If you’re a creative, an entrepreneur, or both, and want to enhance your skills online, looking at the differences between Udemy vs Skillshare is a must.
In this review, we unpack everything you need to know about where to spend your spare time enhancing your business and creative skills and knowledge.
Let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
TLDR: Udemy vs Skillshare
Udemy is a budget-friendly online learning platform with thousands of courses on countless topics. As far as the course quality is concerned, this can vary because anyone can teach on this platform. On the plus side though, Udemy is one of the most affordable eLearning platforms and if you’re already working, you’re going to love the flexiblity the platform offers.
Skillshare is an excellent option is planning to invest in more than one online course. The platform’s monthly and yearly plans give you access to over 30,000 courses across an array of creative and business categories. One of the big advantages of Skillshare is that besides pre-recorded video materials, the platform also offers plenty of workshops and live events.
Ready to get into further details?
Udemy vs Skillshare: Who Is It For?
Udemy
Many students join Udemy for its never-ending course library. However, be prepared to find more technology and marketing courses than anything else.
Whether you want to learn a brand new skill or enhance your existing skills to further your career, Udemy will have a course that interests you.
Udemy is particularly popular among learners on a budget since there are tons of free courses and programs on sale. In addition, users don’t have to sign up for a subscription – perfect for those who don’t want a long-term commitment.
If you’re after college credit or accredited qualifications, won’t find those on the site. You are better off with Udemy alternatives like edX or Coursera.
Skillshare
Skillshare is mainly focused on people working in the creative industry (chefs, artists, designers), but there are also courses available for marketers, small business owners, and freelancers.
In terms of a formal education, Skillshare is on the same level as Udemy – they don’t offer professional accreditations (nor certificates) upon course completion. This makes the learning platform great for casual learning with the main goal of obtaining knowledge, not certificates.
You will, however, work on projects that you can use to showcase your skills to potential employers and clients.
Udemy vs Skillshare: Types of Courses Offered
Udemy
Udemy offers well over 250,000 courses on a multitude of subjects. In fact, many first-time users find it overwhelming to browse through the course categories.
Udemy splits its courses into the following categories:
- Business
- Development Finance and Accounting
- Marketing
- IT and Software
- Personal Development
- Photography and Video
- Design
- Office Productivity
- Lifestyle
- Teaching and Academics
- Health and Fitness
- Music
Each of these categories is further divided into subcategories. For example, the Development category is split into web development, data science, mobile development, programming languages, game development, database design, software testing, software engineering, no-code development, and more.
Even though there is an overwhelming number of course choices, users can filter their search results according to course duration, price, language, level, and student feedback.
Apart from paid courses, the platform offers over 10,000 courses that are completely free. The typical course duration starts at a couple of hours, all the way up to 49 hours, with most of the free courses featuring up to three hours’ worth of video material. It’s important to note that free courses don’t include a Udemy certificate of completion.
And if you do earn a certificate of completion, know that Udemy is not accredited, so it won’t count towards college credit.
Skillshare
Skillshare classes are divided into three major categories: Create, Build, and Thrive.
The Create category encompasses the following subjects:
- Animation
- Creative Writing
- Film and Video
- Fine Art
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Music
- Photography
- UI and UX Design
- Web Development
The Build category includes the following sub-categories:
- Business Analytics
- Finance and Entrepreneurship
- Leadership and Management
- Marketing
The Thrive category only includes two sub-categories:
- Lifestyle
- Productivity
All classes come with a comprehensive description that describes the main goals, hands-on class projects and assignments, class rating, names of the lesson, and more. Most classes consist of pre-recorded video lessons packed with projects that can take up to a few days to complete.
For example, a writing class may have a project that requires a student to write a three-to-five-page short story. A graphic design class project may include creating a cover for a music album or sketching freehand. Students can see which projects they’re expected to complete in every course description.
Skillshare also isn’t an accredited educational institution. The platform doesn’t offer certificates upon completion either.
Udemy vs Skillshare: Pricing & Refunds
Udemy
Udemy is one of the few online learning platforms that doesn’t offer subscriptions. Learners only have to pay for the course on day one and have full access to its material for as long as their account is active. There are no monthly or yearly plans that commit students to the platform for a specified amount of time.
As far as the price for individual courses is concerned, the range is between $10-$199 per course. The large gap is linked to the course type, structure, and length. Also, content creators on Udemy are free to set their own prices for the course. It’s only logical that instructors who teach complex topics will offer a higher price.
One great thing about Udemy is that they offer plenty of discounts – up to 90% on some courses. It’s one of the reasons why this learning platform has become so popular. In fact, this causes people to wonder, “Is Udemy legit?” It definitely is, sales and discounts is just how Udemy attracts new students.
Udemy’s refund policy allows learners to get their money back if they’re not satisfied with their purchase within 30 days. Learners can use the web or mobile app to cancel their purchase and have their money returned in the original payment form.
Skillshare
Skillshare’s pricing plan is a bit more comprehensive compared to Udemy – they have different plans depending on the learner’s needs. Most plans come with a Skillshare free trial that lasts for one month. During this time, users can get accustomed to the platform and decide whether proceeding with monthly or annual plans is worth it.
Note that all new members will have to insert their debit or credit card number, but they won’t be charged during the free trial period. The monthly cost of an individual subscription is $32, while the annual price is $180.
The platform has dynamic pricing, meaning that the price depends on your region. In some places, the annual subscription can be as low as $29. This is a part of the company’s effort to make learning more accessible to everyone.
There are also team packages:
- Starter plan – $159 per user (supports five to 49 members)
- Enterprise plan – custom price (20+ members)
- Revive plan – custom price (50+ members)
Skillshare doesn’t support individual course purchases like Udemy. This may leave you wondering, “Is Skillshare worth it?”
The answer is yes, if you’re looking to start or excel in a career in one of their chosen categories.
Skillshare free courses are available for premium members who cancel their subscriptions. Regular users can also sign up for a free plan.
Users can cancel their subscriptions at any time. However, a Skillshare refund is only available for annual memberships and within the first seven days of the purchase.
Udemy vs Skillshare: Enrolment & Usability
Udemy
Udemy is super straightforward to use. First-time visitors who wish to register only have to enter their name, email, and password, and the new account is created. Overall, the user experience is pretty intuitive – there’s just a lot of courses to look through.
The course categories, search options, and filters are available to make your search more accessible. Those who don’t know where to start can benefit from answering a few questions on the home page to receive recommendations.
Course descriptions are comprehensive, and users are presented with key details to help them decide whether a program is right for them. The course price, pre-requirements, syllabus, video material length, student feedback, and more details are available.
All Udemy programs are self-paced, so there’s no standard course duration.
Skillshare
Skillshare is just as user-friendly and intuitive as Udemy. It’s easy to create an account – you simply login via your Facebook or Google profile and search for courses. Before you get to browse for courses though, you’ll need to provide credit card details.
Note that your card won’t be charged during the trial period for annual memberships. For monthly memberships, you’ll be charged right away and taken to the home page.
Due to a large number of options, users are advised to use the search box to find specific course topics. The platform offers plenty of details in the course descriptions, so students know exactly what they’re getting.
Most courses are completed on the platform, while others require the use of programs (depending on the course type – Adobe Photoshop etc.)
Udemy vs Skillshare: Course Structures
Udemy
Udemy courses normally consist of the following:
- Videos content: Most courses are organized as pre-recorded videos that last a few minutes (from two up to 10) and are based around a single topic. The videos are available on the platform’s web page, mobile devices, and smart TVs (for some courses).
- Quizzes. Instructors include quizzes throughout the course to help students solidify what they learn.
- Projects. Udemy courses often come with different tasks and projects that can take one or more days to complete.
- Downloadable resources. Most courses can also be followed offline, and there are plenty of documents, resources, and sheets available for download to boost material retention.
As previously mentioned, all Udemy online courses can be followed at your own pace. However, the syllabus is broken into days to help learners organize their study time. Most students can complete two or three-days’ worth of material in a single day – it depends on the time they allocate to online studying throughout the week.
Skillshare
Skillshare classes normally consist of 20-60 minute pre-recorded videos divided into two to eight-minute lessons. There are two types of courses on the platform – Skillshare Originals, created by the platform, and regular classes created by individuals.
However, all classes generally follow a specific structure:
- Intro video – short introductory material aimed to inspire the learner to learn the new topic.
- Project video – explanation of how the classes will be presented and what’s expected from the students.
- Class lessons – the central part where the instructors teach basic concepts or give steps for completing projects.
- Conclusion video – wrap up or summary of the class.
Classes often come with additional material, including graphics, images, and music. There are also transcrips of the lessons for some classes.
Many courses come with additional material such as readings and workshops. There’s also a thriving community where students can share work and motivate each other throughout the journey.
The Verdict
Both Udemy and Skillshare offer high-quality programs for online learning. While Udemy has a wider course offering and more active users, Skillshare is nothing to sneeze at. It offers a variety of courses for the creatives and builders, which are some of the most in-demand career paths today.
Whether you should sign up on Skillshare or Udemy ultimately comes down to your learning needs. If you’re after long-term learning and wish to learn from different experts – you may be better off with Skillshare. On the other hand, if you’d prefer a short-time education and want to focus on a single course, then Udemy is a more affordable option.