Skillshare Review Introduction

Skillshare might not have a course on “How to Enjoy Learning,” but if you’re seriously considering using their online platform to acquire new knowledge, then you’ve likely already developed this important life skill.

Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong are the godfathers of Skillshare, having created the platform while living in New York City, New York in November of 2010. The platform has evolved into what we see today: A thriving marketplace for learners and teachers. It has been steadily making its mark as the go-to digital platform for elective online learning since its inception nearly 10 years ago.

We took Skillshare for a spin with a Premium access trial and can’t wait to show you what we found. Read on to find our comprehensive—and honest—review of Skillshare.

How Much Does Skillshare Cost?

Skillshare offers a limited free tier, Premium memberships ($8 per month or $29.88 per year), and Teams accounts ($139 per person per year, with a minimum of 2 people).

The free version gives you access to a small selection of video classes and their related content, such as PDF workbooks and community discussions. You can watch the intro video of any class, but you're locked out of most of them, otherwise. In testing, I found it difficult to determine which classes were available to free users, which was disappointing.

Will Skillshare boost my career?

Maybe! Skillshare has some impressive classes for graphics, UI/UX, coding, and animation that are in pretty high demand in today’s workforce. These could seriously help you jumpstart your career, or help you shift careers if you’re looking for a change.

There are also great classes available in marketing, leadership, and business analytics that you can take advantage of to help you score that next promotion.

On the whole, Skillshare definitely balances the creative and the practical. That is one of my favorite things about the platform — how applicable the skills are.

What Are Skillshare Classes Like?

Classes don't have a fixed format. Some contain a handful of videos that run about 10 minutes each. Other classes have 50 short videos of only one or two minutes each. Some classes have assignments. When that's the case, learners share their creations with other people who have taken the class, usually in a comments section for the course. Some teachers stick around to give feedback on student work or answer questions, while others clearly haven't logged onto the site in a long time.

PROS

1.Varied content topics all suited to creative types

2.Optional assignments and community interaction

3.Low price

CONS

1.0Feedback from other learners is rarely insightful or instructional

2.No guarantee that instructors participate in community features

Conclusion

Ready to learn new skills? If so, Skillshare might be the way to go. This online learning platform provides training in a wide variety of skills, and with a free version available, there’s really no reason not to give it a try. 

Hopefully, this Skillshare review has been helpful to you as you search for the best online courses and career development opportunities. Sign up and start learning today!