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E-Learning Platforms Last update: Jan 16, 2024

CreativeLive Review: Is it Right for you?

Best For Live Classes

Starting from

$29 USD a month

Best for

  • Free Live Classes
  • Industry Instructors
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Written by

Catherine Cooke

Catherine Cooke

Upskillwise Advisor

I'm Catherine, originally from London, now living in Spain. My professional journey led me from being a certified teacher to a yoga instructor and then a freelancer designer. These changes were made possible by online learning platforms like Skillshare and Coursera. It wasn't always easy, but so worth it and inspired me to start Upskillwise.

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CreativeLive is an online learning platform that offers a wide selection of creative classes on topics like photography, art, design, entrepreneurship and more. Its 2,000+ curated classes are taught by 700+ handpicked instructors. Many of its classes focus on improving your creative skills and knowledge.

To make sure this CreativeLive review is informative and helpful, I’ve taken time thoroughly researching CreativeLives classes, instructors, subscription plans, refund policies, and examined feedback from CreativeLive users. Furthermore, I have a Master’s in Teaching and Education and years of experience of using online learning platforms.

Let’s get into this in-depth CreativeLive review, and hopefully, you’ll have a clearer idea of whether it’s the platform for you.

CreativeLive Summary

CreativeLive is an online learning platform that offers a wide range of courses for creatives and entrepreneurs. The platform offers live and on-demand courses, that focus on topics such as photography, art, design, music and entrepreneurship. CreativeLive courses are designed to be highly interactive, with opportunities to ask questions and engage with other learners. In addition to individual courses, CreativeLive offers curated collections of courses called ‘Channels’ which focus on specific topics and skills, to provide a more structured learning experience. One unique feature is watching its classes live, allowing learners to participate in real-time, the best part about these live broadcasts is that you can sign up for free, and it’s a great introduction to the CreativeLive platform. There are a few different options for purchasing CreativeLive classes, either you can buy an individual class or you can purchase a monthly or annual subscription plan. In the case you change your mind, a 7-day refund policy is available.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Free Live Classes

Its daily free live classes cover all creative topics like Photo & Video, Art & Design, Music & Audio and more.

Industry Icon Instructors

Over 700+ top industry instructors, including best-selling authors, Grammy and Oscar winners like Daymond John and Mel Robbins teaching its classes.

Top Quality

All of CreativeLive’s videos are filmed by in-house videographers, so the quality is top-notch.

Refund Policy

A 30-day refund is available on individually purchased classes and 7-days on its annual and monthly subscription plans.

Lifetime Access

When you purchase a class from CreativeLive you’ll get lifetime access, that way you can revisit content as many times as you like.

Offline Viewing

You can download classes for offline viewing on your iPhone and iPad with the App.

Cons

No Certificates

CreativeLive doesn’t offer any completion certificates or accreditation. If you are looking for that, it’s best to check out platforms like Coursera or edX.

Course Structure

Some courses may lack depth and structure, it’s important to read reviews before enrolling in a course.

Expensive

Some of CreativeLive’s higher end classes may seem a little expensive for what they are offering.

Lack of Depth

Although CreativeLive offers a wide variety, some learners may feel that some courses on scratch the surface and are lacking advanced content.

Who Is CreativeLive For?

If you are a natural creative or have a creative itch that you want to unleash, honestly I think most of us do. Then the CreativeLive platform may have a creative class that appeals to you.

CreativeLive Fundamentals of Photography
CreativeLive Fundamentals of Photography

Some of CreativeLive’s most popular categories are photography, videography, personal finance and design. For example, its ‘Fundamentals of Photography’ class has had 140.8K students enrolled in it and 99% of them have recommended the course, which is pretty impressive.

CreativeLive for Teams

CreativeLive doesn’t just offer courses to individual learners, it offers courses to teams and businesses.

CreativeLive For Teams
CreativeLive For Teams

A feature that is quite unique to the CreativeLive platform is its free live-streaming of classes. As a learner, it makes you feel more connected to the CreativeLive community, especially as many of the classes are interactive.

Be mindful that CreativeLive doesn’t offer any completion certificate or formal accreditation when you successfully complete a class. If this is important to you, it would be best to check out platforms like edX or Coursera.

How Much Is CreativeLive?

CreativeLive offers the option to purchase an individual course or buy either a monthly or annual subscription. Its individual classes start around the $50 USD price mark and can go up to $200 USD.

CreativeLive Discount Classes
CreativeLive Discount Classes

Its individual classes are often discounted, which may just be a marketing strategy. Either way, it makes them pretty good value for money and who here doesn’t love a bargain.

CreativeLive Subscription Plans

CreativeLive offers a monthly or annual subscription plan that gives you full access to the platform and its 2,000+ classes. On top of that, you’ll get access to its curated learning paths where you can set goals and track your progress.

  • CreativeLive Annual Subscription: $129 USD
  • CreativeLive Monthly Subscription: $29 USD
Creativelive Plans
Creativelive Plans

Its subscription plans include the following;

  • Access to 2,000+ classes
  • Taught by 700+ iconic instructors
  • Gain access to new classes & exclusive conferences
  • Exclusive access to Fast Class
  • 60k+ digestible lessons
  • Download lessons for offline viewing
  • Curated learning paths
  • New classes published every month

Gift A CreativeLive Subscription

If you’d like to give the gift of a CreativeLive subscription to a friend or loved one, you have the option of gifting a yearly pass or a monthly one. The annual pass will cost $129 USD and the monthly $29 USD.

Gift A CreativeLive Subscription
Gift A CreativeLive Subscription
Gift CreativeLive

CreativeLive Refund Policy

If you are purchasing an individual class you’ll have 30-days to request a refund if you change your mind. In the case of an annual or monthly subscription, you’ll have a 7-day period. If you want to request a refund you can email support@creativelive.com.

Be mindful that if you’ve purchased a subscription plan, you won’t be able to request a refund after 7 days. But if you will be able to cancel your subscription after that 7-day window if you don’t want your plan to auto-renew.

CreativeLive for Teams

If you are looking to upskill your team, then CreativeLive offers a couple of subscription plans; the Standard and the Enterprise. Each plan is designed to empower and develop your employees and gives you and your team unlimited access to 2000+ classes.

  • Standard Plan: $149 per seat, per user, billed annually (5-1000 people)
  • Enterprise Plan: Custom priced (1000+ people)
CreativeLive For Teams
CreativeLive For Teams

CreativeLive Free Live Classes

CreativeLives stand-out feature are its free live classes and on air events. You can select classes across a selection of categories from Art & Design, Photo & Video, Money & Life and more. It live classes come from various locations, from living rooms, to music studios and kitchen tables. This innovative and engaging content is completely free and definitely worth checking out.

CreativeLive Free Live Classes
CreativeLive Free Live Classes

You can then view upcoming classes for each day of the next week and all you will need to do is click RSVP, and you will be sent a reminder for when they’re live on air. Plus, they have the option of adjusting your timezone, which is pretty helpful.

CreativeLive Upcoming Classes
CreativeLive Upcoming Classes

Does CreativeLive Offer Refunds?

CreativeLive does offer refunds policies on both its individual classes and its monthly and annual subscription plans. Its individual classes offer a 30-day refund policy and 7-days for its monthly and annual subscription plans.

To request a refund, you must email support@creativelive.com, after your refund has been approved, it should take 5around 5 business days for the funds to be back in your account.

How To Open A CreativeLive Account?

The registration process for CreativeLive is free and really intuitive. I still thought it would be helpful to give you a step by step of how to join.

CreativeLive Sign Up
CreativeLive Sign Up

CreativeLive sign up

  1. Open a browser and visit creativelive.com
  2. Click LOG IN/SIGN UP in the top-right corner
  3. Either sign up with your email or use facebook or google
  4. In a new window, you’ll need to add your Full name and choose a password.

Once you are signed up, you can click on Classes, start searching for Topics, Instructors and more in the search bar.

CreativeLive Search Classes
CreativeLive Search Classes

Or if you prefer to subscribe to a monthly or yearly subscription plan, you can do so, by either clicking on ‘Get Started’ (see image below).

CreativeLive Get Started
CreativeLive Get Started

7 Tips To Find The Perfect CreativeLive Classes

If you are undecided about which course is right for you. I have put together 7 tips to help you pick the best course for you.

Use the Filters

Once you have decided on your chosen category, you will then see all the different filters available to you on the left side of the page. In this case, (see image below) I chose Art & Design Classes. I can then choose one of the more specific subcategories like Adobe Photoshop or pick one of the filters like Best Sellers. It’s a helpful feature if you have a clear idea of what you are looking for.

CreativeLive Filters
CreativeLive Filters

Class Description

You are able to read a class description for every course. You will find a short summary of the course and then bullet points on what you will learn.

CreativeLive Class Description
CreativeLive Class Description

Next to the class description you will find topics covered in this class (see image below). This is a really quick way to highlight the specific topics that each course covers.

CreativeLive Topics Covered
CreativeLive Topics Covered

Lessons of each Course

Each of the lessons covered in the course is clearly outlined here along with its time duration, giving you a comprehensive overview of the whole course.

CreativeLive Lessons
CreativeLive Lessons

Along with the lessons, there is also class material available to download in a PDF format which accompanies the classes. Check them out to get an idea for the course.

CreativeLive Class Materials
CreativeLive Class Materials

CreativeLive Preview

When you enter the class page you have the option to preview the class introduction and possibly the first lesson of the class. This is a perfect opportunity to check out the instructor, get a feel of how they will teach and if the course is the best fit for you.

CreativeLive Preview the course
CreativeLive Preview

Reviews at CreativeLive

Every CreativeLive course has reviews from previous students who have enrolled and completed the course. The reviews indicate a simple thumbs up or down and then an overall percentage of students who recommend the course. It is a simple review system, but effective to compare the positive and negative feedback. If you are looking for a more comprehensive review system it may be worth checking out Skillshare or Udemy.

CreativeLive Reviews
CreativeLive Reviews

Student Work

CreativeLive has the option for learners to upload work they have completed whilst studying on the course. I think this is a really nice touch, not only for the learners to show the work they have created, but also for prospective students to see what past students have produced. As you may know, when you study on a creative course many times the objective is to produce a final piece of work.

CreativeLive Student Work
CreativeLive Student Work

Industry Icon Instructors

CreativeLive’s instructors are made up of 700+ handpicked master creators including Grammy Winners, Best-sellers and World-renowned photographers. Familiar faces you may recognize are the likes of Mel Robbins and Richard Branson.

CreativeLive Instructors
CreativeLive Instructors

Once you have chosen your class, you can read a small blurb about your instructor. Plus links to their social media and website and other classes that they teach. If you have enjoyed one of the classes with a specific instructor, it may be worth checking out their other classes.

Creative Instructor Classes
CreativeLive Instructor Classes

CreativeLive In Detail

Criteria

Comment

Ease of Use ?

5

Opening an account is free and really intuitive, you just need to add your full name, email and create a password. There is also the option to sign up with facebook or google if you prefer that way.

The design and layout of its platform is easy to move around. The minimalistic colors of the site definitely have that stylish creative vibe. Following the classes is also straightforward.

Convenience ?

4

The majority of classes at CreativeLive are to learn at your own pace. Once you have purchased an individual course, you can then download it, or if you’ve subscribed to a subscription plan, you can watch it offline via the iOS app.

The live-streaming is a great feature if you want to try it for free and then decide if you want to purchase a course or a pass.

Available Platforms

4

CreativeLive courses are 100% online which you can access from a desktop, laptop or via the CreativeLive app with a smartphone (for iOS).

The CreativeLive app has a 4.9 rating with Apple but is not available with Android.

Certifications ?

Sadly, CreativeLive doesn’t offer any certificates or accreditations when you successfully complete a class.

If an accredited certificate is what you are looking for, then it is worth checking Coursera or edX.

Categories ?

4

CreativeLive offers 5 main categories; Photo & Video, Money & Life, Art & Design, Craft & Maker and Music & Audio. There are then a wide array of subcategories.

Free Courses

3

CreativeLive is free to sign up to, and you’ll get free access to all its live classes, which is a 24/7 service.

It does have a few free photography courses, but I can’t vouch for how good the quality of the courses are, but they may still be worth a try.

Content Quality ?

4

CreativeLive content is filmed and produced by in-house videographers and producers. So you can be rest assured its content is top-notch.

Languages ?

1

CreativeLive courses are only available in English.

Instructors ?

3

CreativeLive has 700+ handpicked instructors from Grammy winners to best-selling writers and world-renowned photographers.

If you are interested in becoming an instructor with CreativeLive you can create a proposal, and email it to the production team who will then be in touch.

Course Requirements ?

4

Many of CreativeLive classes are designed for complete beginners, you won’t need any previous experience to enroll in any of its classes.

Course Structure ?

4

CreativeLive creates classes based around video content with additional course material. Each class varies in time from a few minutes up to 20 minutes or so.

Its course material is available to download and accompanies the video content.

The course program is well detailed on the class page and description, so you know what to expect.

The structure of the courses varies from course to course, so expectations should vary from each class.

Quizzes and Tests ?

1

CreativeLive doesn’t have any quizzes or tests.

Payments and Refunds

4

You can purchase your individual or monthly and annual subscription with a Credit/Debit Card or via Paypal.

A 30-day refund policy is available on its individual classes and a 7-day-refund is available on its monthly and annual subscription plans. You can request a refund by emailing support@creativelive.com.

Support ?

3

CreativeLive has a help and solutions page. If you can’t find your answer there, you can send an email where they normally respond within 48 hours.

Overall Rating ?

4

CreativeLive offers some of the best courses for creatives. It is a great option for young artists and designers that want to learn more or develop already existing skills. It is inexpensive and together with all the free live classes, it is definitely worth a try.

Will CreativeLive Help My Career?

CreativeLive classes are ideal for an innovator or a freelancer who is looking to gain and learn a new creative skill. If your main objective is to learn and develop your creative knowledge then you are considering the right platform.

As many creatives know (I am speaking from experience as I am a part-time freelance graphic designer) your portfolio, website and contacts are what will help you get a new job or client. So an accreditation or certificate normally isn’t something that most of us need as recognition for completing a course.

Its courses are also appealing to a creative team that wants to help develop, grow and empower its people. Its courses can be customized to suit your team’s learning needs.

CreativeLive for Teams Topics
CreativeLive for Teams Topics

CreativeLive puts a lot of emphasis on its community and the importance of being connected.

They have a few sections under the community header like instructors, podcasts, blog and stories (see image below) where instructors and students share their experiences. A big part of this platform is creating a community for its learners and instructors, which can help lead to potential collaborations.

CreativeLive Community Stories
CreativeLive Community Stories

Is CreativeLive Legit?

CreativeLive was founded in 2009 by Chase Jarvis and Craig Swanson who started thinking about the idea of making workshops to inspire and support people to develop their creative skills. The company has dual headquarters in Seattle and San Francisco and four in-house production studios. Its courses have been watched by millions (10m+) of students.

A key difference of the CreativeLive approach compared to other online learning platforms is the live-streaming of classes. These classes are filmed in one of their in-house production studios that has a live audience of students, usually from 3–15 people who ask questions to the instructor, taking the role of the viewer at home. The fact that these live streams are free for all to view, gives CreativeLive an edge, and are for sure engaging.

Anyways, CreativeLive is legit and it’s safe to use, you won’t be scammed.

CreativeLive Conclusion

Ok, so let’s conclude with whether CreativeLive is worth it.

If you are looking for some of the best courses for creatives to develop their skills, then CreativeLive is a good option for you. One of the added perks is it’s live-streaming of classes that are completely free and very engaging, and they even have live audiences.

On the other hand, if you are wanting to earn an accredited certificate that is partnered by a University or Institution, then it’s best you check out platforms like Coursera and edX as probably they are a better fit.

You will love CreativeLive for its:

  • Free live classes
  • Top production of courses
  • Experienced and hand-picked instructors
  • Wide range of creative courses
  • Low-cost courses
  • Course quality

CreativeLive Alternatives

MasterClass

Learn From VIP Instructors

4.7

Mindvalley

Best for Personal Growth

4.6

Coursera

Accredited Certificates

4.8

MasterClass: It’s best known for its VIP and celebrity instructors, offering 185+ classes across a wide selection of categories like Food, Writing, Design & Style and much more.

Mindvalley: It’s learning programs focus on personal growth and developing all aspects of your life. It offers a monthly and annual subscription plan which give you full access to the platform.

Coursera: Probably the best option if you are looking to earn accredited certificates from leading universities such as Duke, Michigan or The University of Texas (among others). It also has a broader range of courses for free and a more comprehensive list of available topics.