In recent years, there’s been a growing popularity of learning new things online. It’s the digital age - who needs to go to university when we can watch a YouTube tutorial?
And if you’re a fan of online learning, you might’ve come across Skillshare!
Skillshare is a popular e-learning platform known for hosting both creative and skill-based courses. These courses appeal to around 12 million active users of the service.
However, Skillshare isn’t the only e-learning platform out there. In today’s market, numerous online learning platforms cater to specific niches and learning styles.
Today, we’ll discuss 6 of these exciting alternatives to Skillshare. We’ll delve into their pros and cons, pricing, and what you can expect to get out of them.
6 Best Skillshare Alternatives for 2024
If you want to try something different from Skillshare, we’ve got you covered.
This list features 6 alternative e-learning platforms that boast the same benefits that Skillshare provides.
There’s truly something for everyone, whether you want to gain college-level certifications, or simply learn something new!
Udemy
When it comes to e-learning platforms, you can’t get much better than Udemy!
Like Skillshare, Udemy allows teachers to upload courses for learners to use. They have over 210k+ courses available as of writing, with more to come!
Udemy offers courses in a wide range of subjects. There are lots of categories to choose from, such as business, finance, marketing, arts, music, gaming, and even makeup.
These categories are also further broken up into specific sub-categories, making it easier to find the perfect courses for you.
Another cool feature of Udemy is its review rating system. After taking a course, users have the option to review the course out of five stars to help other users find the ones with the top quality.
You can even filter out the lower-ranked courses to find the top ones in your field!
Udemy also lets you filter based on the length of the course, its specific topics, languages, and even skill level. This makes it easier to find what you want.
Unfortunately, you will have to pay to access most courses on Udemy. While they do have a range of free courses, most of the higher-quality courses require a one-off fee to use.
The pricing varies based on factors like the amount of content and when it was made. However, the courses do go on sale quite regularly for around $10 - $20, which makes them very affordable.
Pros
- Has over 210k+ courses available on multiple different topics
- You can easily filter through courses to find the best ones
- Some courses are free, and a lot of the paid ones regularly go on sale.
Cons
- As it’s a user-uploaded site, the quality of the courses can vary greatly
- When not on sale, the courses are very expensive for what you get.
Cost
Udemy offers a few free courses, but most of you will have to pay for them. This is a one-off fee that varies from course to course.
Coursera
Coursera is another e-learning website that offers a wide range of subjects.
The only difference is that they’re partnered directly with over 275 world-leading universities and companies to bring you skill-learning courses and degrees – think of institutions like Yale, Duke, Stanford, and even Google!
This platform is perfect for job-seekers looking to upskill their resumes. Coursera offers a lot of courses that are relevant to specific roles, such as project management, digital marketing, and programming.
Their other courses cover a wide range of subjects from humanities to language learning and data science.
Coursera even lets you complete entire degrees! However, you will still have to pay the very steep price which starts at $9k.
They also operate on a subscription model, so you’ll need to pay to access most of their courses.
This can work out to be quite expensive if you only want to complete one or two courses. The subscription cost is $59/month, or $399/year.
However, many users claim that the university-level content is great if you’re interested in the field.
Reddit users suggested that you can make the most of the subscription by enrolling in multiple classes in the same subject to see which teacher most inspires you, then drop the classes that you don’t like. That way, you can easily find what works best for you.
Pros
- Partners with 275+ world-leading universities and institutions
- There are a lot of courses offered for free
- They even offer full university degrees (although these cost a lot of money)
- Aimed at job-seekers looking to get an edge in the job market.
Cons
- Basic-level certificates might not look that impressive on a resume
- The subscription model is quite steep for what you get.
Cost
While some courses are offered for free, most are locked behind a subscription paywall. The subscription rate is currently $59/month or $399/year.
FutureLearn
FutureLearn is an online learning platform based in the UK. It partners with multiple leading universities and cultural institutions from around the globe!
One way they’re unique from others on this platform is that their courses are divided into university-style learning blocks.
You get a limited amount of time to complete the material and move on to the next stage. A lot of FutureLearn feels like a university; they even have a feature where you can interact with your classmates about the material you’re learning.
However, this does make FutureLearn a bit more of a commitment. For example, with other platforms like Skillshare, you can get away with doing content in one or two sessions.
With FutureLearn, you have to complete the materials week-by-week and aren’t even able to skip ahead unless you pay for their subscription model.
Despite this setback, FutureLearn is still a great e-learning platform to try out.
They offer a wide range of courses in areas like ‘Nature & Environment’, ‘Psychology & Mental Health’, and even Law!
You can buy courses as a one-off or subscribe to their subscription service, giving you access to as many courses as you’d like.
Pros
- Supplies courses from leading universities and cultural institutions
- Has a good range of free and paid content
- You can interact with others taking the same course, similar to an actual university
- You can buy courses as a one-off instead of paying for the subscription.
Cons
- It’s a bit more committed than other platforms; some courses take weeks to complete
- The user experience becomes much better when you have a subscription.
Cost
FutureLearn operates on a subscription model. While they do offer some free courses, most are locked by the subscription. The subscription is $244.99 for one year.
edX
edX was founded as a joint experiment by Harvard and MIT. They aimed to make education available for everyone – and from looking at edX, we can see that’s what they’ve achieved!
This e-learning platform partners with over 260 institutes to bring you college-level knowledge from the comfort of your personal computer.
One of the best things about edX is that the majority of their courses are free to take.
So if you’re interested in learning new skills quickly and cheaply, edX might be the perfect option for you!
However, they do offer a lot of paid content, including pathways to degrees if you’re looking for more of a challenge. For these, you’ll have to pay a one-off fee of around $50 - $300 depending on the course.
edX has a wide variety of courses on offer, from computer science and engineering to languages and humanities.
Their courses combine a mix of text and video content, and they also have discussion forums and assignments if you’re looking to take the extra step with your learning.
Pros
- The majority of the open courses are free to take, making them super affordable
- Founded by Harvard and MIT
- Has a wide variety of courses available in all disciplines
- Offers a lot of great beginner-friendly content.
Cons
- You have to pay to earn certificates and do graded assignments
- The quality of the courses depends on the institution providing them.
Cost
Most of the basic courses on edX are free to take. Otherwise, you’ll need to pay to earn certificates and also to complete graded assignments. These fees range from $50 - $300 per course.
LinkedIn Learning
Originally Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform run by LinkedIn.
They offer skill-focused learning aimed at helping boost your career and aid with job hunting. There’s something for every skill level on LinkedIn Learning, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses on offer.
LinkedIn Learning offers courses focused on specific job classifications. For example, you can take courses to further your digital marketing skills, project management, IT, and even graphic design.
Another bonus is that because it’s connected directly to LinkedIn, you can show off your new skills to prospective employers!
The only downside is that you have to pay to use the platform. The price starts at $19.99/month after a free trial. But the bonus of this is that you can do as many courses as you want.
Pros
- Connected to LinkedIn so your courses appear on your profile
- Has a wide range of courses for all skill levels such as beginner, intermediate, and advanced
- Skill-focused to boost your career.
Cons
- It’s a subscription-based model, so there aren’t any courses for free.
Cost
LinkedIn Learning operates on a subscription model. They currently offer a month free, and then $19.99/month after that.
Khan Academy
You might’ve come across Khan Academy in high school as a great revision tool for your exams.
Well, the good news is that Khan Academy is still up and running today – and it’s better than ever!
Khan Academy is a non-profit learning organization created by experts to help you learn.
It’s a great tool for students as well as anyone looking to pick up more knowledge in their spare time.
And the bonus is that it’s completely free! That’s right – there’s no subscription required to access all of the content that Khan Academy has to offer.
They offer a range of practice exercises as well as instructional videos and personalized learning in lots of different subjects.
You’ll find everything from math and science to life skills and even basic reading tests!
While Khan Academy is designed to support high school and early college learning, you can still use it if you’re looking to learn more about subjects like financial literacy, computing, and programming.
Pros
- Completely free to use
- Great for high school and early college level subjects
- Created by experts for all levels of learning.
Cons
- Doesn’t cover a lot of advanced content
- Aimed to help students, so a lot of the content is better as revision instead of new learning.
Cost
Khan Academy is the only e-learning platform on this list that is completely free to use! It doesn’t require a subscription or one-off fee; you just need to create an account.
Also Read: How Much Does Skillshare Cost?
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of alternatives to Skillshare on the market. It's important to explore the different options available to you to find the one that works best to suit your learning style and goal!
For example, if you're looking for skills to boost your career, platforms like Coursera, edX, and LinkedIn Learning might be perfect for you.
If you're looking to pick up new skills and knowledge, Khan Academy, FutureLearn, and Udemy offer a diverse range of courses for you to try.
