Udemy vs Coursera: Which One Should You Choose For Upskilling?

In recent years, digital education has gained more and more ground. All this digital revolution has expanded the possibilities of professional training. It provides opportunities to those who did not have enough time to go to school to receive formal education or professionals who could not upskill themselves while working full-time. Coursera and Udemy are the leading platforms in this field, and they stand out for the quality of their course content. However, each platform has its own specifications, making them almost totally different. This article will analyze these two well-known online education platforms, Udemy vs Coursera, their USPs, pros and cons, etc.

Content – Udemy vs Coursera

• Overview – Udemy vs Coursera
• Course offering and variety
• Course structuring
• Availability of Free Courses
• Course Instructors
• Ease of use
• Pricing

Overview – Udemy vs Coursera

Criteria	Udemy	Coursera
Courses	185,000 online video courses with new additions published every month	High-quality professional Certificates and degrees from 200+ global universities
Instructors	Any expert can teach Udemy courses	Taught by top faculties from the best universities
Cost	Works on a pay-per-course approach, with courses ranging from $19.99 to $199.99	Different pricing plans for different courses and programs.
Community Support	No community support	Dedicated support centers to help course takers solve their course-related issues
Pros	Udemy offers the widest range of courses in each major category.  30-day money-back guarantee in case the student doesn’t like the course. Instant access to the courses. Quick access to course PDFs, guidelines, and checklists.  Lifetime access to the enrolled courses without any additional cost. Access to previous student ratings, evaluations, and grades to get an unbiased opinion of courses. Offers around 600 free courses across different categories.	Learn the trending and marketable skills. Best platform for in-demand fields like data science, machine learning, AI, Cloud computing, software engineering, etc. Wide range of course selection. Extensive range of projects for hands-on experience. In-depth coverage of the topics. Case studies and quizzes for better conceptual understanding. Affordable courses and degree programs as compared to on-campus programs. Availability of over 2000 free courses and projects. Enables you to download the course material and access it offline. High-quality courses from top universities globally.
Cons	Non-accredited certificates. Limited theoretical insight. No platform-driven course content, so no quality assurance. No learning or sharing community. Sudden price changes.	Not beginner-friendly. Pricing can be confusing to course takers. You can only access certain courses on defined dates. You cannot go back and edit the material you submitted. You may have to refer to books and reading materials to understand the topic better. The Coursera Plus membership fee is very high.

Course offering and variety

Both Coursera and Udemy are leaders in their domains and offer a range of courses across different trending categories. The course categories and types offered by both platforms are mentioned.

Udemy Course Catalogue

Udemy offers mainly video content and allows interaction with the instructor for query resolution.

Coursera Course Catalogue

Coursera also offers a range of learning options, including - 

Courses – Peer-graded courses with quizzes, exercises, and a Coursera certificate upon completion

Specializations – Courses, rather specialized courses to help you gain a professional skill

Professional Certificates – These programs will impart job skills training

MasterTrack™ Certificates – Courses that count toward an online degree. Comprises of case studies and projects

Online Degrees – Degrees equivalent to on-campus degrees from top universities

Udemy Course Categories

• Development
• Business
• IT and Software
• Office Productivity
• Personal development
• Design
• Marketing
• Lifestyle
• Photography & Video
• Health and Fitness
• Teaching & Academics
• Music 

Coursera Course Categories

• Data Science
• Business
• Computer Science
• Information Technology
• Language Learning
• Health
• Personal Development
• Physical Science and Engineering
• Social Sciences
• Arts and Humanities
• Math and Logic

Considering the variety of courses on trending topics and options available for the user, Coursera has the upper hand over Udemy.

Course structuring

Udemy

A typical Udemy course is video-based. Each course has at least 30 minutes of video content and 5 lectures or learning modules. Some courses include downloading other resources (PowerPoint presentations, PDF files, audio files, etc.) and other teaching tools (coding exercises, exams, homework, etc.).

It also has certification preparation courses targeting IT, architecture, finance, and business industries. These courses are mock exams for practice. The usual course structure at Udemy includes – 

• Title
• Introductory video to the course and some test clips of the course content
• Course description
• Objective of the course, target audience, and requirements
• Course duration, resources, access time, and price
• Content
• Summary of the instructor’s profile
• Comments and evaluation of the students

Udemy performs audio, video, and production quality validation before publishing courses.

Coursera 

All Coursera courses are based on video content, with additional resources such as reading texts, solving quizzes, peer review of assignments, and discussion forums about each course. These types of resources allow better interaction between the participants. 

When browsing a course, we will find the following information:

• Title
• Course details (duration, price, objectives, among others)
• Program
• Comments and evaluation of the student
• instructors
• Enrollment Options
• Frequent questions
• Coursera also offers specialization programs, which consist of a series of related courses designed to help you become an expert in a specific subject. Depending on the complexity, the duration can vary from a few months to a year.

These programs include a hands-on capstone project to finish it off. Some programs are offered in partnership with companies that provide case studies, conferences, funding, and rewards for outstanding projects. 

Availability of Free Courses

Both Udemy and Coursera list free courses; examples on both platforms are below.

Udemy Free Courses

Udemy lists around 600 free courses. 

Course Name	Course Provider
A Mini Course on Time Management	Brandon Hakim, Insider School
HTML5 and CSS3 Fundamentals	Stone River eLearning
Amazon Web Services (AWS) – Zero to Hero	BackSpace Academy
Git & GitHub Crash Course: Create a Repository From Scratch!	Kalob Taulien
Code Your First Game: Arcade Classic in JavaScript on Canvas	Chris DeLeon
Linux Tutorials and Projects	Jason Cannon
Build a Quiz App with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript	James Quick

Coursera Free Courses

Coursera has over 2000 free courses. We have listed some of the top courses.

Course Name	Course Provider
Machine Learning	Stanford University
The Science of Well-Being	Yale University
Financial Markets	Yale University
Introduction to Statistics	Stanford University
Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills	University of Michigan
Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour	University of London
Game Theory	Yale University

Course Instructors

Udemy Instructors

Udemy does not collaborate with educational institutions such as universities or institutes. It is not an unaccredited institute and offers skills-based courses taught by real-world experts in their field.

Course Instructors

At Coursera, you will learn from the top faculties of global universities. You will find courses from top universities and companies, including –

• Google
• IBM
• Meta
• Stanford University
• University of London
• University of Illinois
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Washington
• Yale University
• Amazon Web Service

Ease of use

Let’s check out how good or bad these platforms are regarding usability and accessibility.

Registration process

Registration at Udemy is very simple. You can start learning by signing up using your name, email, and password.

Coursera login is also similar. The only difference is that you can also sign up/login using your Facebook or Google logins.

Navigation

The navigation at Udemy is simple. You can explore courses via the Categories section located next to the Udemy home page logo.

Or go to the bottom and find the courses from the Top Categories. You can also find Featured topics by category below that.

Coursera has listed its top-rated and popular courses and degrees at the bottom.

 On the home page, you can scroll down and find different categories of courses, including –

• Professional Certificates
• Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees
• Courses and Specializations
• 100% Free Courses
• Explore Top Coursera Categories, along with the number of courses in each category.

You will also find information about Coursera collaborations on the home page.

The Coursera home page is very exclusive and includes almost all the information you seek, but it might become overwhelming for new users. Udemy has a simpler interface with easy navigation.

Pricing

Udemy

Below is the pricing plan of Udemy as of July 2024.

Plan	Price	Features
Personal Plan	$16.58/month	Access to thousands of courses, including all the content and features of the individual courses.
Pro Plan	$29.99/month	Same as the Personal Plan, plus access to the Udemy Library, which includes a curated selection of top courses.
Udemy Business: Team Plan	$35/user/month	Annual subscription for teams of 5 or more users. Includes access to thousands of courses, the Udemy Library, and features for managing and tracking employee learning.
Udemy Business: Enterprise Plan	Contact sales	Custom pricing for businesses of all sizes. Includes access to all Udemy courses, the Udemy Library, and features for managing and tracking employee learning.

However, the site may offer heavy discounts. Check the website regularly to grab the best deals.

Coursera 

Below is the Coursera Pricing Plan as of September 2023

Plan	Price	Features
Single Learning Program	Rs. 4,093 – 6,599/month	Access to one learning program, including all courses, quizzes, and graded assignments.
Coursera Plus Monthly	Rs. 4,928 /month	Access to over 7,000 courses, Specializations from 170+ leading companies and universities, and professional certificates.
Coursera Plus Annually	Rs. 33,329 /year	Same as Coursera Plus Monthly, but you save 30% by paying annually.
Free Courses	Free	You can audit most courses for free, but you will need to pay to earn a Professional Certificate and access some course materials.
Coursera Business: Enterprise Plan	Contact sales	Custom pricing for businesses of all sizes. Includes access to all Coursera courses, specializations, and professional certificates.
Coursera Business: Team Plan	$399/user/year	Annual subscription for teams of 5 or more users. Includes access to all Coursera courses, specializations, and professional certificates. It also includes features for managing and tracking employee learning.

Conclusion

On Udemy, you would need to take up pay-per-course. The cost of courses varies, ranging between $19.99 and 199.99. On the other hand, on Coursera, you would need to get monthly enrollments. Udemy offers over 183,000 courses, whereas Coursera offers a range of learning options, starting from projects, courses, and online degrees to specializations from top 200+ Universities and Companies. 

Go for Udemy if you want to –

• Learn different types of skills in less time 
• Gain real-world experience from experts/professionals in that field
• Fast-paced learning 

Go for Coursera if you want to –

• Exclusive learning similar to that of traditional classroom training
• Earn university-recognized courses and degrees and sometimes credits, too
• Gain an in-depth education on a topic/subject
• Commit time and efforts

Apart from the free offerings from Udemy and Coursera, you may also want to check up on other reputed MOOCs on our dedicated and updating list page, free courses with certificates.

Must Explore –

• Udemy Courses
• Coursera Courses
• RSCIT courses