BitDegree Alternatives for Learning Crypto, Web3 and Coding

BitDegree is alive, but it is not the course marketplace some readers remember. The BitDegree homepage now leads with Missions, where players "solve quizzes, tackle blockchain & social actions, and research topics" to earn Bits, alongside crypto guides, videos and exchange reviews. It claims 295K+ people playing, and it says it may earn a commission if readers buy through its links.

Many Missions are partner promotions. A March 2025 Mission built around Uphold offered up to 1,500 Bits, which counted toward a $30,000 Season 7 airdrop pool that needed at least 10,000 Bits to enter, plus a 1,000 USDC lucky draw funded by Uphold. That is a fair trade for some readers, but it teaches you a sponsor's product, not how blockchains or code work.

The picks below cover three jobs: learning crypto basics without a sales funnel, earning a certificate an employer recognises, and learning to write smart contracts or code. Most are free. None of them is investment advice, and the exchange-run academies are written by companies that profit when you trade.

Prices below are as of November 8, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Binance Academy

For the crypto-explainer side of BitDegree, Binance Academy covers the same ground at no cost and in 18 languages, from Spanish to Kyrgyz. It has eight learning tracks, including Beginner, Intermediate, Crypto Risk Management and On-Chain Analysis for Beginners, and a glossary of about 470 terms.

Like BitDegree, it rewards some learning. An "Earn Your First Bitcoin" offer pays new users a small amount of BTC for passing a short quiz, and a Learn & Earn section runs separate campaigns. The difference is that the reward lands on one exchange, Binance, rather than as points spread across sponsors.

Best for: Beginners who want plain crypto explainers and a glossary in their own language.

Pricing:

• Articles, tracks and glossary: free
• Learn & Earn rewards: need a Binance account

Watch out for:

• It is published by an exchange, under the Binance Academy page footer, so expect links to Binance products throughout.
• There are no certificates, so nothing to show an employer.

Official site: Binance Academy.

Coursera

Coursera is the pick when the goal is a certificate with a university or company name on it. Coursera Plus opens most of its 10,000+ courses for one price, and you can audit many courses before paying. It completed its combination with Udemy on May 11, 2026, though Udemy still runs as a separate brand.

The annual plan is $399, or $239 for the first year if you join before November 30, 2026. Monthly is $59 after a 7-day trial. Degrees and MasterTrack certificates are priced separately. Our Coursera alternatives page compares it with other course platforms.

Best for: Learners who want a recognised certificate from a university or company.

Pricing:

• Coursera Plus annual: $399 a year; $239 first-year offer until November 30, 2026
• Coursera Plus monthly: $59 a month after a 7-day trial
• Degrees and MasterTrack: priced separately

Watch out for:

• Some courses and Professional Certificates are excluded from Plus, and the $239 offer is not available in India, Great Britain or Australia, per the Coursera Plus page.
• Refunding the annual plan within 14 days revokes the certificates earned in that window.

Official site: Coursera.

Cyfrin Updraft

Cyfrin, a smart contract auditing firm, runs Updraft as its free education arm. The on-demand courses cover blockchain fundamentals, Solidity, smart contract security, formal verification, and DeFi development using real protocols such as Uniswap, Curve and Rocket Pool, plus wallet and multisig security.

It is where a BitDegree user goes after deciding they want to build, not just understand. The material assumes you will write and test code, and the security courses are aimed at people who want to audit contracts for a living.

Best for: Developers who want to write, test and audit smart contracts.

Pricing:

• Courses: free
• Industry certifications: offered separately; price on request

Watch out for:

• The claim on the Cyfrin education page that 80% of blockchain engineers learn on Updraft comes from Cyfrin itself, with no method shown.
• Beginners with no programming background will find the Solidity courses steep.

Official site: Cyfrin Updraft.

MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT's Blockchain and Money, course 15.S12, is a graduate class from the Sloan School taught by Gary Gensler in Fall 2018, and the whole thing is free on OpenCourseWare. You get the video lectures, slides, readings, study questions, written assignments and a full course download, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

It treats crypto as a finance and policy subject: payments, money, regulation and where blockchains fit. That is the opposite of a quiz-for-points Mission, and a good base before trusting any exchange's explainer.

Best for: Readers who want the economics and policy behind crypto, at university level.

Pricing:

• Free, no account needed

Watch out for:

• The course dates from Fall 2018, so it predates spot bitcoin ETFs, the 2022 exchange collapses and the EU's MiCA rules.
• There is no grading, instructor or certificate.

Official site: MIT OpenCourseWare.

freeCodeCamp

freeCodeCamp is run by a donor-supported 501(c)(3) charity, and every lesson and certification is free. The full-stack curriculum leads to certifications in Responsive Web Design, JavaScript, Front-End Development Libraries, Python, Relational Databases, and Back-End Development and APIs.

Each full-stack certification needs five required projects before the exam. There is also a free Foundational C# certification made with Microsoft, and beta language courses such as A2 English for Developers.

Best for: Self-taught developers who want free certifications and portfolio projects.

Pricing:

• Curriculum and certifications: free
• Platform code: open source under BSD-3-Clause

Watch out for:

• Blockchain and Web3 topics are not part of the certification list in the freeCodeCamp repository, so pair it with Cyfrin Updraft for smart contracts.

Official site: freeCodeCamp.

Codecademy

Codecademy teaches code in the browser, one short exercise at a time, which is the closest feel to BitDegree's old gamified lessons. The free Basic plan covers beginner courses. Plus adds skill paths and certificates of completion, and Pro adds career paths, professional certifications and certification prep.

Annual billing roughly halves the price: Plus is $14.99 a month billed yearly against $29.99 month to month, and Pro is $19.99 against $39.99. Annual plans also include one complimentary workshop.

Best for: Beginners who want short, guided coding exercises with a certificate at the end.

Pricing:

• Basic: free
• Plus: $14.99 a month billed yearly, or $29.99 billed monthly
• Pro: $19.99 a month billed yearly, or $39.99 billed monthly

Watch out for:

• Certificates of completion are not included on the free plan, and career paths need Pro, per the Codecademy pricing page.

Official site: Codecademy.

Udemy

Udemy sells single courses from independent instructors, which is useful for narrow crypto topics no university teaches, such as a specific chain's tooling. You pay once per course, often at a discount, or subscribe to the Personal Plan. Since May 2026 it belongs to Coursera, per Coursera's announcement, but keeps its own brand.

Check each course's last-updated date and reviews before buying. Crypto tooling changes fast, and a course recorded two years ago may teach libraries or exchanges that no longer work the same way.

Best for: Learners who want one focused course on a niche topic.

Pricing:

• Single courses: one-time price per course, often discounted
• Personal Plan: about $13 a month, according to edubracket; final price at checkout
• Udemy Business: team plans

Watch out for:

• Anyone can publish, so quality varies by instructor.
• Completion certificates come from Udemy, not a university, so they carry less weight than a Coursera certificate from a named school.

Official site: Udemy.

How to choose

When to stay with BitDegree

Keep using BitDegree if you enjoy short quizzes and want a chance at token prizes for trying new crypto apps. Read each Mission's rules first: rounds must be done in order, only the first attempt earns Bits, and prizes depend on the season's pool, per the Uphold Mission page. Do not deposit money with a sponsor just to finish a Mission.

Frequently asked questions