SQL course for beginners: the 10 best in 2026

Best for beginners who have finished the basics and want to analyse data like a pro. It covers multi-table analysis, subqueries and CTEs, window functions, functions by data type and techniques such as pivoting and rolling calculations, ending with a project tracking Major League Baseball player statistics.

It has 4.6 stars from more than 8,200 reviews and more than 46,000 students. It runs about eight hours with six quizzes and 21 homework assignments, and was updated in June 2026. We lowered it because it recommends a beginner course first.

Best for beginners preparing for developer or database interviews. Across 23 sections it covers creating databases and tables, constraints and relationships, CRUD operations, functions, dates, joins, views, CASE, window functions, CTEs, stored procedures and triggers, plus interview-focused database theory.

It has 4.5 stars from more than 2,600 reviews and more than 14,000 students. It runs about 14 hours with 28 quizzes and was updated in February 2026.

Best for beginners who want SQL and database design together. It covers SQL basics, MySQL in depth, database design with normalisation and relationships, and data analysis, through a project building an online cinema booking database, with exercises and video solutions.

It has 4.5 stars from more than 64,000 reviews and more than 199,000 students. It runs about eight and a half hours with 13 resources and was last updated in April 2025.

Best for beginners who want to learn SQL on Oracle through many examples. It explains each SQL concept methodically with hundreds of examples and coding exercises, includes installing Oracle Database 23 AI, and covers COMMIT and ROLLBACK.

It has 4.6 stars from more than 10,000 reviews and more than 40,000 students. It runs about eight and a half hours with 11 quizzes and was updated in September 2026.

Best for absolute beginners who want the building blocks fast. Using MySQL Workbench, it covers SQL syntax, relational database design concepts, SELECT and column aliases, filtering with WHERE, sorting with ORDER BY, grouping and HAVING, and creating a database and tables from scratch.

It has 4.6 stars from more than 16,000 reviews and more than 51,000 students. It runs about three hours, the shortest course here, with eight quizzes, and was updated in December 2025.

Best for first-time coders who want SQL for analysis quickly. You play the new owner of a DVD rental shop and use MySQL Workbench to analyse single tables, then multiple tables with joins, with a mid-course and a final project and a downloadable MySQL ebook.

It has 4.7 stars from more than 10,000 reviews and more than 60,000 students. It runs about four and a half hours with four quizzes and homework, and was updated in June 2026. It does not cover building or maintaining databases.

Best for visual learners who want to go from zero to job-ready. More than 200 animations explain SELECT, filtering, joins and set operations, row-level and window functions, subqueries and CTEs, views, procedures and triggers, indexes and partitions, and using ChatGPT and Copilot, with projects including a data warehouse and exploratory analysis.

It has 4.7 stars from more than 12,000 reviews and more than 64,000 students. It runs about 30 hours, the longest course on this list, with six quizzes, and was updated in October 2026.

Best for beginners who want a structured daily plan with PostgreSQL. In about an hour a day for 15 days, it covers GROUP BY, joins, functions, unions, data manipulation and definition, views, window functions, grouping sets and rollups, transactions, subqueries, query optimisation and indexes, with two course projects.

It has 4.6 stars from more than 18,000 reviews and more than 111,000 students. It runs about 14 and a half hours with 28 quizzes and was updated in October 2026.

Best for complete beginners who want MySQL with lots of practice. It covers SQL syntax, aggregate functions, logical operators and string functions, all the common joins, dates and times, database schema design, views and MySQL 8 window functions, and clones the database of a photo-sharing social network.

It has 4.6 stars from more than 109,000 reviews, the most on this list, and more than 530,000 students. It runs about 17 and a half hours with exercises and challenges, and was updated in July 2026.