When some people first hear about the world of online learning platforms and courses, it can be quite confusing. In the last decade, these online courses have blown up in popularity, and with good reason. Online courses can be very convenient and beneficial to the learner. In this short article, we’ll be going over some of the best online learning platform websites.

  • Thinkific
  • Skillshare 
  • Coursera 
  • edX

Thinkific 

Thinkific is a great online learning platform if you’re looking to actually sell online courses. They offer affordable options and allow the creator and buyer to achieve a quality experience. There are many pros to using Thinkific, such as listed below. 

Pros of Thinkific

  • Thinkific offers fully automated marketing and email options for users. 
  • They offer a free plan for people who are just getting started out with online classes. 
  • You are able to fully edit and customize the code of your website. As well as this, they offer fully customizable course certificates. 
  • Assistance with marketing and reporting through affiliates. 

Thinkific’s Pricing 

Thinkific offers three main price packages for their users. 

Basic Package: This option offers unlimited online courses and students. As well as this, you can provide scheduled content through a customizable domain. Lastly, you will have access to outside email integration and coupons. This package costs $49 per month.

Pro Package: This offers all the features of the basic option, along with more benefits. For example, you’ll be able to offer plus memberships and bundles. As well as this you’ll have the ability to give private online courses, certificates, assignments, and even live lectures and lessons through Zoom call. This package costs $99 per month. 

Premier Package: This package is a lot more expensive, but you get all the previous features mentioned, along with more. You’ll be able to have fifty-course admins, an onboarding package, and the ability to have an unlimited growth package too. This package costs $499 per month. 

Who Is Thinkific For? 

Thinkific is mainly for people looking to offer the best online courses at an efficient level, but it can also be great for people looking to purchase and take part in online classes too. 

Skillshare 

Most people who’ve been on the internet will have heard of Skillshare through their dominant marketing campaign on sites like Youtube. However, many people might not have actually looked into what Skillshare actually offers. Below we have listed some details of what they provide as an online learning platform. 

Pros of Skillshare 

  • Skillshare provides free online classes to an abundance of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. 
  • Skillshare is also known for its great sense of community amongst users. Users are keen to support and assist each other.

The content Skillshare offers is of the highest quality. Their options are seemingly endless for what you could learn through their website. 

Cons of Skillshare 

  • Skillshare doesn’t offer the ability to gain certificates through its website. 
  • Almost all Skillshare’s online courses are exclusively in English only. 

Skillshare’s Pricing 

Skillshare generally costs around $99 per month. As well as this, they have basic starter plans that cost just $139 annually. If committing to full plans isn’t your cup of tea you can always set up a customizable contract with them.

Who Is Skillshare for? 

Realistically, Skillshare is the platform for anybody who wants to experience online learning. It offers so many different options in terms of providing or taking part in online classes that you’d easily find something for your needs.

Coursera 

Coursera is next on our list of online course platforms that are top of the range. Below we have listed just some of the pros and cons of them as a service. 

Pros of Coursera 

  • Coursera offers free online courses to users, making it a user-friendly option for those on a tight budget. 
  • They also allow certificates to be obtained through completing specific online courses in which certificates are offered. 
  • Coursera has a wide variety of pricing options to fit anybody’s budget. 

Cons of Coursera 

  • Coursera’s online courses can be perceived as quite technical and not really open for anybody to get the hang of at a simple and easy pace. 
  • As well as this, Coursera also seemingly has a very tight and narrow choice of courses available too. 

Coursera’s Pricing 

Coursera offers a wide variety of pricing options for its users. Below we have listed some of their subscription plans. 

Individual Course Price: Coursera offers individual online courses that can range from between $30 to $100 per course. 

Specialization Course Price: For a specialization course Coursera offers these ranging between $39 to $89 per specialized course. 

Annual Subscription – For an annual subscription to Coursera it costs a significant $399 per annum. 

Degree Pricing: To obtain a degree through Coursera it costs a minimum of $15,000 per degree. 

edX  

edX is another of the options when it comes to premium online course platforms. Below we have listed some of the pros and cons of using their service as opposed to others. 

Pros of edX 

  • edX allows users to obtain certificates from their online courses. 
  • The variety and quality of the content offered by their service is at the top of the food chain. 
  • edX, similarly to Coursera, offers free online courses to those who may want a taste of what they have to offer. 

Cons of edX – 

  • edX does have a lot of technical online courses, similar to Coursera. This means prior knowledge may be required and it might not be as easy to just ‘jump in’ to the course. 

Pricing of edX  

Below we have listed some of the variety of prices that edX offers on their online classes.. 

Individual courses – individual courses on edX start at a minimum of $50 scaling upwards toward $300.

MicroMasters Degree – MicroMasters cost anywhere between $600 – $1,500.

Professional Certificate Programs – To obtain a certificate that will provide you with narrowed skills, it can cost anywhere between $150 – $1,000.

Master’s Degree – To obtain a full master’s degree through edX it can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $25,000. 

Who Is edX for? 

edX is for people who want expertise in a specific area. They offer a variety of online course options rather than subscription models. This is shown through the variety of different degrees that you can pursue. They can offer no harm in trying out, as they provide free online courses for their users to become accustomed to what they have on offer. 

Conclusion  

In conclusion, there are many different online classes that are available to those who want to be able to educate and further their learning through a more efficient and time-forgiving avenue. Online learning platforms are growing ever more popular. We hope this short article has been able to provide you with a clear insight into just what some of the best online learning platforms have to offer you as a potential user.