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Learn React for Free

React is the most in-demand frontend framework by a large margin. Stack Overflow's 2024 Developer Survey found it the most-used web framework for the third year in a row. If you are applying for frontend or full-stack roles, React is not optional. This path takes you from JavaScript-confident beginner to someone who can build, test, and deploy real React apps. You need to know JavaScript before starting, since every course here assumes it. Plan on 3 to 5 months of part-time study once your JavaScript is solid.
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The path at a glance

  1. 01 React Basics (Scrimba)
  2. 02 Build Real React Projects (The Odin Project)
  3. 03 Front End Libraries Certification (freeCodeCamp)
  4. 04 Advanced React and Redux (freeCodeCamp)

Yes, you can learn React for free, and the free options are genuinely excellent. Scrimba and The Odin Project are the two best starting points, and freeCodeCamp's Front End Development Libraries certification issues a free, verifiable certificate. One honest prerequisite: you need to know JavaScript first, since React is a JavaScript library and every course assumes it. Start with Scrimba's interactive course to get components and state rendering, move to The Odin Project to build real projects on your own, then earn the freeCodeCamp certificate. Expect 3 to 5 months of part-time study after your JavaScript basics are in place.

React is the most-used web framework among professional developers for the third year running, used by 39.5% of respondents (source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024, https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/technology/).

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Your Step-by-Step Path

  1. 1

    Step 1:React Basics (Scrimba)

    Scrimba's interactive format is the fastest way to get your first component rendering and understand the core mental model: state, props, and the component tree. You write React in the browser and see the result instantly, which matters for a topic where the feedback loop is everything. By the end you can build small interactive UIs and you understand how data flows through a component tree, the idea everything else in React builds on.

    intermediate
    Scrimba

    Learn React for Free

    40h · Free

  2. 2

    Step 2:Build Real React Projects (The Odin Project)

    The Odin Project forces you to read docs and debug on your own, which is how real work happens. This step closes the gap between following along with a tutorial and writing your own code from a blank file. You set up your own tooling, work through projects with less hand-holding, and hit the kind of bugs you only learn to fix by fixing them. Finishing this is the point where React stops feeling like magic and starts feeling like a tool you control.

    intermediate
    The Odin Project

    React Path (The Odin Project)

    60h · Free

  3. 3

    Step 3:Front End Libraries Certification (freeCodeCamp)

    freeCodeCamp covers React, Redux, and Sass across 300 hours, structured around five build-it-yourself certification projects. The free certificate is verifiable by employers, and the project requirements are substantial enough to put on a resume: a random quote machine, a markdown previewer, a drum machine, a calculator, and a pomodoro timer. Working through them cements React patterns and gives you a first taste of Redux for shared state.

    intermediate
    freeCodeCamp
    Certificate

    Front End Development Libraries

    300h · Free

  4. 4

    Step 4:Advanced React and Redux (freeCodeCamp)

    State management at scale, custom hooks, performance optimisation, and the real-world patterns production apps demand. Take this step once you are comfortable writing React and want to handle the complexity that shows up when an app grows past a few screens. This is the material that separates someone who can follow a React tutorial from someone a team can hand a feature to.

    advanced
    freeCodeCamp
    Certificate

    Advanced React and Redux Projects

    300h · Free

Beyond the path

More Courses to Explore

Scrimba

ReactIntermediate

Learn React for Free

Scrimba's interactive React course teaches components, state, props, hooks, effects, and routing. Build a travel journal, color scheme generator, and meme generator. The interactivity sets it apart.

Rating 4.840hDetails →
freeCodeCampCertificate

ReactIntermediate

Front End Development Libraries

Learn Bootstrap, jQuery, Sass, React, and Redux through hands-on challenges and projects. Earn a free verified certificate by building five projects including a random quote machine and drum machine.

Rating 4.7300hDetails →
The Odin Project

ReactIntermediate

React Path (The Odin Project)

The Odin Project's dedicated React curriculum. Covers components, JSX, state, effects, routing with React Router, testing, and performance. Build a full series of projects including a shopping cart application.

Rating 4.860hDetails →

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know JavaScript before learning React?

Yes. React is a JavaScript library, not a separate language, so everything you write is JavaScript with a component layer on top. Gaps in JavaScript fundamentals (array methods, async/await, closures) show up fast when you hit state bugs and data fetching. If you don't know JavaScript yet, start at /learn/javascript first.

React vs Vue or Angular: which should I learn?

React, if your main goal is employability. It leads job listings by a wide margin, so the skill transfers to the most openings. Vue is a pleasant, gentler framework and Angular is common in large enterprises, but React has the biggest ecosystem and the most jobs. Learn React first; picking up another framework later is straightforward once you understand components and state.

Should I learn hooks or class components?

Hooks. Function components with hooks (useState, useEffect, and the rest) are the modern standard and what new React code is written in. You'll still see class components in older codebases, so it helps to be able to read them, but write new code with hooks. Every course in this path teaches the hooks approach.

Can I get a job with just React?

React alone is rarely enough. Most frontend job postings also expect TypeScript, testing (React Testing Library), Git, and comfort calling APIs. React is the centrepiece, but treat it as one part of a frontend skill set. After this path, TypeScript is the highest-value next step: see /learn/typescript.

What should I learn after React?

TypeScript first, since React with TypeScript is the default in most production codebases. After that, Next.js (the most common React framework for real apps), plus enough backend and Node.js to understand where your data comes from. The /learn/frontend and /learn/web-developer paths lay out the wider route.

Other goals

Other Learning Paths

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