Pluralsight Review: Does this Platform Suit You?

Catherine Cooke

21 August, 2023

Pluralsight

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In 2004 Pluralsight was founded as a classroom training company involving sending instructors into a business or training event and by 2007 the company shifted its approach to online video training.

It has an expanded library of over 7,000+ courses that are taught by one of its 1,500+ expert instructors. Pluralsight is a technology skills platform with a focus on developing the skills of tomorrow.

pluralsight review

That doesn’t mean Pluralsight is the right platform for you. What exactly does Pluralsight offer? Is it good value for money?

Well let’s find out in this in-depth Pluralsight review.

Free Account

A free account gives you access to 200+ free skill assessments to develop your technology skills.

Free trial

A 10-day free trial on individual plans and 14-day free trial on team plans.

Good support

Pluralsight offers email support which is available 24/7 plus phone support and the option to submit a ticket for any question or queries you may have.

Courses for Individuals & Businesses

Courses have been designed to suit the needs of individual learners and for teams.

Learning Paths

Pluralsight provides curated learning paths that guide learners through a series of courses on a particular skill or technology.

Certifications

Pluralsight offers certification exams that are recognized in the industry, these certifications can help learners to advance their careers.

Offline and mobile downloads

The option to download course material and videos and view offline makes it super convenient if you are on the go or taking a trip.

Limited topics

Courses focus on technology based subjects. If you are looking for a wider range of topics it is worth checking out Udemy or Coursera.

No free Courses

Pluralsight doesn’t offer any free courses, it only has the 10 day free trial. If you are looking for free courses where you can learn at your own pace it is worth checking out other platforms like Skillshare or edX.

Subscription Only

Pluralsight offers only subscription models to access its content, so users may prefer to purchase a course individually instead of a monthly or annual subscription.

Limited Interaction

As its courses are pre-recorded so it means, there isn’t an opportunity for learners to interact and ask queations to instructors.

Pluralsight Review Verdict

Pluralsight is a technology driven online learning platform specializing in tech related subjects such as software development, data science, web development and much more. The platform aims to empower individuals with up-to-date skills and career advancement tools with on-demand video courses, hands-on projects and assessments. It’s diverse range of courses and programs meaning you can develop your skills in multiple ways with skill assessments, labs, hands-on learning and certification preparations. All learning content is curated by industry professionals and is frequently updated to reflect current industry standards and practices. Pluralsight provides both the Standard and Premium plan for individuals, each include a complimentary free trial. For teams and businesses, options range from the Starter, Professional and Enterprise plans catering to groups of 2 to 11+ users. If your keen on developing the skills of tomorrow, Pluralsight’s free trial is a good starting point to explore the platform.

Who Is Pluralsight For?

This elearning platform offers a couple of courses libraries the Core library (2,500+ courses) and the Expanded library (7,000 + 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.

Pluralsight Partners

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.

Note: You can get a certificate of completion for video courses, but not interactive courses, labs, projects or sandboxes. If you are looking for a verified certificate, it would be best to check out Coursera or edX.

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 Business Customer Stories

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

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 USD and the yearly subscription is $299 USD. 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 USD and the yearly subscription is $449 USD. 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 plans

Pluralsight Individual Monthly & Yearly Plans

The free trial period for any of the above subscriptions are for 10 days or 200 minutes of content, whichever comes first. To sign up for a free trial, click here.

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 USD 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 USD per user a year. This includes basic reporting and user analytics for teams. A team trial is available with 10 subscriptions.
  • Enterprise: It is a custom priced plan, and you’ll need to contact sales. The Enterprise plan includes everything in the Professional plan plus access to advanced content, role customization, skill development plans, Q&A with subject-matter experts and more.

Pluralsight team plans

Pluralsight Team Yearly Plans

The Professional and Enterprise plans both offer a 14-day free trial which you can check out here.

Pluralsight flow

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

Pluralsight Flow Plans

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

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 create an account

pluralsight payment method

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.

Pluralsight Categories
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.

Pluralsight Paths
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.

8 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

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 7,500+ 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 Individual Plans

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

Pluralsight’s 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

Pluralsight’s 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 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

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

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

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.

Pluralsight Resource Center

Pluralsight Resource Center 

Discount & Offers

Pluralsight regularly runs offers and discounts on its plans, where you can save money on its monthly and annual membership plans. It’s best to take advantage of these offers and not miss out of them.

Pluralsight plan discount

Pluralsight Discounted Offer

CriteriaComment
Ease of use

To register with Pluralsight is really simple; you just need to provide your first and last name, email address and country of residence.

You will need to enter a credit or debit card or paypal information, to start your 10 day free trial.

The interface of Pluralsight’s design uses dark and contrasting colours. The design is stylish and the site is intuitive and easy to move around.

Convenience

Pluralsight is an online learning community offering courses for Technology related topics like Software, IT and Business.

The 10-day free trial or 200 minutes of access that Pluralsight offers gives you access to its core (2,500+ courses) or expanded library  (7,000+ courses).

When you have a subscription, you will be able to download course material via the app, so you can learn at your own convenience.

Available platforms

Pluralsight can be accessed with laptop, desktop or via smartphones. You can also use the mobile apps (Android and iOS) with a rating of 4.4 and 4.8.

It can also be assessed via TV apps Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Beta with a purchased subscription.

Official certifications:

Pluralsight is not accredited with any educational institution (e.g. University or Partner)

It does have a reputable relationship with large companies and works with many companies providing courses for businesses like Telefonica and Fujitsu.

After completing a video course you will be able to generate a certificate of completion (not accredited). You are only able to get certificates for some courses, but not for projects or interactive courses.

It’s Premium subscription has practice exams to help you prepare for industry certifications, including CompTIA, ITIL, PMP and others.

Categories

Pluralsight offers an expanded library of 7,000 + courses which are broken into 10 Technology related categories; Software Development, IT Ops, Data Professional, Information & Cybersecurity, Architecture & Construction, Manufacturing & Design, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning / AI, Business Professional and Creative Professional.

Its courses are all self-paced and vary in difficulty level; Novice, Proficient and Expert. You can check your level through the Skill IQ assessment.

If you are looking for a wider variety of course topics, it may be worth checking out other platforms like Udemy or Coursera.

Free courses

Pluralsight does offer 50+ courses on the free subscription. Aswell as the 10 day free trial or 200 minutes (whichever you use first) gives you access to the full library of courses and resources. This definitely gives you time to get to know the platform and get a feel for its courses.

Content quality

Its video courses range in length from 9 to 50 hours and combine multiple video courses and tools to teach specific skills.

One feature that I think makes Pluralsight stand out from the rest is the Skill IQ which is a short 10 minute assessment that will measure your proficiency and will give you guidance on the right course for you to start with. This will help to ensure that you are taking the right course for you.

Languages

Pluralsight courses are all in English, but they do offer captions or subtitles in other languages for 100% of its video courses. You will need to select language from the video menu and then google translate will translate captions or subtitles of the video courses

For you to get the most out of the courses on Pluralsight you will need a proficiency and feel comfortable learning in English.

Instructors

Courses are taught by one of its 1,500+ experienced authors who have years of real-world experience in their fields.

On average, Pluralsight accepts less than ten percent of applicants who apply to join the author network. They are selected based on their expertise and teaching ability.

Course requirements

The course production process goes through two reviews; a review of audio and video quality and a peer review performed by a trusted Pluralsight author. Peer reviewers use Pluralsight’s course expectations and design guidelines to base their feedback.

Course structure

Pluralsight Monthly and Annual subscriptions consist of video courses, certification practice exams, channels, Skill & Role IQ, discussions, exercise files.

The Premium subscription has the same structure with the added certification practice exams, interactive courses and projects which have a hands-on approach and guided feedback.

All its courses are self-paced. The course description and structure is well detailed. Taking the Skill & Role IQ before you start the course will set you off on the right path.

Quizzes & tests

The Skill and Role IQ are seen as more of an assessment than a test to assess your skills. The premium subscriptions offer industry-leading practice tests for Microsoft, CompTIA and more.

Payments & refunds

Pluralsight works on a subscription model. You pay a fixed fee every month (or year) to have unlimited access to the course library and resources.

Individual Plans are based on 2 models; Standard $29 USD per month or $299 USD a year or Premium $45 USD per month or $449 USD per year.

Team Plans are based on 3 models; Starter $399 USD per user/year, Professional $579 USD per user/year and Enterprise $779 USD per user/year.

If you decide to cancel your subscription, you will still have access to the course library until your subscription’s expiry date.

Support

They have an email support support@pluralsight.com which is available 24/7 and a phone support (801) 784-9007 from Monday-Friday 8am-5pm (GMT-7).

There is also a submit a ticket where you can type a topic or question and any related common answers will show.

Overall rating

Pluralsight offers such a wide variety of technology focused courses that you can learn at your own pace. They focus on building your skills and advancing you in a particular role.

Sadly, they don’t offer courses on every topic, other platforms like Udemy have courses about pretty much everything. If you are looking for an accredited certification it would be best to explore Coursera or edX.

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

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.

Last Thoughts: Is Pluralsight worth it?

So, let’s round up this in-depth Pluralsight review.

If you are looking for a course to improve skills or gain knowledge for a particular job role within the Tech Industry then Pluralsight is definitely the right platform for you. It has such a wide range of courses that are really focused on you getting the most out of your learning experience, which you are guided to through the Skill and Role IQ assessments.

However, if you are looking for an accredited certification then elearning platforms like Coursera or edX would be a better fit.

You will love Pluralsight for its:

  • Courses for Individuals and Businesses
  • Good support system
  • Download course material for offline viewing
  • Free trial
  • Career Focused courses

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to help you out.

Review Updates:

08/21/23 – Pluralsight Verdict Updated

08/15/23 – Pluralsight Discount Offer

07/18/23 – Pluralsight Enterprise Plan Updated

06/30/23 – Pluralsight Pros & Cons Updated

06/02/23 – FAQ: Is Pluralsight still free?

05/18/23 – FAQ: Is Pluralsight reputable?

03/28/23 – Pluralsight Verdict Updated

01/13/23 – Pluralsight Pros & Cons Updated

12/14/22 – Pluralsight Verdict Updated

12/09/22 – Pluralsight Flow Updated

12/06/22 – Pluralsight Flow

11/27/22 – Pluralsight cancel membership

11/24/22 – Pluralsight 50% off Promo

09/02/22 – Pluralsight Free Account

08/12/22 – Pluralsight Free Account

08/05/22 – General update

07/25/22 – Pluralsight general update

07/12/22 – Pluralsight welcome bar

03/24/22 – Added Pricing Images & Resource Center

03/16/22 – Welcome bar added & yearly pricing plans updated

05/15/21 – Pluralsight Pricing

Catherine Cooke

Hey. I am Catherine and I have been working as a freelancer for many years now. In 2005, I graduated from a BA honours in Art & Design from BCU and then went onto complete a Master’s Degree in Teaching from UEL. The skills I gained from learning and teaching have led me to create Upskillwise, a place for learners like myself to find the best possible resources and courses to train and upskill themselves, either personally or professionally. If you have a question, please feel free to ask me anything or leave me a comment.

Alternatives

Udacity: offers a lesser number of courses around 200 and its focus is on business and computer related topics. Udacity also works on a subscription model, with a selection of free courses to try.

Coursera: With over 50 million students and more than 4,000 courses created by universities and companies is a big fish in the elearning world. The main perk of Coursera is that you can earn accredited certificates, something Pluralsight is unable to offer.

edX: offers over 3,000 + courses that are created by its partners like Harvard and Microsoft. Its courses are self-paced and like Coursera you will receive an accredited certificate on course completion.

FAQ

Is Pluralsight reputable?

Pluralsight is a reputable online learning platform. It has expert instructors teaching its courses, and it is trusted in the technology and business industry.

Is Pluralsight still free?

Pluralsight offers a free account which you sign up to and get access to 50+ courses in software development, IT ops, data and more. This is a great way to get started with Pluralsight.

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Raj Singh
Raj Singh
6 months ago

PluralSight is not good any longer. New courses and some new instructors are not good enough. They don’t go in detail. Some only do PPT slides kind of things, Only theoretical not practical demo at all, and they only do briefing points. Specially some M365 courses are useless. From their courses, look like they are M365 salesman instead of technical instructors.

Ace
Ace
8 months ago

I would like to know if Pluralsight have a talent market place

Fernando Aguiar
Fernando Aguiar
1 year ago

I would like to know, if a subscription is expired, will completed courses and its materials still be accessible and explored?

Ryan
Ryan
1 year ago

I’m looking for CRM software for my business. Is it worth it?

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