Best Free PHP Courses in 2026

PHP powers WordPress, and WordPress runs about 43% of all websites. That alone keeps demand high. Laravel is one of the most-used web frameworks anywhere, and Symfony sits under major e-commerce and media platforms. The language itself has come a long way: PHP 8.x added proper type declarations, named arguments, match expressions, and big speed gains, so the old jokes about PHP don't really hold up now. If you want to build web backends, contribute to open-source CMS projects, or land a junior web developer job, PHP is a practical, hirable skill. It's also one of the easier server-side languages to pick up first, partly because you can see results in a browser within minutes. New to programming entirely? Read /guides/how-to-learn-to-code-for-free first, then come back here.

Three rules. The course has to be genuinely free, not a trial or an audit-only version that locks the good parts behind a paywall. It has to teach PHP through real projects, not just syntax drills. And it has to match what people actually hire for today: Laravel, WordPress work, and REST APIs. Being honest about it, PHP has fewer polished free courses than Python or JavaScript do. That's why this list is short. We would rather point you at two solid resources than pad the page with weak ones.

This is the place to start. The PHP Handbook covers variables, data types, operators, functions, arrays, strings, loops, forms, sessions, and PDO database access, all in a single readable handbook. There's no in-browser editor, so it's a text resource you follow while writing code on your own machine. That setup step is worth doing early because it's how real PHP development works. No certificate comes with it, but the coverage is thorough for a free beginner resource. See the full course details at /courses/freecodecamp-php, and read more about the platform at /platforms/freecodecamp.

Once the basics click, this intermediate course builds a Medium-style blogging platform with Laravel from the ground up. You'll work through routing, controllers, Blade templates, the Eloquent ORM, authentication, and database migrations. It's a good real-world project that shows how PHP behaves inside a production-style framework instead of in isolated examples. By the end you'll have a working app you understand, which beats a pile of disconnected tutorial snippets. Course details are at /courses/freecodecamp-laravel.

Be clear-eyed about the gaps. Neither course covers PHPUnit testing, the more advanced PHP 8.x features beyond the basics, Symfony, or deployment. If you want to work professionally in PHP, you'll need to add testing and deployment tutorials on top of these. Treat this list as the on-ramp, not the whole road. The /languages/php hub lists every PHP course in our catalog, so check there as we add more.

Complete beginner to both PHP and programming: start with the Handbook, then do the Laravel course. Already know another language: skim or skip the Handbook and go straight to Laravel, dipping back into the Handbook only when PHP-specific syntax trips you up. Building WordPress themes or plugins specifically: the Handbook covers enough core PHP to get going, and from there you'll want WordPress-specific tutorials, since that work leans on WordPress APIs more than on a framework like Laravel.

PHP almost always talks to a database, so SQL is the natural next step: see /languages/sql. You'll also want JavaScript for the frontend side of any web app, and our /guides/best-free-javascript-course-2026 guide covers the free options there. Pick up Git for version control early, since you'll use it on every project. And if you want a paid, structured Laravel course to go deeper after the free path, the shortlist at /go-premium points to a few worth the money.