Flexible online learning
At your own time and pace
With personal guidance
freeCodeCamp, Scrimba, The Odin Project and Coursera are good international platforms to learn and try out front-end. If you want to retrain as a front-end developer in the Netherlands, you need more: guidance, a clear structure and Dutch funding. For that, the Front-end Development course at Winc Academy is the Dutch route.
With only an international platform, you run into four things when you switch careers in the Netherlands. To find out whether front-end suits you, that is no problem. If you really want to change jobs, you have to solve them yourself.
You set your own structure and schedule. You choose when you learn and how much time you put in. That gives you freedom, but there is nobody who keeps an eye on your progress with you. Whether you keep going is entirely up to you.
Help comes from a community. At The Odin Project, for example, you ask your questions in the Discord community. That helps, but it is not a teacher who reads your code and gives you personal feedback.
The certificate comes from a foreign platform. freeCodeCamp is an American non-profit, Scrimba is a company from Norway and you get the Meta certificate through Coursera. It is not a certificate from a Dutch education provider.
Nobody prepares you for applying for jobs in the Netherlands. Your CV, your LinkedIn profile, your cover letter and your job interviews with Dutch companies are things you work out yourself. UWV counts programmers and developers in ICT among the promising occupations of 2026-2027.
Like the platforms, the Front-end Development course at Winc Academy is 100% online and at your own pace. The difference lies in the four points above.
You get guidance and a clear path. You get 1-on-1 guidance from teachers and study coaches: the lessons are in English, and you ask your questions in Dutch via Slack or in a 1-on-1 session. There are no fixed timetables, but every module ends with a final assignment. If your final project is not sufficient the first time, a teacher gives you feedback and you can hand it in again.
You can use Dutch funding. If you receive a UWV benefit, it can go through UWV: read more about retraining through UWV. Your employer can also pay, for example if your collective labour agreement includes education agreements. There are also regional grants, such as Haaglanden Leert Door and Scholingsbudget Rijnmond.
Through TechMeUp you get an interest-free loan that you only pay back once you have an IT job. The funding test on the course page takes 2 minutes. You can also look at all funding options.
You learn with a Dutch education provider. You finish with a certificate from Winc Academy, a CRKBO-registered education provider that is a member of the NRTO.
You prepare for applying for jobs in the Netherlands. In the Career Module (2 to 5 hours) you explore roles and companies. You work on a strong CV, your LinkedIn profile and a cover letter, and you prepare for job interviews. Winc writes on the course page that many of its students start their IT career at companies such as Randstad, Experis and local IT specialists.
The course is 380 study hours, with 6 months of access, at your own pace. Want to know exactly what you will learn? View the course.
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This is what the four well-known platforms offer, in short.
freeCodeCamp is an American non-profit where everything is free, including certifications such as Responsive Web Design and JavaScript. You learn by building projects, in the browser, a code editor or the mobile app.
Scrimba is a company from Oslo that teaches with interactive video: you pause the lesson and edit the code you see right away. The intro courses are free, but The Frontend Developer Path (81.6 hours, for beginners) is part of Pro, a paid subscription.
The Odin Project is a free open-source curriculum, maintained by volunteers. After Foundations you choose Full Stack JavaScript or Full Stack Ruby on Rails, and along the way you build projects for your portfolio.
The Meta Front-End Developer Professional Certificate has 9 courses for beginners, and Coursera estimates 7 months at 6 hours a week. Enrolling is free, but for full access the page points to a subscription.
You do not have to choose straight away: with a free platform you first test whether front-end suits you, and then you move on to a course. If you are still unsure which IT direction to take, there is Techstart: 8 study hours, 1 month of access and online. If you want to talk your situation through with someone, book a free advice call of about 20 minutes, 1-on-1 with a course advisor. For more background, read the blog on why retrain as a front-end developer.
That is possible through UWV if you receive a UWV benefit, through your employer or through a regional grant. Another route is TechMeUp: an interest-free loan that you only pay back once you have an IT job. The funding test on the course page takes 2 minutes.
No, the lessons are in English. You can ask your questions in Dutch, via Slack or in a 1-on-1 session with a teacher or study coach.
No, you do not get an MBO or HBO diploma. You finish with a certificate from Winc Academy, a CRKBO-registered education provider that is a member of the NRTO.
Yes. With a free platform such as freeCodeCamp or The Odin Project you start at no cost. If it suits you, you can then move on to a course.
