Pluralsight Review: Does this Platform Suit You?

Who Is Pluralsight For?

This elearning platform offers a couple of courses libraries the Core library (2,500+ courses) and the Expanded library (7000 + courses). Its courses are organized into 3 levels Novice, Proficient and Expert. All topics are related to technology skills such as Software Development, IT Ops, Information & Cyber Security. It focuses on giving everyone access and the opportunity to progress through technology to develop their skills for tomorrow. Pluralsight is not only for individuals, it is also designed to help businesses. Its courses have been designed and created by Pluralsight who have collaborated with top industry partners like Adobe and Microsoft.

When you have completed 100% of Pluralsight’s video course you will be able to generate a certificate of completion. These certificates can be submitted as CEUs (continuing education units) or CPE (continuing professional education). These credits can go towards various organizations, including CompTIA, PMI, ISACA and (ISC)2.

Pluralsight for Business

Pluralsight doesn’t just offer plans for the individual learner, it also offers 3 different team plans for businesses. The plans vary in price and features which gives you the option to choose the one that fits the needs of your team. The most basic plan the Starter focuses on upskilling your team with the core library of courses. Then moving up the scale of price and features is the Professional plan that offers basic reporting and user analytics for the team and finally is the most extensive plan the, Enterprise that offers you flexibility and advanced analytics.

Pluralsight Free Account

Pluralsight allows you to create an account for free and the sign-up is really straightforward. The free account gives you limited access to the platform and its courses.

Pluralsight Free Account

You will get access to 200+ free skill assessments to measure your proficiency in a particular technology skill and understand how to grow in your career. If you are curious to try out the Pluralsight platform, but not ready to financially commit, then this would be an ideal option for you.

How Much Is Pluralsight?

Pluralsight for Individuals

Pluralsights pricing plans are subscription-based offering courses for Novice, Proficient and Expert learners. Its individual skill pricing plans offer a couple of subscription plans which you can pay for either Monthly or Yearly.

• Standard: The monthly subscription is $29 and the yearly subscription is $299. You will have access to the Core course library (2,500+ courses), paths and skill assessments. A 10-day free trial is included.
• Premium: The monthly subscription is $45 and the yearly subscription is $449. You will have access to the expanded course library (7,000+ courses), exams, projects and hands-on learning. A 10-day free trial is included.

Pluralsight Individual Monthly & Yearly Plans

Pluralsight for Businesses

Pluralsight also offers 3 different subscription plans for teams and businesses of different sizes. The Starter and Professional plans are for teams of 2-10 employees and the Enterprise plan is for 11+ employees.

• Starter: You’ll pay a yearly subscription of $399 per user a year. You will be able to upskill your team with access to the core library (2,500+ courses)
• Professional: You’ll pay a yearly subscription of $579 per user a year. This includes basic reporting and user analytics for teams. A team trial is available with 10 subscriptions.
• Enterprise: You’ll pay a yearly subscription of $779 per user a year. This includes flexibility and advanced analytics for the enterprise. A pilot is available on request to try out this plan.

Pluralsight Team Yearly Plans

Pluralsight flow

Pluralsight Flow is designed to help optimize the workflow of your team, by using the Pluralsight software delivery intelligence platform.

As a team, it means you can build more meaningful connections with your team members. Some of its benefits include:

• Increase product delivery speed
• Build a thriving team
• Optimize your engineering investment

How to Cancel a Pluralsight Membership?

If you have decided to cancel your Pluralsight membership, then all you need to do is follow these easy steps:

1. Go to the top-right corner and click Account settings
2. On the Account page, click the Subscription & Billing 
3. Click Manage Plan
4. Choose Cancel
5. Then choose your reason for canceling and click submit feedback, or click continue to cancellation
6. Click Confirm cancellation

Once you have cancelled your subscription you’ll have access to courses until your subscription’s expiration date.

How To Open A Pluralsight Account?

Pluralsight TRY FOR FREE

Opening an account with Pluralsight account is pretty intuitive, you only need to follow these steps:

1. Visit pluralsight.com and click on ‘TRY FOR FREE’ (top right corner)
2. You are then taken to the different individual plans to try for free
3. Complete the Account details
4. Add your account details including; First & Last name, Email, Country of residence and Company name (optional)

Pluralsight create an account

Pluralsight payment method

1. You then will be asked to add Payment details but won’t charge you anything until the free trial ends. You can cancel at any time within that free trial period and a reminder email will be sent to you 1 day before your free trial ends.
2. Last step is to Review and confirm your account

What Categories can I find on Pluralsight?

Courses

Pluralsight offers 10 different categories. They are broken up into Software Development, IT Ops, Data Professional, Architecture & Construction, Manufacturing & Design, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning / AI Business Professional, Information & Cyber Security and Creative Professional.

Its courses are regularly updated to ensure the skills you are learning are relevant and current.

Paths

Pluralsight doesn’t only offer individual courses, it also has the option of Paths which combine courses and tools into one experience to teach you a specific skill from start to finish. Paths are designed to an individual’s prior knowledge and will teach you a new skill in the right order.

Paths generally can be anywhere from 3 to 15 courses combined, in some cases more courses are combined. This will obviously mean a longer time commitment, but it will mean you are the job ready and have all the skills and tools needed to start or enhance your career.

Examples Of Popular Pluralsight Courses and Paths

I did a bit of research into which courses and paths are the most popular among Pluralsight users right now. I have highlighted the top courses and paths based on each technology.

Software Development

Courses

Introduction to Testing in Java  – Taught by Richard Warburton, a beginner-friendly course. This course introduces why you want to write automates tests for code and how to implement this in Java. This course will take just under 4 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Creating Apps With AngularJS, Node, and Token Authentication  – Taught by Alexander Zanfir, an intermediate level course. This course will take you on a hands-on approach to learn how to allow users to authenticate with Facebook, Google, Twitter and any other third-party Auth Provider. This course will take you just over 4 hours 30 minutes to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Getting Started with Web API Test Automation in Java  – Taught by Andrejs Doronins, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will learn how to deliver faster yet high standard quality assurance to a Web APIs. This course will take you just under 2 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Java Language Fundamentals   – Combines 21 courses with 50 hours of learning. This path will take you through Java language syntax and fundamentals, Java collections, working with streams in Java and much more. You don’t need any prior experience and all the necessary tools and concepts will be introduced throughout the path.

Core Python  – Combines 20 courses with 36 hours of learning. This path will take you through Python use cases, code organization, Classes and functions and much more. You don’t need any prior experience to take this path.

IT OPS

Courses

Computer Fundamentals: Software Troubleshooting – Taught by Daniel Lachance, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will learn how to diagnose software issues and how to protect systems against malware. This course will takes just under 1 hour 30 minutes to complete and has a 5 out of 5 rating.

Fundamentals of Cloud Computing – Taught by David Davis, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you’ll learn different forms of cloud computing, how they can help you and what makes them so powerful. This course will take just over 2 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Computer Fundamentals: Mobile Devices  – Taught by Glenn Weadock, a beginner-friendly course. This course will teach you foundational knowledge of configuring, securing, equipping, networking, and synchronizing mobile devices. It will take you over 2 hours 30 minutes to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Fundamentals of DevSecOps   – Combines 4 courses with 7 hours of learning. This path will take you through DevSecOps: The Big Picture, Automated Security Testing in DevSecOps, Performing Security Testing in DevSecOps and more. You don’t need any prior experience to take this path.

Fundamentals of Virtualization  – Combines 5 courses with 6 hours of learning. This path will take you through why companies need virtualization, how servers are virtualized, how to test and deploy server virtualization and much more. You don’t need any prior experience to take this path.

Data Professional

Courses

Communicating Data Insights – Taught by Janani Ravi, an advanced level course. In this course you will gain the ability to summarize complex information into clear and actionable insights. This course will take just under 2 hour 30 minutes to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Working With Temporal Data in SQL Server – Is an intermediate level course. In this course you’ll learn how to implement temporal support in SQL Server database with all the constraints needed, and how to optimize your temporal queries. This course will take just over 3 hours to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

Implementing an Azure Databricks Environment in Microsoft Azure  – Taught by Michael Bender, a beginner-friendly course. This course will teach you to solve data problems with a robust analytics platform for bringing your data together for data engineers and scientists. It will take just over 2 hours to complete and has a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Querying Data with T-SQL from SQL Server   – Combines 7 courses with 19 hours of learning. This path will take you through Querying data with the SELECT statement, Combining data with JOINs, Aggregating data and much more. To take this path you will need relational database literacy.

Building Data Storage Solutions with Microsoft Azure Services  – Combines 5 courses with 11 hours of learning. This path will take you through Implementing Azure SQL Databases and Data Warehouse, Build NoSQL Databases and more. To take this path you should be familiar with types of storage solutions  such as databases, graph databases, data lakes and data warehouses.

Architecture & Construction

Courses

Introduction to Drafting and Annotation in AutoCAD – Taught by Pierre Derenoncourt, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will learn how to get up to speed in AutoCAD. This course will take just over 2 hours to complete and has a 5 out of 5 rating.

Introduction to AutoCAD – Taught by Pierre Derenoncourt, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will get familiar with the AutoCAD interface and toolset and gain a solid understanding of how to use AutoCAD to bring your ideas to life with ease and precision. This course will take just under 2 hours 30 minutes to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Introduction to InfraWorks 360  – Taught by Eric DeLeon, a beginner-friendly course. This course will teach you how to combine and connect data using InfraWorks 360 to better manage, create, visualize, analyze and collaborate information to make decisions in context. It will take just over 3 hours 30 minutes to complete.

Paths

Maya Environment Modeling  – Combines 13 courses with 73 hours of learning. This path will take you through Reference and Design, Modeling Tools and Workflows, Set Dressing  and much more. To take this path it is recommended that you have an understanding of 3D concepts and techniques aswell as a basic knowledge and navigation of Maya.

AutoCAD: Core Skills  – Combines 9 courses with 19 hours of learning. This path will take you through 2D Drafting, 2D Documentation, 3D Modeling and much more. To take this path it is recommended you have introductory knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and 3ds Max.

Manufacturing & Design

Courses

SOLIDWORKS: Design for Mill Manufacturing  – Taught by Matt Perez, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will be introduced to concepts that promote intelligent design intent, learning the fundamentals of milling requirements and intelligent design. This course will take just over 2 hours to complete.

Fusion 360 Essentials – Taught by Jomarc Baquiran, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will learn essential areas of Fusion 360, focusing on sketch constraints and part-modeling. This course will take just under 5 hours to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

Getting Started in SolidWorks  – Taught by Dave Urasky, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will go over how to create basic parts and a siple assembly using SolidWorks. It will take just under 2 hours to complete and has a 5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

SOLIDWORKS: Core Skills  – Combines 20 courses with 25 hours of learning. This path will take you through Basic Part Modeling, Assembly Modeling, Basic Drawing and much more. To take this path it is recommended that you have experience with the Windows Operating System.

Cloud Computing

Courses

Cloud Computing: The Big Picture  – Taught by David Chappell, a beginner-friendly course. This course provides a broad introduction to all aspects of cloud computing. This course will take just over 1 hour to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Fundamental Cloud Concepts for AWS  – Taught by David Tucker, a beginner-friendly course. This course will provide an introduction to cloud computing on AWS as well covering cloud fundamentals. This course will take just over 1 hour to complete and has a 5 out of 5 rating.

Fundamentals of Cloud Computing – Taught by David Davis, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you will learn what cloud computing is, the many forms of cloud computing, how cloud computing works and more. This course will take you just over 2 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer – Combines 6 courses with 17 hours of learning. This path will take you through Compute Engine, Data Storage Services, Google App Engine and much more. To take this path you should be familiar with the fundamentals of cloud computing and relevant practical experience, as well as 6 months+ hands-on experience with Google Cloud.

Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect – Combines 7 courses with 22 hours of learning. This path will take you through Compute Engine, Data Storage Services, Google App Engine and much more. To take this path you should be familiar with the fundamentals of cloud computing and relevant practical experience.

Machine Learning / AI

Courses

Play by Play: Machine Learning Exposed – Taught by Katharine Beaumont and James Weaver, a beginner-friendly course. In this course you’ll explore machine learning topics, such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning and deep learning. This course will take just over 3 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Advanced Machine Learning with ENCOG – Part 2 – Taught by Abhishek Kumar, an advanced level course. In this course, you will learn not only the fundamentals of self-organizing maps but also the implementation in a C# application using the ENCOG machine learning framework. This course will take just over 4 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Fundamentals of Machine Learning on AWS – Taught by Amber Israelsen, an intermediate level course. This course will teach you how to get started solving business problems with AWS machine learning technologies. This course will take you just over 2 hours to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Machine Learning Literacy – Combines 5 courses with 15 hours of learning. This path will take you through machine learning workflow and commonly employed data models and more. To take this path you should have experience in Data Literacy, Data Analytics Literacy and Statistics.

AWS Machine Learning / AI – Combines 9 courses with 17 hours of learning. In this path you will learn Amazon Lex, Amazon Comprehend, AWS Polly and much more. To take this path you should have general knowledge of cloud computing and application development.

Business Professional

Courses

Managing OneDrive for Business – Taught by Theresa Miller, an intermediate level course. In this course, you’ll learn the administrative functionality of OneDrive for Business  and get started with its administrative tool. This course will take just under 1 hour to complete and has a 3 out of 5 rating.

Planning for Business Analysis – Taught by Casey Ayers, a beginner-friendly course. In this course, you will learn how to identify and classify stakeholders, discover how to create successful plans for business analysis. This course will take you just over 3 hours to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Becoming a Business Analyst – Combines 5 courses with 10 hours of learning. In this path you will learn Business Analyst role and responsibilities, Importance of working well with others, career growth opportunities and much more. To take this path you don’t need any prior experience.

Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) – Combines 15 courses with 34 hours of learning. In this path you will learn Business analysis planning and monitoring, strategy analysis, solution evaluation and much more. To take this path you should complete a minimum of 7,500 hours of Business Analysis Work Experience in the last 10 years.

Information & Cyber Security

Courses

Security Event Triage: Operationalizing Security Analysis – Taught by Aaron Rosenmund, a beginner-friendly course. In this course, you’ll learn the security event triage path, entering the world of modern security operation and learning the technologies and skills. This course will take just under 1 hour to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

Designing and Implementing Security Policies – Taught by Daniel Lachance, a beginner-friendly course. In this course, you’ll develop an understanding of proper functions and how to design your own security policies. This course will take you just over 2 hours to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

Software Development Security – Taught by Kevin Henry, an intermediate level course. In this course you will gain the knowledge to integrate security concepts into the Systems Development Life Cycle. This course will take you just over 4 hours 30 minutes to complete and has a 2.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Security Fundamentals – Combines 6 courses with 18 hours of learning. In this path you will learn how to analyze indicators of compromise and determine the type of malware and much more. To take this path you don’t need any prior experience.

CompTIA Security+ (SYO-501) – Combines 6 courses with 18 hours of learning. In this path you will learn how to analyze indicators of compromise and determine the type of malware and much more. To take this path it is recommended you have a minimum of two years of experience in IT administration with a focus on security.

Creative Professional

Courses

Drawing Fundamentals – Taught by Shayna Piascik, a beginner-friendly course. In this course, you’ll learn how to draw by hand, starting from the ground up. This course will take just under 4 hours to complete and has a 5 out of 5 rating.

Cinematography: Introduction to Composition and Camera Movement – Taught by Matt Workman, a beginner-friendly course. In this course, you’ll learn key concepts and techniques of compostion and camera movement. This course will take you just over 30 minutes to complete and has a 4 out of 5 rating.

DSLR Fundamentals – Taught by Greg Pizzi, a beginner-friendly course. This course will give you an overview of the functions and options available for DSLR cameras manufactured by Nikon and Canon. This course will take you just under 1 hour to complete and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating.

Paths

Unity Game Dev: Fundamentals – Combines 12 courses with 26 hours of learning. In this path you will learn the Unity interface, AI Pathfinding, Audio and much more. To take this path you don’t need any prior experience.

Maya: Core Skills – Combines 11 courses with 54 hours of learning. In this path you will learn the Maya interface, Animation Workflows, UV Mapping and much more. To take this path you don’t need any prior experience.

7 Tips To Find The Perfect Pluralsight Course

Like the majority of elearning platforms, there are some specific ways to find out if Pluralsight is the right platform for you. I thought it would be helpful to highlight some tips to help you make that decision.

Free Account

Pluralsight does give you the option to create a free account which gives you access to a library of 50+ courses, assessments and guides. Plus the added perk of the Skill and Role IQ.

Pluralsight free account

This will give you a taste of the platform, but if you feel the limited courses available aren’t enough, then it’s probably worth signing up for the free trial as you will have access to the full library that is 7500+ courses (I talk in more detail about this all below).

Free Trial

Pluralsight offers a 10-day free trial or 200 minutes of content, whichever comes first. It offers free trials for Individual and Premium subscriptions which gives you access to all skills video courses, create channels, certificates of completion, take Skill iQ assessments and take notes.

Pluralsight free trial

The course downloads, and offline viewing are only available to paid subscribers. If you do decide to purchase a subscription, you’ll be able to download video courses and watch them offline.

If you decide to continue with a paid subscription when your free trial expires, you will be charged on the 11th calendar day. For example, if you started your free trial on June 5th, you will be charged on June 15th.

However, if you decide to cancel your trial subscription you just need to go to the Subscription & Billing tab on your Account page and click Manage your subscription and then click Cancel. Once you have canceled your subscription, you will lose access to all the content.

Skill IQ

Pluralsight offers a Skill IQ with its free account subscription, which takes only 10 minutes and consists of 20 questions. The Skill IQ is to measure your proficiency in your chosen technology skill. You are then given a score from 0 to 300, and your percentile result is broken into 3 levels of either Novice, Proficient and Expert.

Pluralsight skill IQ

This Skill IQ will identify your knowledge gaps and strengths and the result will tell you where to start with your learning path, so you develop the skills you need the most.

Pluralsight skill IQ skill assessments

Role IQ

Similar to Skill IQ, you can also assess yourself with Role IQ which will measure your skills relevant for a specific role. For example, if you wanted to assess your skills for the role of a “Cloud Architect (Google Cloud)” your skills would be measured to determine if you’re a Level 1, 2 or 3, and then you can focus on the skills you are lacking to further your career.

Pluralsight Role IQ

Pluralsight offers 50+ Role IQ for specific roles. The best part about it is once you have worked on the areas of knowledge you are lacking, you can retake the Role IQ and see how much you have grown.

Pluralsight role IQ available roles

Free weekly courses

Another feature which makes Pluralsight stand out from the crowd is its five free weekly courses which change on rotation every week.

Pluralsight free weekly courses

Each week it has a new focus. You are shown the schedule for that week and the upcoming weeks. For example, This week – Data. Another great way to sample Pluralsight’s courses.

Pluralsight Authors

When you click on your chosen course or path you will have the option to select About, where you will see a list of Authors who have all contributed to the course or path. You can read a small bio about the author and follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn if you want to find out more. You will also be shown with a list of content they have authored with reviews, which personally I think is the most helpful part.

Pluralsight Author

If you click on the Follow button in blue you will receive updates of when they release new content. Which can be pretty helpful if you like the sound of the author and want to keep track of other courses they are working on.

Resource Center

The Resource Center is a great place for new users and offers features like Articles and Customer Stories. The Podcasts are an interesting addition and offer episodes on ‘Learning to code and embracing failure’ and ‘Team building and growth’ to name a few. You can listen to these episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast and RSS feed.

Will Pluralsight Help Me With My Career?

Although you won’t receive a formal accredited certificate when you complete a course with Pluralsight. You will find that they focus on gaining skills that you are lacking for particular Job Roles. The Role IQ is an ideal feature to assess your technical proficiency in a specific role.

Pluralsight Role IQ how does it work?

Building your knowledge for a specific role is one of the most valuable ways to advance your career and make you stand out from the crowd. I have reviewed many other elearning platforms and haven’t seen any feature quite like the Role IQ which has to give Pluralsight an edge in my book.

I would say that Pluralsight is ideal for someone thinking or already working in the Tech industry and wanting to gain specific skills for a role. Its Premium subscription gives you unlimited access to industry-leading practice tests and to work on projects in real-world scenarios.

So even though you won’t receive an accredited certificate you are able to fill in gaps of knowledge which makes you a valuable team player and successful within your job role.

Is Pluralsight Legit?

It is something that crosses most of our minds especially while we are entering our card details and committing to a subscription. Is this course legit?

Pluralsight was founded in 2004 as a training company which sent instructors to a business or training event, in 2007 it shifted its focus to an online video training for the Tech Industry. The founders are Aaron Skonnard, Keith Brown, Fritz Onion and Bill Williams and the company headquarters are in Farmington, Utah.

So yes, Pluralsight is legit and it’s safe to use and I promise you won’t be scammed.