These days, it’s never been easier to pick up a skill online. If you’re an influencer looking for new ways to take your Instagram photos, or an online business owner wondering how to get your site off the ground, there are dozens of platforms to help you learn these important skills.
But with so many online learning platforms, how do you decide which site to choose?
Today, we will be taking a look at two major competitors, Skillshare and Udemy, so you can pick where to start your online classroom journey.
Skillshare V. Udemy – Online Course Comparison For Digital Creators
Skillshare is an online learning community founded in 2010 in New York. The site allows for anyone to learn new skills and hobbies through educational videos. The courses are not accredited, and are only available to those who pay a subscription.
The main course topics are arts, design, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, and technology. There have even been famous course leaders, such as Marc Ecko, Susan Orlean, and Seth Godin.
How does Skillshare work?
As mentioned above, there are no free plans available on Skillshare, so you will have to subscribe to a premium plan, though you are offered one month free when you sign up.
Skillshare has two plans you can choose from, individual or team. If you run a business and want to connect your team to these online courses, you can get a discount. Otherwise, you can subscribe to the individual package, which is $13.75 USD a month.
Once you sign up, you can begin to browse classes. As a member, you have full access to the Skillshare catalog.
Skillshare divides its courses into these categories:
Advertising
Business
Design
Entrepreneurship
Fashion and style
Film and video
Food and drink
Gaming
Music
Photography
Social media
Technology
Writing and publishing
Each course comes with an instructor or an entrepreneur, with teachers coming from all around the globe.
Your class will come equipped with short lessons you can go through, then a hands-on project you can work on. You can even share your project with the class to get feedback from your peers and other creatives.
There are over 30,000 courses available to you, so you’ll never run out of classes to take.
Taking The Course
Each class may be structured differently. Some classes take only 20 minutes to complete, while others may take weeks or months, depending on the difficulty of the course.
If you’re not sure where to start, you can always read the About Class to learn more.
This is where the instructor will give a short description of what you can expect to learn, as well as the type of project you will be working on.
You can also see reviews from students who took this class before. This is especially important to look at, as the community relies on these reviews. You’ll be able to see if a course is above, at, or below your skill level before you waste your time.
Once you pick a class, you will automatically be signed up. You can see all your classes on your dashboard, and there is no limit to the amount of classes you can be signed up for at a current time. However, remember these are real teachers who want to help you grow and learn, so you should stay on track and try not to fall behind.
As you go through the class, you can join group discussion boards with peers from your class, as well as join workshops to communicate with other students about future projects and what you’re working on.
One major complaint about Skillshare courses is that they are not accredited. So, although you can be learning valuable skills, always keep that fact in mind.
Become A Teacher on Skillshare
Are you already an expert on a skill and want to try and monetize this? You can become a teacher on Skillshare just as easily as you can become a student.
Skillshare claims their top teachers earn over $100,000 a year. However, it’s reported that most teachers make between $0.05 to $0.10 per minute watched.
Skillshare offers a step-by-step guide on how to create an engaging online course for the community, including ways to improve your video setup and promoting your course through SEO and marketing tools.
Udemy is an educational technology company that was founded in 2010 in San Francisco. The platform has over 59 million learners from across the globe, and over 200,000 courses.
The main course topics are employment and job related skills, such as courses helping towards teacher certification.
How does Udemy work?
Unlike Skillshare, you can pay for your classes individually or subscribe to a personal pla. This means while you may have access to more classes with Skillshare, you can also only pay for the courses you want to take on Udemy.
Once you sign into a free account, you can see all your learning in one dashboard, from the courses you are currently taking to the ones you want to take eventually.
You can browse through hundreds of courses from any skills you can think of.
Below are a few of your options.
As you can see, each class varies in prices and reviews. Individual courses can be priced anywhere from $19.99-$199.99
When you click on a class, you can see a preview of your course video, as well as the price it is listed at, oftentimes at a discounted price if you are new.
You’ll get to see what you’ll learn, as well as who else has taken this course.
If you know you will be taking a multitude of courses, you can also subscribe to a personal plan. This is where you can let Udemy know the type of courses you want to take, and they will offer you all the courses for a fixed price.
The personal plan is $16.58 per month, and comes with 8,000 courses, 4,000 practice exercises, and 3,000 instructors.
You can also receive career guides and other helpful premium information that you won’t receive if you are buying classes individually.
Teach at Udemy
If you want to teach at Udemy, you can get started right away.
The salary of an instructor on Udemy varies, depending on how many people are taking your course.
You get paid through two ways. If someone uses your referral link or code, meaning they came to Udemy for your course, you get 97% of the sale value. But if they find your course through the Udemy marketplace, you only get 37% of the sale.
The more you grow your business and market yourself online, the more people will take your course.
Udemy offers guides on how to get started with your course if you are new to teaching, as well as an instructor support team and online teaching community.
Below are some tips they offer for new instructors looking to get into the online teaching world.
If you keep a steady pace, you can even get invited
If you keep your community growing, you can even get invited to join UDemy business, an invite-only program that will allow you to make more money with your classroom.
Which online course platform will you choose?
If you want to pay for courses as you go, Udemy may be your best bet, but for access to all the courses a platform offers, Skillshare could be for you.
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
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These days, it’s never been easier to pick up a skill online. If you’re an influencer looking for new ways to take your Instagram photos, or an online business owner wondering how to get your site off the ground, there are dozens of platforms to help you learn these important skills.
But with so many online learning platforms, how do you decide which site to choose?
Today, we will be taking a look at two major competitors, Skillshare and Udemy, so you can pick where to start your online classroom journey.
Skillshare V. Udemy – Online Course Comparison For Digital Creators
Skillshare
What is Skillshare?
Skillshare is an online learning community founded in 2010 in New York. The site allows for anyone to learn new skills and hobbies through educational videos. The courses are not accredited, and are only available to those who pay a subscription.
The main course topics are arts, design, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, and technology. There have even been famous course leaders, such as Marc Ecko, Susan Orlean, and Seth Godin.
How does Skillshare work?
As mentioned above, there are no free plans available on Skillshare, so you will have to subscribe to a premium plan, though you are offered one month free when you sign up.
Skillshare has two plans you can choose from, individual or team. If you run a business and want to connect your team to these online courses, you can get a discount. Otherwise, you can subscribe to the individual package, which is $13.75 USD a month.
Once you sign up, you can begin to browse classes. As a member, you have full access to the Skillshare catalog.
Skillshare divides its courses into these categories:
Each course comes with an instructor or an entrepreneur, with teachers coming from all around the globe.
Your class will come equipped with short lessons you can go through, then a hands-on project you can work on. You can even share your project with the class to get feedback from your peers and other creatives.
There are over 30,000 courses available to you, so you’ll never run out of classes to take.
Taking The Course
Each class may be structured differently. Some classes take only 20 minutes to complete, while others may take weeks or months, depending on the difficulty of the course.
If you’re not sure where to start, you can always read the About Class to learn more.
This is where the instructor will give a short description of what you can expect to learn, as well as the type of project you will be working on.
You can also see reviews from students who took this class before. This is especially important to look at, as the community relies on these reviews. You’ll be able to see if a course is above, at, or below your skill level before you waste your time.
Once you pick a class, you will automatically be signed up. You can see all your classes on your dashboard, and there is no limit to the amount of classes you can be signed up for at a current time. However, remember these are real teachers who want to help you grow and learn, so you should stay on track and try not to fall behind.
As you go through the class, you can join group discussion boards with peers from your class, as well as join workshops to communicate with other students about future projects and what you’re working on.
One major complaint about Skillshare courses is that they are not accredited. So, although you can be learning valuable skills, always keep that fact in mind.
Become A Teacher on Skillshare
Are you already an expert on a skill and want to try and monetize this? You can become a teacher on Skillshare just as easily as you can become a student.
Skillshare claims their top teachers earn over $100,000 a year. However, it’s reported that most teachers make between $0.05 to $0.10 per minute watched.
Skillshare offers a step-by-step guide on how to create an engaging online course for the community, including ways to improve your video setup and promoting your course through SEO and marketing tools.
Udemy
Udemy is an educational technology company that was founded in 2010 in San Francisco. The platform has over 59 million learners from across the globe, and over 200,000 courses.
The main course topics are employment and job related skills, such as courses helping towards teacher certification.
How does Udemy work?
Unlike Skillshare, you can pay for your classes individually or subscribe to a personal pla. This means while you may have access to more classes with Skillshare, you can also only pay for the courses you want to take on Udemy.
Once you sign into a free account, you can see all your learning in one dashboard, from the courses you are currently taking to the ones you want to take eventually.
You can browse through hundreds of courses from any skills you can think of.
Below are a few of your options.
As you can see, each class varies in prices and reviews. Individual courses can be priced anywhere from $19.99-$199.99
When you click on a class, you can see a preview of your course video, as well as the price it is listed at, oftentimes at a discounted price if you are new.
You’ll get to see what you’ll learn, as well as who else has taken this course.
If you know you will be taking a multitude of courses, you can also subscribe to a personal plan. This is where you can let Udemy know the type of courses you want to take, and they will offer you all the courses for a fixed price.
The personal plan is $16.58 per month, and comes with 8,000 courses, 4,000 practice exercises, and 3,000 instructors.
You can also receive career guides and other helpful premium information that you won’t receive if you are buying classes individually.
Teach at Udemy
If you want to teach at Udemy, you can get started right away.
The salary of an instructor on Udemy varies, depending on how many people are taking your course.
You get paid through two ways. If someone uses your referral link or code, meaning they came to Udemy for your course, you get 97% of the sale value. But if they find your course through the Udemy marketplace, you only get 37% of the sale.
The more you grow your business and market yourself online, the more people will take your course.
Udemy offers guides on how to get started with your course if you are new to teaching, as well as an instructor support team and online teaching community.
Below are some tips they offer for new instructors looking to get into the online teaching world.
If you keep your community growing, you can even get invited to join UDemy business, an invite-only program that will allow you to make more money with your classroom.
Which online course platform will you choose?
If you want to pay for courses as you go, Udemy may be your best bet, but for access to all the courses a platform offers, Skillshare could be for you.