Skillshare helped me learn video editing and graphic design skills that I now use professionally. After testing the platform for three months and completing 15 courses, I can tell you it’s worth it for creative learners who want practical skills fast.
The platform offers over 30K+ courses with a 4.8-star app rating, covering everything from animation to business marketing. While course quality varies since anyone can teach, the best instructors deliver real value.
Go through the article as I have covered all the aspects of Skillshare, which can help you understand what you will learn and expect from this platform.
The Verdict at a Glance: Skillshare Review
Skillshare is worth it if you’re looking for flexible learning options and courses.
| Aspects | Description |
|---|---|
| Number of courses | Creative Lifestyle Marketing, Freelance & entrepreneurship, Productivity, etc. |
| Types of courses | Flexible learning, Downloadable course material Course certificates |
| Price | Free & paid courses ($13.99/ month on annual billing) |
| Features | Flexible learning, Downloadable course material, Course certificates |
| User-interface | User-friendly interface |
| Course quality | Well-curated courses with a learner-oriented approach |
What Kind of Courses Does Skillshare Offer?
Skillshare offers over thirty thousand courses in various in-demand fields, making it one of the most popular online learning platforms among curious minds.
Skillshare courses have been segregated into the following categories so learners with specific interests in a certain field can easily navigate to them:
- Creative: Courses under this category include art, music, writing, photography, graphic design, UI & UX design, instrument learning, etc. These classes are typically focused on helping students explore and get better at their creative skills.
- Lifestyle: You’ll find courses in cooking, interior design, knitting, gardening, fitness, personal development, meditation, and other lifestyle-related areas.
- Language: Skillshare offers online language classes in Spanish, Chinese, English, Korean, and other languages. There are also separate courses for IELTS.
- Business: There are several business courses like entrepreneurship, marketing, leadership and management, freelancing, and other business-related topics. These classes can help individuals understand the core aspects of starting a business or improving an existing one.
- Technology: This category includes courses in data science, simple web development, Bootstrap, artificial intelligence, and other related fields, helping you learn about a wide variety of tools and techniques.
The platform provides a diverse category of courses, so there are options for everyone. The courses have bite-sized lessons, which make them easily digestible.
Make sure you browse through the library well to shortlist a course that meets your learning needs.
Skillshare Features: Detailed Explanation
You might have questions like how the platform works and whether its features are suitable for every learner. Skillshare has a user-friendly interface to ensure learners can easily navigate the platform and select their favorite courses.
Besides that, here is what you can expect from Skillshare:
1. Self-paced learning
Once you sign up for the Skillshare membership, you can learn quickly. The courses have no time limit, so everyone can learn according to their comfort.
Such a flexible learning approach makes learning easier for working individuals, students, freelancers, or anyone with a busy schedule.
2. Skillshare Community
The Skillshare community makes it possible for its learners to connect, share ideas, and get inspiration from their learning goals.
Skillshare has introduced groups to keep its growing community of learners interconnected. There are four types of groups: creative, technology, business, and lifestyle.
Once you join a group, you’ll meet other creators from the same field, opt for collaboration, give and receive feedback on your work and theirs, and discuss anything you want. These groups have been created with the help of some Skillshare teachers, and they are a great way to stay connected with talented creators from various parts of the world.
Please note that only premium members can post in Skillshare groups. Free account holders can join and see other people’s posts but cannot post themselves.
3. Student Projects
This is a place where everyone can share their completed projects and ask for feedback. This is similar to a social media platform where students share posts liked and commented on by others.
It is the best way to showcase your talent and connect with some popular creators.
4. Skillshare CromaCourse
Skillshare CromaCourse is a recent addition to the platform, a four-week course. The idea is to keep the group exclusive and share content from expert teachers along with live Q&As. You may also get personalized feedback from instructors being a part of CromaCourse.
5. Diverse Learning Platform
Skillshare isn’t limited to a single learning format. It has video lectures, projects, and a community to share work, allows offline learning, and does not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach.
Skillshare Course Structure
Skillshare does not have a fixed course format. Some courses, especially longer ones, are divided into different lessons. Short classes, within 10 to 30 minutes, usually continue with a single video lesson.
There are two courses on Skillshare: Skillshare original and other classes. Skillshare produces the original classes.
They usually collaborate with popular personalities like Ali Abdaal (YouTuber and doctor), Marques Brownlee (Tech Head and YouTuber), and platforms like Moz.
Individuals create other Skillshare courses with years of experience in the field.
All the courses included assignments, projects, and additional resources for an all-around learning experience.
Popular Skillshare Instructors
Let’s take a look at some of the popular Skillshare instructors and their courses:
There are over 8000 teachers on Skillshare, and here are some popular personalities:
- Mel Armstrong
She is a full-time illustrator, surface pattern designer, and teacher who loves creating beautiful things. She teaches pattern design and design illustrations, and some of her popular courses are “Master Textures in Procreate,” “10 Photoshop Tips for Surface Designers,” and “Surface Pattern Design Fundamentals.”
- Hyden Aube
He is another popular designer and illustrator who teaches character design and illustration. His famous classes include “Journaling for Beginners,” “Adobe Illustrator,” and “Teach Yourself to Draw Anything. ”
- Sean Dalton
This popular travel and lifestyle photographer is a teacher on Skillshare, and he offers classes in lifestyle and photography. You can check out courses like” Photography Essentials,” “Short Form Video,” “iPhone Photography Essentials,” etc.
Popular Skillshare Courses
Skillshare has divided its classes into three main categories:
Create: Animation, Creative Writing, Film & Video, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Music, Photography, UI/UX Design, Web Development, and so on are a part of this category
Make: these courses include Business Analytics, Freelance & Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Management, and Marketing.
Thrive: Lifestyle and Productivity make up the Thrive section for personal growth.
A few popular classes from each category are listed below:
1. A Beginner’s Guide to After Effects
Taught by Jake Bartlett, a Motion Designer, this class is beginner-friendly and comprehensive. It covers everything you need to know to start creating animations in Adobe After Effects, including Panels and workspaces, Resolution, Frame Rates, Combining Effects, and much more. Over 12,000 students have enrolled in this class, and 80% of them have shared positive feedback.
2. Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro for Beginners
Taught by Jordy Vandeput, a filmmaker and YouTuber, this class is beginner-friendly and will teach you how to turn your creative ideas into amazing videos with Adobe Premiere Pro. Users get to access a very detailed program on a solid basis of Premiere Pro, which allows you, people, to perform basic edits, create custom graphics and texts, mix audio from speech, deal with music and sound effects, and so on.
This class has been watched by over 71000 students, with over 60% of students sharing positive feedback.
3. Graphic Design BasicsCore Principles for Visual Design
Taught by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips – co-directors of the Graphic Design MFA program at MICA – this class is every beginner’s dream and will give you a solid foundation. With a focus on core principles of graphic design, you will learn the five basic design principles, critique your work for effectiveness and balance, and apply each core concept in future projects. This class has been viewed by over 106,000 students, with 80% of them sharing positive feedback.
4. Digital Illustration: Learn to Use Procreate
Taught by Jarom Vogel, a Digital Illustrator, this class is beginner-friendly and will teach you how to use Procreate on your iPad to create digital artwork. The key lessons in this course will include setting up your first canvas, using select tools, brushes, and erasers, creating and organizing your layers, and adding color, textures, and effects.
This class has been viewed by over 115,000 students, with more than 50% of students sharing positive feedback.
5. Stock Market Fundamentals
Taught by Zac Hartley, an Entrepreneur and Day Trader, this class is beginner-friendly. It is specially designed for people who are looking to get into day trading, swing trading, or dividend investing.
This class has been watched by over 2000 students, with over 80% of students sharing positive feedback.
6. User Experience Design Essentials
Adobe XD UI UX Design – Taught by Daniel Scott, an Adobe Certified Trainer, this class is beginner-friendly. You will learn the tools necessary for creating excellent wireframes, including type, colors, icons, and much more. This class has been watched by over 21000 students, with over 70% of students sharing positive feedback.
Skillshare Price Plans
Skillshare has a simple price structure. There are no separate basic or premium plans, unlike most online learning platforms.
1. Skillshare for Individuals
Skillshare offers a single plan for individual learners at $13.99 per month when paid annually ($167.88 total). This gives you access to all 32,000+ courses in their library.
2. Skillshare for Teams
Team plans start at $199 per seat annually for teams of 2 or more. Larger teams of 30+ can contact Skillshare for special discounts. All team plans require an annual payment.
The Skillshare ‘Team’ plans include admin controls, progress tracking, and the same access to all courses that individual members get.
Skillshare Refund Policy
Skillshare has a 14-day refund policy, and you’re entitled to get a complete refund if you cancel your membership within the 1st 14 days after the payment has been deducted.
At times, Skillshare may also offer a 30-day refund policy. There are no special criteria for availing of this policy, and it’s entirely up to them.
Skillshare for Business
While Skillshare is great for personal development, it is very beneficial for teams, too. Here is a list of features that make this online learning platform great if an employer is looking to create an environment for the employees to grow up to their maximum potential:
- Unlimited access to Skillshare’s entire database and community includes 35000+ classes taught by industry experts across various categories.
- An easy-to-use Admin Panel where you can handle your team and invite and add users anytime.
- The class + project model is where users can test the skills they learned and receive feedback from colleagues and other students.
- Offline, mobile, and casting capabilities are available through our Skillshare mobile app.
- Dedicated Customer Success Manager for 1:1 onboarding and strategy sessions (available for Enterprise only)
- Usage and Engagement reporting (Revive & Enterprise only)
- LMS Integrations and API capabilities (available for Enterprise only)
Skillshare Scholarships
Even though online learning platforms offer courses at a significantly cheaper price, it is still not affordable for many underprivileged yet bright people out there. To address this issue, many platforms such as Skillshare offer scholarships to the needy so that everyone can get access to top-quality content – especially when they deserve it.
Skillshare currently offers two kinds of scholarships to the needy. Scholarships range from 50% off a Skillshare membership for college and university students to one year of free membership. If you meet the requirements, you are eligible to apply for the scholarship.
The application process is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is add your name, and email (with a valid .edu address), and explain why you are applying for the Skillshare Scholarship. You will then be notified via email if you are successful.
Are Skillshare Courses Worth Trying?
To be straight and clear, yes, Skillshare courses are worth trying. The platform is for people who want to learn creative skills or polish their existing ones.
Its clean and simple interface makes finding what we are looking for easier. The Skillshare Learning Path further simplifies the process of deepening our skill set by suggesting a curated list of sequential classes.
For example, I started with the most basic course on graphic design, and once I finished it, Skillshare showed me a list of classes in the same field to widen my knowledge of graphic design.
The video lessons are engaging and intuitive. You will see the lesson numbers and their duration on the right side. Below the lesson are reviews, discussions, projects, resources, and the transcript section.
The reviews from real users give more insights about the class; you can participate in the discussion group and check out the resources that come with the courses.
All lessons are usually bite-sized and not more than 15 to 20 minutes. This is a great approach because if you’re like me, I cannot keep going for more than half an hour. Besides, too much information in one go is difficult to comprehend.
However, you’ll not get any course completion certificates or formal accreditation from the platform.
Another drawback, in my opinion, is that there are no assessments. Once you enroll, you cannot interact with the instructors.
But that’s the case with most online learning platforms, so it’s not a big turn-off for me. Overall, Skillshare is a good platform for learning and developing new skills. It lets you take unlimited courses with a single subscription.
Skillshare Review: Pros And Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A single subscription gives access to unlimited classes across a wide range of subjects. | You don’t get any certificates upon course completion |
| Encourages flexible learning | Some courses are not as in-depth |
| Affordable, especially when compared to the traditional education program | It’s hard to get personalized feedback or help from the instructors |
| Plenty of hands-on projects and opportunities to practice what you’ve learned | |
| Offers a free trial on the premium membership | |
| Opportunity to learn from industry leaders |
Related Read –
- Detailed Comparison Between Skillshare and Masterclass
- An Honest Opinion About Masterclass and YesChef
Final Thoughts: Skillshare Is Worth Enrolling For Creative Learners
Skillshare works best for people who learn by doing projects rather than just watching videos. The platform helped me build skills I use daily, but success depends on picking the right course and actually finishing it.
If you want to learn creative skills without spending thousands on formal education, try the free trial and test a few courses. You can cancel before 14 days if you find it’s not suitable for you.
But for passionate learners, Skillshare is definitely worth it to enhance the hobby or upgrade the creative skills.
If you have further questions about Skillshare, make sure to leave them in the comments!
Frequently Asked Questions– SkillShare Review
Skillshare is a great platform to learn new skills and broaden your creativity horizons.
Although YouTube is a free alternative, Skillshare is a better option for learning because one does not have to conduct extensive browsing to find their desired web result. Skillshare offers an easy-to-navigate interface without ads, which makes it easier for anyone to focus more on learning.
Skillshare has the upper hand over Udemy due to its variety of courses, high-quality content, and direct interaction with the course tutor, which allows for tracking of the learning process.
Skillshare is best suited for learning various creative skills, such as writing and design.
Skillshare offers a monthly plan of $32 per account.
A year of Skillshare would amount to approximately $ 167.88 for one account.
Users are provided with the option to cancel their subscription at any time.
Although not all classes are free on Skillshare, more than 100 do not require you to pay to learn.
Skillshare courses cannot guarantee a job, but they can help you stand out from competitors.
