Skip to main content
OSRS Toolkit
Sponsor OSRSToolkitWe're offering sponsor slots — [email protected] to discuss.

Best F2P Training Methods in OSRS 2026: Complete Guide

••9 min read•1,958 wordsguides

Quick Decision Snapshot

Best free-to-play training methods in OSRS 2026. Level combat, Woodcutting, Fishing, Mining, and more without membership — ranked by XP/hr and practicality.

  • Best free-to-play training methods in OSRS 2026
  • Level combat, Woodcutting, Fishing, Mining, and more without membership — ranked by XP/hr and practicality.

Quick Decision Summary

This guide helps you choose a route by speed, cost, risk, and session intensity before committing to a long grind.

Training in F2P can feel limited, but there are surprisingly efficient methods! This comprehensive guide ranks the best F2P training methods for every skill available to free players in 2026.

F2P Skills Overview

Free players have access to 17 out of 23 skills:

Available: Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Prayer, Magic, Runecrafting, Hitpoints, Crafting, Mining, Smithing, Fishing, Cooking, Firemaking, Woodcutting

Members-only: Agility, Herblore, Thieving, Fletching, Slayer, Farming, Construction, Hunter

Combat Skills

Attack & Strength Training

#1: Hill Giants (Edgeville Dungeon)

XP/Hour: 20-30K (low level) to 50-60K (high level) Levels: 20-99 Why Best:

Setup:

#2: Flesh Crawlers (Stronghold of Security level 2)

XP/Hour: 25-40K Levels: 15-40 Why Good:

  • 10 HP (fast kills)
  • Drops herbs (profitable)
  • Semi-AFK
  • Safe spot available

#3: Green Dragons (Wilderness)

XP/Hour: 40-60K Levels: 60+ Why Risky:

  • ⚠️ PKers will attack
  • Good drops (dragon bones, green d'hide)
  • Fastest F2P combat XP
  • High risk, high reward

Bring:

  • Only 3-4 items you're willing to lose
  • Cheap food
  • Teleport to 30 Wilderness

Defence Training

Same as Attack/Strength, but use Controlled or Defensive combat style.

Best Method: Hill Giants (Combat XP + profit)

Ranged Training

#1: Hill Giants (Safe Spot)

XP/Hour: 15-25K Levels: 40-99 Why Best:

  • Safe spot (no damage taken)
  • Zero food cost
  • Big bones + limpwurt roots
  • Can AFK

Ammo: Mithril arrows (best F2P DPS)

Setup:

  • Maple shortbow (or better)
  • Green d'hide (best F2P ranged armor)
  • Coif
  • Lots of arrows

#2: Ogresses (Corsair Cove)

XP/Hour: 18-30K Levels: 50+ Why Good:

  • Safe spots available
  • Rune items drops
  • Profitable
  • Can AFK

#3: Lesser Demons (Wizard Tower)

XP/Hour: 20-30K Levels: 60+ Why Good:

  • Safe spot
  • No food needed
  • Consistent XP

Magic Training

#1: Curse Spell AFK (Splashing)

XP/Hour: 12-13K Levels: 19-55 Why Popular:

  • Max AFK (20 minutes)
  • Zero cost (just cast)
  • Can do overnight
  • No attention needed

How:

  • Wear full metal armor (-65 magic bonus)
  • Cast Curse on rat/spider
  • AFK for 20 minutes
  • Repeat

#2: High Alchemy

XP/Hour: 65K Levels: 55-99 Cost: Usually profit or low loss Why Best:

  • Fastest F2P magic XP
  • Can profit depending on items
  • Requires attention (click every 3 seconds)

Best Items to Alch:

  • Rune items (usually break-even)
  • Gold jewelry
  • Check margins on GE

Prayer Training

#1: Gilded Altar (Members Method in F2P)

⚠️ Not Available in F2P

F2P Method: Bury Bones

XP/Hour: Depends on bone type Why F2P Sucks for Prayer:

  • Can only bury bones (1x XP)
  • No altars in F2P
  • Very slow

Best F2P Bones:

  • Dragon bones: 72 XP each (expensive)
  • Big bones: 15 XP each (affordable)
  • Regular bones: 4.5 XP each (trash)

Best Method: Kill Hill Giants (free big bones + combat XP)

Recommendation: Get membership for Prayer training (3.5x faster with gilded altar)

Gathering Skills

Mining

#1: Iron Ore (3-Tick Mining)

XP/Hour: 40-60K Levels: 15-99 GP/Hour: 100-200K Why Best:

  • Fast respawn
  • Profitable
  • Best F2P mining XP
  • Iron ore always in demand

Locations:

  • Al Kharid mine (3 rocks close together)
  • Legends' Guild (F2P accessible area)
  • Mining Guild (60 Mining required)

3-Tick Method:

  • Use herb + swamp tar (auto-combines)
  • Click between rock and herb
  • Increases mining speed significantly

#2: Mithril/Adamant (AFK)

XP/Hour: 10-20K Levels: 55-70 Why Good:

  • AFK mining
  • Profitable
  • Less intensive

#3: Rune Essence (Temple of Light)

XP/Hour: 8-10K Levels: 1-99 Why Avoid: Worst mining XP in game, low profit

Woodcutting

#1: Willows (Draynor Village)

XP/Hour: 30-40K Levels: 30-99 Why Best:

  • Fast respawn
  • Close to bank
  • Good AFK
  • Free XP

Location: Draynor Village (3 willows near bank)

#2: Yew Trees (Edgeville)

XP/Hour: 15-25K Levels: 60-99 GP/Hour: 100-150K Why Good:

  • Profitable
  • AFK (2-3 min per tree)
  • Yew logs sell well

#3: Oak Trees

XP/Hour: 20-30K Levels: 15-30 Why Good: Fast respawn, good early XP

Fishing

#1: Fly Fishing (Barbarian Village)

XP/Hour: 30-50K Levels: 20-99 Why Best:

  • Fastest F2P fishing XP
  • Trout + salmon
  • Drop fish (don't bank for max XP)

Location: Barbarian Village

Setup:

  • Fly fishing rod
  • Feathers (cheap bait)

#2: Lobsters (Karamja)

XP/Hour: 15-25K Levels: 40-99 GP/Hour: 100-150K Why Popular:

  • AFK
  • Profitable
  • Lobsters sell well

#3: Swordfish (Karamja)

XP/Hour: 20-30K Levels: 50-99 GP/Hour: 150-200K Why Best Profit: Swordfish worth 300-400 GP each

Production Skills

Cooking

#1: Wines of Zamorak (Telegrab)

GP/Hour: 400-600K Levels: 33 Magic required Why Best F2P Money:

  • Best F2P GP/hr
  • Zero cooking, but related
  • See money making guide

F2P Cooking: Lobsters/Swordfish

XP/Hour: 100-200K Levels: 40+ Why Good:

  • Fast XP
  • Can profit (buy raw, cook, sell)
  • AFK

Location: Rogues' Den or Al Kharid range

Firemaking

#1: Normal → Oak → Willow → Maple Logs

XP/Hour:

  • Oak: 150K
  • Willow: 225K
  • Maple: 283K

Best Location: Grand Exchange (long line)

Why F2P Firemaking Sucks: No Wintertodt (P2P minigame that's profitable)

Cost: 5-50M+ depending on logs

Recommendation: Wait for membership (do Wintertodt for profit + XP)

Smithing

#1: Steel Bars at Blast Furnace

⚠️ Blast Furnace is F2P now!

XP/Hour: 30-40K GP/Hour: 150-300K Levels: 30-99 Why Best:

  • Profit + XP
  • Fast smithing
  • Uses coal efficiently

#2: Iron Items (Varrock West)

XP/Hour: 25-35K Levels: 15-30 Why Good: Accessible, decent XP

#3: Steel Platebodies

XP/Hour: 20-30K Levels: 48+ Why Good: Can profit from High Alch

Crafting

#1: Gold Jewelry (F2P Limited)

XP/Hour: 40-60K Levels: 5+ Cost: Usually loss Why: Fastest F2P crafting XP

Best Jewelry:

  • Gold necklace (6 Crafting)
  • Gold amulet (8 Crafting)
  • Sapphire necklace (22 Crafting)

#2: Leather Items

XP/Hour: 30-50K Levels: 1-99 Why Good: Cheap, accessible

Best Items:

  • Leather gloves (1 Crafting)
  • Leather boots (7 Crafting)
  • Coif (38 Crafting)

#3: Silver Jewelry

XP/Hour: 35-50K Cost: Usually break-even or small loss

Runecrafting

#1: Rune Essence → Body/Cosmic/Nature Runes

XP/Hour: 5-10K (F2P sucks for RC) Why F2P RC is Terrible:

  • No access to good runes
  • No Runecrafting Guild
  • No shortcuts
  • Very slow

Best F2P Runes:

  • Air runes (1 RC): 5K XP/hr
  • Fire runes (14 RC): 6K XP/hr
  • Body runes (20 RC): 7K XP/hr

Recommendation: Wait for membership (Lava runes = 60K+ XP/hr)

Best Skills to Train in F2P

✅ Worth Training in F2P:

  1. Combat skills (melee, ranged)
  2. Mining (iron ore 3-tick)
  3. Woodcutting (willows/yews)
  4. Fishing (fly fishing)
  5. Cooking (lobsters/swordfish)
  6. Smithing (Blast Furnace steel bars)

❌ Wait for Membership:

  1. Prayer (3.5x slower in F2P)
  2. Runecrafting (6-10x slower in F2P)
  3. Firemaking (Wintertodt in P2P is profitable)
  4. Crafting (P2P methods are 2-3x faster)

F2P Leveling Goals

Casual F2P Goals:

  • 40 Attack/Strength/Defence
  • 40 Ranged
  • 40 Mining/Woodcutting/Fishing
  • 30 Cooking

Serious F2P ("F2P Pure"):

  • 99 Ranged (2h bow PKing)
  • 40 Attack (rune weapons)
  • 99 Strength
  • 1 Defence (pure build)
  • 40 Prayer

F2P to Bond Goals:

Earn 15M for bond via:

  • Mining iron ore (150 hours)
  • Smithing steel bars (100 hours)
  • Telegrab wines of Zamorak (30-40 hours)

Most Efficient F2P Training Order

Day 1-7 (New Account):

  1. Tutorial Island → Complete all training
  2. Combat → Kill cows/chickens to 20/20/20
  3. Mining → Mine iron to level 30
  4. Smithing → Do quests (Doric's Quest, The Knight's Sword)
  5. Woodcutting → Chop trees to 30

Week 2-4:

  1. Combat → Hill Giants to 40/40/40
  2. Ranged → Safe spot to 40
  3. Magic → High Alch to 55
  4. Fishing → Fly fish to 40+

Month 2+:

  1. Focus combat → Get to 60/60/60
  2. Money making → Aim for bond (15M)
  3. Upgrade to membership

F2P Quest XP Boosts

Must-Do F2P Quests:

Combat XP:

  • Dragon Slayer: 18,650 Defence + Strength XP
  • Demon Slayer: 3 Quest points (helps unlocks)

Crafting:

Mining:

  • Doric's Quest: 1,300 Mining XP (skip to level 10)

Smithing:

  • The Knight's Sword: 12,725 Smithing XP (skip to level 29!)

Prayer:

Runecrafting:

F2P vs P2P XP Rates Comparison

Skill Best F2P XP/hr Best P2P XP/hr Difference
Attack 50-60K 90-130K 2x slower
Ranged 20-30K 400-600K (chinning) 15x slower
Magic 65K (alch) 250K+ (bursting) 4x slower
Prayer 20K (bury) 600K+ (altar) 30x slower
Mining 50K (3-tick) 70-90K Similar
Fishing 40-50K 60-100K Similar
Cooking 150K 500K+ (1-tick) 3x slower
Firemaking 225K 300-400K (WT profit) Similar XP, but P2P profits
Smithing 30-40K 300-400K (gold) 8x slower
Crafting 50-60K 200-400K 4x slower
Runecrafting 8-10K 60-70K 7x slower

Verdict: F2P is competitive for mining/fishing/firemaking, but much slower for everything else.

Should You Train in F2P?

Train in F2P If:

  • ✅ Completely new, learning the game
  • ✅ Building F2P pure (1 Def PKing)
  • ✅ Can't afford membership yet
  • ✅ Working toward first bond

Get Membership If:

  • ✅ You enjoy the game
  • ✅ Want faster progression (2-30x faster)
  • ✅ Want access to all content
  • ✅ $11/month or 15M bond is affordable

Recommended: Play F2P for 1-2 weeks, then upgrade to membership once you understand the game.

How to Earn Your First Bond in F2P

Bond Cost: ~15M GP (2026 prices)

Fastest Methods:

  1. Telegrab Wines of Zamorak: 30-40 hours (400-600K/hr)
  2. Smithing Steel Bars: 100 hours (150-300K/hr)
  3. Mining Iron Ore: 150 hours (100-200K/hr)
  4. Killing Ogresses: 50-75 hours (200-300K/hr)

Recommended Path: Telegrab wines to 10M → Smith steel bars to 15M → Buy bond

FAQ

What is the best F2P training method in OSRS?

Hill Giants are the best overall F2P method, giving 20-30K XP/hr at low levels and 50-60K XP/hr at high levels plus profit from big bones and limpwurt roots. High Alchemy is the fastest F2P Magic training at 65K XP/hr from level 55 onward.

How much XP per hour does 3-tick iron ore mining give in F2P?

Three-tick iron ore mining gives 40-60K Mining XP/hr in F2P and earns roughly 100-200K GP/hr. It is considered the best F2P Mining method thanks to fast respawns and steady demand for iron ore.

Is Fly Fishing the fastest F2P Fishing method?

Yes, fly fishing at Barbarian Village is the fastest F2P Fishing method, giving 30-50K XP/hr from level 20 to 99 with a fly fishing rod and feathers. Drop the trout and salmon rather than banking them for maximum XP.

How long does it take to earn a bond in F2P?

Telegrabbing Wines of Zamorak is the fastest F2P bond method, taking 30-40 hours at 400-600K GP/hr toward the roughly 15M GP bond cost. Mining iron ore takes about 150 hours, and smithing steel bars about 100 hours.

What is the best F2P Ranged training method?

Hill Giants with a safe spot is the best F2P Ranged method, giving 15-25K XP/hr from level 40 while taking no damage. Use mithril arrows, a maple shortbow, green d'hide armour, and a coif.

Can you use the Blast Furnace in F2P?

Yes, the Blast Furnace is available to free players in 2026. Smelting steel bars there gives 30-40K Smithing XP/hr and 150-300K GP/hr from level 30, making it a profitable F2P method. It uses coal efficiently and is the recommended F2P Smithing route.

F2P Training Calculators

Check your levels and plan your training:

Conclusion

Best F2P Training Methods (ranked by skill):

  1. Melee Combat: Hill Giants
  2. Ranged: Hill Giants (safe spot)
  3. Magic: High Alchemy (55+)
  4. Mining: Iron Ore (3-tick)
  5. Woodcutting: Willows
  6. Fishing: Fly Fishing
  7. Cooking: Lobsters/Swordfish
  8. Smithing: Blast Furnace Steel Bars
  9. Crafting: Gold Jewelry
  10. Firemaking: Oak → Willow → Maple logs

Skills to AVOID in F2P:

  • Prayer (30x slower)
  • Runecrafting (7x slower)
  • Firemaking (wait for Wintertodt)

Best F2P Strategy:

  1. Train combat to 50/50/50 (Hill Giants)
  2. Train gathering skills (mining, fishing, WC) for profit
  3. Earn bond (15M GP)
  4. Upgrade to membership
  5. Continue training in P2P (2-30x faster)

F2P is great for learning the game, but membership unlocks the real OSRS experience!

Good luck on your F2P journey! ⚔️

Ready to apply what you learned?

Plug your stats into our free OSRS calculators to see exact XP, GP costs, and time estimates before you commit to a training method.

Open Skill CalculatorsBrowse All ToolsCompare Methods

Sources & methodology

XP rates, requirements, and drop data in this guide are cross-checked against the OSRS Wiki and verified against in-game behaviour. Grand Exchange prices move daily, so treat GP/hr figures as estimates and confirm current prices with the OSRS Wiki price tracker before committing to a method.