Machine Learning by Andrew Ng
Ranked 10 of 17 online courses by recommenders
Recommended as a foundational introduction to machine learning that builds vocabulary and math basics. Main caveat: one critic calls MOOCs watered-down versions of real courses.
Recommended as a foundational introduction to machine learning that builds vocabulary and math basics. Main caveat: one critic calls MOOCs watered-down versions of real courses.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good introduction to machine learning
“That's how I got my start in ML, through Andrew Ng's course a little over a decade ago.”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Coursera to combine with Udemy” “His intro to machine learning is probably the best out there.”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “Coursera Bets $100M That Andrew Ng Can Do What Coursera Can't” “Andrew Ng's machine learning course, which was fantastic”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Coursera to combine with Udemy” Enjoyable, well-spent time
“both were excellent. Time well spent IMHO.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Coursera to combine with Udemy” “That was such a cool course.”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “"It Turns Out"” Highly regarded course
“he is a great educator and I trust that the current version is just as good as his old one”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Neural Networks: Zero to Hero” “Andrew Ng's machine learning course, which was fantastic”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Coursera to combine with Udemy”
Other online courses people recommend
The four most recommended other online courses, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math Academy | 35 | 1 | 97% | 12 | 9 mo6 owners | Approved |
| Nand2Tetris | 31 | 3 | 91% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Neural Networks: Zero to Hero by Andrej Karpathy | 29 | 2 | 94% | 9 | — | Approved |
| CS193p SwiftUI course by Paul Hegarty | 13 | 1 | 93% | 2 | 11.9 yrs5 owners | — |
| Machine Learning by Andrew NgThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“His intro to machine learning is probably the best out there.”
“Between Machine Learning, the (numerical) optimisation courses and NAND-To-Tetris”
“That was such a cool course.”
“he is a great educator and I trust that the current version is just as good as his old one”
“That's how I got my start in ML, through Andrew Ng's course a little over a decade ago.”
“Ng's courses were great at giving you a sense of accomplishment”
“Andrew Ng's machine learning course, which was fantastic”
“both were excellent. Time well spent IMHO.”
“I got the vocabulary and introductory math knowledge to proceed to courses and textbooks on linear algebra”
“Most of the MOOCs were also watered down versions of a real course”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.