Highest Rated Online Learning Platforms on Shiksha Online (Based on 1000+ verified reviews)
Online learning platforms have introduced a new paradigm for education and training. Market research reports forecast that the global e-learning industry will 3x its revenue by 2025 to $325 Billion from $171 Billion in 2019 (a CAGR of 10.85%).
While it is still evolving, online learning is known for providing many benefits over offline learning amongst which the biggest one is – ‘Learning Anytime Anywhere’.
However, with the overabundance of choices on the number of online platforms and a wide variety of courses, it becomes difficult to find a course or learning platform that is the best investment of time and money in terms of short term and long term gains.
Especially for working professionals, there are so many courses and course providers to choose from, it gets confusing. This is why at Naukri learning, we regularly curate lists of top courses for each subject so that professionals can compare courses across platforms.
For this report, we have collected feedback from 1000+ working professionals who have taken upskilling courses during the lockdown period – to identify if these courses are creating meaningful career impact. And to identify platforms that are actually helping people upskill.
Below are the findings, please feel free to jump to any section:
- Overview of macro trends
- Most popular online learning platforms
- Career impact from online courses
- Top-Rated Courses on each platform
- Key features of top platforms:
Overview of macro trends in upskilling courses
- Online upskilling courses have seen increased adoption in corporate & academic set-ups (most top platforms reported a 3X jump in the number of learners during April to June which is now declined a bit but is still much higher than pre-March levels)
- Online degrees, Live online learning, Self-paced learning, Social learning, and Corporate MOOCs contributes a major chunk in revenue generation for the upskilling industry
- Professionals from all segments from freshers to senior executives are investing their time in upskilling and reskilling
- With certificate courses and online degree programs, completion rates are increasing as compared to free MOOCs
- Many companies are tying up with upskilling platforms to make sure that the skill sets of their employees are future-proof
Most popular online learning platforms
We asked working professionals to share feedback on recent courses that they have done and also asked them to describe what made them like the course. From the feedback that we collected, the following are the features which made learners choose one platform over another:
- Content quality
- Certifications and recognitions
- Mentorship and projects
- Interactive and user-friendly website UI
- Level wise division of content
- Free courses with downloadable certificates
- Scholarship options
- Discounts
Based on these ratings by 1000+ working professionals, Google, Coursera, and Udemy came out to be the most popular platforms for working professionals for upskilling courses.
- Google topped the list with a 4.5/5 average rating
- Coursera followed suit with a 4.4/5 average rating
- Udemy finished at 3rd spot with a 4.3/5 average rating
Career impact from online courses
While much has been said about the growth of online upskilling, the career impact is not quite clear.
We asked the respondents to share how the courses they took helped them in their career, below is the summary of the results. Note that these are self-reported benefits over a short period of time. It can be clearly seen that most of the professionals experience positive growth in their skillset but only a small percentage is experiencing a positive impact in their careers.
Benefits Derived From Top-Rated Online Learning Platforms |
|||||
| Vendors | Upskilling | Changed to a new job | Increased my salary | Changed my domain | Got a promotion |
| 96% | 6% | 4% | 2% | 4% | |
| Coursera | 94% | 3% | 6% | 6% | 2% |
| Udemy | 73% | 8% | 6% | 12% | 3% |
Top-Rated Courses on Each Platform:
Below, we have highlighted the most popular skill-sets for which the professionals chose the respective platform among Coursera, Udemy, and Google:
-
- Google: Marketing and DevOps courses
- Coursera: Programming, Data Science, Business tools
- Udemy: Programming, DevOps, cloud computing, and data science
The below table lists top courses (by popularity) offered in each category:
| Vendor Name | Top Category | Percentage of reviewers | Top course in the category |
| Coursera | Programming | 21% | Programming for Everybody (Getting Started with Python) |
| Data Science | 18% | Data Science With Python | |
| Business Tools | 5% | Excel for Business Essentials | |
| Udemy | Programming | 25% | Data Structures and Algorithms: Deep Dive Using Java |
| DevOps and Cloud computing | 9% | AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | |
| Data Science | 8% | Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp | |
| Marketing | 98% | The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing | |
| DevOps and Cloud computing | 2% | Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer |
Key features of top platforms:
Should you be interested in taking an upskilling course, we have summarised important information below about the top online learning platforms. This can act as the introduction to the important features of these popular platforms:
1. Coursera
USP:
- Association with 150+ Ivy league institutes and universities like Yale, Stanford, and Princeton
- 37 million+ users
- Free trial and free courses
- A diverse range of subjects specially designed for all level of professionals
- Courses are widely available with no exhaustive waiting
- User-friendly website
Pros:
- Topics and course offering is up to date and matches the current workplace requirements
- Widest catalog of courses
- A bunch of popular Masters Degree and Specializations
- Free to audit option for a majority of courses
- Financial aid available
Cons:
- A very little offering from niche subjects and less advanced-level courses for professionals having considerable experience
- Very low completion rates on free courses
- Lack of personalized attention/mentorship
2. Udemy
USP:
- 300 million+ students
- 150,000+ courses available in 65 different languages
- Easy to navigate website design
- A vast collection of courses with the most advanced filtering systems
- Experienced instructors offering detailed learning
Pros:
- Over 6,700+ free courses
- Comes with a 30-day Refund Policy
- Provides the multi-platform streaming option
- Low cost, heavy discounts, still the content is unique and updated
Cons:
- Udemy certificates are often not endorsed by any university
- No option of offering live training instead of recorded training sessions
3. Google
USPs:
- Free online training courses
- All courses created by Google Digital Unlocked and SkillShop
- Recognized for boosting digital skills
- Offline training option available
Pros:
- Free courses with certification
- Courses for all levels
- Self-paced learning option
- Recognized by employers
Cons:
- Lack of personalized attention/mentorship
Conclusion
Our research concludes that Google, Coursera, and Udemy are among the most preferred online learning platforms for working professionals in India. These platforms have helped several professionals in their upskilling journeys. Also, users prefer these platforms to learn some of the most trending skills like Data Science, programming, and digital marketing.
If you have recently completed a professional course/certification, click here to submit a review.
Vikram has a Postgraduate degree in Applied Mathematics, with a keen interest in Data Science and Machine Learning. He has experience of 2+ years in content creation in Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, and Mac... Read Full Bio
Top Picks & New Arrivals
