Udemy Vs Edx – Which Is Better For Online Learning?

by | Oct 6, 2020

Your time is stuffed-full. You have deadlines to meet, appointments to make, and you really should call your mom like you promised. So when it comes to online learning, the last thing you need is time-sucking preparation. But that’s what you’re left with.

There are hundreds of learning sites, and hundreds of reviews—and you’re left staring at this mountain of information on your own. Even if you’re an efficient reader, one review takes you about five minutes to read—multiply that by even a dozen, and you’re wasting time. But you don’t have to.

We’re here to help save your valuable time. Rather than having you jump back and forth between different reviews; we’re doing the comparison for you. We’re going to review two different sites, Udemy and Edx. We’ll compare their quality, their price, and their ease of use—and let you save time by learning which one is best. Let’s jump in with this Udemy vs Edx review!

Meet The Sites

Udemy

Udemy Logo

Udemy wants to help anyone learn anything. They offer video on over 3,000 topics, in 65 languages, and have over 33 million minutes of video—so there’s plenty to choose from. The founder grew up in a remote Turkish village, and because he gained access to the internet, he was able to teach himself mathematics and create a better life for himself. Because of this, Udemy aims to “improve lives through learning.”

Udemy’s courses are purchased individually, and you have life-time access to your courses. Topics range from Coding to Yoga to Leadership to Pottery. Each course is made up of many 5-10-minute videos, along with quizzes and assignments. Once you completed all the videos and homework, you’ll receive a certificate that you can display on your resume. 

Edx

Edx logo

Edx was found in 2012 by Anat Agarwal, a MIT professor. He partnered with Harvard and MIT to create this MOOC—massive open online courses. Edx is a non-profit, and offers 3,000 courses, 257 programs, and is partnered with over 150 universities.

Edx Main Page

Edx’s courses are also purchased individually, though some are bundled together in special tracks. The majority of the courses are geared towards classes you would expect to see at college—though there are some unique ones, like “Star Trek: Inspiring Culture and Technology.” Their courses are both video and text based, though it relies heavily on the former. You can audit most of their courses for free, or pay extra to be a “verified” learner, and earns grades and a certification of credit.

Ease Of Use

Learning is hard enough—using a site shouldn’t be. It should be simple to use a learning site, so that you can focus on your studies, not on navigating to your class. After all, if you had to hike to your school uphill in the snow both ways; you probably wouldn’t do it. How simple are Udemy and Edx to use?

Udemy

Udemy lets you start learning right away. You have access to the whole library of courses as soon as you open the site. To find a course, all you have to do is start scrolling. There for your viewing pleasure is the most popular courses, ones Udemy thinks you may enjoy, and one divided by categories. If you know what you want, then you can simply type in your keywords. Udemy also wants to make it easy for you to pick courses, and displays ratings and the number of learners who have taken each course. Before you choose a course, make sure to see what discounts Udemy may be offering here.

Udemy Start

However, while the ratings are there to make your life easy, they can also be misleading. Udemy asks learners for reviews twenty minutes into a course—which means the learner hasn’t had much time to judge the quality of the course, or to put the principles into practice yet.

However, Udemy does make it simple for you to fit learning into your schedule. All their courses are downloadable on their app, so you can watch it on the go. Lessons are divided into short 2-10-minute videos, so you can easily watch one on your commute. 

Udemy Video

Udemy’s video player is also simple to use. You can adjust the video playback, or read over the transcript. It is easy to skip ahead to future lessons, or go back to older lessons for a refresher. 

Score: 4/5

Edx

Edx makes it simple to find courses you’re interested in—you can search according to categories, type of class, as well as level. Edx also has a unique search feature, you can search according to organization. So if you’ve always wanted to tell your friends that you’re taking courses from Harvard or MIT, now you can.

Edx Search

Edx also saves your progress in your courses, so you can easily jump right back in. Their videos include transcripts if you enjoy reading, and discussion boards are available for you to use if you have questions.

Edx Video

However, there are some reports of difficulty in getting refunds from Edx, and they do not currently have a “contact us” page to get ahold of customer service

Also, there are some things which makes the free version of Edx difficult to use. You can take almost any course for free—but you’ll be bombarded with ads to upgrade to the paid version. You can sidestep these ads, but it does make using the site a little more difficult.

Score: 3/5

Conclusion: Udemy vs Edx Ease Of Use

Both Edx and Udemy make it simple for you to find classes and start learning. However, Edx is plagued with ads if you’re auditing a class for free, and getting refunds can be difficult. Udemy is the winner, as it’s easier to use.

Which Has Better Quality?

Quality is king. It doesn’t matter how user-friendly a site is, or how cheaply it’s priced—if the videos are poorly made, or the information is incorrect, then that site will do you no good. You’re investing your time into this course. You want to be sure that the courses are good. Let’s see whether Edx or Udemy has better quality!

Udemy

Anyone can learn anything on Udemy. But to accomplish this, Udemy allows anyone to teach. This gives you many different courses to choose from—but it also means that there’s no quality control. There have been reports of poorly-made videos, or audio that is hard to hear. Some instructors teach with scammy methods. While others may be sincere, in technology and design fields standards and systems rapidly change—so they may be teaching incorrect information, and not even know it.

Udemy Instructors

However, Udemy does work to counteract this. Their ratings system is designed to reward good courses and discourage bad, and can often give you a good idea of a course’s quality. But as we mentioned above, reviews can be misleading, and students may not know when information is incorrect.

Score: 3/5

Edx

Because Edx partners with universities, you can be assured that all of their courses are college-level quality. It is university instructors who are teaching the courses—instructors who have had years of experience and expertise in the field. It’s also high-enough quality that you can earn your actual degree—or even complete your Master’s, for a far cheaper price. 

Eds Course Page

Edx also has high quality videos. While at the beginning there were complaints about poor audio, it appears that most of those issues have been worked out. Video lessons don’t just feature the instructor lecturing—they’re well-made, including moving graphics and examples.

Score: 4/5

Conclusion: Udemy Vs Edx Quality

Here, Edx shines. Because they partner with world-renowned universities, their teachers and courses are top-quality. They also have engaging videos, which demonstrates the care put into them.

Special Tools/Perks

Udemy has a straightforward focus on learning, and so doesn’t offer any special tools for their users.

Edx offers different Learning Tracks for their users. These are several courses bundled together, all on one topic. They also offer Professional Tracks, as well as Executive Education ones. You can also earn your degree completely online with Edx, with a bachelors costing about $166/credit hour, and an entire Master’s degree costing only $10K-$25K. Get a more thorough look at Edx’s learning tracks here.

Edx Paths

Conclusion: Udemy Vs Edx Tools/Perks

Edx offers useful tracks to take you further than just one course—they want to help you to let your learning take you somewhere, whether that is to mastery of a topic or to a degree. 

Which Is Priced Better?

Often one of the biggest deciders can be the price tag. It doesn’t matter how beautifully a site is designed, or if it offers personalized, customized learning tools for you—if you can’t pay for it, then it doesn’t work. You are learning to empower yourself, but you don’t want to be tied down to an unnecessarily-high price. Which one of our sites is cheaper, Udemy or Edx?

Udemy

On Udemy, your price depends on how much you use it. Each course is purchased individually, so if you’re purchasing four courses, it will cost you much more than purchasing one. While most of Udemy’s courses are listed at $100-$250, in reality, their almost-constant sales put prices at $15-$25 a course. This is on the cheaper end of online learning sites.

Udemy Prices

Udemy doesn’t offer any free trial periods, so you have to commit your time and your money right away. However, Udemy does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee—a useful tool to help lessen the problem of possible low-quality courses. Also, make sure to click here to check out what exclusive discounts Udemy is offering.

Score: 3.5/5

Edx

Edx also offers their courses on a course-by-course basis, so your final cost will depend on how many courses you take. Most of Edx’s courses cost $49-$150, which is significantly higher than Udemy.  However, their certificates are often worth college credits. You can take a closer look at Edx’s pricing here.

Edx does give the option for you to audit most of their classes for free. While you won’t earn a certificate or have your assignments graded, you still have access to all of the course material. This allows you to still learn all the information, without being charged.

Score: 3/5

Conclusion: Udemy Vs Edx Price

Udemy edges ahead here. If you choose to audit on Edx, then free is obviously the cheapest—but when you are actually paying for courses, Udemy is much cheaper. Furthermore, Udemy has an excellent return policy, which Edx struggles with.

Is Either Better Suited For Different Learners?

If you have different goals, you’ll need different things. If you need to tow something, you’ll need a pick-up truck, not a sports car—but if you’re racing, a pickup will never do. The same applies to your learning path. If you’re looking to further your academic learning, you’ll need something very different from someone looking to boost their resume, who will need something very different from someone looking to learn a hobby. What learning goals are our two sites geared toward?

Udemy is geared toward the curious learner. Its certificates aren’t accredited and won’t do much to boost your resume. However, it is made for those who always wanted to learn how to do a hobby, or want to broaden their understanding. 

Edx is geared toward the academic learner. Its courses are what you would expect to find in a college catalog, adjusted to work well in the online platform. While there are some fun classes, most of the courses focus on Humanities, Sciences, and Technology. Their site reflects this academic bent. Navigating the site feels more like using a college’s student portal, than a user-centric site that is pleasant to browse. If you want to earn academic credits, then Edx is the site for you.

Edx Colleges

Which Is Better: Udemy Vs Edx

Udemy and Edx have different strengths. Edx shines in the quality and learning tools department, while Udemy is at its best in ease of use and price. When it comes down to it, our vote is for Udemy. 

While Edx is great if you want to use an academic model of learning, Udemy is great for learning anything—you can learn a coding language and history of a country, but you can also learn how to paint, how to cook, and leadership skills. Udemy’s low price-tag and 30-day refund allows you to ease your way into learning. Whether you want to develop yourself or are simply curious, Udemy is the site to choose.

Andrew Green

Andrew is a successful entrepreneur and lifelong learner. Throughout his career, he has watched hundreds of online courses that have allowed him to achieve success in highly competitive fields such as online marketing, investing, and sales. Andrew is committed to expanding his knowledge and expertise and he reviews the premium courses he watches on his online blog.

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