Early Education Pathways, from the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care, is our number one: free self-paced courses and clock-hour trainings, eight free courses that give 80 of the 120 CDA training hours, and approval in more than 30 states. The Institute of Child Nutrition's free CACFP courses and CDC's free Watch Me! course follow. Your state decides which hours count, so check its registry first.
| # | Name | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Early Education Pathways (EEP) | Best for free hours and the CDA | Free |
| 2 | Institute of Child Nutrition online courses (iLearn) | Best for free CACFP training | Free |
| 3 | Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns | Best for an hour on milestones and families | Free |
| 4 | Better Kid Care On Demand | Best for low-cost certificates, two hours at a time | Free plan, paid upgrades |
| 5 | Your state's free trainings | Best for knowing which hours count | Price varies |
| 6 | Care Courses | Best for a year of hours at one price | Free plan, paid upgrades |
| 7 | ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) | Best for unlimited courses for one person | Paid |
| 8 | Virtual Lab School | Best for free reading on practice | Free |
Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care (HHS)
Free self-paced courses, clock-hour trainings and professional development resources in one place, with progress tracking for hours and CEUs. Eight free iCDA courses give 80 of the 120 training hours the CDA requires, and more than 30 states approve its courses.
No cost to enroll or take courses
Watch for Check that your state is one of those that approves its courses before you count the hours.
Institute of Child Nutrition
Free, self-paced online courses for child nutrition professionals, with a certificate of completion. The CACFP page lists CACFP Child and Adult Meal Pattern Requirements, CACFP Infant Meal Pattern Requirements, Food Safety in Child Care, Family Child Care FUNdamentals and short CARE Connection courses on menus and snacks.
Free; a free account is needed
Watch for Nutrition and food safety only, not general child development or CPR.
Visit Institute of Child Nutrition online courses (iLearn) ↗ Facts read on the maker’s page.
CDC, Learn the Signs. Act Early.
A free one-hour course in four modules on watching children's development and talking with families about it. CDC offers 0.1 CEU for it through CDC TRAIN (course WB5027) when you pass the post-assessment at 80%, until 1 August 2029.
Free; CDC charges no fees for its CEU activities
Watch for One hour only, and the CEU needs a CDC TRAIN account.
Visit Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns ↗
Penn State Extension
Online lessons for child care professionals that anyone can preview and take free with an account; you pay only if you need a certificate for professional development hours. Self-paced, works on a phone, with an 80% pass mark for the certificate.
The free part: Every course to read and take; the certificate is what costs
Free to take; $5 per two-hour course for a professional development certificate on most courses (as of 2026-10-31)
Watch for Ask whether your state accepts Better Kid Care hours; the page asks you to check your area.
Your state's child care office and registry
Childcare.gov links each state's and territory's child care offices. Your state's professional development registry lists the trainings it approves, many of them free, and it is where your hours are recorded.
Many state trainings are free; it depends on your state
Watch for Each state's site is different, and some need an account with the registry first.
Care Courses
Online child care courses for annual training hours and the CDA, with more than 175 clock hours in the annual subscription and a free one-hour course with a certificate to try first.
The free part: One 1-hour course with a certificate
Subscription from $99 a year for one seat; one free 1-hour course with a certificate (as of 2026-10-31)
Watch for A paid subscription after the free course; check your state accepts it.
ChildCare Education Institute
Online professional development for child care with more than 200 courses, most two to three hours, and IACET CEUs. One educator can take unlimited courses for a year or buy hours in blocks; there is a free trial.
$99 a year for unlimited access, or $14 an hour for 1 to 49 hours (as of 2026-10-31)
Watch for Paid after the trial, card only; some states limit courses or hours a day.
Visit ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) ↗ Facts read on the maker’s page.
Virtual Lab School (Ohio State University, for military child and youth programs)
Fifteen foundational courses aligned with the CDA competencies and NAEYC and NAFCC standards, on safe environments, child development and family engagement, plus focused topics, written for military-affiliated child care programs. All the content is publicly available to child care professionals.
Free to read
Watch for Only military-affiliated users and partner organizations earn course certificates, so the hours may not count for you.
We weighed these, most important first. The order is our judgement against them, not a score or a vote, and a different teacher could reasonably order it differently.
We took no money, free products or affiliate commissions for any place on this list, and no link here carries a tracking code. Every fact was read on the maker’s own page on October 31, 2026; prices carry that date because they change. See how we choose and the ad-free promise.
Last checked October 31, 2026. Something out of date or missing? Tell us and we will fix it; makers can send corrections, never money.