Skillshare vs Coursera: Which App Will Enhance Your Learning

Florencia Basavilbaso
Best Apps And Tools, Career Planning, Reviews

Florencia Basavilbaso

Content Writer At Gradehacker

When it comes to online learning, your options are wide! But to decide on the best, you’ll have to face Skillshare vs Coursera to find which one is the right for you.

Besides them being some of the leading platforms for individual courses, what they offer tends to be different!

Here, at Gradehacker, the non-traditional #1 resource, we enjoy providing our community with the best tools to upgrade their skill levels, and after years of experience, we’ve found these two that can help you!

Both have a wide range of courses and their own advantages, so which one should you choose? In this blog post, we’ll face Skillshare vs Coursera to help you decide which one will enhance your learning.

Let’s start with a bit of context.

What is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online platform best known for its wide variety of individual courses, mostly about creative topics, taught by highly skilled people and experts in their fields.

What makes their online classes stand out from other educational platforms is their community of learners, where everyone can create and teach their own classes on various topics.

Of course, anyone wishing to teach on Skillshare must be approved first. But, you can access a wide range of educational content, and anyone who is an expert at what they do can teach you.

It’s great if you’re looking to learn different techniques and have multiple points of view on the same subject.

You can learn at your own pace and access their entire catalog of classes for:

Animation
Creative Writing
Film & Video
Fine Art
Graphic Design
Illustration
Music
Photography

It also promotes community engagement by providing opportunities for students to interact with instructors and fellow learners on discussions, feedback, and collaboration through:

However, if you want to see more about what Skillshare offers, you can check our experience with them:

What is Coursera?

Coursera is a leading online course platform that offers lessons on a wide range of topics from top universities and companies.

On this website, you’ll have access to over 4,000 video classes where you can go at your own pace, study remotely, earn a certificate of completion, and even complete full degree programs.

What sets Coursera apart from the rest, besides its flexible scheduling, is that it offers high-quality courses and university degrees from the best institutions and companies around the world, such as:

With Coursera, you will gain access to a broad range of lessons on business topics, such as:

And just like Skillshare, you can enjoy your online classes from their mobile app!

In case you want to learn more about how Coursera works with our honest experience, you should check our in-depth review.

Now that we know what makes unique each of these platforms, let’s face Skillshare vs Coursera and see which is the best choice for you.

Want More Free Resources?

Take our quiz and see what other websites, tools, and study strategies you can use to study smarter!

Want More Free Resources?

Take our quiz and see what other websites, tools, and study strategies you can use to study smarter!

Design & Interface

Both platforms come to be user friendly and easy to navegate, but when it comes to design you’ll notice that Skillshare focuses on showing more of its courses and categories, while Coursera has a more simplistic approach.

Let’s see in detail what we mean!

Skillshare Interface

Skillshare has a very user-friendly interface, allowing learners to keep track of their progress easily!

It’s noticeable that the platform looks forward to inspiring students’ creative skills through engaging video classes.

Something that makes them stand out is their eye-catching layout since you’ll find featured images and illustrations on video covers or background pages.

Skillshare also offers an online community connection through their:

Coursera Interface

On the other hand, we have Coursera, which also offers an intuitive and interactive learning experience perfect for your professional development!

Its courses are carefully structured with:

Students can easily navigate through their classes and progress at their own pace.

The main difference with Skillshare is that Coursera’s interface prioritizes simplicity and functionality, as the course pages are organized and have a clean and clear view.

You always have the menus and search filters on sight, so it’s easier to find the class you are looking for.

Coursera Design

The platform’s design gives a visually good impression for learners of all backgrounds.

Their design focuses on giving you an academic feeling (almost college-like) as they proudly show they are partnered with very prestigious universities, which makes you trust their content is high quality and you’ll be learning from the bests.

Coursera’s design is clean and minimalistic, making it easy to navigate their classes and find important information without distractions.

It’s also easy to find different topics related to the one you browse and search for different levels, from beginner to advanced.

Skillshare Design

Skillshare, on the other hand, has a slightly more informal and modern look, which makes you feel comfortable with what they offer,no matter your previous experience or knowledge.

Their courses and layout are colorful. Because they encourage creativity and openness to be relaxed while learning with others, it’s a perfect option for beginners and curious students.

It also promotes user interaction and creates a sense of community as you can interact with your peers and teachers, ask questions and get your own questions answered.

When you enter any of the class subjects you are interested in, you find trending topics and the most popular ones first, and you can keep scrolling until you find the one for you!

Legitimacy

Legitimacy is very important when it comes to online learning platforms.

Of course, it depends on your goals as a student if this actually matters or not, but when it comes to these platforms, it just works differently.

Skillshare

About Skillshare, it’s important to clarify that they don’t provide certificate programs since it isn’t an accredited educational platform.

The legitimacy of the course depends on the instructor.

By looking at the most popular courses, it’s clear they all have experienced professionals behind them. Besides, they have to be looked at and approved first.

You can also see the instructor’s legitimacy by reading the teacher’s profile.

However, we can’t say that all of the courses you’ll find here are 100% legit.

Coursera

Now, while Coursera isn’t an accredited institution either, its legitimacy situation is completely different.

Why? Because they offer university degrees and a certificate of completion for most of their video lessons as they are backed up by multiple important academies and companies such as:

And these are just to name a few!

Cost

So, as we’ve seen until now, they come up with a very different learning approach. But how different are their pricing plans and what do they have to offer?

Skillshare Cost

Skillshare subscription costs:

You can cancel your Skillshare premium subscription at any time you want.

They also have refunds for the annual plan, but only within 14 days after you purchase the membership.

You can’t buy classes individually, but you can always use their 1-month free trial if only one course truly catches your curiosity.

And if you really want to subscribe but can’t afford it, they have two financial aid options. Both are for annual subscription plans:

Coursera Cost

And now, let’s go over the difference with Coursera.

The price depends on the classes you are interested in, but what makes them great, is that you can access many of their courses for free!

With the free audit track option, you can watch all the video lessons included in a course. The only problem is that you won’t be able to complete the assignments and receive a completion certificate once you’ve finished it.

But either case, you can finish the course for free first; and if you like it, pay for the certificate.

Their plans are:

Guided Projects: Start at a $9.99 per month subscription
Professional Certificates and Specialization Courses: From $49 to $79 per month subscription
Higher University-Issued Certificates: Start at $2,000 per course
Online Degree Courses: Start at $9,00

You also count on Coursera Plus, which gives you unlimited access to more than 7,000 thousand courses and professional certificates.

All for a monthly subscription of $59 or an annual of $399, with a 14-day refund guarantee.

With Coursera Plus, you also have a 7-day free trial period in case you want to explore this option, which we highly recommend if you’re planning to take more than one course.

Which One Should You Choose?

Well, this really depends on your learning objectives and the type of course you are looking for.

If you’re looking for personal growth and learning a skill just as a hobby, then Skillshare will serve you best.

But if you want to grow academically and professionally, with Coursera you’ll find more useful tools.

At Coursera, you’ll find top-quality courses in many business, health, and science areas but may lack the handcraft and unstructured creativity that Skillshare offers.

If you want to earn certificates, Coursera will give you that opportunity while Skillshare won’t, but it is still a great platform if you are still trying to see what skill to get into it next.

Skillshare’s feeling of community and social interaction, which makes it amazing, when with Coursera, might come in a more structured way for academic purposes.

Do You Want to Graduate Faster?

If you are enrolled in a college program and want to graduate faster, we can help you with all the assignments in your classes!

Do You Want to Graduate Faster?

If you are enrolled in a college program and want to graduate faster, we can help you with all the assignments in your classes!

Skillshare Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Wide range of courses about different fields	No certificate
Great choice for creative people	Most classes don't have feedback from instructors
High-quality classes with tons of features	The community of users is not as active as Skillshare wants it to be
Mobile app with offline viewing feature	Bad option if you only want to take one specific course
Offers scholarships for students
Easily encourages the user to explore and take multiple classes
1-month free trial

Coursera Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Offers high-quality courses, hands-on projects, and professional certificates	Individual courses can be expensive
Courses cover a wide selection of subjects	Peer-graded assignments are not the best
Has partnerships with universities and companies that are accredited worldwide	No human interaction
Has the Coursera audit option to take free courses
Coursera Plus is a great option if you want to take multiple courses

Now, if you want to explore other online learning platforms, you can check out our full list.

Skillshare vs Coursera: Expanding Your Knowledge in Everyway

Ultimately, it all comes down to your needs and what kind of learning experience you want.

Skillshare might be a great option if you have an open mind, are willing to explore, and don’t need a certificate or accredited course.

However, when it comes to getting an accredited degree or professional certification, Coursera is the best choice, especially if you have a subject in mind or a career you’re building.

But we truly hope this blog helped you find your next stop for your learning experience!

And always remember, we’re here to help you each step of the way in your college journey. Whether it’s assistance with a complex essay or a long-term relationship to Finish your classes faster, we are here for you!