Best platforms for programming tutorials

The “best” platform depends on whether you want to learn via tutorials or publish your own tutorials. Here’s a concise split for 2026.

Best platforms to learn programming (consume tutorials)

Structured, project-based (free or freemium)

freeCodeCamp

• Full curricula (web dev, Python, data, etc.) with projects and certificates.
• Best for: beginners and career-changers who want structure and momentum.

The Odin Project

• Project-heavy, tool-driven web dev path (Git, testing, real workflows).
• Best for: self-taught devs who want a realistic dev environment.

Codecademy

• Interactive, guided lessons with instant feedback.
• Best for: complete beginners who like bite-sized, hands-on lessons.

Practice-first and reference

Exercism

• Thousands of coding exercises with mentor feedback across many languages.
• Best for: deepening language skills and problem-solving.

MDN Web Docs

• Authoritative reference and tutorials for web standards (HTML, CSS, JS, APIs).
• Best for: web devs who want reliable, up-to-date docs + guides.

LeetCode / Codewars / HackerRank

• Algorithm and coding challenges, interview prep.
• Best for: sharpening problem-solving and prepping for interviews.

Video + interactive

Udemy / Coursera / edX

• Paid courses (some free/audit) from universities and instructors.
• Best for: structured courses with certificates and deeper topics.

Scrimba

• Interactive screencasts for frontend (edit code inside the video).
• Best for: fast, hands-on frontend learning.

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Best platforms to publish programming tutorials (reach an audience)

freeCodeCamp News

• Huge learner audience; strong SEO for “how to” topics.
• Editorial review; best for high-quality, evergreen tutorials.

In Plain English (and its language pubs: JavaScript, Python, AI, etc.)

• Developer-focused publications on Medium with strong distribution.
• Good for practical tutorials, explainers, and SDK/tool guides.

dev.to

• Very dev-centric community; easy to get initial reads.
• Great for tutorials, “how I built this”, and community engagement.

Hashnode

• Developer blogging platform with community discovery; supports custom domains.
• Best for building a personal dev blog plus getting platform reach.

Medium (general)

• Massive general audience; less dev-specific.
• Good for broader tech/career topics or cross-disciplinary writing.

HackerNoon / Stackademic

• Large libraries of technical posts; good for tutorials and deep dives.
• Best for additional distribution alongside your main blog.

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Recommended combos

• If you’re learning:

  • Start with freeCodeCamp or The Odin Project + Exercism for practice + MDN as reference.

• If you’re publishing tutorials:

  • Use a personal blog (your domain) or Hashnode (custom domain) as canonical home.
  • Syndicate to dev.to and In Plain English / Medium for reach; consider freeCodeCamp for select high-quality tutorials.

If you tell me your stack (e.g., Python backend, React frontend, data/ML) and goal (learning vs publishing), I can narrow this to a top 3 list and a simple action plan.