Pluralsight (review) and Udemy (review) provides some of the best online learning experiences today. While Pluralsight focuses on training for software developers, IT professionals, and a few other technical professionals, Udemy hosts a broad range of training videos and skills learning for experts all over the world; from software development, web designers, sales, negotiation, and many more.
Pluralsight vs Udemy – which one is better? Here’s a quick answer:
If you are an IT professional looking to stay updated with the latest industry knowledge, or a beginner looking to start rapid software development and IT skills acquisition – Pluralsight is the platform for you- It helps you narrow down the specific skill you’d like to acquire.
That’s not to say you can’t improve your skills or learn new skills with Udemy as an IT professional. Udemy offers well-crafted courses by different tutors around the world. If you are looking to learn other skills – such as business, web development, sales, and negotiation, as well as IT skills – then Udemy is for you.
So what makes these two online learning platforms unique? And which one should you use to level up your skills?
Read on.
We’ll dissect both platforms, find – the pros and cons, the biggest differences between both platforms, the price plans, and subscription models, etc.
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An overview of Pluralsight vs Udemy
So you’ll like to update your skills but you’re not sure which platform to choose.
Not to worry. At the end of this article, you’ll have a strong idea of what each platform offers.
Understanding what you stand to gain from each platform means you are well aware of their strong points as well as their differences.
For starters, you get access to hours of video educational resources on both these platforms.
Although Pluralsight offers educational resources tailored specifically for the IT industry, users of the platform admit that the courses they offer are in-depth and comprehensive.
On the other hand, Udemy provides courses, not only tailored to IT professions but a broad range of industries as well.
And there you have it.
The biggest difference between both these platforms is that Pluralsight offers courses for mainly software developers and IT industry courses.
And Udemy offers a range of courses not only in the IT industry but in other industries as well.
But wait, there’s more.
– Pluralsight offers a professional certificate upon completion of any course on the platform. Udemy certifications are not so serious – it may be enough to keep you motivated to keep learning, but not enough to help you secure a job.
– Udemy learning platform allows professionals from all walks of life and specialty to offer courses – so you have a barrage of tutors and courses to choose from. Pluralsight, on the other hand, offers only hand-selected video resources specific for Software and IT professionals – so you get in-depth knowledge about your career.
Let’s sum it up.
Pluralsight gives you a rounded knowledge and direct mentorship from experts.
The biggest advantage of learning with Pluralsight is – as an IT professional, you get expert, well-rounded, and comprehensive information presented in an organized video presentation format.
You can learn directly from experts in your industry. And upon completion of your course, you earn a professional certificate that goes a long way in helping you secure a promotion or a new job.
Udemy gives you access to a wide range of tutors with different experience levels and specialties.
It’s best to look at Udemy as a generalist learning platform. The best part of the platform is your ability to access different learning resources in a broad range of industries.
More than that, the platform allows different professionals to sell their courses. These professionals can update and add to the information as their students increase.
However, you may not get a certificate upon completion of the courses. And it’s unlikely that you have direct contact with the tutors.
Cost Analysis Pluralsight vs Udemy
At the time of writing this article, Pluralsight offers complete access to the platform once you pay a monthly or annual subscription fee.
While creating an account and having access to browse the different courses offered on Udemy is free, gaining access to any of the courses – you need to buy the course. The good news is that this is a one-time purchase and you have unlimited lifetime access to the purchased course on the platform.
Find out more.
The big pricing idea for both services is this…
For Pluralsight, the pricing is simple and fairly straightforward. Pay a monthly or a discounted annual subscription fee, and you’ll have access to all learning resources.
Pluralsight offers 2 plans:
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- Skills: This plan is tailored for individuals looking to increase your knowledge or gain new insights into their industry.
- Flow: This plan is mainly for organizations looking to increase the effectiveness and productivity of the work. Here’s our Pluralsight Flow Review.
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Here’s a breakdown of the fees.
For Skills plan, Pluralsight offers:
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- Monthly subscription for $29 which includes access to courses and mentorship.
- Annual subscription for $299 which includes a 14% discount, access to courses, and mentorship.
- Premium subscription for $499 which includes more hands-on experience and access to projects and interactive courses.
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Pluralsight also offers additional Skill subscriptions – best for teams or groups.
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- Professional for $579 per year which includes reporting and user analytics tools.
- Enterprise for $779 per year which includes more flexible options and an advanced analytics tool for your company.
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For Flow plan, Pluralsight offers:
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- The standard for $499/ year. It includes a software development project plan and process.
- Plus for $599/year. It includes tools to increase your company’s productivity and manage the production process for your organization.
- Enterprise for $699/year. It includes custom plans for your company and your process.
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All the plans under the Flow pricing plan come with a 30-day free trial, you can always cancel your subscription if you are not satisfied with the service.
Udemy’s pricing plan is more straightforward than Pluralsight.
That being said, on landing on the platform, you’ll immediately get recommendations to help you choose courses to partake in.
You’ll get to see
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- Course title
- Tutor or curator
- Reviews
- Cost of the course
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Udemy offers a wide variety of courses under the same topic from different experts. So the prices of the courses may vary depending on the curator of the course.
Udemy has all prices of courses on their platform capped at $299, which means that the most you’ll shell out on any course on Udemy are $299.
Of course, you’ll get varied prices for different courses. You can get access to most courses for as cheap as $9.99 or even less through one of the many discounts Udemy offers on the platform.
The only downside to Udemy is that while the platform doesn’t offer certificates, only paid and approved courses offer certificates upon completion. And you only have access to the courses you buy.
To wrap things up, both learning platforms offer a gold mine of educational resources and are great for taking you from 0 to 100 in your industry.
Although Udemy offers courses at affordable prices, these courses are not properly screened. You only have reviews from other students to get an insight into the quality of the course you are about to buy.
On the other hand, Pluralsight subscriptions are pricey, but they offer a comprehensive, specialist based package for IT and software development professionals. And all-time access for the cheapest monthly subscription of $29.
Which is more affordable?
That depends on your needs. However, technically, while Udemy is cheaper than Pluralsight, price doesn’t always equate perceived value.
But before you decide, read on. These more to help you decide.
Areas where Udemy is better than Pluralsight
Udemy offers a plethora of courses for all works of life including IT industry, service-based industries, and even personal development and self-help courses — like learning productivity, managing your time, and others.
If you are looking to learn other skills apart along with improving your IT skills, Udemy is your best choice.
The advantage of the Udemy learning platform is that you have access to experts with different knowledge and experience levels of the topic you are trying to master. You can select who you want to learn from.
UDEMY online learning platform is best for people with a wide variety of interests. You can learn web development, designing, business, photography as well as health and nutrition.
Although Udemy offers a great outlook and friendly and simple UI experience, when comparing its video experience to Pluralsight, it only just falls off the mark. However, its users don’t have a problem with its video experience. I’d say Udemy has a fairly good video learning experience.
Udemy also provides simplicity and users have access to their purchased courses at any time, as long as they have access to the internet.
Areas where Pluralsight is better than Udemy
Perhaps the biggest plus of using Pluralsight is that you can learn at your own pace and schedule. Remember that the courses offered are designed to lead hand-to-hand through navigating a technical career such as in software development and IT fields. Hence, Pluralsight provides mentorship and instant access to tutors.
That said, Pluralsight offers in-depth, comprehensive courses for more technical professionals looking to improve their skills in various IT fields, such as Software development (is Pluralsight good for Java), coding, Data, information, and cybersecurity, cloud computer, manufacturing, architecture, and designing, etc.
Pluralsight is simply great for specialization in IT and software development. If you are looking to level-up your skills, Pluralsight might offer you more than other e-learning platforms will offer in the IT industry.
Pluralsight also provides a world-class online learning environment with its crisp video interface and other options for great video experience. You can seamlessly pause, speed up, slow down video content. More than this you can choose the different video quality you desire – low, medium, high.
What’s more.
You can watch these videos right on your browser on the Pluralsight learning platform, so no need to reduce from your already low disk storage.
Compared to Udemy and other online learning platforms, Pluralsight’s mobile experience is the best I’ve used so far. Pluralsight gives its user a great mobile interface for using the platform on-the-go.
Common pros and cons each platform shares
By now, you already have a clear picture of the services both these platforms have to offer you.
While these platforms offer a great online learning service, they both share similarities in both their pros and cons.
Pros
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- Quality education resources
- Full-time access to resources from anywhere
- You can learn at your pace and schedule
- Great video quality
- Crisp mobile UI experience
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Cons
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- Neither are free
- Certificates are issued on completing more expensive courses
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Which platform is easier to learn on Pluralsight or Udemy?
Both platforms offer great courses and a gold mine of education resources. They will continue to attract users to their platforms by delivering on their promises to provide education that their users can instantly apply.
Both platforms also allow you to learn at your own pace and schedule which means you can access your course material at any time.
With Pluralsight you have access to a mentor. This provides direct feedback for your projects and increases the speed of your learning. Also you get hands-on experience with the knowledge you acquire.
However, on Udemy you have access to millions of courses and tutors from all around the world.
Which platform is easier to learn on Pluralsight vs Udemy?
Pluralsight edges it when it comes to educational tools, even though you’ll need to shell out a bit more to get access to higher tier Premium, Professional, or Enterprise packages. Here’s how to decide between Pluralsight subscriptions: Personal vs Premium.
Pluralsight specializes in the IT industry and offers complete comprehensive resources for careers in the industry. If you are in the IT industry, you’ll probably get a better learning experience on Pluralsight.
However, you can learn from a mentor or someone you admire across different industries on Udemy. This makes for an aspirational model of learning.
Conclusion
Finally, let’s conclude the Pluralsight vs Udemy debate.
In terms of ease of use and general learning experience, Pluralsight does a fantastic job with the UI and tools for learning. However mostly IT professionals and other similar technical professionals will enjoy using the platform.
Udemy is a generalist platform for people in different works of life.
Having said that, there is a concern that the courses found on Udemy may be watered down due to the instant access to curators despite their skill and experience level.
Both learning platforms easily offer a bang for your bucks, offering you valuable information to build or further your career. But choose based on your needs.
