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PLC Simulator
PLC Classes

PLC Programming Classes Online — Free, Self-Paced

55 learning modules, 170 source-catalogued practice records, guided wiring and fault labs, and eligible assessed certificate tracks—the structure of a practical class without a fixed cohort schedule.

Complete the first programView the learning path

Join 13000+ learners practicing PLC programming

PLC classes online — structured lessons and machine scenarios in the browser
Real PLC classes online footage

See this exact skill in the working simulator.

Watch the real browser product respond to the task on this page, then try the same practical workflow yourself. No slides, concept mockups, install, or credit card.

Try this in the browser
PLC Training Online — Learn by Building Real Programs

A class built around doing

Progress from your first I/O loop to supervised hardware readiness.

Each stage has an observable learning result: make a rung work, connect it to a machine purpose, diagnose a fault from evidence and then carry that reasoning into a supervised lab.

Maintenance technician taking a self-paced online PLC class at a home workshop desk with a safe I O trainer
01Self-paced does not mean passive: build a rung, predict the result, change an input and record what the machine state proves.
Learner comparing a guarded contactor start stop training panel with a ladder logic seal-in rung during PLC class
02Relay-to-ladder transfer gives electricians a familiar starting point: contacts test conditions, coils write state and branches express alternate paths.
Beginner PLC class lab with two input switches PLC status LEDs a browser ladder rung and a glowing output lamp
03The first lab closes a complete feedback loop—input, tag, rung, output—before the curriculum adds more instructions.
Intermediate PLC class using a photoelectric sensor timed pneumatic gate and guarded tabletop conveyor
04Intermediate classes connect timers and counters to material flow so learners can see edge, elapsed-time and sequencing mistakes.
Advanced PLC troubleshooting class with multimeter terminal measurements input LEDs live ladder state and a fault lamp
05Fault-finding practice teaches a repeatable diagnostic order instead of random program changes: field, wire, input, logic, output and actuator.
Online PLC learner preparing for a supervised instructor-led hardware lab with guarded motor control trainers
06Browser practice prepares learners for scarce hardware time; supervised lab work then adds wiring, commissioning and safety evidence.

Format

Self-paced PLC classes vs cohort classes

Community college and vocational school PLC classes meet on a fixed timetable — two or three evenings per week for a semester. That structure works if your job, family, and geography align with the schedule and location. For everyone else, self-paced online classes are the practical alternative.

Community college / TVET class

Advantages

  • Physical hardware — wire a real PLC in lab time
  • Instructor face time for debugging help
  • Structured accountability — grades, deadlines
  • Accredited qualification in some cases

Limitations

  • Fixed schedule — misses are unrecoverable
  • Geographic restriction — must commute to campus
  • Tuition and equipment fees vary by provider
  • Pace matches the slowest student, not you

This platform (self-paced online)

Advantages

  • Start at any time — no cohort to wait for
  • Go faster or slower than a class group
  • Free to start — no financial risk to try
  • Available anywhere with a browser

Limitations

  • No physical hardware — simulation only
  • No live instructor observation in self-paced exercises
  • Self-discipline required — no external deadlines
  • Not a regionally accredited qualification

The best outcome is usually both: build programming fundamentals in self-paced online classes here, then apply for a lab-based course or apprenticeship once you can demonstrate the basics to an instructor.

Curriculum

What the PLC classes cover

Four modules sequenced from first principles to industrial application. Each module is prerequisite to the next — the same sequencing a well-run classroom course uses.

1

PLC Fundamentals

8–12 hrs
  • What is a PLC — scan cycle, I/O, CPU
  • Contacts and coils — ladder logic from relay diagrams
  • Latching and sealing-in — SET/RESET, three-wire circuit
  • Timers — TON, TOF and elapsed-time reasoning
  • Counters — CTU, CTD, CTUD and bit outputs
  • Sequences and state — keeping machine logic readable
2

Core Building Blocks

8–12 hrs
  • Function blocks — instance data, input/output pins
  • Structured Text — IF/ELSIF, CASE, FOR, alongside ladder
  • Analog I/O and scaling — raw counts to engineering units
  • Sequence transitions — conditions, steps and safe resets
  • Shift registers — part tracking on conveyors
  • Debugging and monitoring — live tags, tests and controlled changes
3

Industrial Applications

10–16 hrs
  • Motor control patterns — start/stop, forward/reverse, star-delta
  • Process control — PID loops, cascade, ratio
  • Alarm management — latch, acknowledge, reset (ISA-18.2)
  • Safety concepts — E-stop, guard and light-curtain boundaries
  • Communications — Modbus TCP register maps, OPC-UA concepts
  • Code organization — task structure, FB libraries, naming
4

Machine Scenarios

30–60 hrs
  • 170 source-catalogued practice records: conveyors, tanks, batch, elevators and packaging
  • Wiring practice — 29 guided wiring labs with measurement context
  • Fault diagnosis — 19 guided fault-finding labs
  • VFD scenarios — drive control, speed references, fault handling
  • Safety scenarios — E-stop, guard door, light curtain interlocks
  • HMI track — operator screen building with live PLC tag binding
Try the first Module 1 skillView full curriculum

What you build

The concepts these PLC classes teach, illustrated

A classroom may first show these on a whiteboard; here the same concepts lead into interactive or graded work. Access varies by account and tier, so the diagrams explain the concept while the learning path shows the currently available exercise.

The PLC scan cycle taught in the first lesson of the online PLC classes — read inputs, execute the ladder program, update outputs, then repeat every scanThe repeating PLC scan cycle: read inputs, execute the ladder logic, update outputs, then housekeeping, looping continuously.1Read Inputs2Execute Logic3Update Outputs4HousekeepingSCANCYCLE
Module 1, Lesson 1 — the scan cycle every PLC class starts with.
Ladder logic symbols taught in the PLC classes — normally-open and normally-closed contacts, output coils, and set and reset coilsThe core ladder logic symbols side by side: XIC examine-if-closed, XIO examine-if-open, OTE output energize, OTL output latch and OTU output unlatch.XICIfXIOIfOTEEnergizeLOTLLatchUOTUUnlatch
Contacts and coils — the alphabet of ladder logic, covered in Module 1.
A complete ladder rung graded in the online PLC class — a normally-open contact energising an output coil when power flows across the rungA basic ladder logic rung between two power rails: an examine-if-closed contact (XIC) in series driving an output coil (OTE).L1L2] [StartXIC I:0/0LampOTE O:0/0
Your first graded rung — contact in, coil out, power flow left to right.
The seal-in latching rung taught in the PLC classes — a start contact, a stop contact, and a parallel sealing branch that holds an output on, the relay-to-ladder bridge for electriciansA seal-in latch rung: a Start contact in parallel with a Hold contact, in series with a normally-closed Stop contact, driving an output coil.StartHold (seal)StopMotor
Latching and sealing-in — the three-wire circuit electricians already know.
A TON on-delay timer timing chart from the timers lesson in the online PLC classes, showing the accumulated value counting up to the preset before the done bit setsA TON on-delay timer: the accumulated time bar ramps up toward the preset value, and the done (DN) bit turns on when the accumulator reaches preset.TONPRE 5000ACCACC ramps to PREPREDNdone bit
Timers — TON, TOF and elapsed-time state, Module 1 Lesson 4.
A CTU up-counter from the counters lesson in the PLC classes, incrementing on each rising edge until the count reaches the preset and the done bit firesA CTU count-up counter: each input pulse increments the accumulator toward the preset, and the done (DN) bit turns on when count reaches preset.count pulsesCTUPRE 5ACC 3ACCcount toward presetDNdone bit
Counters — CTU, CTD, CTUD and their done bits, Module 1 Lesson 5.
A motor start-stop control circuit with E-stop and overload interlocks, the first industrial application scenario built in the PLC classesA 3-wire motor control circuit: Stop and Start pushbuttons, a contactor coil with a seal-in auxiliary contact and an overload contact, driving a motor.StopStartM (seal-in)OLMMmotor
Module 3 — motor control patterns: start/stop, forward/reverse, star-delta.
An IEC 61131-3 Structured Text code block from the Core Building Blocks module, the text language practiced alongside ladder logic in the PLC classesA small Structured Text code block in an editor: an IF/THEN condition, a TON timer call and assignments, showing text-based PLC programming.main.st — Structured Text1IF Start AND NOT Stop THEN2 Run := TRUE;3END_IF;4DelayTmr(IN := Run, PT := T#5s);5Lamp := DelayTmr.Q;
Module 2 — Structured Text: IF/ELSIF, CASE, FOR, alongside ladder.

Electrical engineers

PLC classes for electrical engineers

Electrical engineers and electricians are the fastest-learning group in these classes. The reason is simple: ladder logic was invented to look like relay diagrams. If you have wired a three-wire motor circuit with a seal-in contact, you have already built the mental model for a ladder rung. The first module makes that connection explicit.

The PLC fundamentals module covers the relay-to-ladder translation step-by-step: normally-open contacts, normally-closed contacts, coils, and the seal-in branch all have direct counterparts in the relay logic you already know. Learners with relay-control experience may move faster, but the result matters more than the calendar: they should be able to predict rung truth and explain the I/O path without guessing.

Where electrical engineers typically need more time: understanding the scan cycle's implications for edge-triggered logic, working with timer and counter accumulators as data values, and writing state-machine sequencers. These are covered in Module 1 lessons 4–6 and practised in the first ten scenarios.

Also on this platform

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  • SCADA training — what SCADA roles need and an honest scope of what we teach.
  • Allen-Bradley training — for electricians in Rockwell-heavy plants.
  • Free PLC training — everything that is genuinely free on this platform.

Start PLC classes free — right now.

No schedule, cohort or credit card for the guided first program. Prove the learning loop before deciding whether to save progress.

Complete the first programView the full learning path
Questions

PLC classes online — frequently asked questions

Yes. Complete one guided first program at /try without an account, then create a free account for 32 source-tagged catalog records and the first 6 core lessons in each learning dialect. There is no card or trial expiry on the free account.

Competency and practice field guide

PLC classes: practice plan

Direct answer

The buyer can match a class to required competencies and verify that practice and assessment go beyond video completion.

Written for prospective learners and training managers comparing class formats, practice depth and assessment evidence.

System map / 02

NODE 01observable

Scope

Job tasks translated into a competency-based class syllabus.

NODE 02observable

Signal path

Instruction, guided practice, independent scenarios and feedback.

NODE 03observable

Baseline practice

A complete input-to-output machine exercise.

NODE 04observable

Edge cases

Schedule, prerequisite, accessibility and changed-case constraints.

NODE 05observable

Fault practice

A learner misconception exposed by an observable fault.

NODE 06observable

Transfer to the job

Assessment records and next-step supervised practice.

Continue the signal path / 08

PLC learning and career path

Turn practice into a demonstrable skill sequence

Start with the fundamentals, complete machine exercises, diagnose failures and retain evidence you can explain in an assessment or interview.