Jeremy Howard’s Fast.ai & Data Institute Certificates
FreeThe in-person certificate courses are not free, but all of the content is available on Fast.ai as MOOCs.
FreeFree tier
About Jeremy Howard’s Fast.ai & Data Institute Certificates
fast.ai is a research institute dedicated to making deep learning more accessible. It offers free online courses for coders, such as 'Practical Deep Learning for Coders' and 'How to Solve It With Code', along with the fastai software library for PyTorch, nbdev for literate programming, and a community forum. Founded by Jeremy Howard, fast.ai emphasizes practical, hands-on learning and aims to involve people from diverse backgrounds in AI.
Key Features
Free online courses for coders (e.g., Practical Deep Learning for Coders, How to Solve It With Code)
fastai software library for PyTorch, one of the world's most popular deep learning frameworks
nbdev – a literate programming environment for developing libraries
Cutting-edge AI research (e.g., ULMFiT, tokenization guides)
Active community forum and blog with technical and societal AI topics
Focus on accessibility: supports C#, Windows, small datasets, and diverse backgrounds
Pros & Cons
Pros
- All course content is completely free and openly available
- Practical, code-first teaching style suitable for experienced coders
- Backed by a world-renowned AI researcher and educator (Jeremy Howard)
- Large, supportive community and active forum
- Software library (fastai) is highly optimized and widely adopted
- Covers both foundational and advanced topics (e.g., Stable Diffusion, LLMs)
Cons
- No formal certification or degree; learners must self-motivate
- Assumes coding proficiency; not ideal for absolute beginners without programming experience
- Advanced topics may require significant self-study and external resources
- Limited direct instructor interaction compared to paid courses
Best For
Learning deep learning from scratch with a practical, code-first approachBuilding and deploying production-grade AI models using fastaiConducting research in medical imaging, NLP, and foundation modelsTeaching AI in educational settings with free, high-quality materialsUpskilling professionals from non-traditional backgrounds (e.g., healthcare, humanities)
FAQ
Are fast.ai courses really free?
Yes, all course content, including video lectures, notebooks, and assignments, is available for free on the fast.ai website.
Do I need a GPU to run the course exercises?
No, the courses provide guidance on using free GPU resources such as Google Colab and Kaggle kernels.
Who is Jeremy Howard?
Jeremy Howard is a data scientist, researcher, and educator who created ULMFiT and co-founded fast.ai. He is also the founding CEO of Answer.AI and an honorary professor at the University of Queensland.
Does fast.ai offer paid certificates or in-person training?
No, fast.ai itself does not offer paid certificates or in-person training. The website provides free MOOCs only.