Pluralsight Vs CBT Nuggets (Honest Comparison 2025)

It’s pretty crazy how quickly the online world has taken over life as we know it.

Just a decade or two ago, if you wanted access to new information you’d have to cart yourself off to the nearest library, nuzzle your head in a book, and spend a great deal of time searching for the relevant information. 

Not anymore. Oh no, I think we take for granted the absolute apex of knowledge that is just a mere click or two away.

Want to know the answer to that random question that’s popped into your head? All you need to do is type it into google and and boom, there is the answer.

Let’s check out the difference between Pluralsight Vs CBT Nuggets to find more!

Because of this, life has really become much more fast-paced than ever before. Most working professionals, students, parents, and really any people are pressed for time and need quick and instant solutions and answers.

And so, now more than really ever before, people are opting to join the online world when looking for additional education. After all, it is so much easier. 

And with this demand for online education, more and more platforms have been created to help people learn and expand their knowledge.

Now, it’s not so much a case of finding a decent platform but instead deciding which of the plethora of platforms is going to be the most suitable fit for you. 

Pluralsight and CBT Nuggets are two perfect examples of this. So throughout this article, we’re going to take a closer look at both platforms so that you can make an informed decision about which one would be better for you. 

Main Differences Between Pluralsight & CBT Nuggets

Before we delve into the plentiful features that these platforms have to offer, let’s take a look at what actually makes them different from one another. 

• Pluralsight has a very relaxed approach to their software and learning whereas CBT Nuggets is much more on demand. 
• Pluralsight has quite an extensive range of courses to choose from whereas CBT Nuggets has a more specific and smaller course catalog. 
• Pluralsight is primarily document based in regard to learning, visual learners may not enjoy the platform as much as there are minimal video lessons. CBT Nuggets is much more video-based with less documentation. 
• Pluralsight opts for the short and sweet approach making it great for those looking for smaller informational bites that don’t take up much time. CBT Nuggets has longer and more in-depth lessons that offer more information. 
• Pluralsight encourages more independent research whereas CBT Nuggets has additional labs that accompany many of the lessons. 
• Pluralsight has fairly limited interactions in terms of customer service. CBT Nuggets has a live chat as well as helpful tools for software struggles. 
• Pluralsight has a long list of lessons that can be difficult to navigate quickly whereas CBT Nuggets has a fairly clean and easy layout. 
• Pluralsight courses are often supplied by professionals within the industry of the course topic whereas CBT Nuggets’ courses can be somewhat inconsistent. 

Pluralsight – Closer Look

Features

• Large selection of courses to choose from
• Convenient online assessments
• Partnerships with well-established and credible companies such as Microsoft 
• Advanced course pathways
• Self-paced video lectures 
• Certification for every course
• Students can measure their skills with each other

Getting Started

When you sign up for your subscription you’ll have the option to select personal interests for topics that are relevant to you. This can be changed at any time if you’d prefer to do it later or end up changing your mind. 

An initial look at the dashboard will be fairly overwhelming. It is somewhat confusing and rather technical looking. I would strongly recommend deciding the type of path you wish to take before you begin. 

Choosing Your Path

Once you’ve settled on a path to take you’ll be shown a variety of skill and training options that may be necessary to reach your goal. But you’ll need to establish what level you are currently at for this path. 

This can be done by taking one of their available tests, which will then recommend the next steps that you should take.

Each path has its own individual set of courses, you’ll be able to see how many hours of study you’ll need to complete too. 

Courses

I won’t list all the available courses considering there are several thousand to choose from. This is why I would advise deciding which courses you are interested in beforehand. 

Don’t be surprised if your path and courses change fairly frequently, this is because new content is always being updated and added to keep up with an ever-changing industry. 

The courses themselves are pretty easy to follow, and there is an option to take notes on the screen and a quick search for a relevant topic will bring up plentiful information. 

For each course that is successfully completed, you’ll be awarded a certification of completion. If you do not successfully complete the course, fear not as there are unlimited retakes for all courses. 

Prices

Of course, these platforms are very rarely free to use. Pluralsight offers two subscription options.

The first is their skill subscription which is tailored more toward team learning and costs $9 month year for the standard option, or $14 for the Premium option. 

The second subscription is their flow subscription. There are three options within this subscription.

The first is a standard choice which costs $499 per year, the Plus option is $599 a year while the Enterprise option will set you back $699. 

CBT Nuggets – Closer Look

Features

• App & offline learning
• Personal trainers
• It practice exams
• Playlists for your learning
• Learner management 
• Usage reporting
• Certification of completion
• Coaching and bespoke quizzes
• Virtual labs 

Getting Started

CBT Nuggets homepage is essentially a centralized hub where you will be able to select the specific IT training courses that you want to complete.

There is a pretty good choice of courses and there are tons of videos that you can look through that will be relevant to your training. 

You’ll notice that all of the content at CBT Nuggets has much more of a classroom-like feel with teachers that walk you through the information you receive.

It is also important to note that CBT Nuggets do not use third parties in terms of their content. It is produced by them and them alone. 

Vendors

CBT Nuggets has quite an extensive list of vendors to choose from. I’ll briefly walk you through these options now. 

AWS – Amazon Web Services – 17 different courses that help teach you about the intricacies of how Amazon works, perfect for those in business of any kind. 

Cisco – Global leaders in routing and switching software and hardware offer up over 800 hours of teacher training. 

Citrix – Virtualization skill-based learning that relates to cloud-based storage systems. 

CompTIA – universal and foundational knowledge that relates to many different IT roles

F5 – network administration and engineer-specific learning that is quick and easy to complete. 

Juniper – 28 different courses that will prepare professionals in a range of core networking skills

Linux – Learn about open-source operating systems with four courses with over 110 hours of training. 

Microsoft – There are over 100 different courses based around Microsoft. 

Oracle – database administrator training with 3 different courses with 34 hours of video lessons. 

Salesforce – There are two courses that will help you get to grips with using Salesforce.

VMware – Learn about virtualization software and services that VMware offers in over 100 hours of training videos. 

Practice Exams & Quizzes

What better way can you test how well you’re taking in information than through practice exams and quizzes? CBT Nuggets have fully customizable exams with questions that are true to exam-level formal tests. 

You can also use the flashcard training to develop your key term vocabulary and knowledge which comes in handy considering the extensive amount of key terms there are to remember.

And when you get a question wrong, you’ll be provided with a great deal of information to help you better understand where you went wrong. 

Pricing

There are two primary price brackets on CBT Nuggets. An individual account will set you back either $59 per month or $599 for a yearly subscription.

Both of these pricing options come with a free 7-day trial so you can test out how well the platform works for you before fully committing to it.

Team memberships are actually the exact same price as the individual subscription coming in at $59 per month or $599 for the year. 

What To Try Next

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Final Thoughts

Which platform suits you and your learning style best will ultimately come down to personal preference. However, personally, I would always opt for Pluralsight over CBT Nuggets.

My reasoning for this is that there are so many more courses up for grabs, and the learning system is just superior.

The certificates of completion mean that you can add them to your resume and impress prospective employers. And in the long run, it also works out the cheaper option too.