Skillshare and Masterclass are the most popular e-learning platforms as of 2023. These platforms provide you with various niches of skills and the best guidance from stalwarts in their career. Skillshare provides courses on a wide range of niche skills to develop. The point of discussion is that you can engage with your instructor in Skillshare.
Masterclass provides the expertise and guidance of top celebrities for deep insights into a topic. Unlike Skillshare, it provides you with more of a lecture than an engaging classroom course. However, both websites differ from each other in terms of the variety of topics and video quality.
During my time, I was also confused about opting for the best course to develop my skills. However, I have subscribed to both of these platforms. Believe me, they were worth my money. So, I will do a comprehensive comparison of Skillshare vs Masterclass with their relevance in 2023. It will clear your confusion to opt for the best of them.
Table of Contents
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Overview
Skillshare and Masterclass, both provide the best courses for worldwide e-learners. You can choose your desired courses with quality assurance. However, Skillshare is mostly for beginners. Masterclass mostly caters to the pro-learners.
It is also true that Skillshare provides more affordable courses than Masterclass. Masterclass comes in the premium category as it has mostly celebrity instructors. We will now go deeper into the comparison of the e-learning platforms.
Overview of Skillshare:
Skillshare is a US-based e-learning platform that was founded by Michael Karnjanaprakorn in 2010. It is one of the most reliable platforms available in the e-learning market. Due to quality courses, this e-learning platform has globally more than 800k learners and 10k instructors. Currently, this platform has more than 35k courses onboard.
Overview of Masterclass:
Masterclass is also a US-based e-learning platform for skill development. David Rogier founded this platform in 2015. It comes in the premium segment. Top-level celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, Sara Blakely, and many others give lectures on this platform. There are 11 categories with more than 2500 bite-size videos in more than 185 courses onboard.
Differences Between Skillshare vs Masterclass:
| Skillshare | Masterclass | |
| Course Quality | – Standard to High – Engaging – Wide range of niche skills | – Top-notch – More like a lecture/podcast – Specific niche-based guidance |
| Instructors | – Well qualified teachers – Established professionals | – Top-level celebrities – Household names |
| Support | – Well-structured – Student community | – Well-structured – Catchy UI |
| Affordability | – Budget-friendly – Best price $13.25* | – Value for money** – Best price $15.60* |
| Website | https://join.skillshare.com/ | https://www.masterclass.com/ |
**Value for money because of the insights and guidance of the celebrity instructors.
*Best price is calculated on the monthly workout of yearly subscription charges.
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Pros and Cons
If you draw a comparison of Skillshare vs Masterclass, you can see a major difference in course affordability. Skillshare courses are more affordable than Masterclass ones. Again, Masterclass courses are more in-depth and carry more weight. In Masterclass, you can learn from the experience of the A-grade instructors.
In that case, each platform has some pros and cons. Here, we would look at them:
Skillshare:
Skillshare Pros:
- A vast range of courses for creative skills
- Optional assignments with interactions in the community
- Offers free sample courses
- Budget-friendly courses
- Offers high-level learning with easy interpretations
Skillshare Cons:
- Unarranged sequences of courses
- Less in-depth courses compared to Masterclass
- No assurance of the availability of instructors in community engagement
- Less impactful feedback from fellow learners
Masterclass:
Masterclass Pros:
- You can have guidance from A-grade celebrity instructors
- High-production quality videos for courses
- Supremely in-depth subjects of videos
- Well structured courses
- Course certificates carry more weightage than Skillshare
Masterclass Cons:
- Access to courses after a yearly subscription
- No free sample videos
- High-priced videos (Yet value for money)
- Videos are not mentioned with runtime or year
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Course Quality
Skillshare and Masterclass, both produce the best courses for developing your creative skill. Even in a comparison like Skillshare vs Masterclass, they both can easily win the race with other platforms for learning.
Skillshare offers more than 35k courses on different topics. The course videos on this platform are at least 10 minutes long. On average, in Skillshare a 1-hour long course is divided into 10 segments. The important part is that you can skip these videos if you want to. You can also jump off to the next video or next topic.
This platform gives you a more engaging course with classroom vibes and feedback from fellow online learners or teachers. In the community section, you can discuss your problems. However, some courses have supplements to download, some have workbooks. So, there is no fixed feature about study materials here.
Your instructors are either established professionals or professors from renowned colleges or universities. The thing is that you can see 5 to 10 videos in one course to 30 videos for one class. The other one is that you can get your workbook reviewed by your instructors.
Here are some popular courses from Skillshare you can check out:
10 Best Courses on Skillshare:
- Digital Illustration – Learn To Use ProCreate
- Interior Design Basics – Steps To Your Perfect Space
- Animation for Illustration: Adding Movement with Procreate & Photoshop
- Modern Money Habits – Steps To Build The Life You Want
- Social Media Marketing: Growing Followers and Going Viral
- Introduction To SEO: Tactics and Strategies for Entrepreneurs
- YouTube Success: Build an Authentic Channel That’s Worth the Follow
- Graphic Design Basics: Core Principles for Visual Design
- Web Design Essentials: Creating Marketing Homepages That Drive Results
- Character Illustration: Drawing Faces, Figures & Clothing
The exclusive feature you can point out while discussing Skillshare vs Masterclass comparison is the top-level celebrity as your instructors. This platform provides you with the art and philosophy of developing your skills.
Here, you cannot interact with those celebrity instructors. Rather, you can listen to their expertise and experience. It helps you to outperform yourself in your profession or career. The number of courses is more than 135 from 11 categories. In addition, every course has a pdf book that is around 50 pages long. You can use it as a reference post the subscription period.
One thing different from Skillshare is the quality of the video. Every single video is a top-notch product but you cannot skip and go to the next. Each video is a continuation of the other one. You can feel the vibe of podcasts while playing the course videos.
Here are some popular courses on Masterclass:
10 Best Courses on Masterclass:
- Gordon Ramsay – Teaches Cooking
- Daniel Pink – Teaches Sales and Persuasion
- Chris Voss – Teaches the Art of Negotiation
- Kelly Wearstler – Teaches Interior Design
- Robin Roberts – Teaches effective and Authentic Communication
- Sarah Barkley – Teaches Self-Made Entrepreneurship
- Anna Wintour – Teaches Creativity and Leadership
- Garry Kasparov – Teaches Chess
- Paul Krugman – Teaches Economy and Society
- Matthew Walker – Teaches The Science of Better Sleep
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Instructors
In Skillshare or Masterclass, you can learn from professionals or well-established instructors. Skillshare provides lessons from well-established instructors. Masterclass provides courses from celebrity instructors.
Anyone can teach in Skillshare. However, they verify their instructors to match the quality of their courses. In Masterclass, only the celebrities come to give you lessons. You will get amazed if Hans Zimmer teaches film music scoring or Serena Williams comes to teach you the art of playing tennis.
So, you can get the assurance of quality lessons from instructors on both these platforms.
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Support
If you compare the support regarding Skillshare vs Masterclass, both have well-structured way-outs. However, the user interface (UI) in Masterclass is more well-defined and compact.
Here you will get each division with possible problems to support your queries. You can also search for your problem to get it solved.
Skillshare has a less catchy UI than Masterclass. However, it also supports efficiently all the problems and queries you have. You can easily get your answer while facing any issues. The additional feature is the student community where you can also satisfy your problems.
Skillshare vs Masterclass: Affordability
In terms of affordability, Skillshare is more budget-friendly than Masterclass. The average cost in Masterclass is higher than Skillshare because of its exclusive features and premium service.
Skillshare offers $159 per year in 2023. It means you have to pay $13.25 per month. There is also a monthly subscription plan for est $32. You will get a free trial period, post that you have to pay est $32 if you have opted for that.
In Masterclass, you have to pay an annually billed price of $188 (est $15.60 per month) for a single-user plan in 2023. If you opt for a two-user plan, you have to pay $250 (2023) per year which will cost around $21 per month. They also have a family plan of $288 per year ($24 per month). They have no monthly plan.
Conclusion: Skillshare vs Masterclass
In comparison to Skillshare vs Masterclass for the best platform, you cannot dive into a conclusion easily. However, the Masterclass will get a slight advantage due to the availability of celebrity experts as instructors. In a nutshell, Skillshare is a better place for learning a wide range of niche skills. Masterclass is the best platform to get more insights and expertise in specific niches.
Who is best-suitable for Skillshare?
- Those who are beginners or want to have great skills are from a range of instructors.
- Learners who opt for budget-friendly skill development courses.
- Teachers who have a desire for global exposure.
Who is best-suitable for Masterclass?
- Those who are experienced, professionals or enthusiastic amateurs.
- Those who prefer workbooks or materials for courses.
- Learners of specific niches.
- People with celebrity preference in learning
Frequently-Asked Questions: Skillshare vs Masterclass
Is Skillshare better than Masterclass?
Skillshare is a wide-range niche-based skill development platform. Masterclass is a more real-time experience and guidance-based platform with top-level celebrity instructors.
What are some good alternatives to Skillshare and Masterclass?
There are some great alternatives to the two platforms, depending on your learning goals and needs. Some of my favorite ones include
Do some reading to determine which is best for you!
How much is Skillshare in 2023?
Skillshare costs $13.25* per month in 2023.
Is Masterclass like Skillshare?
Masterclass is not like Skillshare. It provides insights and experiences regarding a topic from celebrity instructors. Skillshare provides niche-based development of a wide variety of skills.
