As a freelance graphic design, I’m constantly looking for courses to keep my skills up to date. Years ago, I came across Skillshare, a platform that offers dozens of categories and subcategories on any creative topic you can imagine.
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To guarantee that this Skillshare review is informative and beneficial, I’ve invested time in extensive research on Skillshare’s classes, instructors, pricing model, refund policy, and have analyzed feedback from its users. Furthermore, my Master’s degree in Teaching and Education, combined with years of experience utilizing online learning platforms, has equipped me to create this comprehensive assessment.
Catherine CookeUpskillwise Advisor
If you have time to read on, I explain all about my experience in this comprehensive and honest Skillshare review, without further ado, let’s get stuck in.
Skillshare Summary
Skillshare is a creative online platform offering over 34,000+ classes in fields like animation, illustration, music, and photography. With subscription plans tailored to every learner—$29 monthly or an annual $99 option (just $8.25 per month)—Skillshare makes education accessible and affordable. New users can kick-start their creative journey with a free trial, risk-free for the first month. Ideal for creatives, entrepreneurs, and anyone keen to expand their skillset, Skillshare fosters a vibrant community where members can interact, collaborate, and showcase their work. For businesses and teams, the Skillshare Team plan offers customized solutions at $159 per user per year, ensuring your group thrives no matter its size. Remember, entering card details is necessary to activate the free trial, opening a gateway to a world of learning and creation at Skillshare.
Skillshare Pros & Cons
Pros
Affordable
Even though you have to commit to Skillshare’s plan for a year, when you work it out monthly at ($13.99) its affordable compared to other online learning platforms.
Free Trial
Skillshare offers a free trial on its Premium membership, so you can enjoy the full learning experience before financially committing.
Engaged Community
Skillshare has a highly engaged community, this can make its classes interactive and fun.
Big pool of classes
Skillshare offers thousands of classes, on topics that include illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing and much more. I think it will be hard for you to get bored with the selection.
Hands-On
Skillshare’s courses focus on developing practical skills using hands-on projects, which is a really engaging way to learn.
Learning Paths
If you are looking to deepen your skillset with a set of curated classes for beginners to advanced learners.
Creative Experts
Skillshare has 11K teachers and some of its classes are taught by industry leaders Youtuber Marques Brownlee and Photographer Amelie Satzger.
Cons
Non Accredited Certificates
You will receive a completion certificate when you successfully complete a class, but be mindful these aren’t accredited by an external University or Organization.
Quality Control
Since anyone can create their own course at Skillshare the available courses’ quality can vary from course to course.
Only Available In English
Although Skillshare welcomes courses in any language, in reality, there isn’t much on offer in languages other than English.
Annual Fee
The Skillshare Premium Membership only allows you to pay for its subscription annually.
How Much Is Skillshare?
Skillshare offers a subscription plan which can be billed monthly or annually for individual learners. The monthly plan costs $29 USD and the annual plan costs $99 USD (working out at $8.25 USD a month). Once you’ve registered, you’ll need to choose either the monthly or annual plan at checkout, along with entering your credit/debit or PayPal details.Once registered, you’ll get access to the free trial, and won’t be charged until the free trial ends.
Skillshare Refund Policy
Skillshare offers refunds on annual Skillshare memberships if you contact them within 14 days after the charge has been processed, just by submitting a request for refund here. Be mindful, that only one refund is available per customer.
In some cases, users may have signed up to a 30-day money-back guarantee offer, can request a refund up to 30 days after payment.
Be aware that Skillshare will not be able to cancel, refund, or manage subscriptions bought through apps like the iOS App Store or Google Play.
Remember that you won’t be charged anything until your 30-day free trial has finished. If you do decide that Skillshare Premium isn’t for you, you can cancel at anytime during your free trial, and you won’t be charged anything.
Cancel Your Membership with Skillshare
After you cancel your membership, your Skillshare account will be active for the remaining days of your membership plan. When your membership expires, you’ll lose access to your class videos and any downloadable material. If you change your mind, you’re able to reactivate your membership plan at any time.
Who Is Skillshare For?
Skillshare is aimed at creatives who want to develop new skills or improve existing ones. Since its classes focus on topics like illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing and much more naturally it appeals to; creative workers (e.g. designers, chefs, artists, etc.), entrepreneurs (e.g. marketers or SEOs), freelancers or small businesses who all want to take the next step in their creative journey.
What Does Skillshare Offer?
Skillshare offers 34,000+ courses, that all fit under Skillshares 4 main categories; Creative, Business, Technology and Lifestyle. In case you can’t find what you are looking for under its main categories, you can browse using its subcategories. On top of its individual courses, you can access Skillshares learning paths, ChromaCourses and much more.
Skillshare Learning Paths
Skillshare Learning Paths is designed to help you achieve your learning goals with hand-picked sequential classes that will deepen your skill set with a set of curated classes that build on one another. The learning paths are available in a range of experience levels from beginner to advanced.
Skillshare ChromaCourse
Skillshare has recently introduced four-week, immersive small group courses called ChromaCourse. The idea of it is to give a small group of learners access to exclusive content from expert teachers with live Q&As that get personalized feedback on your assignments.
Anyone can enroll on a Chroma Course, you don’t need to be a Skillshare member. All you need is access to Slack and Zoom, so you can participate in the live sessions. New Chroma Courses are launched each month and if you find the course you would like to join is full, there is the option to join the waiting list. You can purchase a Chroma Course with a debit or credit card, and then you will receive confirmation of purchase in your email.
Skillshare Live Sessions
Skillshare offers a digital event series, so you can learn alongside Skillshare teachers and fellow creatives. Anyone is free to join a Skillshare live session by registering through Eventbrite, you don’t need an active Skillshare membership to join. If you are looking to deepen your creative skills, be inspired by a Skillshare teacher or reach your creative goals, it’s worth checking them out.
Skillshare Community
Skillshare is an online learning community that believes in the importance of its members being able to come together to find inspiration, connect with one another and take the next steps into their creative journey.
Groups
Collaboration is a key part of the Skillshare platform. It has tamed up with some Skillshare teachers to bring you Groups. The Groups are broken up into 4 categories Creative, Technology, Business and Lifestyle.
The Groups are an opportunity for you to connect with other creators, share your work, and take your skills to the next level. By joining a Group, you’ll be able to connect with other Skillshare members in your industry, by asking questions, sharing your work, giving and receiving feedback or simply discuss your interests. If you have a free account you can join groups, but members with a Premium paid account can post in them.
Student Projects
Skillshare members can post the work they have been creating which can then be commented on and liked by other Skillshare members. It’s an ideal way to connect with others and share your work in an inspiring and creative community.
If you are someone who is looking for an online learning platform with a focus on community and connecting with members then Skillshare is the platform for you.
Localized Languages
Originally, the Skillshare community was primarily English speakers, but it now reaches a much larger global community. So, that is why it now offering its content in four additional languages including German, Spanish, French and Portuguese. It is in the process of localizing its catalog of classes for all these languages.
For its English speaking classes subtitles will accompany the class in the chosen language of the user. Just make sure that you select the right language in the Class Details section of the Class Creator.
Skillshare for Teams
Skillshare isn’t just an online learning platform for individuals, it offers a plan for teams and businesses. This plan is designed for teams or businesses of any size and designed to develop their creative skills.
Skillshare for teams: A plan that gives users a personalized experience with unlimited access to Skillshare’s 34,000+ classes, the ability to watch classes offline and detailed reporting and analytics.
However, if you are after some sort of formal education, Skillshare won’t be a good match as it doesn’t offer accredited certificates. If that is what you are looking for, we suggest checking out Coursera.
How To Open A Skillshare Account?
Opening a Skillshare account is straightforward to open, you only need to follow these steps:
- Visit Skillshare.com and click on ‘Sign in’ (top right corner) or ‘Sign Up With Email’
- Or if you prefer you can Continue with your: Facebook, Google or Apple account
- You will then be directed to add your payment details
- Once completed just select Start your free month
What Classes can I find on Skillshare?
When you click on Browse in the top-left corner you will see that Skillshare has divided its creative classes into 3 main categories Create, Build and Thrive (see image below).
- Create: Animation, Creative Writing, Film & Video, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Music, Photography, UI/UX Design and Web Development.
- Build: Business Analytics, Freelance & Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Management and Marketing.
- Thrive: Lifestyle and Productivity
Skillshare offers thousands of free classes in all the areas listed above, so it is an ideal way for you to try out its courses. Plus the free trial on the Skillshare Premium plan gives you full access to its library of classes and courses.
How are Skillshare Classes Stuctured?
Skillshare classes are not designed around a fixed format. Some of its classes are short and sweet around 10 minutes, whereas others run for longer hours even and can have up to 50 short videos. All its classes have assignments and encourage its learner to share their projects and learning along the way, and it encourages engagement with the Skillshare community.
Skillshare offers a couple of types of classes, the Skillshare Original and other Skillshare classes that are created by individuals. The Skillshare Originals are courses which Skillshare produce, and they normally collaborate with partners like Moz and Havenly. As well as these partners it also likes to work with celebrities or influencers who have a decent following like Marques Brownlee (YouTuber, Pocaster, Tech Head) and Ali Abdaal (Doctor & YouTuber). I actually took one of Ali Abdaal classes you can read about my experience in this review below.
Under each class video are some features that help to deepen your learning which include About, Teacher, Class Ratings, Hands-on Class Project and Resources and Transcripts.
About
The About section gives a summary of the class, what the lessons will cover and most importantly what skills you will learn from taking this class.
Teacher
A small blurb about the teacher teaching the class will tell you about their experience and background. In some cases, you may already be familiar with your teacher, but if not this gives you a well-rounded overview of who they are.
Class Ratings
The class ratings are a good indication for new users about an insight into the class. You can check out the Expectations of previous users and read comments left by them, this may help your decision-making whether you want to take the class or not.
Popular Skillshare Classes
Let’s checkout some of the most popular classes that users are enjoying at Skillshare, I have highlighted the top classes based on each category.
Animation
The Beginner’s Guide to After Effects – Taught by Jake Bartlett, a Motion Designer. This class is beginner-friendly and is for anyone interested in the world of motion design, and is a comprehensive course covering everything you need to know to start creating animations in Adobe After Effects. It covers topics Panels & Workspaces, Resolution, Frame Rates, Combining Effects and much more. This class has been watched by over 26,000+ students, with 78% of students who said the course exceeded their expectations.
Blender 3D: Your First 3D Character – Taught by Remington Markham, a Motion and Animation Designer. This class is beginner-friendly, and you will design, model, and texture your own 3D character. This course will cover skills traditionally used in animation, motion design, video game design and some VFX. This class has been watched by over 29,000+ students, with 37% saying it exceeded expectations.
Creative Writing
Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact – Taught by Roxane Gay, a Writer & Editor. This class is for all levels and is a one-hour masterclass that is an insightful and inspiring look at how to transform your story into a powerful personal essay. You will learn how to craft your personal voice and write to connect with people. This class has been enjoyed by close to 45,000+ students, with 67% of students who said this course exceeded their expectations.
Writing for Self-Discovery: 6 Journaling Prompts for Gratitude and Growth – Taught by Yasmine Cheyenne, a Writer, Speaker, Self-Healing Advocate. This class is for all levels and is made up of 12 video lessons. You will discover the power of journaling to cultivate confidence, mindfulness and growth by transforming your life in just 10 minutes a day. You’ll gain tools and frameworks through six meditative writing prompts. This class has been enjoyed by over 36,000+ students, with 65% saying it exceeded their expectations.
Film & Video
Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro for Beginners – Taught by Jordy Vandeput, a Filmmaker and Youtuber. This class is beginner-friendly, where you will learn how to take your creative ideas into amazing videos with Adobe Premiere Pro. You will learn a solid basis of Premiere Pro which allows you to perform basic edits, create custom graphics and texts, mix audio from speech, music, sound effects and much more. This class has been watched by over 126,000+ students, with over 60% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
YouTube Success: Build an Authentic Channel That’s Worth the Follow – Taught by Sorelle Amore, a Youtuber, Videographer and Photographer. This class is beginner-friendly, and you will learn tips and techniques for building up a devoted online following. You will learn how to find your topic niche and evolve it over time, prioritize authenticity over beauty, create a posting schedule and much more. This class has been watched by over 59,000+ students, with 58% of students saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Fine Art
The Art of Science of Drawing – Taught by Brent Eviston, a Master Artist & Instructor. This class is beginner-friendly and designed for aspiring painters, graphic designers, illustrators and artists of all types. In this class, you’ll learn how to use the pencil like an artist, how to draw any shape and how to analyze and draw any subject by simplifying it into a basic shapes. This class has been watched by over 114,000+ students, with over 60% of students saying that the class exceeded their expectations.
Acrylic Painting: Learn the Basics for Beginners – Taught by LaurieAnne Gonzalez, a Youtuber, Videographer and Photographer. This class is beginner-friendly and is broken down into 6 categories: Your Workspace, Color Mixing, Brushes, Texture (Acrylic Mediums), Dimension and Depth of Field. At the end of this class, you will have all the skills you need to begin painting. This class has been watched by over 43,000+ learners, with 50% saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Graphic Design
Adobe Photoshop CC – Essentials Training Course – Taught by Daniel Scott, an Adobe Certified Trainer. This class is beginner-friendly and will teach you everything you need to know about getting started with Photoshop. By the end of this course you’ll have the skills to retouch photographs, distort, transform and manipulate images and much more. This class has been watched by over 98,000+ students, with 78% of learners saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design – Taught by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips, co-directors of the Graphic Design MFA program at MICA. This class is beginner-friendly and will give you a solid foundation and core principles of graphic design. You’ll learn and define 5 basic design principles, critique your work for effectiveness and balance, and apply each core concept in future projects. This class has been watched by over 178,000+ students, with 36% of students sharing positive feedback.
Illustration
Digital Illustration: Learn to Use Procreate – Taught by Jarom Vogel, a Digital Illustrator. This class is beginner-friendly, where you’ll learn how to use Procreate on your iPad to create digital artwork. The key lessons in this course include: setting up your first canvas, using the select tool, brushes and erasers, creating and organizing your layers, adding color, textures, and effects. This class has been watched by over 185,000+ students, with over 50% of students saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Intro to Procreate: Illustrating on the iPad (UPDATED) – Taught by Brooke Glaser, Illustrator and Children’s Designer. This class is beginner-friendly and will cover all the hidden tools and gestures you need to make creating digital illustrations easy and fun. By the time you finish this class, creating digital illustrations will feel intuitive and natural as drawing with pencil and paper. This class has been watched by over 131,000+ students, with 67% of learners saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Music
Learn How to Mix Music with Young Guru – Taught by Young Guru, Grammy-Nominated, Legendary Audio Engineer. This class is for intermediate level learner and the class is made up of four sections which include: Organizing a Mix, Determining Levels, Adding Effects and Tonal Balance. This class has been watched by over 31,000+ students, with 50% of students saying the class exceeded their expectations.
SINGING MADE EASY (Level 1): Complete Vocal Training System – Taught by GB Voice Academy, Voice Coach. This class is beginner-friendly, and this course will provide you with a wealth of information and tools to bring your singing voice to the next level. Some of what you will learn are expanding your vocal range, how to properly warm up your voice, how to utilize your breath efficiently, how to sing with more emotion and feeling and much more. This class has been watched by over 41,000+ learners, with over 60% of students saying the class exceeded their expectations.
Photography
Fundamentals of DSLR Photography – Taught by Justin Bridges, Fashion and Portrait Photographer. This class is beginner-friendly, an introductory photography class where you’ll learn how to balance shutter speed manually, aperture, and ISO to achieve perfect exposure. You’ll also learn Justin’s go-to camera settings, must-have gear and recommendations on a budget. This class has been watched by over 133,000+ learners, with over 65% of students say the course exceeded their expectations.
iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos On Your iPhone – Taught by Dale McManus, a Photographer and Videographer. This class is beginner-friendly and will teach you everything you need to be a professional digital photographer. In this class, you’ll learn plenty of tips and tricks that you can use during every day shooting to make your photos stand out from the rest. Some of what you’ll learn is how to take stunning photos by utilizing shot composition, how to create depth in your photography, how to professionally edit photos in Lightroom and much more. This class has been watched by over 181,000+ students, with over 60% of students say the course exceeded their expectations.
UI/UX Design
User Experience Design Essentials – Adobe XD UI UX Design – Taught by Daniel Scott, an Adobe Certified Trainer. This class is beginner-friendly, and you’ll learn the difference between UX and UI Design. You’ll learn the essential tools necessary for creating excellent wireframes, including type, colors, icons and much more. This class has been watched by over 36,000+ students, with over 69% of learners saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Intro to UX: Designing with a User-Centered Approach – Taught by Cinthya Mohr, Sr. UX Manager @ Google. This class is beginner-friendly and Cinthya will teach you to look at the user’s experience with your product, so you can create designs that serve your user effectively. By the end of the class, you’ll have the tools you need to design digital products that keep your users engaged and give you the results you’re looking for. This class has been watched by over 19,000+ students, with nearly 50% of learners saying it exceeded their expectations.
Web Development
Responsive Web Design Essentials – HTML5 CSS3 Bootstrap – Taught by Daniel Scott, an Adobe Certified Trainer. This class is beginner-friendly, and you’ll learn how to build professional responsive websites, which look good on mobiles, tablets and desktop screens. You’ll build 4 sites together; a simple but elegant restaurant website, a bike repair website, a responsive portfolio website and a Bootstrap website. This class has been watched by over 14,000+ students, with close to 80% of students who said the course exceeded their expectations.
Introduction to SEO: Tactics and Strategy for Entrepreneurs – Taught by Rand Fishkin, the ‘Wizard of Moz’. This class takes a deep dive into SEO, in which you’ll learn some strategies and practical steps to optimize your content and organically boost your online visibility of your business and brand. This class has been taken by more than 80,000+ students, with 56% saying it exceeded their expectations.
Business Analytics
Excel for the Real World: Gain the Basic Skills of Microsoft Excel – Taught by Al Chen, an Excel trainer. This class is the first of a 3-part series of learning how to use Excel. In this introductory Excel I class, you will become acquainted with the interface, learn essential functions, understand practical applications, and build confidence in using Excel for your information needs. This class has been watched by over 48,000+ students, with more than 30% of learners saying it exceeded their expectations.
Fundamentals of Google Analytics– Taught by Jeff Sauer, Google Analytics Strategist. This class is beginner-friendly, and you will learn to get the most out of your website data with Google Analytics. You will learn about user demographics to creating the perfect dashboard, and each lesson is packed with actionable tips and tricks to help you articulate your goals. This class has been watched by over 20,000+ students, with close to 50% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Freelance & Entrepreneurship
Stock Market Fundamentals – Taught by Zac Hartley, an Entrepreneur and Day Trader. This class is beginner-friendly and perfect for someone interested in getting into day trading, swing trading or dividend investing and all the fundamentals are covered to getting started. This class has been watched by over 20,000+ learners with over 80% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Make a Living as an Artist: Strategies for Crafting Your Creative Business – Taught by Brooke Glaser, Illustrator and Children’s Designer. The class is for all levels, and if you’re starting your first art business, then this class is for you. It is a fun, practical and comprehensive guide to making money as an artist. This class has been watched by over 36,000+ students, with over 74% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Leadership & Management
Modern Leadership: Give & Get Honest Feedback at Work – Taught by Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Team. This course offers practical guidance on providing and receiving honest workplace feedback, combining research, statistics, and scripts to address everyday scenarios and teach immediately applicable techniques. This class has been taken by more than 15,000+ students, with more than 50% saying it exceeded their expectations.
Communication Skills: Become More Clear, Concise, & Confident – Taught by Alex Lyon, Communication Professor. The class is for all levels, and is here to help leaders develop clear, concise, and confident communication. The communication skills you’ll learn can be applied to one-on-one conversations, team meetings, and presentations. This class has been watched by over 23,500+ students, with more than 50% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Marketing
Social Media Marketing: Top Tips for Growing Your Followers & Going Viral – Taught by Cat Coquillete, Artist, Entrepreneur and Educator. This class is beginner-friendly and someone wanting to learn strategies for using social media to grow follows and to cultivate a strong brand. The focus will be on social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. This class has been watched by over 102,000+ students, with close to 41% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Growing Your Creative Business Through Instagram – Taught by Cat Coquillete, Artist, Entrepreneur and Educator. The class is for all levels and for any creatives (artists, designers, illustrators, photographers, content creators) who are looking to grow their brand successfully on Instagram. You’ll learn strategies for driving sales, tips for photographing your work, content and caption brainstorming ideas, advice for growing followers and much more. This class has been watched by over 21,000+ students, with more than 60% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Lifestyle
Learn Anything With Flashcards – The Ultimate Guide to Anki – Taught by Ali Abdaal, a Doctor and YouTuber. This class is for all levels and for someone looking for the right tools and techniques for learning. This class provides an extensive walkthrough of the flashcard app Anki, a tool which has made studying more effective, more efficient and less stressful. You will come away from this class with helpful tips and advice. This class has been watched by over 38,000+ students, with more than 70% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Style Your Space: Creative Tips and Techniques for Interior Design – Taught by Emily Henderson, Stylist, Author and Host. This class is beginner-friendly and for anyone looking for practical ways to create a space that’s uniquely yours. In this class, Emily shows 20+ examples of her designs and shares tips on finding your interior style, how to mix and match your favorite styles, implement style trends and choose pieces you’ll love for a lifetime. This class has been watched by over 48,500+ students, with close to 50% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Productivity
Mastering Productivity: Create a Custom System that Works– Taught by Thomas Frank, YouTuber, Author, Entrepreneur. This class is for all levels and will help you transform your personal and professional life by creating a simple, customized productivity system. The key lessons you will take away from this class are task management essentials, how to take (and keep) notes, email tips and tricks and more. This class has been watched by over 149,000+ students, with more than 50% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
Real Productivity: How to Build Habits That Last – Taught by Thomas Frank, YouTuber, Author, Entrepreneur. This class is for all levels and will help you build habits to build yourself up for success and keep yourself on track. You’ll learn to set reasonable and realistic goals, how to handle failure without giving up, a better understanding of habit formation and much more. This class has been watched by over 80,500+ students, with over 50% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.
My Skillshare Experience
The best way for me to get to know the Skillshare platform, is by trying out some classes for myself. Luckily, I’ve taken a bunch of classes which has helped me to get a good overview of the platform. Some of my favorite classes have included Productivity Masterclass by Ali Abdaal and Boost Your Dream Business by Isis Breanna.
Video Lessons
The video lesson’s template is very intuitively designed (see image below). You can find all the video lessons and duration on the right side of the video player. Then below the video player is subheadings of the class like About, Reviews, Discussions, Projects & Resources and Transcripts.
This Productivity Masterclass – Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity consists of 15 video lessons which are all bite sized, with the longest video around 20 minutes long. I particularly enjoyed the video lesson on The Power of Habits as it was one of my favourite classes, I took a lot away from it, especially about how once something becomes a habit it becomes so much easier to sustain. Also, the fact that it is about identity change and the identities we reinforce on ourselves and making the smallest changes will impact us long term.
Projects & Discussions
After watching all the video lessons, there is an opportunity for you to put what you’ve learned into action. After completing the ‘Boost Your Dream Business’ I added my own class project, which was a lead magnet that I implemented on Upskillwise, you can see it in action here. I really liked seeing the work of other students, and it actually gave me inspiration before I designed my own lead magnet (see image below).
I added my own response to the prompt “I Don’t Have Time” (see image below) and even though I won’t be getting any feedback from Ali Abdaal it did make me think about what am I avoiding when I say to myself “I don’t have time” and write down what that is. I believe much of what this class is about is changing old habits of behavior, so having this reflective practice enforces you to think about changing patterns of behavior.
Certificate
Once you’ve submitted your project, you’ll earn a completion certificate. Even if your main goal isn’t to receive a completion certificate, it’s still a recognition of your hard work and commitment (see image below). I added mine to my LinkedIn and actually felt quite proud of myself.
To summarize
Before concluding all the reasons, you should take a Skillshare class. It would only be fair to highlight where the platform is lacking and why it may not be right for you. Skillshare’s classes aren’t accredited with any external Organization or University. If that is something you are looking for then Coursera or Udacity would be the right fit.
You’ll love Skillshare for:
- 1-month free trial
- Engaging & Bite size video lessons
- Ask questions in the Discussions
- 34,000+ classes on a wide variety of subjects
Skillshare isn’t right for you:
- There are no quizzes, tests or assessments
- You won’t get any feedback from the teacher
- There are no deadlines
If you need any guidance on choosing the right Coursera course, you can check out my expert tips on finding the right Skillshare class.
Will Skillshare Help Me With My Career?
Whereas Skillshare won’t get you a formal promotion as it doesn’t have accredited certificates, it’s very possible that it helps improve your professional skills so you can work confidently.
I would say that Skillshare is ideal if you are a freelancer (or part of a creative team) and you don’t care too much about earning certificates and developing your CV. Skillshare is more about teaching you the knowledge you can apply to your work.
There is also an engaged community of students at Skillshare, this can be a great way to get in touch with other professionals from your field.
Skillshare Alternatives
If you’re considering an alternative platform, it depends on what you’re after. MasterClass is for VIPs, with polished, inspirational courses from world-renowned experts. Coursera is more academic and career-focused, offering university-backed certificates. Udemy is great for one-off courses on everything under the sun—to find out more, we’ve got a full comparison article on the best Skillshare alternatives.
Skillshare Conclusion
After this in-depth Skillshare review, I hope you have a clearer understanding of how this popular creative online learning platform works and whether it is right for you. Let me summarize why it’s worth it;
Its premium plan is affordable and gives you access to 34,000+ classes which are geared towards creative professionals, entrepreneurs and learners. The course community is normally engaged, so interacting with other students can be a fun way to learn. The 1-month free trial gives you the opportunity to test the waters out before financially committing.
If you are part of a creative team or business, one of its three team plans may be suitable. The starter plan is the cheapest option, and then you have the Enterprise or Revive, which are both custom plans.
As mentioned earlier, if you are looking for any kind of official recognition of your learnings (e.g. a certificate), you’ll have to look elsewhere (e.g. Coursera or edX). Even if they have a lot of online courses available, they are normally focused on design, marketing and entrepreneurship – you may not be able to find the course you need.
Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
FAQs
Sure, Skillshare is an elearning platform that has been operating since 2010, which means that it’s older than most of its competitors. They have their headquarters in New York and companies such as Vice, Stapels or Virgin TV use them for their employees’ development.
Its website is SSL secured and the payments can be done using a credit card or PayPal, you’ll have a 14-day refund policy for annual subscriptions. On top of that, you’ll be able to trial the platform and its classes for some time completely free.
Dario
27 January 2025, 11:50
Some courses could use more in-depth explanations, but overall, the quality is excellent for beginners.
Anika
27 January 2025, 11:50
The subscription is a bit of a commitment, but it’s still cheaper than paying for multiple individual courses.
Sven
27 January 2025, 11:49
I’ve learned so much from the creative courses; they’re engaging, easy to follow, and packed with useful tips.
Elodie
27 January 2025, 11:48
The courses are well-structured and taught by professionals, making learning enjoyable and effective.
Ravi
27 January 2025, 11:48
The cost is a fraction of what you'd pay for similar content on other platforms—great value for money.
Tyrell
27 January 2025, 11:47
I love that you get unlimited access to thousands of courses for such a reasonable subscription fee.
Marina
27 January 2025, 11:47
Skillshare's yearly plan is super affordable compared to taking individual classes elsewhere—totally worth it for the variety!
Nick
24 January 2025, 05:04
Skillshare is a customer service nightmare. I implore anyone who is considering a subscription first read the reviews at trustpilot.com. I wish I had before pulling the trigger. Buyer beware.
Mathew
6 November 2024, 04:14
The worst customer service that I’ve ever had.
Megan
19 May 2024, 04:31
Skillshare has a lot of creative classes, and I’ve picked up some new hobbies. However, the quality varies, and some courses lack depth. It's good for casual learning, but not always comprehensive.
Laura
6 May 2024, 03:33
I can't recommend Skillshare enough! It's perfect for anyone looking to boost their skills or start a new hobby. The instructors are knowledgeable, and the content is always fresh and exciting. Plus, the annual subscription is an absolute steal.
Joanne
6 May 2024, 03:32
Skillshare has completely transformed my approach to learning! The classes are engaging and cover such a wide range of topics. I started with photography and ended up diving into web design. It's affordable, and a great platform to learn on.
Mark
2 May 2024, 11:22
Some classes are incredibly inspiring and well-produced, while others lack depth and seem hastily put together. It's affordable, which is great, but you really have to sift through to find quality content.
Rachel
2 May 2024, 11:21
I was looking for some courses on Adobe to help with my photoshop and illustrator skills and was so happy to find Skillshare, the handful of courses I've taken have been perfect. It helped me a lot to advance in my graphic design career. I highly recommend Skillshare!
Chelsea
2 May 2024, 11:19
Skillshare is quite easy to navigate and I love the community aspect where you can interact with other learners. However, the quality of instruction varies, so its important you find the right instructor before commiting to the class. It's good for beginners and picking up new hobbies.
teri
27 February 2024, 02:19
Make sure you delete your financial information from your account. We were charged for a renewal on 6 accounts when we didn't want to renew. We did not receive notices that we were going to be charged for a renewal or that the expiry date was coming. It only came to our attention when the 6 charges were made to our credit card. I contacted them within 5 business days of the charge, when it came to our attention. They said they senit notifications; however, no one received any to the emails we had on our files. Upon reviewing our emails and to look for the notices they claimed to send, we found them in our junk mail. One of our employees no longer works for our company and they would have received a bounce back on the email notifying them of such. A company with good customer service would follow up on this. I have asked for a refund and they have denied it. This is 5 business days into the renewal - this is 1% of the year's subscription. This isn't a review of the creators on the website. There is some really great things on the site, but the overall company needs to improve their customer service skills and their renewal practices. I'm sure they screw a lot of people over when the renewal emails go directly to junk mail.