Times are changing at a rapid pace and so are the ways and medium of learning. Today we have all sorts of concepts and educational content available virtually which can be accessed and derived anywhere and everywhere at the tip of our fingers. With ease and variety available in educational platforms comes a dilemma as to which course/class is the best option to cater to our needs.
Two of the best platforms serving quality education and creative knowledge are SkillShare and Masterclass. Both the learning platforms provides quality lessons which are quite helpful to the creatives and professionals in upgrading their skills at their own comfort, time and pace.
Comparing Masterclass with Skillshare always brings out a lot of confusion and that is very well understood. It’s obvious to get confused when you’re having so much on your plate. It can be overwhelming and we understand. To clear this out, we invited over 10+ individual users of these platforms and made them give their honest opinions. After compiling their opinions, we’ve crafted this article to make it easier for you to understand. Big ups to you for coming to the right place and right article!
MasterClass and SkillShare are two of the most leading pioneers among online learning platforms. MasterClass was founded in 2015 by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen, with a motto : “Everyone Should Have Access To Genius”. On the other hand we have SkillShare which obviously had an upper hand in the competitive market because of it’s head-start in 2010. SkillShare came with their own motto of “There is Nothing Better Than Getting Better.”
You might be thinking which one among the two caters to your needs better. To provide with a straight answer would be poor judgement on our behalf. To decide the better alternative, we need to have a detailed comparative analysis so as to choose between the two platforms. This includes making a detailed comparison between their class structure, topics covered, instructors, prices and several other aspects. So without any further delay let’s hop into the comparison and details and take a look at the factors of their differentiation.
Quality of Content Offered:
Masterclass is a platform where you can learn from the best. The courses/ lessons/ tutorials are given by the pioneers of the fields. So, the content offered on Masterclass is advanced level or intermediate level, nothing will be taught from scratch. You need to already posses the basic knowledge of the topics you desire to learn more.
While SkillShare offers lessons and courses that allow you to learn things from scratch. For example if you want to learn to play guitar, the teachers at SkillShare will teach you everything from holding the guitar to playing a perfect song.
Qualification of the Teachers:
The motto of Masterclass is “everyone should have access to genius.” And it holds true to it’s words, the lessons and courses available at Masterclass are delivered by the finest of personalities from their respective fields. Like there are actual lessons on tennis by Serena Williams available on Masterclass. Gordan Ramsay is also there to teach you how to cook. The qualification of the instructors at Masterclass is no doubt the best.
SkillShare is more of a market place where teachers can offer their courses and students can avail them. Skillshare allows anyone to make courses on their platform, although there’s a process to eliminate the vile and redundant applications posing as qualified teachers.
Variety of Courses:
Masterclass doesn’t have a wide array of courses available. As their major focus is on the quality of content delivered. They offer selective courses by the best personalities of selective fields.
While SkillShare offers an extensive and diverse range of courses, choosing from which can be a time consuming task. But once you get a course matching your needs, it’s a win-win situation.
User Friendly:
Masterclass has the edge when it’s about the quality of the content offered, but their video length is comparatively longer. They also provide a workbook with every course offered, some courses also provide with assessment tools. This may be a little too much for some students, who are trying to learn something new.
While SkillShare is more user-friendly, it allows the user to learn at his own pace, with short-length videos. Although not every course on SkillShare necessarily comes with workbook or any other assessment tool, it depends on the creator of the course. So in both the cases, it is either hit or miss.
Cost Effective:
The annual membership of Masterclass costs $180, and provides access to all it’s courses . You may think of it as the Netflix of e-learning platforms. Masterclass offers quality content delivered directly from the best personalities of their fields, and hiring such faculties costs as much money.
While SkillShare is comparatively much cheaper. It’s annual subscription costs around $80, and provides access to all of the courses available. As we know, there are a huge amount of courses available, choosing the best one as per your needs is a difficult task, and a time consuming process. But once you land on a course which is exactly what you want, it’s a double win because of the low cost.
Interaction with the Tutor:
Masterclass doesn’t provide a way for the students to communicate with its Instructors/tutors. Because most of the tutors there are well known celebrities who don’t have the time to collaborate to a learner’s needs.
Here SkillShare has the upper hand, because many of the tutors on SkillShare provide students with workshops and solve their queries. It allows the students to learn step by step and help them implement what they have learned, this increases the knowledge bar of the students.
What to expect from a course on MasterClass?
That’s a good question.
There are now 100+ different courses available and according to our analysis, average lesson count is 20 lessons in each course and on an average, every lesson is 10-20 minutes long.
The courses have activities/workbooks/assignment books and some sort of downloadable training resources a lot of times that help you better.
One thing we noticed about Masterclass is they don’t give out certificates of completion of courses. You won’t be able to enhance your CV if you’re just looking for courses for that purpose. It sure can enhance your skills though 😉
You just have to opt for MasterClass All Access Pass and you’ll be able to get pretty much any course you want. It’s super easy. To make it even easier, you get to see a trailer for the course before beginning to watch it so that you instantly know if it’s a perfect fit for you.
It’s a more targeted, small platform targeting more users who are specific about their needs. They do constantly update their platform and make it even better and bigger every single day. It’s definitely recommended.
SkillShare is a HUGE platform to be honest. It has over 26k+ Courses from different creators all around the world.
The classes don’t have a specific format for you to work on but are rather a compilation of videos with random lengths and the data can’t be averaged because the platform has courses on various different topics and the length can be different according to the creator/needs etc.
You can get an individual course and even watch courses for free, just signing up for a free trial here.
Final Verdict
You should choose MasterClass over Skillshare if :
- If you find those well known personalities and celebrities appealing, and want to learn from them (more like learning from the best).
- If you aim at learning from the best, and want to experience the quality of information shared by the world renowned experts.
- If you know exactly what you want to learn. For example, you want to learn how to cook Mexican food, Gordan Ramsay has got you covered at Masterclass.
- If you are already familiar with the basics of the course that you want to learn, because remember you will be learning from the best, and they won’t waste their time orienteering you about the topic.
- If you are comfortable with the pre defined pace of the course, because Masterclass doesn’t allow custom bookmarks.
- Simply if you can afford it, you should go for it. The money will be well spent.
You should choose SkillShare over Masterclass if :
- If you want to learn things from scratch.
- If you want to slow pace your learning process and learn step by step.
- If you want a diverse range of courses to choose from.
- If you have limited money to spend. And you view things in pure monetary point of view, SkillShare provides you with best value for money deal.
- If you think workshops with the tutors are a better way to actually understand and implement what you are learning.
In nut shell, Masterclass has the edge when it comes to quality of content and knowledge shared, while if you want to learn skills right from scratch SkillShare is the one for you. They both offer best value for your money, but it all depends on what you aim to get out of your learning process.
Now, for deeper analysis and to give you guys a brief background check on these platforms, we’ve scratched over the surface to find out history of these platforms, do give it a read.
What is MasterClass ?
Launched in the year 2015, MasterClass was developed by Aaron Rasmussen and David Rogier in their headquarter in San Francisco, California. At present, MasterClass is considered to be one of the highest-profile online learning programs. The online platform of learning draws the interest and attention of its viewers with its gorgeous video production including innovative classes with high-quality instruction from world-renowned educators.
Initially, MasterClass was a small initiative and had a very less audience. However, the platform got a major boost in 2017 when famous personalities like Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman took some of the classes. Since then, MasterClass has invited several well-known personalities including Oscar-winning actors and directors, Michelin-star chefs, and Olympic athletes.
When it comes to creative learning, Masterclass has the upper hand with some of the most amazing courses designed especially for creatives such as musicians, painters, illustrators, writers, artists and photographers involved in creative arts and learning. The courses aren’t just limited to art and creativity.
There are also some great courses on scientific thinking, personal development, business, cooking etc. Masterclass has uncountable entertaining and creatively interesting videos. Its excellent production quality is a cherry on top. With the help of these educational videos, you might not start earning right away but you will get to enhance and polish your skills which is extremely helpful in the long run.
This online learning platform is a perfect place for all those curios minds looking for some inspiration or new piece of knowledge. The programs/courses are designed such that you won’t just learn and work on bettering yourself but also get entertained in this learning process.
Skillshare was launched by Malcolm Ong and Michael Karnjanaprakorn in 2010 in its headquarter in New York. Similar to MasterClass, this is also an online platform for learners with numerous courses. This site focuses on practical skills along with various hands-on learning projects. In the beginning, they used to offer small-time courses.
Later in 2011 they received lots of good reviews that allowed and encouraged them to push a level further and grow at a much greater pace. Since then, SkillShare has seen a drastic growth in its audience. Skillshare is an open-source platform where every individual can create their own courses and teach people accordingly.
They offer approximately 30,000 courses altogether, which include topics ranging from science to IT, programming, complex 3D modelling, writing, music, illustration, coding, graphic designing, editing to professional topics such as productivity, Microsoft Excel, entrepreneurship, business analytic and several other skills which help the learner to enhance and propel their career.
If you are someone who has an interest in film making or wants to start a Youtube channel, there are courses on SkillShare to help you with this as well. The best thing is you can learn anything and everything without having to go to a university or spend thousands of dollars. You can learn anywhere and anytime at your own pace and comfort with everything readily available virtually.
