Which is better Skillshare or Lynda?

There are a lot of free and paid online education providers. We've reviewed several in this article. If you're not sure where to start, here are some great resources for choosing an e-learning provider that can help you get your career off the ground.

For many people, the first step towards becoming more educated about their field of interest is by taking classes from teachers who have experience in it. Some prefer to enroll into colleges while others choose to learn with online instructors instead. It all depends on your budget, schedule, and personal preference. But whichever option you go with, there are plenty of options available to you. You just need to know how to find them!

To make things easier, we’ve compiled the most popular online learning providers along with their pros and cons so you don't have to spend hours searching for information.

If you want to take a look at the comparison chart below, keep reading to discover whether any of these platforms offer something special that makes it stand out among its competitors.

Are LinkedIn courses better than Udemy?

LinkedIn Learning offers over 30 courses ranging from basic computer skills to advanced programming languages. The topics cover everything from data analysis and design to marketing and sales. Courses come with videos, interactive quizzes, practice assignments, and other materials. There are also live webinars being held regularly throughout the year where the instructor speaks directly to the audience. All lessons are taught by industry professionals including entrepreneurs, executives, engineers, designers, marketers, and product managers.

Udemy has a large number of different courses covering various subjects such as business, accounting, coding, cybersecurity, graphic design, etc. Each course comes with its own set of lectures and homework exercises. When compared to LinkedIn Learning, Udemy does provide a much wider range of content but it lacks the professional guidance provided by LinkedIn instructors.

The biggest advantage of using LinkedIn Learning is that students do not need to pay extra fees if they decide to cancel after paying upfront. On the flip side, Udemy doesn't allow learners to withdraw before completing the entire course without incurring charges.

Is teaching on Udemy worth it?

As mentioned earlier, Udemy provides a wide variety of courses across multiple categories. However, since most of them are self-guided tutorials, it might be difficult to distinguish between good quality material and low-quality ones. So, the question arises – should you invest time and money into Udemy courses when you could simply search for high-quality YouTube videos? Well, yes, it would probably save your precious time. But only if you already have some knowledge of the subject in hand. Otherwise, you'll end up wasting your valuable time watching uninteresting videos that teach you nothing new. A lot of Udemy courses tend to focus solely on theory rather than practical applications. And even though the instructors try their best to explain the concepts, it won't necessarily translate well to real life situations. Therefore, it isn't recommended unless you really enjoy going through boring videos day after day.

On the other hand, you may feel like spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars per month on a subscription to LinkedIn Learning. In return, you receive access to world class educational opportunities delivered right to your doorstep every single week. Plus, each lesson is accompanied by video tutorials, downloadable worksheets, practice questions, and other useful tools. Since you can always pause and resume later, there is no reason why you shouldn't give it a shot.

Is Udemy the best learning platform?

It seems like Udemy is currently the leader in the market because of its huge catalog of courses covering almost anything under the sun. Even though some users complained about its lack of professionalism and poor customer service, there was still enough positive feedback left behind to convince us of its usefulness. That said, we believe that Udemy can improve its services further and become a major contender against existing players. For example, it needs to develop a system that allows customers to request refunds whenever necessary. Also, to avoid confusion, it should clearly state that all courses offered on the website are non-refundable.

Teaching on Teachable is another great alternative. While it focuses mainly on digital products like books, courses, articles, blogs, podcasts, etc., it also offers a few offline programs like workshops and conferences. As far as pricing goes, you can either sign up for monthly plans starting at $8/month or yearly subscriptions costing around $150/year. Unlike Udemy, you cannot cancel a Teachable account once you've started paying. Instead, you must wait until the full term ends.

Another benefit of signing up with Teachable is that you can use its app to record yourself giving presentations and then upload those recordings to sell as premium packages.

SkillShare vs Lynda

Both SkillShare and Lynda are great choices for anyone looking to expand his or her knowledge base. Both companies offer extensive libraries of training material and they cater mostly to the same type of user – individuals interested in developing their careers. One big difference between them, however, is their approach to educating their target audiences. With SkillShare, you can join groups of like minded people who share similar interests and work together to complete challenges. Whereas with Lynda, you can browse through courses by category and pick whatever appeals to you the most.

SkillShare is known for its comprehensive library of short courses. These are ideal for beginners who aren't ready to tackle a long-term project yet. Lynda, on the other hand, tends to offer more in-depth courses designed especially for experienced programmers, software developers, webmasters, writers, and photographers.

SkillShare vs Skillshare Reddit

Skillshare has been offering online courses for years now. Its popularity grew rapidly thanks to influencers like Tim Ferriss and Gary Vaynerchuk. Nowadays, Skillshare boasts millions of subscribers who continue to explore its vast collection of classes.

One thing that sets Skillshare apart from other platforms is its unique “skill shares” feature. Basically, everyone gets assigned a certain amount of points based on their performance during the weekly sessions. Those who earn higher scores get rewarded with additional skill shares which they can redeem for future courses.

Skillshare vs Udemy

Skillshare and Udemy can both be considered excellent alternatives to LinkedIn Learning. They both have massive collections of training programs developed by experts within specific fields. What distinguishes them is the fact that Skillshare teaches via virtual classrooms whereas Udemy uses self-paced video tutorials.

In terms of price, Udemy is cheaper than Skillshare. However, Skillshare gives you unlimited access to all its courses for a flat fee of $10/mo. Another perk of joining Skillshare is that you can participate in group discussions with fellow members.

Is teaching on Teachable worth it?

Teaching on Teachable is definitely affordable and easy to use. Compared to Skillshare and Udemy, Teachable costs less ($5/mth), allows you to create private courses, and lets you host recorded presentations for sale.

A downside of teaching on Teachable is that you cannot refund students' payments in case of cancellation. Furthermore, you cannot stop teaching on the site once you have signed up. To prevent burnout, you will need to build up your reserves of energy beforehand.

Conclusion

While it remains to be seen whether LinkedIn Learning will remain as dominant in the marketplace as it is today, it is clear that the competition exists. So, if you’re thinking about switching to another platform, consider carefully and compare the differences between them. Then, figure out which one fits your style of learning the best.

Online courses are becoming a popular way for people to learn new skills. In fact, there’s no shortage of resources out on the web – from Udemy to Coursera, there are tons of quality course options available. But with so many choices, how do you know where to go? Which is the best place to take your first step into an exciting world of knowledge?

There are two main types of online learning platforms that we can compare here - those based around subscriptions (like SkillShare) and those that offer them as part-time/full time memberships (like Lynda). Both have their pros and cons but in this article I'll be talking about Skillshare vs Lynda because they're the most common ones that we come across.

If you want to get started with these kinds of platforms then it might help if you understand a bit more about each type before you decide which one would suit you best. So let's dig right in!

Is LinkedIn Learning the best?

LinkedIn offers several paid courses ranging between $20-$60 per month depending on the number of lessons. The company itself says that its aim is to “help professionals become highly skilled at using our products by providing exclusive access to premium content from some of the industry’s leading experts.” It also claims that every lesson has been handpicked by subject matter experts who work at LinkedIn.

But while it does seem like the company is doing something good, it isn't always clear whether they actually deliver. After all, just look at the reviews online. They range anywhere from "terrible" to "amazing." And when you search for any particular topic, you won't find much information either. Not only that, but the company doesn't provide any real evidence of why anyone should sign up for a membership plan or pay anything beyond the initial fee.

In short, it seems very unlikely that you'd ever use LinkedIn Learning again after paying for a subscription. If you don't mind spending money on something that isn't useful, then maybe it could make sense for you. However, if you prefer to stick with free alternatives, then perhaps LinkedIn is not for you.

Which online learning platform is best?

Skillshare vs Lynda: Who wins?

Both Skillshare and Lynda have their own positives and negatives. Let's start off with the former.

Skillshare costs $9 /month ($24 /year), yet provides unlimited access to over 1 million video tutorials. You can choose to watch videos as often as you wish (though you need to wait 24 hours to view them again) and you can also download videos to play offline later. Once subscribed, you can even pause or rewind any video whenever you want. There's also the option to join private groups, send messages to other users and share links to interesting articles within the community.

The biggest drawback to Skillshare is that the company charges extra fees for certain services such as hosting your profile page, creating custom themes, setting up your website, and importing your contacts. These add up quickly though, especially given the amount of material that you can consume without having to pay extra. For example, the site currently hosts over 2 million videos and 10 million images, and it plans to expand further in 2021. That means that the price tag for accessing everything is quite high.

On top of that, Skillshare is not really designed for beginners. While you may find plenty of helpful guides on YouTube to teach you specific skills, it takes a lot longer than simply watching someone else explain things. Plus, although Skillshare allows you to set reminders and create notes during individual lessons, it doesn't allow you to save entire sections of a video or playlist. On top of that, the interface is clunky and confusing.

In contrast, Lynda offers similar services and prices. The service starts at $15 /month ($45 /year) and includes unlimited access to 3,000+ classes. Like Skillshare, you can watch lectures as often as you like, download videos to keep forever, or pause them anytime. Unlike Skillshare however, Lynda lets you skip ahead and fast forward throughout a lecture, and it gives you full control over your account settings.

You also get additional perks like being able to access your profile, social media accounts, and contact list on mobile devices. When compared against Skillshare, Lynda comes out on top here.

However, Lynda has another advantage too. Whereas Skillshare limits you to viewing videos once every 24 hours, Lynda allows you to watch them indefinitely. As such, you can spend less time searching for relevant materials since you can revisit old ones at any point. Also, unlike Skillshare, Lynda's library contains a wide variety of different subjects.

For instance, you can find courses covering topics including business management, marketing, design, writing, programming, photography, music production, and more. Overall, Lynda feels more flexible due to the greater choice of categories.

Lastly, Lynda's pricing structure is a little easier to digest. Rather than charging monthly fees, you instead pay a one-off payment upfront followed by smaller payments thereafter. Since the payments are spread out over 12 months rather than being charged weekly, it makes it easier to budget.

Although Lynda is more expensive overall, it's worth noting that the company now offers a student discount. With a 50% student discount, you can subscribe for $10 /month ($30 /year) and receive unlimited access to thousands of classes.

Coursera vs Udemy vs Linkedin Learning Reddit: Who wins?

At last, we reach the end of our comparison. Here's a quick overview of the three major players in the field:

Coursera

This online education provider was founded back in 2012 and today operates in 190 countries worldwide. Its mission statement states that the company aims to "provide affordable, accessible online higher education to everyone." To achieve this goal, Coursera partners with universities to host its classes.

Udemy

Founded in 2010, Udemy is a marketplace that connects students with teachers. Students can browse courses according to various criteria, and teachers upload their class descriptions. Teachers also earn revenue through the sale of their courses via the Udemy app.

Linkedin Learning

Similar to Coursera and Udemy, this platform focuses primarily on helping employees develop themselves through training programs. All courses are created by certified instructors and are approved by the company's team of reviewers. Users must complete a brief questionnaire beforehand to verify their identity and ensure that the course meets their needs.

All three companies operate on a freemium model. That is, they offer basic versions of their websites that include limited functionality. However, these basic sites aren't suitable for beginners. Instead, you'll likely find yourself needing to upgrade to the Premium version in order to gain access to advanced tools such as quizzes and forums.

Here's a breakdown of the differences between each platform:

Coursera

Coursera is probably the easiest to navigate and has a clean layout. The homepage displays featured courses, recent additions, upcoming events, and a calendar. Each section is separated neatly into tabs that highlight different aspects of the platform.

Like many others, Coursera requires that you register before you can participate in courses. Before signing up, you need to answer a few questions related to your career goals, educational background, and interests. Then, you'll be asked to select a username and password. Finally, you'll be redirected to a separate screen where you'll agree to terms and conditions before proceeding.

Once logged in, you'll notice that Coursera divides its offerings into four distinct parts: Learn, Connect, Earn, and Grow. Within each category, you'll find a selection of courses under subheadings such as Business & Management, Programming, Design, Photography, etc. At present, Coursera counts more than 30,000 courses listed among its catalog. Most of them are self-paced and require you to log into the system regularly.

Udemy

While the layout of Udemy looks similar to that of Coursera, the user experience is a little more complicated. From the frontpage, you can filter courses by category, language, and popularity.

Each course has its own description along with a rating out of five stars provided by previous participants. Below, you'll find tags that you can click on to narrow down your searches further. A dropdown menu appears next to each tag allowing you to sort results by relevance, age, and title.

Within each category, you'll find a series of tabs showing details about the instructor, course length, and the current enrollment status. Here, you can check out the ratings and comments left by past participants, as well as see a sample assignment.

Unlike Coursera, Udemy does not restrict registration. Anyone can enroll in courses regardless of whether they've completed prior assignments.

It's important to note that Udemy only allows registered users to leave feedback. Therefore, if you fail to submit feedback, you risk losing points towards your certification level.

Skillshare and Lynda are two leading subscription-based education platforms that offer a range of courses on various subjects. The first was founded in 2011 and the second launched in 2014, so they're fairly new players in the market with plenty of room to grow.

Both platforms have been growing rapidly over the past few years, with some claiming that there were more subscribers at the end of 2018 than there had ever been before. While it seems like everyone wants an edge over their competitors, not all these subscriptions translate into quality content. So how do you know if a course from either platform is worth your time? Here we'll take a look at the differences between them to help narrow down the options available to you.

Are Skillshare certificates Recognised?

The first thing you should check out when deciding whether to subscribe to a particular course is its certificate status. If you can't find any information about this from the website itself, then head over to Course Report  to get a full breakdown of each certification. You may be able to purchase credits directly from the site but most people prefer to use a third party provider such as Verified Certificates.

You might also want to consider using a service like CrediLearn, which provides detailed reviews of every course on Coursera and EdX alongside verification codes for those who need them. Alternatively, you could try checking the official LinkedIn Learning certification page where you'll find links to many popular courses on both companies' sites. As well as the usual badges, you'll often find videos explaining why certain courses meet the requirements necessary for recognition.

While these services provide useful information, they don't give us enough data to make a recommendation. It would be unfair to say "if you can't find a badge on Skillshare's own site then avoid it", because not all courses are listed here. However, this does highlight why it's important to research the subject matter thoroughly before committing yourself to a specific course - even if you've already made up your mind.

Which one is better Udemy or Skillshare?

Before making a decision based solely on the number of students enrolled, it's worth considering what you'd expect from each company. Both Skillshare and Udemy pride themselves on offering affordable access to high-quality educational material. But while the former offers a broad selection of free courses, the latter has a much smaller catalog of paid offerings.

Udemy, for example, only lists around 200 courses compared to Skillshare's 2,000+. Some of the smaller providers have found ways round this by partnering with other companies (e.g., Udemy and TutsPlus) to create a larger catalog. Others like Treehouse have developed premium packages aimed specifically at business professionals. These are great examples of how different types of learners need different things.

If you're looking for something more niche, then perhaps Udemy isn't right for you. In contrast, Skillshare caters mainly towards arts and crafts enthusiasts, graphic designers and musicians who simply wish to learn more about their chosen hobby without having to pay thousands of dollars upfront. Their extensive library means that you won't struggle to find relevant courses to suit your needs.

For beginners though, Skillshare is probably going to be a little too expensive due to its lack of free content. That said, you shouldn't overlook the fact that Udemy doesn't cater to beginners at all. Most of the courses offered on Udemy require previous knowledge of programming languages, mathematical concepts or similar technical skills. Even if you're just starting out, you'll likely encounter issues trying to follow along with someone else's code.

In addition to providing a broader variety of content, Udemy boasts a higher level of customer support. Many of the top courses on Skillshare have no live chat or email support whatsoever, leaving users hanging without answers to questions. There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but it makes me wonder if the developers don't feel confident enough in their courses to commit to being responsive 24/7. On the contrary, Udemy is known for its excellent customer service thanks to a team dedicated entirely to helping customers across multiple channels.

Is Skillshare good for beginner artists?

Although Skillshare is primarily targeted at creative individuals, I think it can still be helpful for anyone interested in digital art. For example, if you're planning to start drawing manga characters or creating comic book covers, then you might benefit from taking part in a series of tutorials created by professional illustrators.

These lessons cover everything from sketching techniques to colour theory and shading. They're presented in bite-sized chunks that aren't overly complicated. Each lesson typically lasts less than 10 minutes, giving you ample time to practice whatever techniques the instructor has taught you during the session. To my surprise, several lessons involve video footage of actual real life illustrations rather than computer generated images!

I'm sure you'll agree that Skillshare is ideal for someone wanting to learn how to draw comics, illustrate stories or design logos. Not only did I personally enjoy watching these lessons, but I also gained valuable insight into how professional artists work. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the majority of courses on Udemy.

This is especially true of courses designed for children. Although these are meant to teach young kids how to write books, paint pictures and play music, they frequently fall short of expectations as soon as they begin teaching basic writing principles. Instead of focusing on practical exercises related to storytelling, Udemy favours lengthy explanations about grammar rules and punctuation. A lot of these classes go on for hours, meaning you spend far longer reading than actually doing anything.

I wouldn't recommend Udemy for parents hoping to introduce their child to the world of literature. If you're willing to put up with the boring videos instead, however, then maybe it's worth a shot. At least there's always YouTube for inspiration!

Is Udemy better than Lynda?

Another major factor to consider when choosing a subscription-based learning solution is the amount of money involved. Udemy charges $10 per month whereas Skillshare costs $9.99 per month ($8.99 if you sign up for three months). When you compare these prices against the average price charged by traditional colleges and universities, Udemy looks extremely competitive.

On the other hand, Lynda does charge a pretty penny for its monthly membership fee. With a single plan costing $19.95 per month, you'll quickly exceed the average tuition fees incurred by UK graduates. What's worse is that Lynda requires you to buy additional modules individually which add significantly to that total bill.

At least Skillshare gives you the option of buying individual courses outright for $1 each. This allows you to save roughly half of your investment immediately; although you may miss out on some of the benefits associated with subscribing to a whole package.

So, if you value convenience above all else, then Skillshare is definitely the way forward. Otherwise, the choice comes down to budget. Are the savings substantial enough to justify paying extra each month? Or would you be happier spending a couple hundred bucks upfront rather than shelling out hundreds of dollars annually?

Either way, make sure you read our guide to the Best Online Learning Platforms to figure out which platform fits your lifestyle best.