for. No background required.
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Qubit by Qubit instructors (Stanford PhDs)
Introduction to Quantum Computing (Qubit by Qubit)
A two-semester year-long quantum computing course by The Coding School, taught by Stanford PhDs in partnership with Google Quantum AI. Free for partner schools; scholarships available for individual students.
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IBM Quantum
Introduction to Quantum Computing with Qiskit (openHPI / IBM Quantum)
Dr. Elisa Bäumer and Carmen Recio Valcarce, IBM Quantum
Two-week free Qiskit course on openHPI, taught by IBM Quantum researchers. Deutsch-Jozsa and Grover, written out in code.
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Wolfram Research
Introduction to Quantum Computing with the Wolfram Language
Wolfram's quantum framework for Mathematica. Circuits, operators, and states as symbolic objects you can compute and plot.
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IonQ
Introduction to Quantum Programming (IonQ Lecture Series)
IonQ Researchers
IonQ's free 4-part lecture series on quantum programming. Covers quantum algorithms, circuits, programming with multiple SDKs, and quantum chemistry including VQE. Taught by IonQ researchers.
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Qiskit
Learn Quantum Computing with Qiskit Textbook
IBM Quantum / Qiskit Team
The original Qiskit Textbook, now archived on GitHub. Gates and circuits, Grover, Shor, error correction, and quantum machine learning, as Jupyter notebooks.
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PennyLane
PennyLane Codebook (formerly Xanadu Quantum Codebook)
Xanadu
Xanadu's interactive textbook, now hosted as the PennyLane Codebook. Coding exercises in the browser.
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PennyLane
PennyLane Codebook: Interactive Quantum Computing Lessons
Xanadu / PennyLane Team
PennyLane's browser exercises. 15 modules, from qubits and gates through Grover, Shor, error correction, and variational algorithms.
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QWorld
QBronze: Introduction to Quantum Computing and Quantum Programming (QWorld)
QWorld's free, self-study quantum computing workshop. Covers quantum states, quantum operators, quantum protocols, and quantum search using Python and Jupyter notebooks. No physics background required.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Business Foundations (IBM Learning)
IBM's free three-hour course for a business audience: what the machines do, and where a company might use one. Optional Credly badge after IBM's exam.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing (IBM SkillsBuild)
IBM SkillsBuild
IBM SkillsBuild's free beginner learning content on quantum computing fundamentals. Visual learning activities and virtual labs covering qubits, superposition, entanglement, quantum gates, and basic circuit building.
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Dr Steven Herbert, University of Cambridge
Quantum Computing (University of Cambridge)
University of Cambridge's undergraduate Quantum Computing course, with lecture notes publicly available, covering qubits, superposition, entanglement, core quantum algorithms, and quantum cryptography. Accessible at no cost.
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Qubit
Quantum Computing 101: From Zero to Your First Circuit
QuantumComputingCourses
Nine free modules on this site, from what a qubit is to a circuit in Qiskit, using the Bloch sphere and the circuit builder. No signup.
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Coursera
Quantum Computing For Everyone - An Introduction
Fractal Analytics (Srinjoy Ganguly, Shalini Devendrababu)
Fractal Analytics on Coursera, for beginners. Two modules: history and theory, then qubits, gates, and circuits in Qiskit.
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QURECA
Quantum for Everyone 2.0 (free sample)
Half-hour free sample of QURECA's Quantum for Everyone 2.0. Non-technical, on their own site.
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Microsoft
Quantum Katas: Self-Paced Quantum Programming Exercises (Microsoft)
Microsoft Quantum
Microsoft's free Q# exercises, in the browser. Each one is a programming problem, from single qubits through algorithms, checked as you go.
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Coursera
SpecialisationThe Complete Quantum Computing Course for Beginners
Packt
Packt specialization on Coursera, three courses. High-school maths to start, then Qiskit and algorithms on IBM hardware. No programming experience required.
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Keio University / Rodney Van Meter
Understanding Quantum Computers (Keio University)
Keio University's accessible introduction to quantum computing on FutureLearn, taught by Rodney Van Meter. Explains the motivation for building quantum computers, the key principles, important algorithms, and a look at quantum hardware and the emerging industry, with minimal mathematics.
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IBM Quantum
Use a Quantum Computer Today (IBM Learning)
Olivia Lanes (IBM Quantum)
IBM Quantum Learning, taught by Olivia Lanes. The notebooks use a quantum computer from the start. Optional Credly badge after IBM's exam.
Free intermediate courses
Hands-on coding with Qiskit, PennyLane, and real IBM hardware
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QURECA, QWorld, CTU Prague, University of Latvia
ADEQUATE: Advanced End-to-end Quantum Computing Technical Course (QURECA)
Free 50-hour technical course funded by the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative. Jointly curated by QURECA, QWorld, Czech Technical University in Prague and the University of Latvia. Python required, no prior quantum physics.
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edX
Applied Quantum Computing I: Fundamentals (Purdue)
Purdue University / Pramey Upadhyaya
The first course in Purdue University's Applied Quantum Computing series. Teaches the postulates of quantum mechanics and how they map onto present-day quantum information processing models including computation, simulation, optimization, and machine learning.
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Google
Cirq Tutorials and Documentation (Google Quantum AI)
Google Quantum AI
Google Quantum AI's free self-paced tutorial series for the Cirq quantum programming framework. Covers circuit construction, noise models, algorithm implementation, and access to Google's Quantum Virtual Machine via Google Colab.
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Classiq engineering and research team
Classiq Quantum Computing Tutorials
Classiq's free tutorials. Algorithms are written in Qmod, their high-level language. Includes machine learning and optimization examples.
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Prof. R. Shankar, Yale University
Fundamentals of Physics II: E&M, Optics, and Quantum Mechanics (Yale)
R. Shankar's Yale PHYS 201 lectures on Open Yale Courses. Electromagnetism and optics, then seven lectures on quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, the Schrodinger equation, and measurement.
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IBM Quantum
Fundamentals of Quantum Algorithms (IBM Learning)
Free intermediate course from IBM covering Grover's search, quantum phase estimation, and the fundamentals of quantum algorithm design.
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Google
Hands-On Quantum Error Correction with Google Quantum AI
Austin Fowler
Google Quantum AI on Coursera, free to audit. Surface code, stabilizers, and the Stim and Crumble tools, with coding labs.
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IBM Quantum
Integrating Quantum and High-Performance Computing (IBM Learning)
IBM's free six-hour course on hybrid quantum-classical workflows. Written for people who know either quantum computing or HPC, not both. Covers programming models, SQD and SKQD, and scheduling QPUs next to CPUs and GPUs.
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PennyLane
PennyLane Quantum Machine Learning Demos
Xanadu / Community
Xanadu's collection of hundreds of interactive PennyLane tutorials, including 50+ quantum machine learning demos covering VQE, QAOA, quantum kernels, quantum neural networks, and more.
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Xanadu
QHack 2024: Quantum Computing Hackathon and Coding Challenges
Annual quantum hackathon run by Xanadu, the team behind PennyLane, with coding challenges covering PennyLane, hybrid algorithms, and quantum kernels. Talk recordings and challenge write-ups remain available online after each event.
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QWorld
QNickel: Oracular Quantum Algorithms (QWorld)
QWorld's free elementary workshop after QBronze. Jupyter notebooks on oracular algorithms: Deutsch, Deutsch-Jozsa, Bernstein-Vazirani, Simon, and Grover for Max-Cut, in Qiskit and Cirq. Self-study on GitLab, with periodic mentored workshops.
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QWorld volunteer instructors
QSilver: Intermediate Quantum Computing Workshop (QWorld)
QWorld's free intermediate quantum programming workshop covering complex numbers, the quantum Fourier transform, and Shor's algorithm. The follow-on to QBronze, run as mentored online sessions through QWorld's global network.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Chemistry with VQE (IBM Learning)
IBM Quantum (Victoria Lipinska and others)
IBM's free introductory VQE course aimed at chemistry. Hamiltonians, ansatze, classical optimizers, ground-state energies and bond lengths with Qiskit patterns. About 6 to 10 hours.
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TU Braunschweig / QTIndu / QURECA
Quantum Communication and Quantum Networks (QURECA / QTIndu / TU Braunschweig)
Free five-hour intermediate course on quantum communication and networks, listed on QURECA's academy with QTIndu and TU Braunschweig. English and German.
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Quantum algorithms
Quantum Computing 201: Algorithms, Noise and Real Hardware
QuantumComputingCourses
Eight modules after Quantum Computing 101. Where Grover and Shor get a speedup, what noise does on hardware, and what the transpiler changes before a circuit runs.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing for Natural Sciences with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Max Rossmannek, Julian Schuhmacher, Alexander Miessen, and Laurin Fischer, IBM Quantum
Free openHPI course on quantum simulation for chemistry and materials science, developed with IBM Quantum. Covers the second quantization, molecular Hamiltonians, VQE for molecular ground states, and Qiskit Nature.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Computing in Practice (IBM Learning)
IBM's free course on utility-scale quantum computing. Covers running large circuits on real IBM hardware, error mitigation, and near-term application areas using Qiskit Runtime.
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Prof. Isaac Chuang and Prof. Peter Shor, MIT
Quantum Information Science I (MIT Open Learning Library)
MIT's three-part interactive course on quantum information science covering quantum mechanics, protocols, algorithms, and communication. Fully free with graded exercises on the Open Learning Library.
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Coursera
Quantum Optics 1: Single Photons (École Polytechnique)
École Polytechnique / Alain Aspect, Michel Brune
École Polytechnique on Coursera, co-taught by Alain Aspect, who shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics. How light is quantized, states of light, and single-photon experiments.
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IBM Quantum
Understanding Quantum Information and Computation (IBM Learning)
John Watrous
John Watrous's four-course video lecture series covering quantum information theory, algorithms, error correction, and the general formulation of quantum operations. Graduate-level rigor, freely available.
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IBM Quantum
Variational Algorithm Design (IBM Learning)
IBM's free eight-hour course on hybrid variational algorithms. Covers cost functions, ansatze, optimizers, VQE, SSVQE and VQD, using IBM Quantum primitives.
Free advanced and research-level courses
Graduate-level content from MIT, Caltech, Cambridge, and Perimeter Institute, free for anyone
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edX
Applied Quantum Computing II: Hardware (Purdue)
Pramey Upadhyaya
The hardware-focused second course in Purdue University's Applied Quantum Computing series. Examines how present-day material platforms are engineered to perform quantum information processing: superconducting qubits, trapped ions and atoms, and spin-based systems.
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edX
Applied Quantum Computing III: Algorithm and Software (Purdue)
Pramey Upadhyaya
Last course in Purdue's Applied Quantum Computing series on edX. QFT, Grover, Shor, then optimization, simulation, chemistry, and machine learning, with cloud hardware.
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Prof. Dan Boneh and Will Zeng, Stanford
Elements of Quantum Computer Programming (Stanford CS269Q Lecture Materials)
Stanford's CS269Q quantum computer programming course materials from Spring 2019, taught by Dan Boneh and Will Zeng. Lecture slides and project assignments cover pyQuil programming, benchmarking, VQE, QAOA, and error correction.
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IBM Quantum
Foundations of Quantum Error Correction (IBM Learning)
John Watrous
John Watrous's fourth IBM Learning course. Quantum error-correcting codes, the stabilizer formalism, CSS codes, the toric and surface codes, and fault-tolerant computation. About 15 hours. Free, with an optional Credly badge.
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Quantinuum
InQuanto: Quantum Chemistry Simulation Tutorials (Quantinuum)
Quantinuum's InQuanto tutorial series for quantum chemistry simulation. 18+ tutorials from basic VQE to advanced molecular simulation of Fe4N2 on real Quantinuum hardware. Free to read; running the notebooks requires an InQuanto licence or trial.
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Coursera
Introduction to Quantum Information (KAIST)
KAIST / Joonwoo Bae
KAIST's beginning-graduate-level introduction to quantum information, taught by Joonwoo Bae. Covers qubits, the axioms of quantum theory, entanglement as a resource, quantum teleportation, gates, circuits, and quantum communication channels.
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Prof. John Preskill, Caltech
Quantum Computation (Caltech PHYS 219)
Prof. John Preskill's lecture notes for Caltech PHYS 219. Free graduate notes on quantum information, algorithms, error correction, and cryptography.
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Prof. Peter Shor, MIT
Quantum Computation (MIT OpenCourseWare)
MIT's graduate-level quantum computation course covering quantum algorithms, complexity theory, and quantum information. Lecture notes and problem sets freely available.
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Scott Aaronson (UT Austin)
Quantum Computing Since Democritus: Scott Aaronson's Lecture Notes
Scott Aaronson's lecture notes. Quantum computing set next to complexity theory: BQP, QMA, quantum proofs, and quantum cryptography.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Diagonalization Algorithms (IBM Learning)
IBM's free ten-hour course on quantum approaches to matrix diagonalization, including VQE, sample-based quantum diagonalization (SQD) and sample-based Krylov methods, with discussion of classical versus quantum scaling.
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Dr. Daniel Gottesman, Perimeter Institute
Quantum Information Review (Perimeter Institute / PIRSA)
Daniel Gottesman's graduate-level quantum information lecture series recorded at Perimeter Institute. Fifteen recorded lectures covering entanglement, channels, error correction, and cryptography. Freely available on PIRSA.
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Prof. Isaac Chuang and Prof. Aram Harrow, MIT
Quantum Information Science II (MIT Open Learning Library)
MIT's graduate-level follow-on to QIS I, covering quantum states and noise, advanced quantum algorithms, and quantum information theory. Free on the MIT Open Learning Library with graded exercises.
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ETH Zurich Physics Department
Quantum Information Theory (ETH Zurich)
ETH Zurich's graduate quantum information theory course covering quantum channels, entropy, capacity theorems, and quantum Shannon theory.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Machine Learning (IBM Learning)
IBM's free ten-hour Quantum Learning course on quantum methods in machine learning, including variational quantum classifiers and quantum neural networks implemented in Qiskit.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Machine Learning with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Dr. Christa Zoufal, Julien Gacon, Dr. David Sutter (IBM Quantum)
Free openHPI course, with IBM Quantum Research, on quantum machine learning: variational classifiers, quantum kernels, and QGANs, in Qiskit.
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IBM Quantum
Quantum Optimization with IBM Quantum (openHPI)
Julien Gacon, Dr. Daniel J. Egger, Dr. Stefan Woerner, Lucia Cuervo Valor (IBM Quantum)
Free openHPI course on quantum approaches to combinatorial optimization, developed with IBM Quantum. Covers QAOA, VQE, and the quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) framework with Qiskit implementation.
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Aleks Kissinger, Dept of Computer Science, University of Oxford
Quantum Processes and Computation (Oxford)
University of Oxford's computer science course on quantum processes and computation, taught with the diagrammatic ZX-calculus approach. Covers string diagrams, teleportation, quantum algorithms, and measurement-based quantum computing. Lecture notes are publicly available.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these courses completely free, no hidden costs?
- Yes. Every course on this page is free to access in full. Some platforms like Coursera offer optional paid certificates for verified completion, but the course content itself requires no payment.
- What's the best free course for an absolute beginner?
- The PennyLane Codebook (formerly the Xanadu Quantum Codebook) is the most approachable starting point, fully interactive with no setup required. IBM's Basics of Quantum Information is the right choice if you want to use IBM hardware from the start.
- Are the university-level courses (MIT, Caltech) too hard for self-study?
- They are challenging, but many self-taught learners complete them. The prerequisite is comfort with linear algebra and complex numbers. If you've done a beginner or intermediate course first, you'll have the right foundation to follow the advanced material.
- What are the best free Qiskit courses?
- The Qiskit Textbook covers the circuit model in code. IBM Learning's Basics of Quantum Information and Understanding Quantum Information are IBM's own courses and include access to IBM quantum hardware. All three are free.
- Is Qiskit free to use?
- Yes, Qiskit is fully open-source (Apache 2.0 license) and free to install and run locally. IBM also provides free cloud access to real quantum hardware through IBM Quantum, with a free tier that gives you access to smaller devices. Most free Qiskit courses include instructions for setting up hardware access.
- Can I get a certificate from a free course?
- Some free courses offer certificates, IBM Learning, for example, issues digital badges for course completion. Coursera courses can be audited for free but the verified certificate costs money. Check each course page for its specific certificate policy.
Free hands-on tutorial: build something in 10 minutes
A concrete coding example to try before or after a course.
Beginner · 10 min · Qiskit · Free
Building a Quantum Random Number Generator
A Hadamard gate puts a qubit into superposition. Measuring it produces a truly random bit, not computed, not seeded, decided by quantum physics. This tutorial walks through single-bit QRNG, scaling to random bytes, rejection sampling for any integer range, and running the circuit on real IBM hardware. The best first quantum program you can write.