What happened to your childhood dreams? Those plans to become an artist, writer, or pottery maker? Most of us set those dreams aside while pursuing practical careers—but that doesn’t mean those longings disappeared.
Many of us have an old hobby we once loved, or a skill we always wanted to master—but never thought we could. It would be wonderful to finally animate those superhero stories we dreamed up, or actually create a beautiful home from sketches lying around our workspace. But without time for classes or nearby teachers, those dreams seem out of reach—right?
Online learning libraries are proving those assumptions wrong.
Today’s digital landscape offers thousands of online courses that teach everything from coding to yoga. With so many options, it’s challenging to determine which platforms are reputable and worth your investment. In this review, we’ll examine one of the most recognizable names in online education: Skillshare.
What Is Skillshare?
Every podcast, YouTube video, and blog post seems sponsored by Skillshare lately—but what exactly is it? Skillshare is an online library of learning videos and courses, focusing primarily on creative topics like animation and photography. Founded in 2010 by Michael Karnjanaprahorn and Malcolm Ong, it has evolved into a massive company boasting 20,000 courses and over 4 million students.
Their mission centers on helping students “explore new skills, deepen existing passions, and get lost in creativity.” While covering nearly every topic imaginable, the majority of classes lean artistic, reflecting their motto: “inspiring discovery through creativity.”
How Does Skillshare Work?
Creating a Skillshare account is free—simply sign up using your email, Google, or Facebook credentials. This Basic membership grants access to their free classes and community features. You can upgrade to Premium with a two-month free trial to test the platform. During profile setup, you’ll select three categories of interest, allowing Skillshare to curate personalized recommendations.
The homepage presents diverse class options organized into three main categories—Create, Build, and Thrive. Each category contains specific topics with hundreds of videos in each subject area.
You can search for specific classes using the search bar or browse through featured, trending, and popular classes on your homepage.
When you discover an interesting class, click to access a preview video and detailed information. You can view enrollment numbers, instructor credentials, and experience levels. The syllabus outlines what you’ll learn, while reviews reveal how effectively the material is taught.
Each class includes a resources section and project component—you create something tangible as you learn, providing concrete evidence of your progress. The projects tab lets you upload your work for others to see and browse fellow students’ creations.
Once you find a compelling class, you can save it for later or start learning immediately. Navigation features allow you to skip forward or backward, revisit previous videos, and read timestamped comments from other students.
Is Skillshare Premium Worth It?
Skillshare offers two membership tiers: Basic and Premium, each with distinct advantages.
Basic is their free tier, accessible simply by signing up. This provides access to approximately 2,100 free classes and the Skillshare community. While these lessons maintain high quality, many subtly encourage paid subscriptions by referencing additional videos or extended projects.
Basic includes advertisements that can disrupt learning flow. There’s no video download option—eliminating offline learning opportunities—and no teacher support for questions or networking.
Skillshare’s Premium subscription begins with two free months, then costs $19 monthly thereafter. Alternatively, an annual subscription costs $99, averaging about $8.25 per month. Premium provides unlimited access to their entire video library and enables offline downloads.
Premium members enjoy additional perks: Skillshare has partnered with creative platforms to offer member discounts, including $20 off Shutterstock orders and 15% off Adobe Creative Cloud.
Given the affordable pricing, expanded access, and valuable perks, Skillshare’s Premium membership offers excellent value.
Other Ways To Use Skillshare
Skillshare extends beyond individual courses through regular workshops—structured like live online classes. These workshops combine 2-3 complementary courses following a teacher-set schedule, where students learn alongside peers for approximately 4 weeks. This approach builds comprehensive skill sets while fostering learning through both instructor guidance and peer discussions.
The Groups feature serves as Skillshare’s social network, enabling connections and messaging with like-minded individuals. This creates opportunities for networking, showcasing work, and discovering others with niche interests. Maximize this feature by completing your profile—add a compelling bio and headline while displaying finished projects to demonstrate your capabilities.
Is Skillshare Reliable?
Many online learning platforms suffer from quality issues since anyone can teach—while Skillshare operates similarly, it has largely avoided these pitfalls. Despite having “no approval or application” process for instructors, their content consistently maintains high standards. This stems from their payment structure: teachers earn based on viewing minutes, so poorly made videos naturally receive low engagement as students simply leave. Skillshare accurately boasts having “icons, experts, and industry rockstars” as instructors.
The platform regularly updates content, with near-daily uploads ensuring access to current information on even the latest system updates.
However, Skillshare lacks accreditation, meaning certificates cannot enhance your resume or professional credentials. Since most courses target personal and creative development, this limitation rarely poses problems.
Some users have encountered subscription cancellation difficulties—the site states they cannot provide refunds for app-based purchases. Customer service can be hard to reach, and their Help Page is buried deep within the site.
As Skillshare has expanded, they’ve addressed customer service concerns and improved reliability—explaining why positive reviews proliferate across the internet.
Is Skillshare Cheap?
At $19 monthly (or $8.25 monthly with annual billing), Skillshare offers reasonable pricing—plus numerous discount opportunities. They provide two free months for anyone testing the service, and unlike companies hoping you’ll forget, they actually send reminder emails three days before your trial expires.
Abundant coupons are available for Skillshare. Any promoting blog or channel typically offers 10-15% discount codes, and you can use code Learn10 for 10% off today. They also provide 50% off Premium subscriptions for students with valid .edu email addresses, making it affordable for college budgets.
Skillshare Alternatives
Skillshare Vs Coursera
Coursera represents another high-quality online learning platform, though it emphasizes academic subjects. Partnered with accredited universities, Coursera certificates can count as college credits or carry resume weight. The platform offers different learning tracks, but you can audit most courses free while still learning—though with limited assignment and community access.
However, Coursera costs significantly more than Skillshare. Individual courses range from $49-$99, and premium membership comparable to Skillshare’s costs $399 annually. Additionally, Coursera’s topics are more specialized than Skillshare’s—concentrating on academic subjects while Skillshare emphasizes creative pursuits.
Skillshare vs Udemy
Udemy matches Skillshare’s topic variety—with a significantly larger video library. They offer courses spanning coding to baking, including even the most niche subjects.
However, many Udemy courses fall below Skillshare’s quality standards—many lack updates and may teach questionable business practices. While Udemy provides certificates, their poor quality and lack of accreditation render these credentials essentially worthless professionally.
Conclusions For Skillshare
Skillshare has earned its industry recognition through merit. The combination of affordable pricing and high-quality content creates exceptional value for learners. While lacking formal certificates, the tangible projects you create serve the same purpose. For anyone wanting to continue learning, reconnect with their artistic side, or explore new skills, Skillshare provides an excellent platform for ongoing discovery and creation.
