Udemy vs Skillshare | What is better choice for me?
Hey! Today, I want to share with you my thoughts on educational platforms like Udemy and Skillshare. Now online courses are a goldmine for many businesses, it is a way to share experience, skills and knowledge for money. In other words, get paid for what you are good at. We just need to tell you more about it. And, as usual, for those who are impatient and want answers. In my opinion, choosing between Udemy and Skillshare, I would definitely choose Skillshare. And that's why...
I believe that the very presence of such platforms already indicates that the education system in the world is changing a lot. Now, perseverance and work are more valued than what university you graduated from and whether you studied there at all. Why take a marketing course in college when, for example, Skillshare has a huge number of marketing courses that will teach you much more than a boring old college guy. This is my opinion, I do not want to impose it on anyone. If you think that universities and colleges are more efficient and productive in terms of education, then I will only be happy about this, then you have received a decent education.
So, today I chose for comparison two educational platforms that I have been actively using for several years now - Udemy and Skillshare. Each of them is unique, has its own specifics, and today I want to talk about which platform is right for you, based on your needs.
Creativity & Diversity
On both educational platforms, you can find a huge number of courses. For example, there are a huge number of bootcamps on Udemy, after successfully completing which you may well qualify for the position of a Junior specialist in some IT company. So it was with me. After taking courses in data analytics, I successfully got a job with the desired position.
However, in variability and diversity, Udemy is clearly inferior. You can find literally anything on Skillshare, from how to interview your interlocutor to the right technique for shooting videos for Instagram. The variety of areas of study is truly amazing. I even found 52 dog pencil drawing courses with a credible number of students.
Skillshare - Dog Drawing Courses
If you want to find something unusual, something that is hard to find, then Skillshare is definitely for you. Here you will find absolutely anything.
Completeness of the Material
What Skillshare doesn't boast about is the completeness of the material. For example, I took the video course section of marketing courses and found that the average course length was around 90 minutes. Just 90 minutes. Perhaps someone will say that this hour and a half is quite productive, and you can get all the necessary information. No, you can not. It is impossible to learn marketing in 90 minutes, and if you find a course specifically for your niche that is ideal for you and other video courses do not suit you, then the inferiority of the material is obviously a minus for Skillshare.
Skillshare - Marketing Courses
With Udemy, the situation is the opposite. If you want to take a marketing course, then here you will get a more in-depth study with a specific specialist not in 90 minutes, but in a minimum of 5 hours. Of course, the average course time does not indicate the degree of its usefulness, but it indicates the completeness of the disclosure of the topic and the depth of its study. Superficial study is also possible independently through a Google search engine, but for more detailed training, people take online courses.
Udemy - Marketing Courses
So the completeness score goes to Udemy, however, there are a few other key points I'd like to compare the two platforms on.
Work with Influencers
Personally, I really like and inspire confidence in the fact that Skillshare is actively working with influencers (in other words, with bloggers). After all, who better than a blogger to know how to shoot high-quality videos, process sound, advance in social networks, monetize your blog, work as a freelancer or start your own business.
Skillshare - Influencers Courses
I believe that Skillshare is moving in the right direction in this regard, working with faces that are well known to many on popular YouTube channels. This adds confidence to users, because behind the video editing course they want to take is not a bearded unknown man, but a YouTube blogger with several million subscribers on the channel. Agree, there is a difference and it is huge. Udemy noticeably loses on this point.
Udemy - Non Influencers Courses
Judge for yourself. After doing a search for video editing courses, the user, including me, has a completely logical question - who are these people and why exactly can they teach me something. This is banal psychology. I don't want to criticize Udemy's mentors now, I'm sure they are professionals, but what courses would you trust more? I think the answer is obvious. This time the ball is clearly for Skillshare.
Video Course Quality
I will say right away, here the ball is leaving, again, Skillshare. As I said, the courses here are much shorter, there are more of them, and each of them covers a different niche. I think that because the courses are shorter, their quality is much higher. Talents spend less time creating content, while spending that time working on quality. On Skillshare, you will never hear poor video audio quality, poor video quality, editing errors, or a slurring host. The quality of video courses is always at a high level and Skillshare monitors this.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Udemy. I don’t want to name specific courses - it would be disrespectful and unethical towards their creators, but quite often I came across video courses where the host speaks English very indistinctly (it was clear that English was not the mentor's native language) or the presentation on the video simply is not visible due to the small font, or the author says that the link to the materials will be attached to the next lesson, but this link is not there and other, other little things that in total leave not the most pleasant impressions about learning.
Prices
You may have noticed that the number of students in each of the courses of these platforms is very different. On Udemy, the number of students in a single course is clearly larger, and by a lot. It's all because of the pricing policy. The fact is that Skillshare has a subscription system, that is, you pay every month while learning what you want. All courses are included in the subscription price. The subscription price can be found in the screenshot below (a subscription for one person is $32 per month).
Skillshare - Prices
In Udemy, the system is much simpler. If you want to take a specific course - pay for it and take it, if you want another one, pay separately. There are ongoing promotions on Udemy and a $100 course can easily be bought for $9.99 if you are patient. The price is an issue for everyone, and here I will not assign a score to anyone - everyone considers for himself whether it is expensive for him or not. I'll just say that Skillshare is our partner that gives our readers a 30% discount when they sign up for their subscription. Feel free to follow the link and get this very big discount.
Conclusion
In this post, I tried to make a comparison of two popular educational platforms, compare them and identify obvious disadvantages and advantages. In my opinion, I came up with a fairly objective comparison. Everyone chooses where to study on their own. If you take small courses once a year, then it would be more profitable to study on Udemy, while waiting for sales to save money, but if you are constantly learning something new, love variety and value quality, then Skillshare is your choice. Good luck with your learning, and don't forget about the 30% discount you get when you purchase a Skillshare subscription through our link.