15 Best Online Learning Platforms [Great Picks of 2024] (2024)

Last Updated on March, 2024

Not many things have seen a rise on the Internet as much as online learning platforms in the past couple of years. Whether you want to learn a new (or improve) skill right in the comfort of your home, nothing is better than an online course platform.

However, with the rise in popularity came new entries to the world of e-learning, and that has made choosing a good online learning platform super hard.

Thorough research is essential; there is a lot to consider if you want the platform to help you; I’ve done that for you.

To put things straight, I tested exactly 30 online course platforms and picked 15 of the best. Content quality, instructors, certificate types, duration, and, most importantly, the price were all considered when picking them apart.

I don’t want you to pick the wrong platform; that can not only take a toll on your bank account but also on your time. No one wants that.

This list of the best of the best can help you pick what’s best for you. Just continue reading. That is everything you have to do, literally!

15 of the Best Online Learning Platforms

Below are all 15 of the BEST online learning platforms you can enroll in if you are ready to start your quest on; WHAT CAN I SAY?

Learning?

Anyways let’s get started…

Not only are the classes easy to understand, but they are not too long too; each episode would typically be just 3 to 5 minutes, which makes it an excellent option even if you don’t have too much free time.

As for the instructors of Skillshare, anyone can start teaching on Skillshare. It might seem like a downside. However, you need to know that the requirements to publish content on Skillshare are super strict.

So you have nothing to worry about the expertise of the teachers in Skillshare.

The social features of Skillshare are top-notch. The instructor of the class will put up a project that they really want you to participate in.

“I took the interior designing class, and one of the projects I got was to create a bookshelf using the pieces of information learned from the class.”

It was a great experience.

Not just that, you can post your masterpieces and get feedback from the instructors themselves. Each of the projects also allows you to communicate with fellow students. If you’re stuck midway through the project, this is an excellent way to get assistance.

The activeness of the community is impressive compared to the other online learning platforms. I got instant replies from students when in need of help.

Not To forget, Skillshare is also a multi-language site, unlike more online learning platforms. English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese are some of the international languages covered in Skillshare.

All classes offer subtitles, and you can also translate the website into each of these languages.

When it comes to the PRICE, Skillshare is SUBSCRIPTION-BASED, like most online courses. It’ll cost $168 annually, which comes out to about, on average, $14 monthly.

Speaking of monthly, you cannot subscribe every month. Only the annual subscription option is available.

This can be a downside to some, but since there’s a 1-month free trial to the course, you can try Skillshare to its brim before making a decision.

With all that said, if you want to learn or enhance your creative skills professionally or personally, Skillshare is for you, without a doubt.

With a wide variety of topics ranging from categories such as creative, business, technology, and lifestyle, there’s something for everyone. I’ve said that enough!

Another area where Skillshare shines is the social aspect; only few online learning platforms allow you to engage with fellow students and get feedback from instructors. That in itself is a huge win.

On the other hand, you can even become an instructor if you fit the strict criteria of Skillshare.

All things considered, not many online learning platforms offer the same amount of stuff Skillshare offer. Its high-quality courses and other aspects make it an excellent online learning platform that won’t disappoint you.

You can learn more about Skillshare in this review.

2. MasterClass (#2nd Best Choice)

There are 180+ classes across 11 categories which include; Business, Music, Arts & Entertainment, Food, Science & Tech, and more, all put together by experts, literally the best of the best.

What makes MasterClass a great online learning platform is the production quality, but before I get into that, let me tell you about the course duration.

Usually, each course runs between 2 to 4 hours and typically contains 20 video lessons, each of which is 10 minutes on average.

This is where the production quality comes in; even though the classes are more extended than Skillshare, the way all of them are produced keeps you engaged and ready for more.

Not many would agree, but MasterClass boasts the best-quality video and audio out of all the online learning platforms.

MasterClass isn’t only about the videos; other course materials, such as downloadable course notes,a class workbook with notes, and a place to write notes, are all part of it.

When it comes to social features, MasterClass has Sessions which is their way of saying community.

Here you get activities and projects assigned by the course instructors, complete them and get feedback from fellow students; if stuck midway through the project, you can also ask for help.

A helping hand from fellow peers can go a long way during online learning. It can give you a whole new perception of how to complete that specific goal.

With all that out of the way, how much does MasterClass cost?

If you factor in whom you’re about to learn from, MasterClass, compared to other online course platforms, is relatively cheap.

First of all, it’s subscription-based, and just like Skillshare, the membership is for a whole year; you’ll need to pay $180 for a year of access, that’s exactly $15 a month. Apart from that, there are two extra annual subscription options you can go for:

• Duo, $20 per month: allows access for two devices at the same time.
• Family, $23 per month: allows access for six devices at the same time.

It’s important to note that MasterClass offers no free trial, but you can try it out RISK-FREE for a month thanks to its excellent 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

Online learning doesn’t have to be this fun. MasterClass, with everything it brings to the table, is an excellent place to learn and get inspired by some of the best names in the game.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to learn cooking from the 3 Michelin Star chef Gordon Ramsay or writing from James Patterson, who made over $700 million selling just books?

No matter if you’re a beginner or an expert, for personal or professional development, MasterClass will serve you super fine.

Here’s my complete review of Masterclass if you want to learn more about this learning platform and here are the best MasterClass Courses of all time.

3. Coursera (#3rd Best Choice)

Coursera takes a whole different approach compared to the online learning platforms we’ve looked at above.

Partnered with over 200 top universities and companies, including accredited institution and big organizations like Yale University and Google, Coursera is one of the most well-known online learning platforms in existence.

Its 110 million+ students is an example of that too.

This platform sets itself apart from others by providing university-issued certificates and credits leading you toward a degree.

Not just that, Coursera even hands you the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree, all of which are recognized by prestigious institutions.

Coursera is stuffed with over 5000+ courses and a variety of subjects, including computer science, data science, health science, business, personal development, math, arts, engineering, and more.

When it comes to the instructors, all of them are highly experienced teachers and professors from Coursera’s partner institutions. Quality is guaranteed no matter the subject.

Community is as active as it can be in Coursera; you can ask questions, start conversations with other students, and even learn together with them, which is excellent.

Similar to other online classes, Coursera’s instructors can also assign you homework and other activities, making everything more interactive.

There are over 5000 courses, what about the quality of all of them?

Thanks to Coursera’s partnership with the best of the best universities and companies like Stanford, Yale, and Google, the quality of the content are as you’d expect from them.

TOP-NOTCH!

With excellent instructors, top-quality content, and professional certificates, Coursera is rather affordable. With a variety of courses, the costs vary largely.

First, let’s start with the free courses. Basically, Coursera is also a free online learning platform with access to over 1000 courses. You can sign-up for those if you don’t want completion certificates.

Starting with the paid course, there’s the Guided Course which starts out at $9.99. That provides access to 780+ courses and only takes one to two hours to complete. Most courses here are tutorials on how to use a specific app or software.

On to the next level, you get professional certificates and specialization courses. These last up to six months and teach you how to develop valuable skills for a working environment. Both the courses here cost $39.

What’s more? Coursera also brings college-level education to the table with Master Track Certificates, and these courses begin at $2000 per course.

As for the duration, these take less than a year to complete. Upon completion, you’ll get, as mentioned above, a university-issued certificate and credit leading you toward a degree.

I also mentioned that you could earn a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree with Coursera. Those courses start out at just $9000. Yes, it’s just $9000 because what you’ll pay at traditional universities for the same education will be much higher.

Overall, Coursera is to-notch for any student who wants to accelerate their journey and pay much less for it. On top of that, If you need access to university courses along with Bachelor’s or Master’s, this is the only online learning platform there is.

See our full Coursera review for more details or explore the best courses on Coursera.

4. Udemy

For starters, Udemy excels when it comes to its sheer amount of courses; it can be about any topic possible, and if you can think of something you can do, there is almost a 100% chance that you’ll find a course on Udemy.

Going by numbers, there are actually over 213000 courses. That’s more than every other online learning platform we’ve discussed above.

Like I said, think about anything you can do, and you’ll, for sure, be able to find a class for it in Udemy, be it web development, computer science, graphic design, teaching, and way more.

That’s not the only thing; each topic you’re interested in has a wide range of classes to choose from, not just one, that, on the other hand, gives you plenty of options with varying prices.

One more thing is that all of the courses are offered in 75 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese.

Even though Udemy does not exceed the number of students from Coursera, it still has 57+ million learners, which is crazy for an online learning platform.

Course creation is similar to Skillshare here on Udemy; anyone with proper knowledge can publish content, even you; if you have enough knowledge, you can create courses. All of the tools are also provided for that.

And as for the price, it mainly depends on the quality of the instructor, not the course topic.

Udemy’s prices range from $11 to $200. But on average, most of the courses cost between $80 to $100. That, as mentioned above, is one of the cheapest options available.

While cheap, the courses also go on sale all the time; some go below $10, which is excellent, and you get to keep them with you forever.

Before purchasing the course, you can see all the contents included before getting started. Relative to the lower price, you also get a 30-day money-back guarantee for all the courses; you can simply ask for a refund if you’re not a fan of the course.

And just like Coursera, once you complete a paid course, you get a certificate proving your knowledge.

With all that said, Udemy can’t be recommended enough; the enormous quantity of specialized courses makes it an excellent choice if you’re looking to learn new skills or improve existing skills.

It’s also affordable, plus a certificate is provided upon completion too.

See our full Udemy review for more details or explore the best courses on Udemy.

5. edX

And each of those students is signed up for one of the 3000+ courses available at edX.

Yes, you read it right, there are over 3000 high-quality courses in edX, all put together by tremendously qualified college instructors.

And since the content comes directly from the universities, the quality of each is superb; you can’t go wrong here. Even though edX is top-notch when it comes to STEM fields, there’re other topics too.

Humanities and Language Learning are some of them.

Partnerships with top universities also come with another benefit, which is certificates. This is another area where edX is similar to Coursera. eLearning courses also hand you the chance to earn a Professional Certificate,Master’s, or Bachelor’s Degree.

Unlike other online course websites, edX, with its partnership with Arizona State University, provides an opportunity for students from anywhere in the world to access the same courses as on-campus ASU students with its “Global Freshman Academy.”

This will earn you a transferrable credit that can be applied at ASU or any accepting university.

What’s impressive about edX is that most of their courses and course materials are FREE.

If you don’t want professional certificates, you don’t need to pay for the classes. If you want to earn their certificates, you’ll have to pay the certificate fee, which, depending on the course, could cost between $50 to $300.

There are also short courses that cost $99, and for higher degree programs, it could cost up to $25000. Keep in mind that, apart from the program offering degree, all the others with learning materials can be accessed for free.

If you want to get a top-quality education, edX is an excellent way. Many top-tier universities recognize them. What’s more?

You can access a lot of their valuable content for free. Even though you still need to pay for certificates, with those, you’ll have a valuable diploma that’ll also work as transfer credit for your college.

6. Udacity

Speaking of skills, you’ll be able to learn artificial intelligence, web development, cloud computing, programming, data science, and so much more.

That said, Nanodegrees, a learning program based on project and skill, is where Udacity is well-known.

Eighty topics, along with the ones I’ve mentioned just above, are all covered under this, and all of them are put together by experts, plus one-on-one technical mentorship is also offered by them.

Nanodegrees are excellent, not just because it’s produced by experts. Companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Nvidia all work on creating content for Nanodegrees, so the quality of the courses is unmatched.

What you’ll learn in a Nanodegree program will come in handy when you’re searching for a job. The way the program is created and its effectiveness all make it an ideal place to learn what you love in the comfort of your home.

Duration-wise, a Nanodegree will typically take 3 to 6 months to complete, and upon completion, you’ll be awarded a certificate that proves your knowledge.

The certificate isn’t official, mind you, but many employers take Nanodegree completion seriously, increasing your chances of getting hired.

Speaking of getting hired, you’ll not only be able to come up with certificates but also sample projects which can come in beneficial during job interviews.

Now to address the elephant in the room, the cost. Udacity, with its Nanodegree programs, is one of the most expensive online course platforms.

Two payment options are available: a monthly subscription or an access plan based on the duration of the course, and the amount can vary from topic to topic. As an example, I’ll take the Security Engineer course, which runs for 4 months:

• If you’re willing to go with the monthly subscription, the Security Engineer course will set you back $399; you’ll need to continue until you earn the certificate.
• With the duration access plan, you’ll be charged for four months upfront, and the total will be around $1356. That’s $339 a month.

Udacity is not cheap, so to learn about the teaching style and other important details, you can enroll in one of their FREE courses; there are over 200 altogether.

That’s everything you need to know about Udacity. All I can say is, if Nanodegree seems like your cup of tea, don’t think twice; just sign up and get started; it’ll be worth it, no doubt.

7. Mindvalley

Yes, character and confidence are all skills that can be learned. That’s not only it; Mindvalley can show you ways to reach your full potential, build strong relationships, and hand over the tools to enhance your focus, resilience, and courage.

To put things straight, it’s one of the best online learning platforms for personal development. It does a job that’s too good for it. With Mindvalley’s online interactive courses, you can create a life that is more satisfying and fulfilling.

That said, looking at the course types, there are a lot Mindvalley offers; it, as you may already know by now, covers topics such as relationship, body, soul, and mind.

On top of those, there’re also courses based on money, career performance, and entrepreneurship.

Mindvalley calls its courses “quests,” and each of the quests is short and, quality-wise, top-notch.

Most importantly, 30 to 50 days is the duration of each quest, plus they’re all designed in a way that you only have to spend 10 to 15 minutes watching or listening to the lessons.

Before getting started, you’ll need to take Mindvalley’s 22-minute life assessment. This will pinpoint the areas in your life that need the most attention, helping you sign up for the right quest.

Instructors of Mindvalley, safe to say, are masterminds in what they do. Super experienced, to say the least.

The classes aren’t the only thing that’s top-notch in Mindvalley. The community is another area where this online learning platform shines. You can interact with each other and start conversations. It’s always cool to engage in discussions with like-minded people.

The community is impressively active; you do not have to wait longer for your questions to get answered. So with all that out of the way, how much does Mindvalley cost?

There are two options, like most of the learning programs we’ve looked at, Monthly and Yearly. Monthly subscription costs $99. Theyearly plan provides unlimited access for a year and costs $499.20, which comes out at around $41 a month.

To top it all off, you’ll also get a 15-day money-back guarantee, making your purchase completely risk-free.

Even though it seems expensive, looking at everything this online course platform brings to the table, it surely is worth considering.

That is all you need to know about Mindvalley. With over 12 million students from all over the globe, it is for sure something special. If you want to improve your life and focus on personal growth and transformation, Mindvalley can be your best buddy.

Head over to our full Mindvalley review for more details.

8. Khan Academy

The online learning platform is focused on academic subjects and is known for its classes on Maths.

Apart from that, courses on subjects like Arts & Humanities, Science, Economics, Reading & Language arts, and Life Skills are all present at Khan Academy.

And as for the way they’re delivered, it’s actually amazing, considering it’s a free online learning platform. You don’t have to worry about the instructors either; they’re very good at what they do. As mentioned, the way everything is delivered is very impressive.

The thing that makes Khan Academy more interesting is its tasks. You’re provided with “Energy Points” once you’re done with each. These make the learning experience fun and motivate you to keep going.

Energy points do not contribute to anything major, but with them, you can earn badges that’ll allow you to customize your account avatar.

One more thing Khan Academy brings to the table is the test prep for tests like the SAT, ACT, LSAT, and GMAT. With that, this free online learning platform also provides resources for parents who homeschool their children.

Info-wise, there is not much to say about Khan Academy, everything about it is excellent, and since it’s free, there isn’t much to complain about either. It offers more than it should, and if I had to pay for it, I definitely will.

9. Codecademy

In terms of courses, Codecademy is stacked; there are over 300 here, and considering it’s based purely on coding, that’s a very good number. In 2020, there were only 65 courses, so that shows how the online learning platform has evolved over the years.

Even though you can take different-different courses one at a time, the structure of this online learning platform revolves more around its career paths or skill paths.

There are 9 different career paths and 23 different skill paths for you to choose from. And both are pretty much self-explanatory.

Career paths are built on multiple courses on Codecademy and take longer to complete since the path helps you learn the skills you need for a career.

Skill paths are shorter and will help you learn a specific skill with a combination of courses and segments of courses. Additional training is available, too, helping you master a skill faster and without letting you go into unrelated turf.

The time it takes to complete a course or path is determined by Codecademy, helping you allocate time beforehand.

Codecademy is home to 15 programming language courses and 20 categories at the time of writing. Everything from HTML and Phyton to CSS or even Swift is present.

With Codecademy, you can take advantage of the projects. Not many online course platforms do this. Once you’ve learned some skills, you can take on projects and put your skills to the test.

But wait, there’s more.

If you’re not sure which career path to go with, you can even take Codecademy’s own quiz, which consists of a few questions. You’ll also get personal career advice and course recommendations along with the questions.

All of the courses in Codecademy are put together in a way that’s extremely easy to understand and perfect for starting your coding career. Instructors are, as you’d expect from a top online learning platform, top-notch.

Codecademy is subscription-based, and there are three plans,Basic, Plus, and Pro. Basic is completely free, Plus clocks in at $34.49 a month or $209.88 for a year, and Pro is $59.99 a month or $359.88 annually.

Codecademy is an excellent online learning platform that helps you develop coding skills to the max. The courses are fun and engaging, but most importantly, super easy to understand.

It does not matter if you’re a beginner or an experienced coder; Codecademy will serve you well.

See our full Codecademy review for more details.

10. Datacamp

I already mentioned that the quality of the courses is excellent, difficulty-wise, there is no problem there too. Easy and engaging content through and through.

The courses are separated into three difficulty levels too; Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Based on your expertise, you can pick a course and get started.

Career tracks and Skill tracks are back in Datacamp, too, and these work exactly as they do in Codecademy.

As you may already know, Career tracks with a collection of courses put together by experts will help you prepare for a career as a Data Analyst or a Data Scientist.

Skill tracks, on the other hand, will provide resources to master a specific data skill, be it R programming or Data Manipulation with Python.

There are 17 career track courses and 51 skill track courses, by the way.

Courses are separated into three main parts, two(Career tracks and Skill tracks); we’ve already looked at above. The other one is Technology; led by expert instructors, you can learn and master something like ChatGPT, Skill tracks, and SQL.

Certificate programs are available in Datacamp built-in partnership with experts. However, it’s important to note that the certificates aren’t verified, similar to most other online learning platforms.

Datacamp, like most online course platforms, is subscription-based, and for individuals, there are two options; a Basic plan and a Premium plan. The basic plan provides free access to select courses and the first chapter of all the courses in Datacamp.

The premium plan, as you’d expect, is paid. There are two options for that; monthly and annually. If you’re going with the monthly option, it’ll cost $29. Theannual subscription saves a few dollars compared to monthly and comes in at $220.

If you’re new to the data world or are already an expert in it, no problem; there’s something you can learn and come across.

You can improve your already proficient data skills even more or start a new career path with Datacamp; it cannot get much easier than this.

11. LinkedIn Learning

An improved LinkedIn profile will increase your chances of finding a better job position, and on top of that, you can even get in touch with professionals and establish your relationship with them.

Certificates are also a part of LinkedIn Learning; even though not accredited, you can share those on your LinkedIn profile, which further increases the chances of everything I’ve said above.

With over 700 millionstudents, LinkedIn Learning is also one of the well-known online learning platforms in the market. Everyone knows how good it is.

Instructors are a highlight of LinkedIn Learning. If you want to teach in LinkedIn Learning, you need to be more than an expert; being only a subject matter expert (SME) won’t cut it; excellent teaching and presentation skills are a must if you’re to emerge as a teacher in LinkedIn Learning.

That just goes to show the quality of the learning platform.

Speaking of quality, contents are all on another level as a whole. There is a wide range of quizzes and exercises, which you can take on and after the video lectures, which too are short and to the point.

LinkedIn Learning is subscription-based with two options like most online learning platforms; monthly and annually. Once you pay, it provides access to all the courses on the platform.

LinkedIn Learning subscription costs $39.99 per month or $323.88 annually ($26.99 a month). That is fair, considering the quality of the instructors, lessons, and everything you get once done with the courses.

And oh! You get a one-month free trial when you first sign-up, allowing you to put everything the online learning platform has to offer to the test. If you’re not happy, you won’t be charged.

LinkedIn Learning can be super helpful if you’re to learn a new skill or improve existing skills. Entrepreneurs, professionals, job seekers, and students can all benefit from this top-notch learning platform.

Are you looking to learn more about this E-learning platform? Read our LinkedIn Learning review here.

12. Brilliant.org

Most importantly, the instructors of Brilliant.org is nothing but Brilliant. Most of them are award-winning teachers from Microsoft, Google Duke, and more.

Courses in this learning platform are designed to improve your problem-solving skills and develop critical thinking. With that in mind, the contents aren’t too easy, but in a good way.

Thanks to the interactive and hands-on learning, everything is fun and engaging.

If you’re someone who enjoys taking on challenging problems, Brilliant.org will be well suited for you.

As for certificates, Brilliant.org does not offer those; instead, you get a badge that will be displayed on your account on the platform.

Brilliant.org offers both paid and free courses. Free access isn’t great and limited, but it can be used to try out the courses before paying for courses.

Like most online learning platforms, Brilliant.org is subscription-based, and there are three options; monthly ($24.99 per month), annual ($149.85 per year), or group of 3 or more ($299.87 per year).

Like I mentioned, Brilliant.org does a brilliant job of covering science, maths, engineering, and computer science. Courses are detailed and fun while also being engaging, even though they’re not the easiest.

Are you looking to learn more about this E-learning platform? Read our Brilliant.org review here.

13. PLURALSIGHT

There are 3 levels; Novice, Proficient, and Expert. You can pick the level based on how skilled you are.

Along with individual courses, PLURALSIGHT brings in Paths, just like Codecademy. Paths in PLURALSIGHT combines 3 to 15 courses into one with additional tools helping you learn a specific skill.

Paths take significant time to complete, but it means you’ll be more than ready for a job with the right skill set and tools that’ll also help to enhance your career.

I’ve already mentioned that there are over 7000 courses. As for the paths, hundreds are available for you to choose from.

If you’re unable to invest enough time into paths, you can always go with the individual courses. Those are top-notch because of the instructors. PLURALSIGHT is home to 1500+ instructors, all of them are experts with tons of real-world experience.

Machine learning, software development, data science, along with so much more are the category of the courses you can come across in PLURALSIGHT.

You’ll be looking at subscription-based plans when it comes to price. Monthly and Yearly are the two options, and on top of that, there are two plans; Standard and Premium.

Standard comes in at $29 monthly and provides access to 2500 courses; Premium offers access to all the 7500+ courses and costs $45 monthly. If you go with the yearly plan, the standard costs $299, and the Premium will be $449.

A great platform if you want to learn anything tech-related, PLURALSIGHT, with its 7000+ courses, will help you unlock your true potential and excel in the technology space without breaking the bank.

Head over to our full review of the PLURALSIGHT platform if you want to learn more.

14. FutureLearn

All this only means one thing, top-quality content.

While we’re on the topic of content, what kind of content does FutureLearn actually bring to the table?

There are over 3000 courses available to choose from in FutureLearn. A few out of those 3000 include; STEM subjects, Healthcare & Medicine, Teaching, and more.

But that’s not even the best part; 42 programs for online degrees ranging from Master of Business Administration, MSc Cyber Security to Bachelor of Arts are available too.

Since every course is put together by a university, you don’t need to worry about the quality nor the instructor. FutureLearn is home to some of the best in the business when it comes to instructors.

It’ll take 6 to 10 weeks to complete most courses in FutureLearn, but there are short courses, and degrees, as expected, will typically take more than a year to complete.

Putting everything aside, price is a downside of FutureLearn. There are two options,subscription or the option to purchase individual courses.

$39.99 is what you’ll need to pay every month if you choose to go with the subscription plan. It’ll give you access to every course on the platform.

If you want to purchase one specific course, you can do that too. There are thousands of courses in FutureLearn, and the prices vary from one another; most typically start at $70 and go up to $120+.

FutureLearn has a lot in store; with its list of courses put together by top universities, you can learn whatever you need to learn with ease.

You can learn more about this online learning platform in our fullFuturelearn review.

15. CreativeLive

Instructors are some of the best there are in CreativeLive. 700+ pros who’ve won the Grammy’s, and Oscars, along with best-selling authors, will be your teachers.

Some familiar faces include Richard Branson and Mel Robbins. So, nothing to worry about in that department.

An excellent feature CreativeLive has is the Live Classes; you can join in classes that are about to take place in real-time. If you’re a fan of learning real-time, this is a great opportunity, and what’s more?

These sessions are completely free!

All you have to do is sign-up and start learning.

CreativeLive is a top-notch learning platform, and the same can be said for its price too. It’s one of the cheapest options available. Similar to FutureLearn, you can purchase individual courses or subscribe to the creator pass.

Many of the individual courses start out at $50 and go up to $200, which considering the quality, is fair. The creator pass, on the other hand, has three different options:

• $149 for the annual plan ($12.42 a month)
• $15 a month for an annual commitment
• $39 monthly option billed every month

With over 10 million students, CreativeLive is one of the best online learning platforms for innovators and creators. The platform’s instructors are experienced and epic. Content quality is another area where CreativeLive excels.

To put it simply, this platform is everything you need if you just want to learn a new skill or improve on what you’ve got already.

Head over to our full CreativeLive Review if you want to learn more.

What is an Online Learning Platform?

An online learning platform is pretty much what the name says. These are typically portals or spaces consisting of a variety of educational content, live classes, instructions, and many other options for learning right in the comfort of your home.

The number of topics a typical online platform covers is vast. Some platforms even allow you to create courses and become an instructor.

Also known as e-learning, most of these platforms are subscription-based, but that does not mean you cannot get free courses. Many e-learning platforms offer online courses for free; all you need to do is sign-up.

Besides, online learning programs come in a variety of types. For example, platforms like Coursera cover almost all topics there is, while platforms like Codecademy are more in line with coding courses.

How to Buy the Right Course for You?

With so many options, it’s not going to be easy to choose what’s best for you, and picking the wrong one won’t do any good. With that in mind, below are some tips that can help you make the right decision.

Type of Course Topic You Want to Learn or Improve Upon

Not every platform will have the course topic you’re looking for. As mentioned above, there are various types of e-learning platforms, so you need to make sure to pick the one that actually has what you’re looking for. Skillshare, Coursera, and Udemy typically cover a wide range of topics, and you’re sure to find the course you need there.

If you’re looking for an online platform for your kid, you can consider Khan Academy. Moreover, if you want accredited certificates upon completion, FutureLearn, and Coursera are some of the options.

Out of all, if you want to go out of the box and learn from celebrity and VIP instructors, Masterclass and CreativeLive are for you.

Instructors

This is where you should pay the most attention. Instructors are the backbone when it comes to an online learning platform. They are the ones who are going to shape your experience. Make sure the platform you pick has instructors that know what they’re doing; they should have the right knowledge and credentials to help you succeed; otherwise, there is no point.

Masterclass is one prime example of best-in-class instructors, but almost all other platforms on this list have top-notch teachers who will not disappoint you.

Video and Audio Quality of The Contents

This is the basic that needs to be nailed in a course platform. The information you’ll be getting largely depends on these, and if both of these aspects are not great, it’s just better to look for an alternative.

That said, Masterclass is the pinnacle of both video and audio production; there is no competition, simply the best in this department. Other platforms on this list are no slouch, either. even though they are not up to the levels of Masterclass, they’re still excellent.

Customer Reviews

Reading the reviews of other students who’ve taken the courses can be super helpful in the grand scheme of things.

You can come up with a lot of info on the instructors, content quality, and so much more. Make sure you don’t miss out on this. Also, it’s better to look at the reviews outside of the course-selling website.

Price

There is a course for every price range in the world of online learning platforms. Each starts out as little as $15 and can go all the way up to $20000+.

The expensive offerings have a longer duration, and most of them are probably programs for degrees, and quality-wise, they’ll be on the higher end of the spectrum.

Lower-priced courses typically take a few weeks to complete and are almost as good when it comes to quality.

Having said that, if you’re not ready to spend anything, platforms like Coursera, Datacamp, and Brilliant.org offer a ton of free classes.

Will These Online Courses Help Your Career?

If you’re ready to put in some time and effort, online courses can certainly help you develop new skills and improve your knowledge which in turn will help you boost your chances of securing a job in a good company.

Online degrees are respected similarly to the degrees earned from a brick-and-mortar school by employers. If you were worried about that, you now know.

Another thing that needs to be spoken of is the verified certificate these platforms offer. You can add this certificate to your resume or share it in your LinkedIn profile which will improve your chances of finding a job even more.

FAQs

Final Thoughts: The Best Online Learning Platform

You’ve now looked at all the best online learning platforms available.

These 15 excel in different areas and focus on improving various amount of skills, read through the reviews properly, and pick the platform that covers the topics you’re looking for. You won’t be disappointed.

With that said, My Top 3 picks, Skillshare, Masterclass, and Coursera, are head of the pack when considering the amount of information they bring to the table. All three of them excel in their own rights.

OUR #1 RECOMMENDATION

Skillshare

Instructors

Video & Audio

Topics covered

Community

Price

4.9

★★★★★

5.0

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5.0

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5.0

★★★★★

5.0

★★★★★

Overall Score

5.0

★★★★★

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Pros

Excellent video and audio quality

Short and straightforward classes

30-day free trial

Impressive accessibility options

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Cons

An option for monthly payment would be better