What Is SkillShare ?
Skillshare is an online learning platform and an online learning community that offers users the ability to take online video classes, discover new skills and even teach others.
Founded in 2010 in New York, the platform offers over 40,000 classes to 8 million + users, and is one of the most popular online education destinations on the internet.
Pros
- Skillshare courses offer affordable prices – opting for an annual subscription provides more than a 50% discount to new members
- New users can test out the
SkillShare Premium membership with the free-trial feature before committing an investment - SkillShare has a community that is highly engaging which provides an extra interactive experience for students taking classes
- The platform offers thousands of classes that teach applicable and creative skills in a wide variety of industries and areas of expertise
Cons
- SkillShare does not offer any type of certification or other credentials, professional or non-professional when finishing a course
- Virtually anyone can create their own course to be offered on the platform which creates a lot of potential variance in quality from class to class
- SkillShare does allow content in any language, but the platform is made up of mainly English courses and very few in other languages
- Learn new skills
- Explore your passion
- Take classes on the go.
"1 year in and still going, their content and courses are great"
What Is MasterClass ?
MasterClass is an online learning platform that allows students to take immersive, experiential online video classes that are delivered by some of the biggest names in their respective fields.
Learn from the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Judy Blume, Stephen Curry, Samuel Jackson, Natalie Portman, and a stacked roster of educators.
MasterClass offers educational content for everything from the culinary arts, painting, and acting, to different styles of writing, entrepreneurship, politics, photography, and technology. Check out the full MasterClass review for all the details.
Pros
- Affordable subscription plans that offer a range of options to suit different membership needs
- High-quality video content that has been produced by professional filmmaking teams to provide the best possible learning experiences
- Learn from internationally recognized professionals and celebrity instructors in their respective areas of expertise
- The refund policy allows members to request a full refund within the first 30 days
Ease Of Use
SkillShare
SkillShare offers a platform that is easy for users to navigate, search, and find the best online courses and content that they are looking for.
Students can access the platform from computers, smartphones, and tablets, and course progression will be synced across all devices.
The sign-up process is fast and efficient, which helps get members through registration and right into the educational content.
One potential issue is the lack of closed captioning on the video content. This limits usability not only for the hearing impaired but for individuals who may want to watch content without audio.
MasterClass
The
Members choose their area of interest, and then decide which educator they would like to learn from!
There are a number of useful features, like a built-in note-taking application, that make the learning experience easy and efficient. Best
The sign-up process is fast and efficient, and they also offer a 30-day full refund policy. Canceling your subscription is easy to do, and their customer service team is always available to help with any issues.
Course Diversity
SkillShare
SkillShare classes are home to well over 40,000 free courses that cover a wide range of subjects.
Members can learn about everything from creative writing, photography, and music, to web development, UI/UX design, and business analytics.
MasterClass
MasterClass does a great job of covering a wide variety of practical skills and areas of interest with its online learning platform.
Not only do they offer a comprehensive selection of subject matter, but they have some of the best educators on the roster to deliver it.
Learn about everything from home cooking with Gordon Ramsay, to creative writing with Margaret Atwood and drumming with Ringo Starr.
There are however a few popular topics that aren’t covered, like web development and other technology-heavy subjects.
Course Depth
SkillShare
SkillShare is a learning platform that features tens of thousands of courses, which speaks to the depth and comprehensiveness of the content they provide.
Their free classes are divided into three main categories – Create, Build, and Thrive. Each one of these categories is then divided into more specific topics that are chock-full of hundreds, if not thousands of educational videos.
MasterClass
MasterClass may not have the same level of variety in regard to the subject matter as
Each and every topic features an illustrious selection of educators from whom members may choose which suits their learning needs best.
The courses are custom-created by the instructors in a way that allows them to provide a well-rounded learning experience that covers all of the most important aspects.
When it comes to the depth of content provided,
- Learn from the best!
- New classes added every month
- 180+ classes to choose from
"Bored of TV, check out this Incredible content and cast"
Instructors
SkillShare
When it comes to the quality of the instructors that deliver educational content on
However,
As a result, you may in some cases be seeing classes taught by individuals who may or may not have the most credibility.
It is important for users to find instructors that deliver knowledge and practices that are accurate and up-to-date. This can be done simply by taking a look around and testing out a few different options.
MasterClass
MasterClass has earned a reputation for having a roster of high-quality educators that can quite literally not be matched by any other online.
Members have the opportunity to learn from some of the biggest names in their respective industries.
Gordon Ramsay teaches home cooking, Alicia Keys teaches singing, Wayne Gretzky teaches the Athlete’s Mindset, and Tony Hawk teaches skateboarding – you get the point.
MasterClass classes have invested in developing and offering an amazing lineup of high-profile instructors for their members to learn from. As a result, it can definitely be argued that their platform offers the best educators out of any online platform.
Certification
SkillShare
Some people are looking for popular online learning platforms that provide certification upon completion of their course programs or classes.
These credentials can often be listed on resumes and used in order to help impress employers and develop a career.
Unfortunately, SkillShare does not offer certification or credentials of any sort to users who complete courses on their platform.
The program is meant to be more for personal growth than it is a way to achieve career development and industry qualification.
MasterClass
When it comes to providing certification, whether it is professional or unprofessional certification,
Completing courses or sessions on their learning platform is not accompanied by the attainment of credentials or certification.
MasterClass is more of a casual learning platform that is not designed to provide substantial career development or professional accreditation of any kind.
It is meant to give members an exciting, immersive learning experience where they can develop skills that are applicable to their everyday lives.
Pricing
SkillShare Pricing
The
SkillShare offers a free month-long trial subscription to their premium plan for new users to test the platform before investing.
This can be canceled before the 30-day period has ended in order to opt out of the subscription and further charges.
SkillShare also offers something called “Teams Plans”. These are subscription plans designed specifically for teams and businesses of different sizes.
- Starter: Best for teams of 2 – 19: $159 USD per user, per year
- Enterprise: Best for teams of 20-50: Contact the sales department for pricing details
- Revive: Great for teams of 51 or more: Contact the sales department for pricing details
Team plans are billed on an annual basis, or through a multi-year contract system. The pricing system is built to offer lower prices to organizations that are purchasing more total individual seats or accounts.
- Learn from the best!
- New classes added every month
- 180+ classes to choose from
"Bored of TV, check out this Incredible content and cast"
MasterClass Pricing
The MasterClass subscription pricing is very straightforward. Members pay based on how many accounts they would like to have access to the platform and its content at any one time.
Individual Plan
$20 per month – billed annually
- 1 account: Watch on 1 device at a time
Duo Plan
$27 per month – billed annually
- 1 account: Watch on 2 devices at the same time – Use your
MasterClass account with a friend or family who resides with you, on one shared profile/account. - Users on this plan have the ability to download video classes and watch them in offline mode.
Family Plan
$30 per month – billed annually
- 1 account: Watch on 6 devices at the same time – Use your
MasterClass account with friends or family who reside with you, on one shared profile/account. - Users on this plan have the ability to download video classes and watch them in offline mode.
MasterClass does not offer any kind of free-trial incentive to entice new people into trying out their programs.
However, they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee that allows users to receive a full refund when they opt out of a subscription within the first month.
Customer Support
SkillShare
SkillShare has a customer support email that people can use to contact the organization about any issues they may be having with their account, or general questions.
Unfortunately, they do not have a customer support phone number for members to seek immediate help. This has clearly been a problem for some customers who have left reviews commenting on the lack of a support hotline.
There is also an alarming number of reviews from disgruntled customers that have had issues with their membership payments and free-trial cancellations.
Many have reported that they were charged for full membership after canceling their free trial, or were otherwise improperly billed.
The overall customer support aspect seems to be lacking in some ways, which should be kept in mind when deciding whether or not to purchase a subscription.
MasterClass
The
There is also an automated helper bot that is built into their website that can field questions and provide answers to a number of the more frequently asked questions by members.
MasterClass unfortunately does not offer a direct customer support phone line for members with issues to seek immediate help.
There is however a comprehensive FAQ page that offers in-depth answers to the most important questions and concerns.
There are a few reviews from customers online that report difficulties with contacting customer support and canceling their subscriptions or dealing with other account issues.
- Learn new skills
- Explore your passion
- Take classes on the go.
"1 year in and still going, their content and courses are great"
Verdict
In this comparison of SkillShare and
From course diversity, online learning space, depth, and ease of use to the pricing of subscriptions, customer support, and instructor quality, we have covered it all.
In order to provide a proper verdict, it is first important to consider what kind of subject matter you are looking for, and what your learning goals are. These are important things to consider when choosing the right online learning platform for your needs.
SkillShare offers a huge variety of content-based in virtually all of the most popular industries. With over 40,000 available courses, members can learn about almost anything, which speaks to the strength of their program diversity.
On the contrary, the fact that anyone who can meet the course guidelines is able to publish and offer a class can be a problem. Some instructors may be underqualified, not have the knowledge, or simply not be a great teachers.
Users may also run into poor-quality video content that ruins the learning experience altogether.
The
With only 11 content categories and about 150
With that being said,
These video lessons provide immersive learning experiences and feature world-renowned instructors who have proven expertise in their fields.
Finally, when it comes to the price of the subscription,
MasterClass offers three standard subscription plans, that vary based on the number of users on the account.
Deciding which platform from
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