If you want to learn React Native in 2026, start with Expo. React Native is still widely used, but the Expo-first workflow now shapes how developers navigate, build, and ship apps.
That shift changes which react native courses are worth your time. The strongest picks teach modern tools such as Expo Router and EAS, rather than patterns that may no longer run under the New Architecture.
Most courses assume you already know React and JavaScript. From over 700 React Native courses on Class Central, I picked 9 for this Best Courses Guide.
Which React Native Course is Best For Me?
Click a course to jump to its full review.
| Course | Best for | Cost | Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Stack Open, Part 10 (University of Helsinki) | A free, exercise-driven course with a free certificate | Free | 10-20 hours |
| React Native – The Practical Guide (Academind) | The most-reviewed paid course for React developers | Paid | 29 hours |
| Learn React Native (Codecademy) | Learning by doing in the browser (a good place to start) | Free to start | 13 hours |
| Complete React Native Course (JavaScript Mastery) | Free full-stack project builds | Free | ~15.5 hours |
| React Native Full 8-Hour Course (notJust.dev) | A free full-stack build in TypeScript | Free | ≈8 hours |
| Complete React Native Developer (Zero To Mastery) | A career-focused path with a big portfolio project | Paid | 28.5 hours |
| Start React Native (William Candillon) | Advanced animations with Gesture Handler and Reanimated | Paid | Not stated |
| React Native Full Course 2026 (PedroTech) | The most current free Expo build | Free | ≈5.5 hours |
| React Native Course (Code with Beto) | Shipping a production app end to end | Paid | ~20 hours |
Modern React Native courses teach Expo from routing to release
React Native now means learning an Expo-first workflow, not starting with the bare CLI. Learn React Native from Codecademy is a good starting point because its guided labs use Expo from the first lesson.
How We Chose These Courses
I looked for courses that let you build with Expo Router before asking you to manage native configuration. That approach helps new learners focus on screens, navigation, and app features.
- Expo Router and EAS appear in the syllabus or project description.
- A 2025 or 2026 publication date reflects the New Architecture era.
- The project includes submitting an app to the App Store or Google Play.
- The course page states whether learners need React experience first.
- TypeScript, authentication, payments, or a backend appear in the curriculum.
I compared learner reviews on Class Central, host-platform ratings, and what learners say on Reddit. Class Central has tracked online courses since 2011, and our small team has completed 400+ courses. React Native Full 8-Hour Course, Expo Router + Supabase earned a place because it teaches Expo Router and Supabase in one end-to-end project. Start with Codecademy, then complete its small apps before moving to a longer project course.
Best Free University-Level React Native Course with a Free Certificate (University of Helsinki)
I recommend the Full Stack Open course from the University of Helsinki if you prefer hands-on exercises. Start at the optional Part 10: React Native, though earlier parts help if you need React and basic GraphQL.
You build the UI for an app that rates GitHub repositories. You make GraphQL requests, sort and filter repositories, register and log in users, and create repository reviews. You also test the React Native app with Jest.
You can get a free certificate of completion after completing and submitting at least 25 ungraded exercises. Read their FAQ to find out more.
| Institution | University of Helsinki |
|---|---|
| Provider | Independent |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React |
| Workload | 10-20 hours |
| Rating (Class Central) | 4.5/5.0 (48 ratings) |
| Cost | Free |
| Certificate | Free |
Best Paid React Native Course for Beginners (Academind)
React Native – The Practical Guide is probably the best React Native course on Udemy.
Created by Maximilian Schwarzmüller from Academind, it covers setup, components, styling, navigation, state, APIs, animations, performance, and publishing.
One downside is that it isn’t project-based. Topics are taught separately, so build something alongside the course.
| Institution | Academind |
|---|---|
| Provider | Udemy |
| Instructor | Maximilian Schwarzmüller |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React |
| Workload | 29 hours |
| Rating (Udemy) | 4.6/5.0 (45.9K ratings) |
| Cost | Paid |
| Certificate | Included |
Best Interactive React Native Course (Codecademy)
Learn React Native stands out for its interactive, browser-based approach and its Expo partnership. It suits web or React developers who want a guided, hands-on introduction to mobile development. The course introduces Expo in the first lesson and uses lessons, quizzes, and six project labs with AI-assisted in-browser feedback.
It covers TypeScript, core components, styling with the StyleSheet API and Flexbox, interactive UIs, data handling, and platform-specific code with the Platform module. It also covers navigation with Expo Router and deployment to the App Store and Google Play with Expo EAS and bare React Native workflows.
Its guided labs include several smaller apps. For one complete end-to-end build, see the notJust.dev React Native Full 8-Hour Course.
| Provider | Codecademy |
|---|---|
| Instructor | Jiwon Shin |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with JavaScript and React |
| Workload | 13 hours |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Rating (Codecademy) | 4.3/5.0 (1,053 ratings) |
| Cost | Free to start (Plus/Pro for projects, quizzes, and certificate) |
| Certificate | Paid (Plus/Pro) |
Best Free Full-Stack React Native Course (JavaScript Mastery)
The Complete React Native Course from JavaScript Mastery is a free YouTube playlist of about 15.5 hours, not one continuous course. It bundles several of the channel’s full-stack project builds from 2023 to 2025 and assumes you already know React.
The newest build, from late 2025, walks through a full-stack app with payments. It uses TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Stripe, and Tailwind through NativeWind, for both iOS and Android.
| Channel | JavaScript Mastery |
|---|---|
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Adrian Hajdin |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React |
| Workload | ≈15.5 hours |
| Cost | Free |
| Certificate | None |
Best Free TypeScript React Native Course (notJust.dev)
Build a full-stack food-ordering app with React Native, Expo, Expo Router, Supabase, and TypeScript in this free 8-hour YouTube course by Vadim Savin of notJust.dev.
The course moves from UI to backend to production. You build authentication, data fetching and sessions, push notifications with Expo Application Services, image storage, Reanimated animations, and Stripe payments. An asset bundle with dummy data, files, and images helps you focus on coding along.
notJust.dev also offers React Native Mastery, a paid, structured course by Vadim Savin. You build seven full iOS and Android apps for your portfolio, using React Native, Expo, Expo Router, TypeScript, Zustand, Reanimated, Gesture Handler, and TanStack Query. Unlike the free YouTube tutorials, it follows a linear path and does not assume prior React Native experience. It focuses on app development and does not cover the backend. It is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
| Channel | notJust.dev |
|---|---|
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Vadim Savin |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React and TypeScript |
| Workload | ≈8 hours |
| Cost | Free |
| Certificate | None |
Best Comprehensive React Native Course (Zero To Mastery)
Get hired as a Mobile App Developer with Complete React Native Developer [with Hooks], a project-based course focused on efficiency. Impress prospective employers by building several projects, including a massive Uber Eats-style restaurant ordering application complete with animations, maps, and payments screens.
A great feature of ZTM is the global Discord community with over 500,000 members so you can connect online at any time of the day or night. Ask questions, share projects, and connect with the community so you won’t feel lonely while studying.
You’ll build and deploy enterprise-level cross-platform apps for iOS and Android, publish them to the App Store and Google Play, and learn to make scalable architecture decisions and lead projects like a senior developer. Along the way, the course covers hooks, the Context API, AsyncStorage, animations, routing, and native device features like the camera, plus Firebase authentication and functions, Google Maps, Stripe payments, styling with styled-components, and best practices for large, maintainable apps.
| Provider | Zero To Mastery |
|---|---|
| Instructors | Andrei Neagoie and Mo Binni |
| Level | Beginner to advanced |
| Workload | 28.5 hours |
| Material | Videos, readings, projects |
| Cost | Paid (ZTM membership or $199) |
| Certificate | Included |
Best React Native Animation Course (William Candillon)
Start React Native is a paid course by William Candillon focused on animation in React Native. Candillon is a well-respected React Native developer and instructor, often praised in the r/reactnative community. He also maintains React Native Skia and WebGPU.
You’ll use React Native Gesture Handler and Reanimated to build smooth animations that can run at 60 fps, even on low-end devices. Topics include worklets and shared values, pan gestures, transitions, higher-order and custom animations, drag-to-sort lists, cubic Bezier curves, and morphing shapes. To preview his teaching style, watch the free “Can it be done in React Native?” YouTube series, where he recreates UX from apps such as Duolingo and Snapchat and explains the math and code step by step. Access is by subscription, which also supports Candillon’s open-source work.
| Provider | Independent |
|---|---|
| Instructor | William Candillon |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React |
| Cost | Paid (subscription: $9/mo annual, $23/mo monthly, or $600 lifetime) |
| Certificate | None |
Best Up-to-Date Free React Native Course (PedroTech)
PedroTech’s free React Native course is a single 5.5-hour YouTube video published in February 2026. It covers the current Expo workflow, including Expo Router, Expo Dev Client development builds, and EAS deployment.
You build a social posts app with posts that expire after 24 hours. Along the way it covers login and signup with Supabase authentication, a profiles table with row-level security, and image storage and uploads, plus route guards and session persistence. The feed uses FlashList, with a reusable PostCard component and a profile screen.
| Channel | PedroTech |
|---|---|
| Provider | YouTube |
| Prerequisites | Familiarity with React |
| Workload | ≈5.5 hours |
| Cost | Free |
| Certificate | None |
Best Professional React Native Course (Code with Beto)
Code with Beto’s React Native course is a paid, roughly 20-hour program for building iOS and Android apps with React Native, Expo, and TypeScript. It is taught by Alberto “Beto” Moedano, a former Expo Developer Success Engineer, and moves from fundamentals through app-store release.
The course covers the current React Native architecture, Expo Router with authentication and deep linking, animations and gestures, and native interfaces built with Expo UI. From there it turns to production: testing with Jest and Maestro, a Supabase backend, push notifications, EAS build-and-deploy workflows, publishing to both stores, and payments with Stripe and RevenueCat.
Access is sold as a one-time purchase for Code with Beto’s full course library. A free React Native for Beginners crash course is included for learners starting from scratch.
| Institution | Code with Beto |
|---|---|
| Provider | Independent |
| Instructor | Alberto Moedano (former Expo engineer) |
| Prerequisites | None (free beginner crash course included) |
| Workload | ~20 hours (81 lessons) |
| Students | 20,000+ |
| Cost | Paid (one-time; lifetime access, from ~$299) |
| Certificate | None |
Bonus Resources
Beyond the courses above, these free resources are worth bookmarking as you build:
- React Native Official Docs: the fastest path for experienced developers, and the one resource guaranteed to reflect the current version, with runnable snippets in both TypeScript and JavaScript.
- Expo Tutorials and Docs: since most React Native development now runs through Expo, its official tutorials are close to essential. Reach for them once you have the basics down.
- The Ultimate Guide to React Native Optimization (Callstack): a free ebook for the stage after your first app ships, covering re-renders, animations, startup time, app size, and CI/CD.
- Galaxies.dev (Simon Grimm): a structured library of text tutorials and courses with a beginner roadmap. The roadmap and much of the material are free, with a paid PRO tier for the full library and coaching calls.
What’s Next?
Finished a course, and are wondering what to do next? Here are some suggestions.
- Join a Community: Stumped on a bug? Docs are not clear? Or you just want to laugh and cry with developers of the same feather? Whatever the case, participating in a community helps tons in keeping motivation.
- Reactiflux’s or Callstack.io’s Discord server
- Infinite Red’s Slack Group, if you prefer Slack
- r/reactnative subreddit
- Stay up-to-date: It seems like mobile app development tools and frameworks suffer from one tiring issue — they move fast! If you want to stay on your toes, these popular newsletters and blogs are for you.
- Build some apps: You need to code, code, code if you want to call yourself a developer. But developing an app from scratch can sound daunting. So I suggest you to take inspiration from the source code of these FOSS React Native apps if you’re stuck.
Pat revised the latest version of this article.
The post 9 Best React Native Courses for 2026: Learn the Expo Workflow appeared first on The Report by Class Central.