Today online courses have become one of the easiest ways to polish old skills or acquire new ones. These online courses are available on the online course platform, and there is a wide range of courses that you can take. It is an advantage to you since you have the flexibility of taking the course, doing it self-paced and others are free of charge.
One of the largest online platforms that have numerous courses and students is Udemy; however, there are reasons why you might not be interested in Udemy but an alternative platform. The post will discuss the ten best Udemy Alternatives that you can use to meet your learning needs, style, and other preferences.
What is Udemy?
Before exploring the recommended list, it is better to know what Udemy is. Udemy is an online course platform with thousands of courses specific to a skill set or subject. The courses are categories indifferent learning subjects like business, development, accounting, IT, software, health, music, photography, and many others. When it comes to the bestselling course platform, Udemy is on the list since it has some courses that can cover a given skill set from the beginner to expert level. Therefore if you are interested in a given skill set, you can search on the platform, and you might start polishing our skillset.
Why Udemy may not be a good choice?
Though Udemy is one of the best online learning platforms, there are different reasons why you would opt to use other platforms. So before exploring the list of the best alternatives to Udemy, here are some reasons why Udemy might not be the right choice for you.
Free courses
One of the reasons that may force you to use other sites like Udemy is the availability of free courses. You might be interested in a given course; however, the one available on Udemy might be expensive for you to afford. Then if this is the case, you can use other platforms to find the same course offered free of charge. Note that other alternatives have more free courses than Udemy, so it would be better to use this platform.
Courses quality
The quality of the course is another thing that will make you use another platform rather than Udemy. Note that there is a platform where they have strictly professional requirements that the tutors must meet before publishing any course on their platform. You can assess the quality of the course based on what they claim they will provide you and how the course is designed.
Certification
One of the most motivating things is that once you complete a course, you get a certificate. When it comes to Udemy, this is captured upon finishing the course; you receive the certificate. However, the disadvantage of their certification is that credible learning institutions do not accredit them. So, for this reason, you might opt to look for other platforms that work hand in hand with learning instruction to ensure that these intuitions credit their certificate.
Course availability
Note all the courses you might be interested in are available on Udemy. Though the platform has thousands of courses, it might be attractive, but when what you are looking for is not available, there would be no other option than using the other platform that has the course you are looking for.
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Coursera is one of the best and finest Udemy alternatives that you can use. With this platform, you will be able to find courses that are academic-related. Though the platform has fewer courses than Udemy, it emerges as one of the best alternatives because it offers more quality courses from top experts and universities. Also, the content of their course is well structured, and they go in-depth to ensure you get all the necessary knowledge or skill on that given course. With this platform, you will find both paid and free courses, and you will get an accredited certificate upon completing the course.
In addition to its uniqueness here, you can get master and degree courses available on the platform from credible universities or companies. By now, the platform supports the English language. Also, the platform has more than 5,000 courses that you can choose from.
Key features
- An app that can help you to learn offline.
- An accredited certificate from a top university.
- Free courses without hidden fees.
- Lower tuition cost.
- Quality courses from top universities and companies.
It is another site like Udemy, which is a good alternative since it has a unique platform that makes learning more engaging and accessible. On the platform, more than 41,000 courses are informed in video form, and they address numerous topics like web development, illustration, photography, marketing, and many other topics or fields. Professionals from different universities or industries facilitate these courses. So long as you have a laptop, computer, tablet, phone, and internet connection, you can take the course. If you want to take the course offline, you will have to go for the premium subscription for you to do so.
Key features
- Affordable classes with huge discounts.
- Almost 10% of the course are free.
- A large and highly engaging community.
- Free trial for the premium courses.
- A large number of course categories.
Lynda.com is among the best online course platforms that are an excellent alternative to Udemy. The platform has numerous categories of courses like CAD, design, development, business, IT, 3D animation, audio and music, web, video, and many others. So far, the platform has more than 17,800 courses you can pay for and enroll in. The good thing with this platform is that its main focus is employability; that is why; now the platform is available on LinkedIn so that once you finish a given course, you can share your accomplishment and get linked with potential employers. The mode of teaching used in this platform is through video recordings.
Key features
- No free classes.
- Wide range of courses.
- High course quality.
- Excellent in terms of hard skills training.
- Celebrity instructors.
Pluralsight is one of the perfect alternatives to Udemy. This platform has been in the market since 2004, and its many focus is on courses like software development, creativity, IT, and other tech skills. If you are looking for an online course platform for tech skills, then rather than using Udemy, you can use this platform and scale up your skills to another level. They offer thousands of courses in the form of videos with other valuable materials, manuals, coding tasks, hands-on projects, exams, and other helpful resources. With their course, they are also categorized in the form of the skill level like basic level, intermediate, and advanced, so you will know what suits you.
Key features
- 10-day free trials before full access.
- Learning checks in terms of quizzes.
- Offline learning materials and videos.
- Design for both businesses and individuals.
- 24/7 support if you have any questions.
It is another site like Udemy that two instructors started at Stanford. So the platform has revolutionized the technology learning platform since it has a unique aim of training and producing the workforce that would be suitable for the expertise needed worldwide. The platform so far has more than 23 000 students that have graduated through this platform all over the world. Unlike Udemy with Udacity, you will interact with industry experts that have created hands-on courses that will help you as the student to acquire both the knowledge and skills required for a given domain of specialization.
It offers a nanodegree program and is more valuable than a platform like Udemy. The platform has created more than 45 programs recognized by the largest brands like Google, Facebook, NVIDIA, and many others. Though the number of the programs or courses that you can get on the platform is few than what you can find on Udemy, the platform has quality courses that are well-curated by experts, and they help you to develop the full skill that is required and can help you to get a full-time job.
Key features
- Free courses.
- Easy-to-use platform.
- Top-quality courses.
- Improving your CV.
- Certificate upon finishing a program.
Edx is another online course platform that offers a wide range of courses related to different subject areas like business, engineering, computer science, and many others. With this platform, you can find the best, high-quality, and high-demand courses from top universities and companies. Here on the platform, you can take a competency assessment after the course completion to evaluate your understanding. Though the course is free, if you need a certificate, you will need to pay for it.
Key features
- An accredited certificate from top universities and companies.
- The platform offers courses through a partnership with the top universities.
- Learning at your pace.
- Free course and materials except for graded assignments.
- Guaranteed money refund policy.
Datacamp is another site like Udemy that you can use to polish your skills online. The difference between this platform and the Udemy one is that with Datacamp, you will only get courses focused on data analytics and data science. The platform has different plans for both individuals and businesses. The platform has more than 350 courses. Also, with this platform, you can have hands-on and interactive learning. It also offers programs that will keep track of your skills or show you the combination of skills or courses that can help you have a successful career path.
Key features
- Experiences experts courses.
- Engaging and interactive learning platform.
- Free plans.
- Wide ranges of data science and analytics course.
- Transparent pricing without hidden fees.
Another most acceptable alternative to Udemy is Khan Academy. Khan Academy is a free-of-charge platform that offers more than 4,000 expert courses for different disciplines. Some of the categories of the courses include humanities, math, arts, computer science, economics, and languages. The platform also offers learning materials from elementary schools to university or professional levels. Here, you need to take the training and learn at your own pace; take the assignments and the practice activities, and you will be good to go.
Key features
- Personalized dashboard.
- Practices activities and assignments.
- Learning material and documents.
- Course Library.
- Free of charge.
Suppose you are looking for an online course specifically for technology and coding and do not want to use a platform with many different disciplines. In that case, code academy is the best alternative. The site is for anyone who wants to learn technology or coding skills from beginner to expert level. The American government even supports the platform, and the content is of high quality. The programming languages you can learn at this platform include HTML, JavaScript, python, c++, java, PHP, and many others. Also, there are career-specific programs for specialists like data analysts.
Key features
- Free courses.
- Beginner-friendly.
- Wide variety of courses.
- 14 programing languages.
- Supportive community.
It is a site like Udemy that offers more than 300 courses. It offers courses that are related to technology and coding. These subjects include web development, web design, mobile development, and many others. It offers different programs for the learners: the techdegree and short courses. The programs here are structured in the form of quizzes, coding, real projects, workshops, and video-recorded teachings.
Key features
- Real-life projects.
- High-quality programs.
- Self-paced learning.
- Career-focused.
- Free trial.
Frequenly Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. Can Udemy courses be downloaded?
Yes, the courses on Udemy can be downloaded and viewed or learned offline; however, the courses must enable downloading. Some courses are downloadable, others are not, so it depends on whether the lecture has enabled the feature.
Q. What are the best alternatives to Udemy for an independent instructor?
Coursera – Based on the top 10 best online course platforms, Courserais one of the best alternatives for independent instructors since it is open for individuals to sell their courses on the platform.
Q. What are the less costly alternatives to Udemy?
In terms of less costly alternatives to Udemy, Skillshare wins since it has the best and quality courses at a lower price.
