5 Best R Courses with R logo background

5 Best R Courses in 2024 [Learn R Programming for Beginners]

Today we’re looking at the best R courses for this year.

🧠 Did you know? According to GeeksforGeeks, after SQL, R is the most-used data science language.

What is R?

R is a programming language that is used for statistical computing. It’s used to clean, analyze and graph your data.

Statisticians and data miners use R programming for both data analysis and developing statistical software.

R is ranked 13th on the TIOBE index for February 2022.

What are some companies that use R programming?

Some companies that use R programming include:

✅ Airbnb

✅ Amazon

✅ Facebook

✅ Firefox

✅ Uber

And beyond.

This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation if you buy something. Read my disclosure for more details.

TLDR: 5 Best R Courses This Year

💥
DataCamp: Introduction to the Tidyverse
💥
DataCamp: Introduction to R
💥
Educative.io: Learn R from Scratch
💥
Codecademy Pro: Learn R
💥
Coursera: Data Science – Foundations using R (Specialization)

🔥 Bonus Project: Getting Started with R

Best R Courses

All of our picks for Best R Courses are for beginners. That’s because you need a solid foundation if you want to master R programming.

So we picked courses that best explain the fundamentals of R programming.

1. DataCamp: Introduction to the Tidyverse

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 4 Hours
🎖️Certificate of Completion: Yes
📖 Lessons: 50

Tidyverse is a powerful set of tools frequently used in R programming.

Video explanation of visualizing with ggplot2 in the course Introduction to the Tidyverse on DataCamp.

➡️ In our opinion, Introduction to the Tidyverse is one of the best R courses overall.

With DataCamp’s gamified environment, you’ll learn about data manipulation and data visualization using dplyr and ggplot2.

In addition, you’ll learn how to manipulate data by:

  • filtering
  • sorting
  • summarizing

And more.

Introduction to the Tidyverse does not require any previous R knowledge. This course is a wonderful introduction to data analysis.

Course Layout

You’ll learn using a combination of interactive and video lessons.

There are 4 chapters:

✅ Data Wrangling

✅ Data Visualization

✅ Grouping and Summarizing

✅ Types of Visualizations

In addition, you’ll work on numerous quizzes and interactive exercises.

Interactive exercise to create a subgraph in the course Introduction to the Tidyverse on DataCamp.

💰 Cost

There is a free tier on DataCamp, but the features are limited.

Or you can get a subscription for $25 per month or $300 per year:

FreeMonthly SubscriptionYearly Subscription
CoursesFirst chapter only340+340+
Projects785+85+
Challenges
Skill Tracks
Career Tracks
Support & More

2. DataCamp: Introduction to R

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 4 Hours
🎖️Certificate of Completion: Yes
📖 Lessons: 62

Similar to the previous course, Introduction to R uses a gamified environment to teach R programming.

Arithmetic in R lesson and exercise in the course Introduction to R on DataCamp.

➡️ We think Introduction to R is one of the best R courses for beginners.

Here you’ll master the basics of R such as:

  • factors
  • lists
  • data frames

And more.

Again, you don’t need any previous R experience.

Course Layout

Introduction to R has 6 chapters. With interactive learning, it covers:

✅ Intro to the Basics

✅ Vectors

✅ Matrices

✅ Factors

✅ Data Frames

✅ Lists

And more.

Lesson on matrices in the course Introduction to R on DataCamp. After reading about matrices, you’ll work on an interactive coding exercise with the embedded code editor.

💰 Cost

There’s a free tier on DataCamp, but features are very limited.

Or you can subscribe for $25 per month or $300 per year:

FreeMonthly SubscriptionYearly Subscription
CoursesFirst chapter only340+340+
Projects7785+
Challenges
Skill Tracks
Career Tracks
Support & More

3. Educative: Learn R from Scratch

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 10 hours
🎖️Certificate of Completion: Yes
📖 Lessons: 83

QuizzesChallengesPlaygroundsCode Snippets
82016393

Learn R from Scratch is an interactive course on Educative.io. There are no videos, but plenty of code snippets and playgrounds.

Typical learning environment in Learn R from Scratch on Educative.io. In addition to diagrams, you’ll find playgrounds, code snippets, quizzes and challenges.

➡️ Because it’s free, we believe Learn R from Scratch is one of the best R courses for developers unsure if they want to learn R programming.

You don’t need any prior experience with R.

So you’ll start with the basics and work up to advanced concepts.

Course Layout

With 11 modules, you’ll learn about:

✅ Variables

✅ Exploring R Objects

✅ R Operators and Notation

✅ Conditional Statements

✅ Loops & Functions

✅ Exception Handling

And much more.

From there you’ll work on 3 challenges covering concepts such as mean and median, vectors and input/output.

Find the Mean and Median challenge in the beginner course Learn R from Scratch on Educative.io.

💰 Cost

This course is free for a limited time.

But if you purchase a subscription to Educative.io, you’ll have full access to over 320+ courses. And counting.

You can get a monthly subscription for $59 per month.

Or you can get a yearly subscription for $199.


4. Codecademy Pro: Learn R

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 20 Hours
🎖️Certificate of Completion: Yes
📖 Lessons: 16

In Learn R, you’ll learn about fundamental programming concepts in R.

Typical learning environment in Learn R on Codecademy Pro. It contains a lesson, exercise instructions and an embedded code editor.

➡️ Learn R could very well be one of the best R courses for programmers who like to work on projects.

With hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to:

  • organize, modify and clean data frames
  • create data visualizations
  • use statistics and hypothesis testing

And more.

You don’t need previous experience with R programming.

Course Layout

Learn R has 10 chapters which cover:

✅ Data Frames

✅ Data Cleaning

✅ Variance and Standard Deviation

✅ Joining Tables

✅ Hypothesis Testing

And more.

Plus you’ll work on mini projects and take multiple choice quizzes.

Quiz example on data cleaning from Learn R on Codecademy Pro.

💰 Cost

You can get Codecademy’s Learn R for free.

And if you like it, consider signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription to Codcademy Pro.

There are more R programming courses ranging from beginner to advanced.

FreeMonthly $39.99/moYearly $19.99/mo
CoursesBasicAllAll
ProjectsLimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Support
Members-only Content

5. Coursera: Data Science Foundations Using R (Specialization)

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 5 months
🎖️Certificate of Completion: Yes
📖 Lessons: 5 courses

Data Science: Foundations Using R is a little different than our other offerings.

It’s a Specialization which means that it contains multiple courses. And it typically takes about 5 months to complete.

➡️ Data Science: Foundations Using R Specialization is possibly one of the best R courses for developers who want a deep understanding of R.

You don’t need any previous experience with R programming.

Specialization Layout

With 5 courses, this specialization covers:

The Data Scientist’s Toolbox – general overview of data tools that data analysts and data scientists work with

R Programming – learn how to program in R and use R for data analysis

Getting and Cleaning Data – ways data can be obtained and cleaned

Exploratory Data Analysis – exploratory techniques to summarize data

Reproducible Research – tools to report modern data analyses in a reproducible manner

And much, much more.

💰 Cost

You can sign up for Coursera’s Data Science: Foundations Using R Specialization for $49 per month.


Bonus Project: Getting Started with R

⚠️ Level: Beginner
⏲️ Estimated Completion Time: 2 Hours
🎖️Certificate of Completion: N/A
📖 Lessons: 9

Not ready for a full commitment but want to explore the R programming language?

For $9.99, you can take Coursera’s beginner project Getting Started with R.

Learning environment in Getting Started with R, a guided project on Coursera.

➡️ Getting Started with R is arguably one of the best R courses for developers on a budget.

Using a split-screen video walkthrough of each step, you’ll learn:

✅ the basics of R

✅ how to use RStudio

✅ about data types and data structures

✅ how to install packages and import data

And beyond.

RStudio setup in the guided project Getting Started with R on Coursera.

When you’re finished building your project, you can download it for personal use.

💰 Cost

You can snag this guided project Getting Started with R on Coursera for $9.99.


Conclusion: 5 Best R Courses

Today we showed you our top 5 best R courses:

DataCamp: Introduction to the Tidyverse
DataCamp: Introduction to R
Educative.io: Learn R from Scratch
Codecademy Pro: Learn R
Coursera: Data Science – Foundations using R (Specialization)

Plus we showed you a beginner bonus project in R:
Bonus Project: Getting Started with R

So if you’re a beginner, we think any of these R courses will be a good start.


Readers of Best R Courses are also reading:


  1. What are the best R courses?

    Some the best R courses are for beginners. So we recommend platforms such as DataCamp, Codecademy Pro, Educative and Coursera. Some beginner courses include: 1.) DataCamp – Introduction to the Tidyverse 2.) DataCamp: Introduction to R 3.) Educative.io: Learn R from Scratch 4.) Codecademy Pro: Learn R 5.) Coursera: Data Science – Foundations using R Specialization. In today’s article, you’ll learn more about these best R courses.

  2. What are the best online courses for R?

    If you’re looking for the best online courses for R for beginners, we recommend platforms such as DataCamp, Codecademy Pro, Educative and Coursera. Some courses include: 1.) DataCamp – Introduction to the Tidyverse 2.) DataCamp: Introduction to R 3.) Educative.io: Learn R from Scratch 4.) Codecademy Pro: Learn R 5.) Coursera: Data Science – Foundations using R Specialization. Learn more about the best online courses for R in today’s article.

  3. What’s the best way to learn R programming?

    Online courses are considered to be one of the best ways to learn R programming. And for beginners, we recommend 1.) DataCamp – Introduction to the Tidyverse 2.) DataCamp: Introduction to R 3.) Educative.io: Learn R from Scratch 4.) Codecademy Pro: Learn R 5.) Coursera: Data Science – Foundations using R Specialization. Learn more about all of these R programming courses in today’s post.

  4. What are some companies that use R programming?

    Some companies that use R programming include Airbnb, Amazon, Facebook, Firefox, Uber and many more. Learn more about R programming in today’s post where we’re looking at some of the best R programming courses for this year.

  5. What is R?

    R is a programming language that is used for statistical computing. It’s used to clean, analyze and graph your data. Statisticians and data miners use R programming for both data analysis and developing statistical software. R is ranked 13th on the TIOBE index for February 2022. Learn more about R in today’s post where we’re looking at some of the best R courses of this year.