What are the best education and explainer video sites for learning a topic from scratch?

Here are some of the best education/explainer video sites for learning a topic from scratch, depending on the style you prefer:

Best all-around

• YouTube — Huge variety, free, great for starting from zero if you choose reputable channels.
  • Good channels: Khan Academy, Crash Course, Veritasium, Kurzgesagt, TED-Ed, freeCodeCamp (for coding)

Best structured learning

• Khan Academy — Excellent for fundamentals in math, science, economics, computing, and test prep. Very beginner-friendly.
• Coursera — More formal courses from universities/companies; often includes video lectures and exercises.
• edX — Similar to Coursera; strong for academic and professional topics.
• Udemy — Practical, topic-focused video courses; quality varies, but often great for learning job skills from scratch.

Best for highly visual explanations

• TED-Ed — Short, polished explainer videos on many subjects.
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell — Amazing for science, systems, and big-picture concepts.
• Veritasium — Strong for science intuition and interesting demonstrations.
• 3Blue1Brown — Best for math intuition and visual understanding.

Best for tech/coding

• freeCodeCamp — Free, long-form practical video courses.
• Traversy Media, Programming with Mosh, The Net Ninja — Good beginner-friendly coding explanations on YouTube.
• CS50 (Harvard) on edX/YouTube — One of the best introductions to computer science.

Best for short, easy-to-digest learning

• TED-Ed
• Crash Course
• Big Think
• Amoeba Sisters (great for biology)

If you want a “learn from scratch” recommendation

If you’re starting completely fresh, a strong combo is:

1. Khan Academy for foundations
2. YouTube for alternative explanations and examples
3. Coursera/edX/Udemy for a more complete course path

If you tell me the topic you want to learn, I can recommend the best sites and specific channels/courses for that subject.