Skillshare Review — Is It The Best Online Courses Platform?

Hey there, Are you Looking for a new way to learn? Maybe you are interested in online courses but not sure which platform is best. After all, there are dozens of online course providers and of course, they all claim to be the best.

Skillshare is one of the most popular online course providers out there, and as I’ll detail in this Skillshare review, it’s easy to see why.

With over 34,000 courses available across a range of categories and over 11,000 expert instructors, there’s something for everyone — from those just learning for fun to those looking to gain new skills for further career prospects.

With an affordable annual subscription, Skillshare makes it easy, convenient, and affordable to learn almost anything you could ever want.

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What Is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online learning community for creators, entrepreneurs, professionals, and anyone who wants to learn new skills.

As of January 2023, Skillshare offers more than 34,000 lessons led by world-renowned instructors to help members learn new practical skills, practice their craft and unlock their creativity.

Skillshare courses range from design and illustration to business and entrepreneurship, and members can access them anytime, anywhere.

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, Skillshare has something for everyone who wants to learn new skills.

And with Skillshare premium membership, members get unlimited access to all of the site’s classes, as well as exclusive content and features.

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Who Teaches the Skillshare Courses?

There are over 11,000 instructors on the Skillshare platform who are experts in their fields.

Many Skillshare teachers are well-known professionals who have years of experience and have been featured in major publications.

It’s important to understand that there are two types of Skillshare courses — original and user-created courses.

Skillshare Originals are courses created and produced by Skillshare, and these classes tend to be taught by recognized names in their industries.

Some notable Skillshare teachers you may recognize from their originals include:

Seth Godin
Jonathan Van Ness
The Kawasaki guy
Gary Vaynerchuk

Are these instructors as famous as those at Masterclass (eg Samuel L Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bill Clinton, etc.)?

Of course not, but I’ve personally found that Skillshare’s courses tend to be of high quality compared to many other learning platforms, and there’s also a much larger selection than Masterclass.

Many of Skillshare’s courses are also very sophisticated and offer a more intensive learning experience than you might find on some other sites.

In addition to some big names in their respective industries, Skillshare also allows individuals to create, upload and sell their own courses.

These Skillshare classes, while often still really good, aren’t usually taught by the big names you’ll recognize, but that doesn’t mean these experienced teachers don’t have valuable information to offer.

How Does Skillshare Work?

Skillshare is a membership course site. This means you pay a flat membership fee and get access to thousands of courses. It comes with all the beauty of a course library: lots of options, searchability, etc.

You can choose from hundreds, of course, titles to try, leave reviews, and share your projects with instructors and classmates for feedback.

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What Can You Learn On Skillshare?

A better question is, “What can you learn on Skillshare?

With over 34,000 lessons, it’s no stretch to say that you can learn almost anything you want on Skillshare.

Skillshare divides its classes into 3 broad categories:

Create — Includes animation, filmmaking, web design, photography, acting, videography, digital art, UI/UX design, music, illustration, fine art, creative writing, cooking, and more. Basically, it’s a category for anything “creative”.
Build — Includes all their business-oriented courses like Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Data Science, Leadership & Management, Communication, Business Analytics, Data Entry, Microsoft Excel, Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Freelancing, Teaching, and more.
Thrive — Includes lifestyle and productivity courses for personal development.

I will say that I’m not a big fan of how Skillshare tries to lump everything into these three big categories, but I understand that when you have tens of thousands of classes, you have to try to categorize them somehow.

The problem is that some classes don’t quite fit into these categories, and sometimes finding what you’re looking for is a little more difficult than it should be.

Still, they have tons of subcategories to browse through, and of course, they have a search feature where you can simply type in a topic you’re interested in and find all the courses they offer on that topic.

Will Skillshare Boost My Career?

Yes! Skillshare has some impressive classes for graphics, UI/UX, coding, and animation that are in high demand in today’s workforce. These could seriously help jump-start your career or help you move your career forward if you’re looking for a change.

There are also great courses in marketing, leadership, and business analysis that you can use to get your next promotion.

Overall, Skillshare definitely balances the creative with the practical. That’s one of my favorite things about the platform — how usable the skills are.

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Who Is Skillshare For?

Great question!

Skillshare’s online learning platform is great for people who want to quickly learn applicable, creative skills.

If you are a person who wants to get a crash course in python, then this is the platform for you.

Hey, If you want a 30-minute introduction to darkroom photography then Skillshare is excellent for you.

If you want to brush up on your marketing skills during your lunch break, then Skillshare is perfect for that!

It’s also great for people who want options. Skillshare has 27,000 courses. If you find yourself going through the same courses on other learning platforms and wondering when they will get new content, then Skillshare might be your cup of tea.

There are tens of thousands of hours of lessons from thousands of teachers, meaning you can dive deep and swim wide without getting to nearly all of the content.

If each lesson is 30 minutes, that means the entire year has fewer hours than the video content on Skillshare. It has so much!

Skillshare is also great for people who want to learn hands-on.

Each course has a project associated with it, meaning you’ll always leave with a completed project to showcase your newly acquired skills. This is a big selling point for me because it’s easy to sit back and learn, but it takes persistence to put those lessons into practice.

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Skillshare Review — Pros & Cons

Pros

Tons of classes
Affordable
Real-world skills
Affordable subscription price
Huge collection of courses available in all categories
Professional instructors
Awesome platform
Amazing instructors
Accurate reviews
Build your portfolio
A great community to interact with other students
Class projects help you master the topic
Free trial version

Skillshare Review — Cons

Some user-generated courses may not be as good as others
Classes do not have a certificate of completion
No monthly subscription option

Is Skillshare Worth It?

Yes, Skillshare is worth it for almost anyone interested in online courses.

From its extensive library of high-quality online courses to its amazing community of students and instructors, there are plenty of benefits to being a member of this platform.

And at $165 for an annual membership (an average of $13.75 per month), it’s a small investment to gain access to tens of thousands of classes.

The only ones for whom Skillshare might not be worth it are those who want to get certificates for taking courses to share on LinkedIn or their resume.

Skillshare Review — FAQ

What is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online learning platform focused on creative skills. The platform offers free and paid courses in various fields, including business, design, technology, and more.

How does Skillshare work?

Skillshare works by giving students access to video-based lessons and class projects. These resources enable students to acquire new skills and knowledge in a wide range of areas.

What happened to the free Skillshare lessons?

While Skillshare used to have a selection of free courses, the company removed it in September 2021. You must now have either a free Skillshare trial or a paid Premium Skillshare subscription to take courses in the app.