Best Free Alternatives to CS First in 2026

Free block-based programming platform and online community for creating interactive stories, games, and animations.

Former collaborative web coding and hosting platform; now mainly a legacy reference after shutdown of hosting and core service access.

Advanced blocks-based programming language from UC Berkeley for teaching real computer science concepts beyond beginner block coding.

Front-end development playground and social coding environment for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, live previews, and sharable experiments.

Free math platform combining graphing, geometry, algebra, statistics, calculus, and classroom resources in one ecosystem.

Open-source blocks-based programming library for building custom visual coding editors and educational coding experiences.

Research-based interactive science and math simulations for exploring STEM concepts through virtual experiments.

Education-focused browser coding environment for Python, HTML, and shareable interactive code, but scheduled to shut down in early August 2026.

Introductory coding app for ages 5-7 that teaches sequencing and logic through animated stories and games.

Overleaf is an online LaTeX editor for academic and technical writing with real-time collaboration, templates, and version control.

Browser IDE powered by WebContainers for running full-stack JavaScript and Node workflows without traditional local setup.

Classic browser code playground for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets, demos, experiments, and bug reproductions.