Toolkit
Learn free. Build with the right tools.
The lessons and tools our challenges are built on. Start with the free ones; pay for something only when a project needs it.
Some links are referral links, and they are marked. If you sign up through one, Alt AI Labs may earn a commission or credit, at no extra cost to you. A tool is listed because we teach with it, not because it pays.
Learning pathThe Claude pathFive free Anthropic Academy courses in order, each followed by a challenge that proves the skill.Learn, for free
Prompting and first steps, from the companies that make the models.
- Prompt engineering for ClaudeAnthropicAnthropic’s own guide to writing prompts for Claude: be clear, give examples, let it think.Free
- Interactive prompting tutorialAnthropicNine short chapters with exercises. The fastest way to get good at prompting by doing it.Free
- Anthropic AcademyAnthropicFree courses from the makers of Claude: AI fluency, Claude basics, building with the API.Free
- Prompt engineering for ChatGPTOpenAIOpenAI’s guide to prompting ChatGPT and its models, with strategies and worked examples.Free
- OpenAI AcademyOpenAIFree lessons and live sessions from OpenAI, from first steps in ChatGPT to building with it.Free
- Prompt design for GeminiGoogleGoogle’s prompt design strategies for Gemini, with patterns you can copy.Free
- ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for DevelopersDeepLearning.AIA free one-hour course by Andrew Ng and OpenAI on prompting from code.Free
- Learn PromptingAn open guide to prompting, from the first prompt to advanced techniques.Free
- freeCodeCampFree, full courses in web development, Python and data, with certificates.Free
- CS50HarvardHarvard’s introduction to computer science. Hard, free, and worth it.Free
Build
AI coding tools: you describe, they write, you steer.
- Claude CodeAnthropicAn AI engineer in your terminal: describe what you want and it writes and runs the code.Paid
- CursorA code editor built around AI. Good for learning to read the code the AI writes.Free to start
- LovableDescribe an app in plain language and get a working one with a public link.Free to start
- ReplitWrite, run and deploy from the browser. Nothing to install.Free to start
- v0VercelTurns a description into a web interface you can deploy in one click.Free to start
- GitHubWhere your code lives and where employers look first.Free to start
Put it online
Servers, databases and domains, cheapest first.
- VercelThe easiest place to put a website or web app online. This site runs on it.Free to start
- NetlifyFree hosting for websites, with a deploy on every push to GitHub.Free to start
- CloudflareFree DNS, protection and static hosting. Put it in front of anything you ship.Free to start
- RailwayRun a backend and a database without managing a server.Paid
- RenderWeb services, background jobs and databases, with a free tier to start on.Free to start
- Hetzner CloudYour own server in Europe at a low monthly price. For when you outgrow free tiers.Paid
- DigitalOceanSimple cloud servers with clear tutorials for almost every setup.Paid
- NeonA Postgres database with a free tier. This site’s data lives on it.Free to start
- SupabaseA database, sign-in and file storage in one place, with a free tier.Free to start
- NamecheapBuy the domain name for your project.Paid
Automate
Make apps and AI do the repetitive part.
- n8nConnect apps and AI into automations by drawing them. Free if you host it yourself.Free to start
- MakeVisual automations between the apps a business already uses.Free to start
- ZapierThe simplest way to make one app trigger another.Free to start
- Telegram Bot APIBuild a bot for the messenger everyone here already uses. Free.Free
Design and video
For the work people see first.
- FigmaDesign interfaces, logos and brand kits in the browser.Free to start
- CanvaPosters, slides and social posts from templates, without design training.Free to start
- CapCutEdit short videos on a phone or laptop, with captions and templates.Free to start
- ElevenLabsNatural AI voices in many languages for videos, bots and voice agents.Free to start