Probably you are looking for Best Masterclass alternatives?
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In this world where competition is cut-throat, it is imperative that you continuously gain new knowledge and acquire additional skills. Obtaining a professional degree or earning a diploma are a few of the ways that you can acquire the necessary educational qualifications for becoming an industry expert. However, it is not the method we have chosen to gain the knowledge that matters. It is the knowledge that is of the essence.
While the world has gone digital, many websites offering various programs have appeared on the internet. From arts, crafts, and cooking lessons to programming and coding courses, there is hardly any course or internship which you can not pursue with the help of the internet.
The internet has eliminated the compulsion of being physically present in a classroom. All you need is an electronic device supporting the internet and an internet connection now. You can subscribe to various courses, programs, and workshops to pursue your interests. You can choose from various paid and free options available online.
The Masterclass is one such website which is committed to providing essential tools and knowledge to the budding professionals of various industries. MasterClass seeks to provide advanced knowledge and vital skills to professionals so that they can progress in their respective fields.
Though MasterClass has grown to be one of the top platforms, it means that there are many other platforms available too. So, before we proceed towards knowing about various alternatives of MasterClass, let's look at MasterClass to understand its key features, pros, and cons.
Key features of Masterclass
The Masterclass is an online learning platform that helps you to expand and improve your knowledge with the help of training videos and online lessons. You can use the platform to learn new skills. Signing up with MasterClass means you can log in from any compatible device and follow the lessons at your speed.
One of the most significant features of MasterClass is that most of the instructors are individuals at the top of their fields, with the likes of Steve Martin teaching comedy and Gordon Ramsay holding cooking lessons.
Pricing:
- MasterClass costs 90$ for every individual course that you choose.
- You can select the time-bound membership, which provides you with unlimited classes at $15 per month. This membership plan gets billed annually.
Pros:
MasterClass helps to bring access to high-quality educational video content for everyone. It uses top-notch cameras and well-trained camera professionals that bring you videos that are well directed, of high quality, and easy on the eyes.
The video quality, class structure, and educational materials are top-notch and easy to follow. The structured video lessons are short enough to make you feel comfortable sitting through one or more videos at the same time.
Each course generally has 25 small videos which can last up to 10 minutes divided according to the sections to ease the learning process.
Purchasing an All-Access membership pass on the site is a smart thing to do. You not only get access to all the courses available on the site, but it also allows the student to pause the current class. This unique feature provides the possibility for the student to go through the course at their own pace.
MasterClass has a very user-friendly website and application which is super easy to browse. You can easily browse and navigate through various courses based on different categories. The user interface makes sure that you don't waste any time and get straight to learning.
MasterClass has the most regularly updated and efficiently managed database. MasterClass does regular checks of their courses and remove all out of date content and upload the latest courses regularly.
MasterClass offers you the opportunity to learn from industry experts who have years of first-hand experience in the industry. With a partnership with celebrities like MasterChef Gordon Ramsay for writing thrillers, Steve Martin for the art of comedy, acting from Helen Mirren and Samuel L. Jackson amongst others make MasterClass as the best online course provider.
Cons:
As with all sorts of innovative ideas and execution, even MasterClass has some flaws. Here is a list of all the cons of using MasterClass.
- No way of clearing doubts and queries:
One of the main issues that you face as a student is the unavailability of one on one interactions with teachers. There is no method or channel to help you interact with the teachers individually, which might leave uncleared doubts and questions at the end of the course.
- Non-practical and non-actionable knowledge:
Though there are a lot of creative topics and subjects available on MasterClass, the teaching is not hands-on or with any practical purpose for the future. The information and knowledge that you gain from the MasterClass are seldom useful in real-world scenarios. The entertainment value of a MasterClass, however, is impressive. Though, the skills taught shall not be of much help, especially if you are involved in the corporate sector.
MasterClass comes out as an expensive option for learning new things and gaining new knowledge despite its prices being lower than a master's degree.
Is Masterclass worth your time and money?
Well, the efficiency of MasterClass solely depends on your intent of using it and the time that you spend. The masterClass is full of possibilities if you want insight from industry experts like MasterChef Gordon Ramsay or writers like Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Brown into artistic disciplines.
However, you'll find some missing links and a lack of depth when it comes down to professional domains. If you are looking to improve your professional skills or are looking for free courses, you'll find that other MasterClass alternatives are of better use. Here is a list of MasterClass alternatives which might help you get your desired courses in the manner you prefer.
What are the Masterclass alternatives?
MasterClass is a well-known name when it comes to online courses. The sheer number of courses that it offers along with the quality that it provides makes it stand out. However, MasterClass is not perfect for everyone. In case you want to know about a few of the alternatives to MasterClass, here is a list for you.
List of Top 5+ Best MasterClass Competitors and Alternatives 2020 (OUR BEST PICK)
1) Udemy (#1 Best Masterclass Alternative & Competitor)
Udemy is a crowd-based and cost-effective digital learning platform that has one of the largest databases. All the provided courses are well-curated and efficiently designed. You can access all the courses anytime once you purchase the pass which provides you complete access.
Udemy offers more than 150,000 courses in over 65 languages. Other than the courses, experts and professional instructors offer separate groups for discussion on different chat platforms. However, the USP of Udemy is the quality and quantity of the courses that it provides.
As Udemy is a crowd-sourced platform, anyone can launch a class on Udemy and offer their expertise. This open to all options explains the reason why this platform has an ever-growing database.
Udemy's database includes thousands of courses on the creative fields. However, these courses are not limited to writing, art, composing music, and singing. Even basic personal development courses such as makeup, sewing, and design courses are also a part of the database.
Graphic Design using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign: This course includes the fundamentals of the three most important design applications in the creative industry.
Creative Skills: Creative Exercises for all: This course includes various creative activities to tap into your inner creativity.
Photography: Master Your Camera- Master Your Creativity: This course includes the basic guide to how to use your DSLR, mirrorless, or compact camera to create stunning photos consistently and with confidence.
Quinton and Jaysen Batchelor's course - The Ultimate Drawing Course: This course immensely explains the necessary building steps of drawing and art.
Jason Allen's course- Music Theory Comprehensive Complete: The course is divided into three-parts, curated for the learner to understand and learn the theory and logic needed in music composition.
Due to Udemy being a Crowd-Sourced platform, anyone can publish a course. This both comes as a blessing and a curse. While there are thousands of courses available about any topic, the teaching quality of each course varies. To sort this problem out, Udemy provides a filter algorithm that helps you to rank the courses based on a Rating system. To make things more comfortable, Udemy also offers users a safe option to try their courses. If users are dissatisfied with a course, they can get their money returned within 30-day money-back.
Pricing plan
Udemy usually lets the instructor of the course decide if the course should be chargeable or not. If they decide that they want to make the course a paid one, then they can also decide on the price of the course.
Paid courses are priced affordably, with the lowest starting at the cost of $1.99 depending on the frequent discounts and sales. Instructors usually start up the course free of any cost at the beginning. When the course gets reviews and audience is when they set up a charge.
Pros:
- Wide range of courses available online:
Udemy allows you to choose from a wide range of courses that can be accessed online. These courses cover many categories ranging from educational topics to art and craft. Also, this collection is based on various themes and topics that help Udemy to catalog these courses efficiently. This categorization based on different genres enables the users to locate the courses relevant to them quickly.
One of the best features of using Udemy is that once you have bought the courses, you have lifetime access to it. You don't have to worry about the course getting expired which allows you to take the curse at your own pace.
There will be times when you will be dissatisfied with the course. You might end up feeling that the course does not match with the description or it doesn't have the right content. In such case scenarios, Udemy provides you with a full money-back guarantee.
- Efficient categorization for easy navigation:
Udemy ranks the courses based on the ratings from the scale of 1 to 5 in which 5 is the highest rank. You can use the ranks as the category to find the best courses for you to take.
Cons
- Needs premium membership to free courses for continuation:
While Udemy has an extensive database of courses including many free courses, you will need to pay the subscription fees after a point to continue with the free courses.
- Low quality of the audio translation and support for different languages:
You will notice that the audio sound quality for some lessons is of a slightly low quality which might pose a hindrance in active learning. Moreover, their language support is also less than optimum due to which non-English speakers might find this website hard to use.
- Minimal verification of class materials:
The class material is not verified before being uploaded on the website, which leads to false information and the teaching of wrong concepts. If you are a beginner in a particular domain, it is suggestible that you keep a vigilant eye.
There are thousands of courses but to find the required courses and information, you would have to go through several other courses, as is the case with most crowd-sourced platforms. However, Udemy provides excellent service, making it a good and viable choice for Masterclass alternatives.
2) Coursera (#2 Top MasterClass Competitor and Alternative)
Coursera provides a wide range of courses that can span from 4 to 12 weeks accredited from various credit-worthy colleges and schools. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, specializations, and degrees in a variety of subjects, such as engineering, data science, machine learning, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, and others.
Coursera has over 4,000 courses apart from specialization. Specializations courses focus solely on a specific choice of course with a bunch of lessons, following the submission of a project. There are some free courses on Coursera which is provided by the best university, so it also the best Masterclass alternatives.
These courses, while offering a spectrum of subjects ranging from art and its history to computer science, does bend more towards the mathematics and science-related academic fields. Creatives will find an apt, adequate range of courses to their disposal even if Coursera focuses more on the math and science part of academia.
Some popular courses for the creatively inclined individuals are:Graphic Design specialization offered by California Institute of the Arts: This course deals in detail about all the aspect of graphic designing
Creative Writing Specialization by Wesleyan University: This course helps the student to understand all the aspects of creative writing.
The DIY Musician specialization by Berklee College of Music: This course deals with all the ins and outs of being a musician by a reputed university such as Berklee College of Music.
UI / UX Design specialization by California Institute of the Arts: This course goes in-depth about the designing aspects of an interface and apps.
Coursera is a few platforms that give you access to the accredited courses and degrees from reputed colleges and universities. Not only do these courses polish your skills but also give you credentials to get a job after completion of the course.
Pricing:
- While many courses are available for free, a few of them are chargeable and require a certain fee for access.
- Most of the paid degrees and certificates cost $49 and are worth the expense.
Pros:
Coursera provides well-curated and credible courses from colleges and universities which are accredited. Coursera has a strategic partnership with various colleges and universities, which increases the authenticity of these courses. Additionally, these partnerships make sure that you get accurate and best knowledge and information.
- Decent variety of lessons is the creative category:
If you associate with creative and artistic fields, then Coursera is the place for you. They have a huge collection of courses specially curated for the artistic types.
- Many courses are allowed to be taken for free:
Coursera has a significant number of courses that can be taken for free without any commitment. These courses are not only a great way of gaining knowledge but also provide you with a free trial if you are considering the paid subscription.
- Accredited certifications and degrees provided after completion:
The best benefit of using Coursera is that it provides for accredited certificates after you complete the course. These certificates hold great value because they are proof that you have undertaken a particular course. Also, the accreditation from different universities and colleges make sure that you can use these certificates to get jobs and placements.
Cons:
- Timed classes are not self-paced
- Lengthier detailed courses concerning the concerned college and university
- Certificates and degrees are paid
Coursera acts as a free, more professionally tailored education platform compared to MasterClass. Well recognized and specialization courses provide more professional training and credentials helping in acquiring a job. The certificates and degrees offer an exceptionally useful opportunity for those who want to show their skills through their resumes.
3) SkillShare (#3 Best Masterclass Alternative in 2020)
Like Udemy or LinkedIn Learning, Skillshare also operates on an open-source platform. The site is more accepting of members, with less-stringent screening processes. Though this helps open up the learning opportunities to more individuals, the quality of participants drops considerably.
Skillshare offers a wide variety of courses. With the possibility to choose from over 25,000 different courses, you can access a truly diverse set of topics. The main drawback is the slide show format for tutorials. This style of training tutorials is not effective when pursuing creative courses, such as musical training or art classes. This may be best Masterclass Alternative because it provides you 2 months free.
Skillshare offers many different courses. However, these courses are designed in such a way that any single course may not impart much useful knowledge. But you may find a course that caters to a very specific topic or skill that you are interested in. This availability of unique courses makes it a good alternative for MasterClass.
A few of the courses in high demand are:
- Libby VanderPloeg's "Animation for Illustration" - this course helps you to learn the basics of animation. With the help of a step-by-step process, 'Animation for Illustration' teaches you how to create an animated video. This course covers the basics right from scratch and it also takes you through various intricacies.
- Tom Forest's "Odd Bodies" - a middle-level art course, this course teaches you how to draw unique human characters. It also teaches you to develop facial expressions.
- Jessica Hische's "Logo Masterclass" - the creation of logos is an important aspect of building a company and a brand image. With the help of Adobe Illustrator, this course helps teach you to make iconic designs which come in handy when trying to get a job.
- Thomas Frank's "Masterclass on Productivity" - The motive of this course is to help you channel your professional creativity and improve the overall quality and quantity of your output at work. This insightful course comes with important lessons, skills, and insights.
Pricing:
Being an open-source platform that helps ease the transfer of knowledge, there are a few unique facilities available to individuals. One of these is that many courses are accessible for free without any additional payment.
Subscriptions are reasonably priced, at only $15 each month, or $99 if you opt for the yearly plan. A subscription allows you unrestricted access to all the courses. It also allows you to download the tutorials and course materials for as many courses as you want.
Pros:
To help you decide objectively and choose the best learning program for you, the benefits and drawbacks of Skillshare are listed below. It may be your Masterclass alternative in these references.
SkillShare has an extensive array with over 25,000 courses available on their website. They have a wide variety of courses ranging from academics to hobbies.
While the database that it has is large, Skillshare also provides free access to many courses. This free access provides you with an opportunity to test the waters before you commit to it wholly.
The premium feature subscription of Skillshare allows you to download the content which you can access on the go even without an internet connection.
Cons:
Despite all the positives. There are some drawbacks faced when trying to learn through Skillshare.
SkillShare offers many courses and a lot of those courses for free. However, the quality of those courses is a concern. Many courses do not match up to expectations and have low-quality training. This lack of quality will become a problem when you get a premium membership as the premium membership is non-refundable.
The length of the courses is a concern with SkillShare. The courses are too short without providing complete knowledge. Because of these short length courses, you need to go through multiple courses to get working knowledge on a subject.
SkillShare doesn't have a strict filtering process. Due to this lack of quality control, they have many amateurs on their website proving courses that fail to meet industry standards.
Skillshare does provide a great masterclass alternative for certain unique and specific courses. However, it is still not suitable for many others. Even though the option is cheaper than others, you must be vigilant while browsing this platform so that you go through only good quality content.
4) CreativeLive (#4 Top MasterClass Competitor and Alternative)
CreativeLive is an online education platform that broadcasts live classes to an international audience. CreativeLive has curated content in the form of videos that are made by popular people in their respective fields. This association with accomplished and popular experts helps CreativeLive to guarantee top-notch content.
This association with experts is a feature unique to CreativeLike, unlike many who provide crowd-sourced online learning platforms. These crowd-sourced online learning platforms lack behind CreativeLive because there is no control over the content in the former platform. This is also the best Masterclass alternative it is free for a month.
CreativeLive boasts of over 1500 class options that are listed under genres such as skill, business, or art-based content. CreativeLive gives you a large variety of videos, including guides and field-specific classes, software, how-to, and help and tips within the photo and video category. However, it is important to note that these are not the only type of content available on CreativeLive.
A few of the most popular courses on CreativeLive are:
How to Break the Habit of Self-Doubt and Build Real Confidence by Mel Robbins: This course deals with the most faced issue of self-doubt and how to build self-confidence.
Workflow, Time Management, and Productivity for Creatives by Lisa Congdon: This course goes into detail on how to manage your time and be productive at the same time efficiently.
Fundamentals of Photography by John Greengo: As the name suggests, this course deals with the fundamentals of photography.
Adobe Photoshop CC: The Complete Guide by Ben Willmore: This course goes into detail about the ins and outs of the software Adobe Photoshop.
Your Social Media Bootcamp by Jasmine Star: This course helps you understand all about working the Social Media for your business.
Why you should choose Creative Live?
The most important difference between MasterClass and CreativeLive lies in the choice of instructors. While instructors at MasterClass are all professionals of their fields, CreativeLive carefully curates their teachers to provide only the best content and subject matter. Moreover, their vast number of courses are divided into well-thought categories which help students to find the content that they are looking for effortlessly.
Also, while the MasterClass focuses more on the theoretical aspect of the course, CreativeLive tends to be quite pragmatic in its course building materials following a practical approach. CreativeLive prefers to impart practical knowledge to the course takers so that they are ready for the real world when they step out.
Also, the courses of MasterClass tend to get into the details of its subjects. These details make the course videos last for over 30 minutes, usually. This long duration of the videos might be challenging for some people. Also, the experts of CreativeLive make the lessons exciting and highly educational, which is a plus.
Pricing:
Some courses at CreativeLive are often available for free for the users to help them understand. These courses are free to allow the users to get a basic idea about what they are getting into without investing in it. This option allows you to take a free trial of the course which you wish to take to understand its relevance and effectiveness.
You can also purchase the Individual courses at prices ranging from $29 to $149 for a yearly subscription.
The Creator Pass allows you to have an access pass to all of the CreativeLive courses available. This Creator Pass prices range from $39 to $149 depending on whether the subscription is monthly or annually.
Pros:
CreativeLive offers an extensive collection of over 1500 plus courses to choose from. These courses come under various niches and provide deep insights into the subject matter. Look at once if you are looking for Masterclass alternatives.
CreativeLive has a partnership with industry leaders and experts who provide you lessons that help you fare in real-life scenarios. These lessons are specially designed, keeping in mind the practical aspects of the curriculum, which provides you with actionable knowledge.
Practical knowledge and relevant experience are two of the factors which go behind outlining the MasterClass courses. More than bookish theoretical knowledge, MasterClass prefers to impart knowledge which comes to use in real-life scenarios.
Yes, MasterClass is best in terms of teachers, the number of courses, or the quality of content that it provides. However, it is one of the most budget-friendly platforms for online courses which makes it highly popular.
Cons:
- Lessons can last longer than 30 minutes:
If you are someone who prefers crisp and short lessons to learn the concepts quickly, then you might find MasterClass challenging to use. It is majorly because the lessons can be long and can last over half an hour.
- Limited free courses available for a specific period:
One of the most significant shortcomings of Masterclass is that it offers a limited number of free courses. Moreover, these courses are also available for a limited time frame which makes it imperative that you go through the course as soon as you spot it on the website.
The MasterClass is quite pocket friendly when it comes down to monthly or annual subscriptions. However, if you want to pay for individual courses and not take one of the holistic subscriptions, things will become expensive.
- No certificates for courses that you complete:
CreativeLIve has a wide range of courses available for you to learn from. However, it does not provide you with certificates on the completion of the courses. These certificates are proof of authenticity that you have mastered a skill or obtained the desired knowledge in the related field. This is one of the most significant drawbacks of CreativeLive because it does not provide you with certificates that can help you gain a job.
CreativeLive provides a more practical approach to the courses, complementing the MasterClass programs. Though a few classes extend to more than 30 minutes, the professional experts make these sessions exciting, well informed, and engaging. All these features combine to make it one of the best Masterclass alternatives.
5) Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an online course providing a platform that offers you the chance to practice exercises, watch instructional videos, and have a personalized learning dashboard that allows you to study at your own pace in and outside of the classroom. Khan Academy is more famous between grade-school teachers and students than creatives, because of its choice of content and courses. This is totally free platform, So it is also the best Masterclass alternatives
Khan Academy is a platform that provides you with a wide range of courses focusing mainly on subjects related to STEM. Various categories in the catalog include Math, Math by Grade, Science & Technology, Engineering, Computing, and Arts & Humanities, among others. Arts & Humanities targets more school-age students, such as high school students.
Khan Academy stays up-to-date with the school curriculum, which makes it famous among the teachers and the schools as it helps them to aid in teaching.
Few of the online classes curated for the creatives are:The Art of Storytelling by Pixar in a box: This course gives students the structure of developing a story focusing on developing characters, plots, and more.
Art History: Goes in the depth of Art and its History for a finer appreciation of the subject.
Sal Chats with Entrepreneurs by Sal Khan: This course includes interviews with well-known successful entrepreneurs like Elon Musk.
Intro to HTML/ CSS - Making Webpages: Gives an idea about how to customize website design.
Why choose Khan Academy over Masterclass?Khan Academy focuses more on the educational aspects of teaching by keeping up to date with the school curriculum and in turn, helps teachers and high graders in their studies. While it provides few courses for the creative, the education courses are professionally curated for the users to have a much better understanding. All of the courses at the Khan Academy are also free for the users.
Pricing:
The free subscription for all the courses makes it a unique website. While all the courses are open for the users, registration is also not mandatory for accessing the courses. However, it is essential to register on their website if you wish to save your progress.
Pros:
You can choose as Masterclass alternatives: Khan Academy.
Khan Academy is one of the few online course providers who offer all the courses without any subscription, which makes it an exceptional website, unlike many others. They are dedicated to providing the skill and information seekers with a free platform to hone their skills.
- Filtered and high-quality content and courses:
Khan Academy has a specialized team which is dedicated to filtering out the courses and content that they offer on their website. Just because they are a free platform doesn't mean that they are also compromising on the quality.
- Supports Multi-language through subtitles:
While MasterClass doesn't have strong support for non-English speakers, Khan academy supports multiple regional dialects and languages. This additional feature makes it one of the most popular online platforms for taking free courses.
Khan Academy doesn't only provide you with lessons and courses, but they also offer you an opportunity to test your newly acquired knowledge with the help of tests. Additionally, these tests are graded by machines that make these assessments highly reliable.
- Keeping updated with the school curriculum:
Khan Academy is one of the few digital course platforms which undergo regular updates. The courses are regularly updated to keep up with the latest curriculum, which makes sure that you gain the latest and accurate knowledge.
Pros:
- Limited courses in creative categories:
While Khan Academy has an extensive database of educational and skill-based courses, they are a little short on artistic courses.
- Courses focused and targeted for high school students only:
Khan Academy focuses on high school students. Most of the courses available on this website are fit for school-goers who want to gain a deciding edge over their competition.
- Shortcomings in the Mobile application:
Khan Academy does have a very functional website with an easy to use interface. However, their mobile app still doesn't support all the features which their website offers. In case you want to utilize this website to its best, you must use a computer or a laptop for browsing it.
Khan Academy is a free alternative for MasterClass. Khan Academy provides a vast range of courses for primary and secondary students. However, it has a limited number of courses for creatives and artists. But if you are looking for a master class and want to explore into the academic domain, Khan Academy is the online course provider for you.
6) The Great Courses
The Great Courses is a college-level online education platform that started at the same time when VHS tapes were popular. This medium is regularly updated with new courses and has still relevant older courses that can be streamed online through their medium. Earlier these courses were distributed in the form of VHS tape, CD, and DVD and now are available to stream online through their online portal.
These courses are both in Audio and Video medium, which caters to a broad audience. Their courses mainly cater to the college student's needs about their college-level curriculum and syllabus. All of these courses are taught by experts to ensure the quality level. If you are more interested to learn about photography then it is the best Masterclass alternatives.
This platform has courses related to every aspect of education, including classes courses for creatives. Creatives have found this platform to be very useful because of the variety of the courses available for them.
Let's look at a few courses:How to Draw by David Brody: This course goes in-depth about the basics of drawing and sketching.
Fundamentals of Photography by Joel Sartore: As the names suggest, this course deals with the fundamentals of still photography.
How to Paint by Ricky Allman: This course explains the basics of painting with detail.
How to Look at and Understand Great Art: This course helps you to understand the famous art and the meaning behind the famous painting and sculptures.
From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism: This course deals with the famous painting made by famous artists such as Monet and Van Gogh and the meaning behind them.
National Geographic Masters of Photography: This is a photography course that covers the essentials of photography. This course teaches you the technical aspects along with other segments of this field.
Pricing:
- Pricing is a vital aspect that everybody considers before taking any type of subscription. Similarly, it is essential to do a cost-benefit analysis of the various options available to you when choosing an online course provider.
- The Great Courses offers a free initial trial for everyone. You can easily browse and go through different courses before finalizing if you want to take a free subscription or not.
- The Great Courses also provides the option to purchase individual video courses. These different courses can easily cost several hundred dollars. So, you must analyze the cost that will come through various opinions and then decide if you should sign up for a monthly or a quarterly subscription or go for the individual courses.
- If you are considering the paid subscription of the Great Courses, then it is important for you to know that it is available at $19.99 per month and $30 for a quarter.
The Great Courses is a good alternative for MasterClass if you are looking for college-level education by only established experts who have a great clear understanding of their subject.
Pros:
The Great Courses offers an extensive database of courses under various niches. They have a large database containing decades of educational courses which are still relevant contributing to their extensive library
The Great Courses is partnering with expert professors from various popular institutions such as National Geographic for teaching professional courses. These partnerships with institutions make the course content that they offer highly reliable and informative, unlike many other similar service providers.
This online course provider has a strategic partnership with many different popular platforms. With their Integration with various platforms such as AppleTV, Echo, and more, they provide ease of accessibility and high functionality.
This website is quite affordable as compared to other digital learning sites that offer similar services. Moreover, the quality and the quantity of content they provide are premia which makes them highly cost-effective as well.
The courses at The Great Courses are available in various formats which make them accessible through different qualities and multiple media players.
- Different modes of accessing the courses:
Beside Videos, these courses provided by the Great Courses are also available on Audible. Also, you can purchase DVD's to have a hard copy to be able to go through and complete these courses at a more comfortable pace.
Cons:
While the Great Courses is quite pocket friendly when you make monthly or quarterly subscriptions, the individual courses tend to be expensive. If you want to take multiple courses, it is better to take time-based subscriptions because individual courses can often cost several hundred dollars.
Not only does the Great Courses have a complicated user interface, but it also has separate URLs for subscription and individual courses. Notably, The Great Courses and The Great Courses Plus are offered by the same company but have different websites. These multiple websites make it challenging to browse through this platform.
- Courses are only accessible online:
The Great Courses doesn't allow you to download the content for offline use on portable devices. You can only access the course through their site.
The Great Course is an excellent platform for educational purposes catering to the needs of students. Because of its vast library which is integrated with top universities, it can provide an up to date curriculum.
Additionally, experts from various domains teach courses on this website imparting quality knowledge, and reliable information and insight. The database of the Great Courses holds decades of study material that is still relevant.
Moreover, this platform also provides modern and up to date courses as well. These courses make The Great Courses an excellent place to research. Also, the amount of material that this platform provides access to is closely comparable to that of Coursera. However, the effort that is needed while browsing is much less.
7) LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn is a social media platform for business and corporate professionals to connect with other industry professionals. LinkedIn has also come forward as an open-source learning platform that helps you to discover and develop business, technology-related, and creative skills through professionally-led course videos. The vast library of LinkedIn contains more than 14,000 classes to cover over 5,000 courses that help you to discover courses related to your field and interests. Although, as the case is with most open-sourced platforms, the quality of content and classes on LinkedIn varies depending upon the course provider.
Open-source platforms usually have content varying from good to bad as everyone can create and upload videos without any check for quality. Users have to go through a lot of videos before finding what they are looking for. Although LinkedIn helps users by sorting their courses by the user's rating and popularity. This is also the best Masterclass alternative after skillshare, it also provides 1 month free.
LinkedIn Learning smartly uses its own LinkedIn users to create content and combine that content with helping other users to learn from the experts. Professional people generate content from their knowledge and learning, which helps other people.
Some courses that might interest creatives are:Ashley Kennedy's Premiere Pro 2020 Essential Training: This course explains the ins and outs of the software Premiere Pro cc 2020, which enables you to edit videos.
Introduction to Graphic Design by Tony Harmer: This course deals with the basics of graphic designing equipping you with the knowledge to start your career in graphic design.
2D Animation: Tips and Tricks by Dermot' O Connor: This course explains the basics about the 2D animation and gives tips and tricks based on the experience of the trainer.
SketchUp 2019 Essential Training by Tammy Cody: This course explains the software SketchUp in detail for the budding architectural designers.
Learning Video Production and Editing by Rob Garrott: This course explains the process of video production and editing in detail.
David Andrade's Blender 2.83 Essential Training: This course helps you understand the software Blender which can be used for creating, modeling 2d, 3d characters, and coding games.
The Practicing Photographer by Ben Long: As the name suggests, this course explains all about photography and camera handling for your basic understanding of being a photographer.
HTML Essential Training by James Williamson: This course provides an introduction to the basic concepts of using HTML pages.
Creativity Bootcamp by Stefan Mumaw: This course Approaches creativity as an essential skill that you can learn and develop.
InDesign Secrets by David Blatner and Ann-Marie Concepcion: This is A technical course provided by David and Ann-Marie, which teaches you how to use InDesign software.
LinkedIn Learning has an excellent library for the creatives in every industry, enabling them to enhance their knowledge and technical skills by learning from professionals who are experts in their field. LinkedIn Learning being a crowd-sourced platform, you might have to go through some courses that do not stand up to the mark to find what you are looking for. Still, LinkedIn Learning sidesteps from this problem by sorting their courses by category and popularity. Not only this, but they also update their courses with recent updates in the related industry, making LinkedIn Learning a popular educational platform.
Pricing:
- One-month free trial
- LinkedIn learning offers you one month of free trial. Once the trial period expires, users have to pay a subscription of $29.99 per month if billed monthly and $19.99 for a month if billed annually. This subscription includes an all-access path to all the courses available in the platform without any extra charges. This premium subscription also provides you with an all-access membership pass. This all-access membership pass also gives you access to all the perks of LinkedIn Premium.
Pros:
LinkedIn has an enormous library that contains over 15,000 courses to select from. These courses cover various industries and provide you with training in many different skills. For a great Masterclass alternative, you consider LinkedIn Learning.
The one-month free trial provides you access to the entire course library that LinkedIn has to offer. This free trial comes as an excellent opportunity to learn many new things without having to pay for anything.
- Certification on course completion:
LinkedIn provides certificates once you complete any course on its platform. As the industry recognizes LinkedIn, their certificates add great value to your curriculum vitae.
- Included perks of LinkedIn Premium:
LinkedIn is primarily a social network for industry professionals, and LinkedIn Premium offers many unique and useful features. Once you take membership of LinkedIn Learning, you also get access to the perks which LinkedIn Premium provides.
Cons:
Because LinkedIn is an open-source network, anybody can provide courses. This open platform makes the content quality of some courses vary greatly from one course to another. This difference in the quality depends on the trainer of the course.
- After the initial free trial, everything is paid:
Once you have exhausted the month-long free trial, there is no way of accessing the courses until you take a paid membership. This limited free access to the courses is unlike many other similar websites which allow you free access to its many courses even without the free trial period.
- Professionals providing training might not be experts:
Because anyone can join and give a course on LinkedIn, it is not essential that your trainer is an expert in his or her field. This varying quality of the trainers makes it important that you research before enrolling in any course.
The biggest drawback of using LinkedIn Learning is that you get a considerable number of emails in your inbox, which might become annoying.
LinkedIn Learning is a great alternative to MasterClass for the users who are active on LinkedIn as it helps them to learn while improving their networking with their vast database. LinkedIn is also quite famous for creatives because of its various courses that interest them.
Quick Links:Conclusion: List of Top Best Masterclass Alternatives 2020 Top MasterClass Competitors and Alternatives
While it is essential to keep acquiring new skills, the problem lies in finding a source to learn those skills. The MasterClass is a highly trusted partner when it comes down to training and skills acquisition. However, it is not the only one. There are various other platforms that serve a similar purpose.
You must browse different available platforms before you get a membership. You must do a cost-benefit analysis to understand which of these platforms will best serve your purpose. Also, different platforms specialize in providing different genres of courses. So, it is also advisable that you browse different courses on various platforms as well. This will give you an idea of which platform has the courses that you need.
