FREE PLC TRAINING
Best Free PLC Courses With Certificate in 2026 (Verified)
Seven real options, checked on each provider's own page: what is free, what the certificate costs, and which one fits what you need it for.
The best free PLC course with a certificate depends on what the certificate has to prove. For PLC programming itself, most free options teach at no cost and then charge for the certificate, or give no certificate at all. EDWartens teaches free and charges from US$2.99 for an optional certificate with a verification code.
Checked 26 September 2026. Every price and condition below comes from the provider's own page on that date, and the links are in the sources at the foot of this post. Prices change, so check again before you pay anyone.
Three kinds of "free with certificate"
Almost every option falls into one of three models. Knowing which one you are looking at saves a lot of reading.
- Free learning, paid certificate. You study at no cost and pay only if you want the certificate. Alison, Interconnecting Automation and EDWartens work this way.
- Free learning, no certificate. The material is free and there is nothing to claim at the end. Udemy's free courses and the Siemens SCE documents sit here.
- Paid membership that includes certificates. You pay a subscription after a trial. RealPars works this way.
Inductive University is the exception: its courses and its credential are both free. It teaches Ignition, which is SCADA software rather than PLC programming, but it belongs on any honest list.
The options, one by one
Siemens SCE learning and training documents
Siemens publishes more than 100 SCE learning and training modules for free download, covering TIA Portal and much else. Siemens says you need a Siemens ID with extended rights for SiePortal to download them. They are written for educators and students, and Siemens also suggests them for individual self-study.
They are documents and example projects, not a course with a tutor. Siemens' page mentions no assessment and no certificate. You will also need TIA Portal to follow them, which for most self-learners means the 21-day trial. If you like learning from a well-structured manual, they are excellent, and they come straight from the vendor.
AutomationDirect and Interconnecting Automation
AutomationDirect offers free online PLC training with no purchase needed, produced with its partner Interconnecting Automation (ICA). The videos cover PLC fundamentals and AutomationDirect's own PLC families, and AutomationDirect's PLC software is a free download.
The certificate is a separate, paid product. ICA's Basic CLICK PLC "Certificate Course" was listed at US$239 when we checked, with more than 75 videos, quizzes, a final exam and ladder programs marked by an instructor. It gives you 120 days to finish and three hours of continuing education credits, and PLC hardware is not required. If you want a person to mark your ladder logic, that is something most free options do not offer.
Alison: Master PLC Programming
Alison's Master PLC Programming is a free, beginner-level video course with an average duration of five to six hours, and Alison describes it as CPD-accredited. The certificate is optional and paid. Alison's help centre says learners can buy a digital or printed certificate but are under no obligation to, and that a free Learner Record is available as proof of study. The pricing page showed no figure when we checked and says prices for some courses vary, so you see the price when you claim it.
Udemy free PLC courses
Udemy has free PLC courses, and some are good. But Udemy's support page is clear that free courses do not offer a certificate of completion; only paid enrolments include one, apart from free enrolments made before 17 March 2020. Treat a free Udemy course as a way to sample a teacher, not as a route to a certificate.
Inductive University (Ignition, SCADA-adjacent)
Inductive University says it is 100% free of charge, and you can earn its credentials for free too. You learn through videos and short challenges, and you can download a fully functional trial of Ignition to practise on. The catch, if it is one, is that Ignition is SCADA and HMI software, not a PLC. If you are heading towards SCADA work, Inductive University is the strongest free credential in this list and we recommend it without hesitation. Our own Ignition SCADA course can sit alongside it, but it does not replace it.
RealPars
RealPars is a paid membership: US$60 a month, or US$50 a month billed yearly (US$600), after a 7-day free trial. Certificates are included, and RealPars says trial users also receive a certificate when they complete a course. It is a polished option if you are willing to pay a subscription; it is not free beyond the trial.
EDWartens
EDWartens has a full catalogue of complete free courses, including PLC courses for Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi, Omron, Schneider, CODESYS and more. Each course pairs video lessons by independent YouTube creators, credited on every course page, with a study plan, written notes with worked examples and a practice task per module, which EDWartens writes. There is one final assessment per course: 15 questions drawn from the whole course, a 60% pass mark and three attempts, then a 24-hour wait and a fresh paper. You practise in vendor trial or free software with simulators such as PLCSIM, so no hardware is needed.
Learning is free in full with a free account. The only paid item is an optional Certificate of Completion with a unique code and QR code that anyone can check at edwartens.com/verification. For a beginner course it is a small one-off fee, from US$2.99, and checkout shows your price. It is an EDWartens certificate, not a Siemens or Rockwell certification, and it is not accredited.
How to choose
Start from the job you want the certificate to do.
- You want the vendor's own material and do not need a certificate. Use the Siemens SCE documents alongside the TIA Portal trial.
- You want a person to mark your programs. ICA's paid certificate course is one of the few that does this.
- You are heading for SCADA work. Take Inductive University. The credential is free and it comes from the software maker.
- You want a structured PLC course, free to learn, with a low-cost certificate anyone can verify. That is what we built. Browse every free PLC course or start with Siemens TIA Portal.
- You learn best from one polished library and do not mind a subscription. RealPars, after its trial.
Whatever you pick, the certificate is the smaller part of what you get. The larger part is a program you wrote, tested and can explain. That is what an interviewer can check, and no certificate from any provider replaces it.
Five questions to ask before you pay for any certificate
These apply to every provider in this list, ours included.
- Can someone check it? A certificate with a public verification page or code is worth more than a PDF anyone could edit. Ask how an employer would confirm it is genuine.
- Who issues it? A training provider, a software maker and a manufacturer's certification body are three different things. The name on the certificate should match what you say on your CV.
- What did you have to do to earn it? Watching videos, passing a quiz, passing a final exam and having a person mark your programs are very different levels of evidence.
- What is the price in your currency, all in? Some providers show prices only at checkout, and some add tax on top. Know the final figure before you start the course, not after you finish it.
- Is the learning still free if you never pay? On the best free options, the certificate is optional and nothing you learn depends on buying it.
What none of these certificates are
None of the certificates in this list, ours included, is a vendor certification. Siemens and Rockwell run their own certification programmes, earned through their own training and exams, and no third party can award them. A completion certificate says you finished a course and passed its assessment. Describe it exactly that way on your CV and nobody can fault it.
Start free
The free PLC training page lists every PLC course we offer. If you are new to PLCs, begin with Siemens TIA Portal, 22 modules from zero to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, or try Siemens TIA Portal in Three Hours first if you want a shorter taste. Learning costs nothing. If you pass the final assessment and want the certificate, it is a small one-off fee, from US$2.99 for a beginner course. It is a verifiable EDWartens Certificate of Completion, not a Siemens qualification.
Take the free course
Questions
Is there a completely free PLC course with a certificate?
Not among the PLC options we checked on 26 September 2026: either the learning is free and the certificate is paid, or there is no certificate. Inductive University's credential is free, but it covers Ignition SCADA rather than PLC programming.
Do Udemy's free PLC courses give a certificate?
No. Udemy's support page says free courses do not offer a certificate of completion; only paid enrolments include one.
How much does the EDWartens PLC certificate cost?
For a beginner course it is a small one-off fee, from US$2.99, and checkout shows your price. Learning and the final assessment are free, and the certificate is optional.
Is a free PLC course certificate the same as Siemens certification?
No. Siemens certifications are earned through Siemens' own SITRAIN training and exams. A completion certificate from any course provider, ours included, shows only that you finished the course and passed its assessment.
Do I need a real PLC for these courses?
Usually not. EDWartens courses use vendor trial or free software with simulators such as PLCSIM, and Interconnecting Automation says PLC hardware is not required for its certificate course.
Sources
- Siemens: SCE learning/training documents
- AutomationDirect: free online PLC training
- Interconnecting Automation: Basic CLICK PLC Certificate Course
- Alison: Master PLC Programming
- Alison Help Center: paying for a certificate on a free course
- Udemy: The Free Course Experience
- Inductive University: About
- RealPars: individual pricing
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
