Skillshare vs Pluralsight: Which is the better learning platform?
Hey! Today I wanted to compare with you two educational platforms such as Skillshare and Pluralsight, which are quite popular in the market of educational platforms. Below we have summarized everything said in this article in a table for your convenience. In order to save time for those who do not need the details, I will say right away that in order to gain new skills in IT, practice the theoretical base and take on the experience of more experienced experts, Pluralsight, in my opinion, is much better. All details are after the table.
| Pluralsight (source) | Skillshare (source) | |
|---|---|---|
| General | The platform is known in narrower, but professional circles. The likelihood that your interlocutor will google the course you are talking about is higher | The platform is much more popular, as it covers a larger audience and attracts more influencers, which means that the recognition of the certificate is higher. |
| Content Volume | Only IT courses from different areas and niches. Here you can find any IT course and be sure that you will get technical knowledge | The platform specializes not specifically in IT courses, but in online education in general - from marketing to SEO, from design to social media management. The whole bunch in one place |
| Mentors | Courses are taught by specialists in their niche - these can be professors, experienced workers, founders of startups or simple developers who want to share their experience (source) | I don’t want to generalize, but most of the mentors of this platform are influencers, and there are very few real IT experts in their field, and we would not recommend learning from IT bloggers |
| Price (mon) | $19 | $14 |
| Price (year) | $159 | $168 |
| Blog | Posts exclusively about IT. Basically, they perfectly complement the general material of each course and talk about career opportunities and difficulties. | Everything is collected in one place - posts about cooking and healthy eating, about varieties of oil paints and the basics of backend development. All in one heap |
| Spam | Email distribution is moderate and not as annoying as today's competitor | This item is from me personally - how much they spams in my personal email, omg. Notifications come for every new video or course that is not even in my area of interest |
| Our Rate | In our opinion, this is the best resource of those that we compare today - here everyone can find what he needs, learn from experienced professionals and trust them with your education | The platform is not bad, but not for obtaining technical knowledge and skills. You are here if your element is marketing or SEO, but not Date Sciene or complex mathematical calculations |
Pluralsight
Pluralsight is an online learning platform that offers a vast library of courses and tutorials designed to enhance technical skills and foster professional growth. Let's talk about prices first. We do not comment on the prices of certain educational platforms, as we consider it unethical - everyone decides for himself whether it is a lot of money or not, whether a student can afford it or not, so we limited ourselves to mentioning prices in the summary table above. Note it!
🧷 Courses
One of the standout features of Pluralsight is its extensive course library. With over 7,000 courses covering diverse topics such as software development, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data science, and more, users have access to a wide range of up-to-date and relevant content. The courses are well-structured, comprehensive, and taught by industry experts, ensuring high-quality learning experiences. Because of this diversity, we often include worthwhile materials and courses from this site in our search engine for useful learning resources.
🧷 Learning
Pluralsight goes beyond theoretical instruction by emphasizing hands-on learning. Many courses offer interactive coding exercises and projects that allow learners to apply the concepts they've learned in real-world scenarios. This practical approach enhances retention and ensures that learners develop valuable skills they can immediately apply in their professional roles. This is largely due to the fact that the course mentors are current professionals in their field - startup CEOs, developers, mathematicians and other experts who can be trusted with the curriculum.
What do I personally like the most and why even on our website we so often refer to this particular educational platform? The reason is in the Learning Paths section. In fact, this is a set of courses and a lecture, after which you will receive basic knowledge of any profession in IT. There are many similar sets of courses, for example, in Codecademy, but here each set of courses is divided into levels and if you don’t know where to start, then the platform will tell you.
🧷 Flexible Learning Options
The user experience on Pluralsight is intuitive and user-friendly. The platform offers well-designed course interfaces, progress tracking, and interactive features, making the learning process engaging and enjoyable. Additionally, the courses are available in various formats, including video lectures, slides, and transcripts, catering to different learning preferences.
Pluralsight understands that individuals have different schedules and learning preferences. As such, the platform offers flexible learning options. Users can learn at their own pace, pause and resume courses as needed, and access the content from any device with an internet connection. This flexibility makes it convenient for busy professionals to integrate learning into their daily routines. However, this is not a feature of this platform. Such functionality has long been a standard for educational platforms, and its absence will most likely raise more questions than its presence.
Pluralsight - Learning Path (source)
🧷 Community and Support
Pluralsight fosters a strong community of learners and experts. Users can join discussions, ask questions, and receive support from instructors and fellow learners. This collaborative environment encourages knowledge sharing and provides opportunities for networking and professional connections. The likelihood that a course mentor will answer your question here is much higher than, for example, on Udemy or other educational platforms. This is largely due to the fact that the audience here is much smaller, and the platform itself sets content as its primary goal, not marketing. This is just my opinion.
Pluralsight - Authors (source)
Skillshare
Skillshare, known for its vast array of creative courses, also offers a range of IT-related classes to help individuals enhance their technical skills and excel in the ever-evolving field of information technology. In this review, I delve into the key features, benefits, and highlights of Skillshare's IT courses, showcasing how it can be a valuable resource for IT professionals and enthusiasts looking to expand their knowledge and advance their careers.
🧷 Diverse IT Course Selection
Skillshare's IT course catalog covers a wide range of topics, including programming languages, web development, cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing, and more. With courses taught by industry experts, learners can explore specific areas of interest or delve into comprehensive programs to acquire new skills and stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in the IT industry.
However, I would not call these courses fundamental. Let me explain. For example, let's equate courses from the programming section and understand that their average duration is about 5 hours. For those who are at least a little familiar with at least one programming language, it is clear that it is impossible to learn anything in 5 hours. From this we can draw a simple conclusion that the courses, if not useless, are very superficial and do not cover most of the material that is needed.
Skillshare - Coding Classes (source)
🧷 Practical and Hands-On Learning
Skillshare's IT courses emphasize practical application and hands-on learning. Many classes offer coding exercises, projects, and real-world scenarios that allow learners to directly apply the concepts and techniques they acquire. This practical approach enhances skill development and prepares individuals for real-life IT challenges they may encounter in their professional roles.
Unfortunately, the mentors of such practical blocks are most often people who are not active IT specialists - these are bloggers, influencers, or, at best, teachers. It is logical to guess that the mentors of such practical lessons do not have the experience that they could share, they do not have the background necessary for you, as a young specialist.
🧷 Engaging Learning Community
Skillshare's community-driven platform fosters engagement and collaboration among learners. Users can connect with fellow IT enthusiasts, ask questions, share insights, and receive feedback on their projects. This interactive community aspect promotes networking, provides opportunities for knowledge exchange, and encourages continuous learning and growth. At least that's what the developers say.
In fact, communication between a student and a mentor is always unlikely, because students simply do not answer their personal questions. The thing is that it is impossible to answer a student's question if the mentor himself reads the theory from a sheet of paper and does not understand what he is talking about. The knowledge of the mentors themselves is very superficial, and what can a student learn in this case?
🧷 Practical Project-Based Learning
Many Skillshare IT courses incorporate project-based learning, allowing learners to work on real-world projects that simulate industry scenarios. This approach not only enhances practical skills but also helps build a portfolio of work that can be showcased to potential employers or clients. The ability to demonstrate hands-on experience is invaluable in the competitive IT job market.
Here, IT courses are worth paying tribute to. Many of them really end up with a project for a portfolio or resume, and this is a valuable experience. In my personal opinion, every course lacks such a final step, because in many cases, this is a much more valuable experience and project than receiving a simple certificate of completion of the course.
Conclusion
Today I have analyzed and compared two fairly popular online educational platforms for you. I think that from my summary table and the tone of the story, you realized that I definitely give my vote to Pluralsight for their approach to work and mentors who are professionals in their field, listening to which is also a kind of valuable experience.
I also want to say that in order to select valuable educational resources on your own, it is not necessary to delve into all the available information, because we have a search engine of useful resources, which we compile by our community and our site administrators. I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with how we select educational materials, as well as with the materials themselves at the link.