The best free projects with source code are maintained open-source repositories and official sample apps, not zip files from project sites: Microsoft's beginner curricula, the Flask Mega-Tutorial, the FastAPI full-stack template, Spring PetClinic, Now in Android, Laravel Bootcamp, DataTalksClub zoomcamps, OWASP Juice Shop and more. Clone one, run it, change one feature and document what you changed.
Copying a project teaches nothing; changing one teaches a lot. Each entry below is a real repository that runs, with a note on what to change so the result is yours.
Python projects with source code
Beginner to intermediateFlask Mega-Tutorial (microblog)
A complete social blog app: users, posts, follows, email, search, APIs and deployment, chapter by chapter.
IntermediateFastAPI full-stack template
FastAPI backend, React frontend, Postgres, Docker, auth and tests, maintained by the FastAPI author.
BeginnerTheAlgorithms/Python
Hundreds of algorithms and data structures implemented in Python with tests.
BeginnerMicrosoft Web Dev for Beginners
A 12-week curriculum with projects: a terrarium, a typing game, a browser extension, a space game and a banking app.
Automate the Boring Stuff projects
Practical scripts: file renaming, spreadsheets, PDFs, web scraping and email, with source for each chapter.
Web development projects with source code
Beginner to intermediateNext.js examples
Official examples for auth, databases, CMS, payments and more, each a runnable app.
BeginnerSupabase examples
Official sample apps for auth, realtime, storage and edge functions across frameworks.
BeginnerCloudflare Workers examples
Copyable Workers for redirects, APIs, bots, caching and auth.
Beginner to intermediateTraversy Media project repositories
Dozens of full-stack projects from popular tutorials, including an e-commerce store and task managers.
BeginnerLaravel Bootcamp (Chirper)
Official step-by-step PHP app with auth, posts and policies, in Blade or with Vue or React.
Beginner30 seconds of code
Short, tested JavaScript, CSS and Python snippets you can read in a minute.
Java, Android and mobile projects with source code
IntermediateSpring PetClinic
The reference Spring Boot application: JPA, validation, templates and tests.
AdvancedNow in Android
Google's production-grade Android app showing modern architecture, Compose and testing.
IntermediateAndroid Compose samples
Official Jetpack Compose sample apps (Jetnews, Jetchat, Jetsnack and more).
Beginner to intermediateFlutter samples
Official Flutter apps and demos, from simple to full apps.
BeginnerJava algorithms and design patterns
Algorithms in Java with tests, useful for interview practice and classroom projects.
Data science and machine learning projects with source code
BeginnerMicrosoft ML for Beginners
A 12-week course with lessons, quizzes and projects in Python and R.
BeginnerMicrosoft Data Science for Beginners
Ten weeks of data science lessons with notebooks and projects.
Intermediate to advancedDataTalksClub Data Engineering Zoomcamp
A free course with a real pipeline project: ingestion, warehouse, transformations, orchestration.
IntermediateDataTalksClub MLOps Zoomcamp
Experiment tracking, orchestration, deployment and monitoring of ML models.
Intermediatefastai fastbook
The complete Practical Deep Learning book as notebooks.
BeginnerKaggle Learn notebooks
Short courses with runnable notebooks on Python, pandas, SQL, ML and more.
AI and LLM app projects with source code
Beginner to intermediateMicrosoft Generative AI for Beginners
Lessons and code for prompts, RAG, agents and app building with multiple providers.
IntermediateMicrosoft AI Agents for Beginners
Course code for agent patterns, tool use, planning and multi-agent systems.
IntermediateHugging Face LLM course
Course notebooks on transformers, fine-tuning and sharing models.
IntermediateDataTalksClub LLM Zoomcamp
A free course building a RAG application with evaluation and monitoring.
BeginnerGradio demos
Dozens of small, runnable ML demo apps.
Cybersecurity projects with source code
Beginner to intermediateOWASP Juice Shop
A deliberately vulnerable web app with challenges mapped to the OWASP Top 10.
BeginnerDVWA
Damn Vulnerable Web Application for practising common web attacks locally.
IntermediateAtomic Red Team
Small tests mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for validating detection in a lab.
How to use a project with source code
- Clone and run first Follow the README exactly until it runs. Most learning happens in the setup errors.
- Change one thing Add a feature, fix a bug, or swap the dataset. Keep a diff you can explain.
- Write your own README What the original does, what you changed, how to run it, what you learned.
- Credit the source Link the original repository and respect its licence; employers check.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I download free projects with source code?
Use maintained open-source repositories on GitHub, such as the ones above, rather than zip files from project-selling sites. They run, they are documented and they are safe to show employers.
Can I submit an open-source project as my college project?
Only if you change it substantially, credit the original and your institution allows it. Examiners recognise unchanged tutorials and templates.
Which free project is best for a beginner?
Microsoft's Web Dev for Beginners or the Flask Mega-Tutorial for web; ML for Beginners for data; Flutter samples for mobile.
Are these projects free to use commercially?
Most are MIT, Apache or similar, but check each licence before reusing code in a product.
Learn this with mentors
Programmes for students and freshers with admissions open: live classes, mentors and project work.
