Best System Design Courses for Beginners in 2025

System design is a critical skill for any software engineer designing scalable, high-performance applications. Whether you’re a beginner building foundational knowledge or an experienced developer preparing for a system design interview, the right course can make a huge difference.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best system design courses available (both free and paid) that cater to all experience levels.

We’ll cover major learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and DesignGurus.io, including the highly acclaimed Grokking the System Design Interview course.

By the end, you’ll know which courses are best for interview preparation, which help you learn system design fundamentals, and which delve into advanced architecture topics – all presented in a conversational yet informative tone.

Why Learn System Design?

Mastering system design is essential for building modern software systems that can handle millions of users. Top tech companies (Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.) include system design rounds in interviews to test your ability to define a system’s architecture and make trade-offs in areas like scalability, reliability, and security.

Unlike coding interviews focused on algorithms, system design interviews require a broad understanding of how to architect large-scale systems.

Learning these skills not only helps with FAANG system design interviews but also makes you a better engineer when designing real-world applications. The courses below will help you learn system design from scratch, practice with real examples, and gain confidence to tackle complex design problems.

Whether your goal is interview preparation, learning fundamental design principles, or exploring advanced system architectures, there’s a course on this list for you.

Let’s discuss the top system design courses of 2025!

Top System Design Courses at a Glance

Below is a quick comparison of the top 7 system design courses, including their platform, cost, difficulty level, format, and what each is best for.

This table will help you get an overview before we discuss each course in detail.

Table: Comparison of top system design courses by platform, cost, level, format, and target audience.

As you can see, some courses focus on system design interview prep (with mock interview questions and frameworks), while others teach the fundamentals of software architecture in a broader sense.

Next, we’ll go through each of these courses in detail, so you can understand their content, strengths, and who they’re best suited for.

In-Depth Reviews of the Best System Design Courses

1. Grokking the System Design Interview (DesignGurus.io) – Best for Interview Prep

Grokking the System Design Interview is often cited as the #1 system design course for interview preparation. This flagship course by DesignGurus (created by ex-FAANG hiring managers) has become a staple for engineers aiming to ace system design interviews.

It distills years of real-world experience into a structured approach for designing scalable systems. With over 100,000 learners and 30,000+ 5★ reviews to date, Grokking has proven itself as a top resource in this domain.

This course covers a step-by-step framework for approaching any system design question. It starts with how to clarify requirements and define system scope, then guides you through designing key components (APIs, database schema, caching, load balancing, etc.), considering trade-offs, and finally outlining an end-to-end solution.

Concepts like scalability, reliability, and performance are explained in simple terms with real-world examples. You’ll learn about caching strategies, database sharding, load balancers, message queues, and more – all critical building blocks for large-scale systems.

The curriculum is kept up-to-date with industry trends and includes case studies of designing popular systems (e.g. how to design Instagram, Uber, Twitter, etc.) to practice applying the principles.

One big advantage of Grokking is its readable format – it’s a text-based course with clear diagrams and illustrations, making it easy to digest complex ideas at your own pace.

The content is very comprehensive but also tailored to fit into a typical interview’s 45-60 minute discussion format.

In other words, it teaches you what depth of detail is appropriate in an interview setting, which is incredibly useful.

Who is it for?

Grokking is ideal for software engineers preparing for system design interviews, especially at big tech companies. It’s often recommended for those who maybe haven’t designed large systems on the job – the course teaches you how to think through a design even if you lack prior experience in scalable systems.

Even if you are experienced with distributed systems, Grokking can fill gaps in knowledge and provide a more structured approach to explaining your designs.

Many seasoned engineers use it to brush up on fundamentals and learn how to communicate design decisions clearly.

Ready to master system design interviews?

Grokking the System Design Interview offers a proven path to success. With its high-quality content and glowing reviews, it’s a worthwhile investment for your career. Check out Grokking the System Design Interview on DesignGurus.io and start honing your system design skills today!

2. System Design Interview Course – ByteByteGo (Alex Xu)

If you prefer a hands-on, text-based learning experience, the ByteByteGo System Design Interview Course is a fantastic choice. This course is created by Alex Xu, the author of the popular “System Design Interview – An Insider’s Guide” books.

In fact, the online course is like a digital version of his books – covering all the material from Volume 1 and 2, plus continuously updated content that goes beyond the books.

ByteByteGo’s course is packed with detailed illustrations that walk you through designing complex systems step-by-step. It’s entirely text and diagram based (no video), which many learners love because you can go at your own pace and easily review diagrams. Alex Xu’s explanations are extremely clear.

For example, he uses visuals to break down how HTTPS works or how a URL shortener service is designed, making even tricky concepts easy to grasp.

The course covers a wide range of system design topics: scalability principles, load balancing, caching, database sharding, fault tolerance, and security considerations. It dives into specific case studies as well, like designing a location-based service (think Uber or Google Maps) in depth – in fact, the first three chapters focus on location-based system design problems.

Why we recommend it: ByteByteGo is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date system design resources available. Because it’s maintained by Alex himself, new topics and trends (e.g. new technologies or design patterns) get added over time.

The text-based format with visuals is excellent for understanding and retention. It’s also very practical – you’ll learn not just interview answers, but also core system design principles that make you a better architect in real-life projects.

Many developers consider this course the “bible” of system design prep, given its depth and clarity.

Who is it for?

This course is great for intermediate to experienced engineers.

If you’ve already tried a basic system design course or read some articles, ByteByteGo will take you to the next level of depth. It’s perfect if you’re prepping for high-level interviews (senior engineer or system architect roles) where you need a strong grasp of trade-offs and detailed knowledge of how large systems work.

That said, beginners who are motivated can also use it (the explanations are beginner-friendly), but be prepared to absorb a lot of information. It’s also valuable beyond interviews – you’ll learn to design better systems at work.

The course is available via an annual subscription (~$50/year), which is quite affordable for the amount of content you get.

ByteByteGo also has an active community and newsletter for continuous learning. If you’re serious about system design, this course provides immense value for the price.

3. System Design Interview Course (Exponent)

Exponent’s System Design Interview Course is a unique offering that combines video-based learning with interactive practice.

Exponent is a platform known for tech interview prep, and their system design course is tailored for those prepping for interviews at companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, and others.

What sets this course apart is its interactive, hands-on approach – it doesn’t just dump videos on you, but also includes exercises, quizzes, and even mock interview sessions to test your understanding.

The course is taught by Jacob Simon, a former Dropbox engineer who has taught system design to over 14,000 students. It starts with a module on System Design Fundamentals, ensuring you grasp key concepts (like how to break a monolith into microservices, or how a load balancer works) before moving into practice problems.

The second part of the course walks through detailed system design examples and popular interview questions: designing a chat app (Messenger), a URL shortener, Twitter’s timeline, YouTube, even TikTok, etc.

For each, you get a walkthrough of how to approach the problem, discuss trade-offs, and come to a solid design. There are also full interview walk-throughs where you can see a system design interview simulated end-to-end – which is great for learning how to communicate your ideas under time pressure.

Another benefit of Exponent is the community and extras that come with the membership. You can pair up for peer mock interviews, get feedback from coaches, and access a database of system design practice questions. They even have additional courses for specific companies’ interviews (Amazon, Facebook, etc.), but those are separate. The platform also offers text-based answers and frameworks for questions if you prefer reading.

Format and pricing: The Exponent course is video-based with supporting text. Expect a mix of instructor videos, slides, and some interactive elements. It’s subscription-based (around 12–19 per month on an annual plan, or \~79 month-to-month), which grants you access to all Exponent courses and features. They often have a free preview or trial, so you can check out part of the system design course for free before committing.

Who is it for? Exponent’s system design course is ideal if you want a more guided, interactive learning experience rather than self-study. If you learn well from video instruction and like to practice live, this is a great choice. It’s targeted at interview preparation, so beginners might find it fast-paced if you don’t have basic web architecture knowledge yet. However, it does cover fundamentals, so a motivated beginner could still follow along. It’s especially useful for those who have an upcoming interview and need to quickly brush up on system design in a structured way – the mock interview practices can help reduce anxiety by simulating the real thing.

4. Software Design and Architecture Specialization (Coursera)

If you’re looking for a system design course on Coursera, the Software Design and Architecture Specialization is the top pick. Offered by the University of Alberta and taught by professor Kenny Wong, this Coursera specialization is actually a series of five courses that build your foundational software design skills.

It’s not an interview-focused course per se; rather, it’s an academic approach to learning design principles and architectural patterns, which is incredibly valuable for beginners and those who want to strengthen their fundamentals.

Here’s what the specialization covers:

• Object-Oriented Design – how to apply OO principles in designing software (SOLID principles, etc.).

• Design Patterns – understanding classic design patterns (Factory, Singleton, Observer, etc.) and when to use them.

• Software Architecture – principles of layering, component-based architecture, and analyzing software architectures.

• Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) – an introduction to building services and the concepts behind microservices vs. monoliths.

• A Capstone Project – you get to design a software system and get feedback, which helps you apply what you learned.

The specialization is well-structured and includes quizzes and assignments for hands-on practice. By completing it, you not only gain knowledge but also a Coursera certificate (if you’re in the verified track) which you can add to your CV or LinkedIn.

Why choose this course? It provides the “science” behind software design – you’ll learn the terminology and concepts to discuss designs with colleagues and critically evaluate different approaches.

This can be very helpful when approaching system design interviews, because you’ll be able to articulate your reasoning using established principles and patterns.

For example, after this course, you’d know how to discuss the pros/cons of a microservices architecture vs a monolith for a given problem, or why you might choose one design pattern over another in a component’s implementation.

Who is it for? This Coursera specialization is best for beginners or anyone who feels their software design fundamentals are weak. If you’re a self-taught programmer or a junior developer, it will give you a solid grounding in design concepts that you might not have picked up on the job. It’s also suitable for experienced developers who primarily worked on small-scale systems and now want to prepare for working on larger architectures – it helps build the conceptual bridge from coding to high-level design.

Keep in mind, Coursera courses are more theoretical. If you have an interview next week, this may not directly give you Q&A practice, but it will improve your understanding of design which in turn helps in interviews.

The format is video lectures (pre-recorded) with some reading material. It’s free to audit (you can watch all videos free), but if you want to do graded assignments and get a certificate, it costs about $49/month.

Since it’s a specialization of five courses, if you dedicate e.g. 5-7 hours per week, you might finish in 2-3 months. You can also use Coursera Plus if you have it, as that subscription covers this specialization.

Overall, for a thorough, university-backed learning experience in system design fundamentals, this Coursera course is excellent.

5. Mastering the System Design Interview (Udemy – Frank Kane)

Udemy has several system design courses, and Frank Kane’s “Mastering the System Design Interview” is one of the most popular and beginner-friendly.

Frank Kane is an ex-Amazon senior engineer and hiring manager, and in this ~5 hour video course he shares his first-hand experience on how to tackle system design questions in interviews. The tone is very approachable, as Frank explains concepts as if he’s mentoring you one-on-one.

The course covers the core topics you need for system design interviews, including:

• Techniques for scaling distributed systems (how to handle more users or load by scaling out) .

• Overview of different database technologies (SQL vs NoSQL, when to use which).

• Caching strategies to improve performance.

• Designing for resiliency and fault tolerance (graceful handling of failures).

• Using distributed storage solutions and processing big data (mentions of tools like Apache Spark).

• Basics of cloud infrastructure and what resources are available for building systems

Importantly, the course doesn’t stop at theory – it walks through classic system design problems and solutions. You’ll practice how to design a URL shortener (TinyURL), a web crawler, a restaurant reservation system, and more.

Frank guides you through each of these examples, helping you learn a repeatable approach to any system design question. By seeing multiple examples, you start recognizing common themes and components (for instance, both URL shortener and web crawler need to handle huge data storage, which brings up database sharding concepts, etc.).

A highlight of this Udemy course is that it includes six full mock interviews for system design. These are scenario-based and simulate what an interviewer might ask, with Frank providing model answers and tips. This helps you get comfortable with the open-ended nature of system design interviews.

Frank also shares general interview tips and strategies – like how to structure your answer, how to manage your time in the interview, and how to communicate your thought process clearly.

Who is it for? This course is perfect for beginners to system design or anyone who has felt lost when faced with an architecture question in an interview. Because it’s on Udemy, it’s very accessible – you can often get it for ~10-20 during Udemy sales (far cheaper than many other platforms). The 5-hour length means you can go through it in a weekend or two.

If you have never designed a large system before, Frank’s explanations will give you a solid starting point. He doesn’t assume much prior knowledge beyond basic web concepts, so it’s newbie-friendly. Experienced devs who just want a quick refresher before interviews also like this course for its concise and practical coverage.

The format is video lectures with Frank narrating slides and diagrams. His style is engaging and to-the-point – learners often praise that he doesn’t waste time and keeps the content focused. By the end, you should be able to confidently approach common system design questions. Keep in mind, being a shorter course, it may not go as deep into some advanced topics, but it hits all the high-yield concepts.

Overall, if you’re short on time and want one affordable course to cover the basics of system design interviews, this Udemy course is a great option. Plus, since it’s lifetime access, you can revisit the lectures anytime to brush up.

6. Master the Coding Interview: System Design + Architecture (ZTM)

Zero To Mastery (ZTM) Academy offers “Master the Coding Interview: System Design + Architecture”, which is a relatively new course created by instructors Yihua Zhang and Andrei Neagoie.

ZTM is known for its high-quality coding courses, and here they’ve applied their teaching style to system design. This course is part of ZTM’s subscription (which is about $39/month, but gives access to all their courses).

The ZTM System Design course is structured to take you from zero to mastery, meaning it’s very welcoming to beginners. It starts by covering fundamental concepts you need for understanding any system design:

• Networking basics like how the internet works, TCP vs UDP protocols, etc. (so you understand client-server communication).

• Scaling: both vertical and horizontal scaling and what challenges come with each.

• Caching, Load Balancers, DNS: how these components work to distribute load and improve performance.

• Databases (SQL vs NoSQL, CAP theorem) and data storage choices.

• Message queues, asynchronous processing – when to use queues, how to design a system with eventual consistency.

• Cloud architecture & clustering, and concepts like ACID in databases.

• The famous CAP Theorem (consistency, availability, partition tolerance) – crucial for reasoning about distributed systems.

These topics are often delivered in an easy-to-understand way, with visual aides and analogies, staying true to ZTM’s style of teaching from first principles.

Once the course builds up these concepts, it moves into applying them. You’ll likely go through designing some example systems or components (for instance, they might walk through designing a simple version of Netflix or an e-commerce system – the exact examples may vary as they update content).

One advantage of the ZTM course is that it’s up-to-date and pragmatic. Being newer, it mentions modern architectures and tools that many legacy courses might not. It’s not just for interviews but also useful for real-world understanding.

And since it’s on a membership platform, the instructors can continuously improve and add content based on student feedback.

Who is it for? This is great for beginners who want a comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to system design and architecture.

If you find the idea of diving into something like Grokking or ByteByteGo intimidating because those assume some background, the ZTM course might be a gentler starting point. It’s also good for visual learners and those who prefer a course community – ZTM has Discord communities for their courses where you can ask questions. The course also includes coding exercises or quizzes to reinforce learning.

For someone preparing for interviews, ZTM’s course will give you the necessary knowledge of concepts.

You might still want to pair it with practicing actual interview questions (which you can do by yourself or using some questions from Exponent or others) because ZTM focuses on teaching the concepts and less on Q&A format. But knowing the concepts thoroughly is half the battle in system design interviews, and that’s where this course shines.

Lastly, if you already have a ZTM membership (for example, if you took their Complete Web Developer or DSA courses), then taking the system design course is a no-brainer addition.

If not, you have to consider the subscription cost; however, ZTM often provides coupon codes (like FRIENDS10 for 10% off) and you can cancel anytime. They also have a money-back guarantee window if the course isn’t to your liking.

Overall, ZTM’s System Design + Architecture course is a solid choice to build your foundation in a structured, beginner-friendly way.

7. Data Structures and Software Design (edX) – Free Course

For those on a tight budget or starting from square one, edX offers a free course called “Data Structures and Software Design.”

This course is part of the CS Essentials for Software Development program and is offered by PennX (University of Pennsylvania) on edX.

While it’s not solely about large-scale system design, it teaches crucial design thinking at the code and small-system level, which is an important stepping stone.

In this course, you’ll learn how to go from a set of requirements to a high-level design and then to code. It emphasizes what it means to write “good” software: software that is well-structured, easy to maintain, and meets quality standards.

Key topics include software design principles, choosing the right data structures for a problem, and writing code that is efficient and readable. Essentially, it marries data structures knowledge with design principles, which is great for beginners.

Some highlights of this edX course: it is 4 weeks long, with an estimated 8-10 hours per week effort.

Being free to audit, you can access all the learning materials (videos, readings, ungraded exercises) without paying.

If you want a certificate of completion or to do graded assignments, there is a fee (edX typically charges for the certificate track). But you absolutely can learn for free. The course likely involves some small project or at least example problems where you have to apply design thinking.

How does this relate to system design? Think of it this way: if you struggle to design the internals of a single application (how to organize classes, how to handle data and logic cleanly), then jumping to designing a distributed system can be overwhelming.

This course helps you build solid software design fundamentals at the micro level (program-level rather than system-level).

You learn to consider things like: have I captured the requirements correctly? How do I make my code extensible for future requirements? Those same thought processes scale up to system design: have I captured the system’s requirements (e.g. traffic, use cases)? How do I design a system that can extend to future features or loads?

It’s also a good free resource to brush up on data structures, which is handy because often system design discussions involve using the right data storage or caching mechanism (which boils down to data structures and algorithms as well).

Who is it for? This course is ideal for beginners – perhaps a student or new grad – who want to get better at software design without immediately jumping into distributed systems. It’s also a nice refresher for experienced coders in software engineering best practices. If you’ve mainly been coding by yourself without formal training in design, you might pick up some useful approaches here.

And of course, anyone who wants a free learning option – you can’t beat the price of $0 for the audit track. Since it’s self-paced, you can start it anytime on edX and learn at your convenience.

After taking this course, you could then move on to the larger-scale system design courses we discussed above. Think of it as groundwork for system design.

Many learners combine multiple resources: for example, one might take this edX course for free to cover basics, use Coursera for architecture patterns, and then use Grokking or Exponent to practice interview questions. If you have the time, that combined approach can really cover all bases.