Pluralsight vs. Coursera Overview

Coursera and Pluralsight give you the tools to upskill in your specific industry. When comes to Pluralsight vs. Coursera, the costs are relatively similar.

The main difference between both sites is that Coursera provides much broader availability of courses on almost any subject and Pluralsight provides courses in a more narrow domain (data and programming). 

Coursera has in advantage in that you can always audit individual courses for free to get the feel for the site and certain lessons under your belt. It’s great for those who have a passion for learning in various disciplines.

With a toe in the industry, Pluralsight can help you get more specific skills in different areas of tech. Their focus on this area might mean that they can move faster towards providing the skills that can land you your next job in these narrow fields.

Pluralsight Overview

Pluralsight offers a chance to develop a plethora of skills in technology to help you keep up with your peers and, perhaps, find a job in a new field. With self-paced courses, curated learning paths, and interactive instructor-led courses, you can rely on this platform to help you get the skills you need. 

Primary Focus: 

Pluralsight has both individual and team options, as well as a wider array of products for larger businesses. The areas of focus are mostly data and programming. Pluralsight has learning paths where individuals in different areas can learn these skills and apply them in their specific sector. 

For example, when looking at the Pluralsight page, you will see that they offer the learning path of “Becoming a Business Analyst,” and they have lumped this into a learning path that encompasses 6 courses. With learning paths, the individual can get a more comprehensive outcome.

Features:

The Standard Plan:

The standard option offers a few core features:

• Core library of 2,500 courses
• Skill and Role assessments
• Learning paths and channels

The Premium plan: 

The premium option also includes the features of the standard plan. However, it also has a few more features to consider: 

• The full course library of 7,000+ courses. The library also had advanced content, more specific topics, and conference recordings
• Practical content and projects 
• Exam prep for industry-leading certifications
• Coding challenges

Prices:

Pluralsight offers a tiered plan. The standard level costs $299.00 per year and $29 per month. And the premium membership costs $499.00 per year or $45 per month (Source).

Pluralsight Reviews: 

The Pluralsight Trustpilot score is 1.6/5 (Source). This score is similar to Coursera’s and multiple other online education sites. As some individuals claim that Pluralsight is a scam, it is difficult to figure out how true this is our not. These claims are widespread in the industry for many online learning sites. With around 20 years of business and high-visibility in the market (Pluralsight CEO in Forbes), Pluralsight’s reputation speaks for itself.

Coursera Overview:

Coursera is an online learning platform that partners with renowned universities and organizations to offer a vast array of courses in various subjects, including programming and computer science. It provides a structured learning environment with a focus on instructor-led courses and comprehensive assessments. Coursera offers both free and paid courses, allowing learners the flexibility to choose their learning path.

Primary Focus: 

Coursera is probably the most successful website for taking courses items across disciplines. In recent years, they have taken on competitors with more specific course offerings in common online learning areas, such as programming, marketing, data science, and more.

They also have increased their depth of study with course options that include actual degrees program through accredited institutions.

Coursera Features:

• Diverse Course Selection: Coursera offers a wide range of programming courses from top universities and institutions, covering various programming languages and technologies.
• Instructor-Led Approach: Courses on Coursera are typically taught by experienced instructors, providing a structured learning experience.
• Flexible Learning: Coursera allows learners to study at their pace, offering video lectures, quizzes, and assignments that can be completed on a flexible schedule.
• Interactive Learning Resources: Coursera provides interactive coding exercises, projects, and forums for learners to practice and collaborate with peers.
• Specializations and Certificates: Coursera offers specialization tracks and certificates upon completion, which can add value to a learner’s professional profile.

Coursera Prices:

Coursera operates on a freemium model, where many courses are available for free, but learners can also choose to pay for additional features and certification. The cost of Coursera courses varies depending on factors such as course length, level of specialization, and instructor credentials. Prices typically range from $29 to $99 per course, with specialization programs costing between $39 and $79 per month.

Coursera Reviews: 

Coursera is one of the first places for online courses out there, yet you will see that popular review platforms, such as Trustpilot have placed Coursera as 1.7/5 in terms of review quality with numerous reviews rating them as 1 star (Source). They are not alone here – many of their competitors have similar rankings from reviewers. 

Why this ranking? 

At present, many online course sites don’t have the capacity for robust customer service teams. They inevitably hit a wall of people that just simply have issues either with paying or wanting to contact them and not being able to. This is something to pay attention to broadly when taking online courses.

The truth is that most people use Coursera without an issue, as has been my case while using Coursera. Coursera does lack in video quality and not being able to seamlessly watch videos like you would on YouTube. However, it makes up for this with high-quality content. 

A drawback for some students could be that it’s sometimes unclear how often course content is updated. If the content is evergreen, then there is a risk in certain fields that the content is outdated. 

Recommendation:

You can sign up for free, and you can audit courses at no additional cost before signing up. If Coursera really were a bad actor, would they give every learner this opportunity? I don’t think so. They also partner with institutions, both private and public, that trust them to provide a quality learning experience. So, give Coursera a try.

About the author:

Mike is a US professional interested in online learning and self-directed learning. He currently works in a financial services company and spends his spare time reading, learning languages, and taking online courses.