20 Best Udemy Alternatives for Online Learning and Training

Udemy is an online course platform that lets you learn pretty much anything at any time. Once you’ve purchased a course, you get lifetime access to it so you can truly train at your own pace.

People have been using this site for progressing in their current career, working towards a career change, and learning more about their hobby.

Currently, they have over 100,000 video courses for you to browse ranging from “The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2020” to “The Ultimate Photoshop Elements Training Bundle” and more.

It’s likely that you know all this thanks to the frequent YouTube adverts that showcase Udemy in all its wonder.

However, did you know that there are actually tons of learning and training platforms like this? No? Well, it’s a good thing you’re here then because we’re going to take a look at the top 20 sites like Udemy!

Although training courses at Udemy are pretty cheap and there are thousands of options available, there are also other online learning platforms and marketplaces that offer more advanced courses or better learning experience.

Let’s get into the details, shall we?

(The ranking below is in no particular order).

1. Coursera

Coursera bundles everything into one, easy to use place. They have courses, certifications, and degrees from the most well-regarded universities and training companies around the world. There really isn’t much you can’t do with this platform.

The main difference between Udemy and Coursera is that the former includes courses from individual experts while the latter offers courses and training that are University level in terms of content depth.

Coursera focuses on building your skills for certain careers like graphic design, business management, coding, technology and others.

Their learning platform is modern, sleek, and well-tailored for the best possible user experience. Video tuition style is also very popular these days, so they’ve integrated this seamlessly into the system.

In fact, the whole training style is so good that 87% of people who finish have received significant career benefits (promotions, raises, etc).

The Benefits of Learning With Coursera

• They collaborate with top-quality universities
• Over 3900 courses to choose from
• Over 13 professional certificates to choose from
• Over 20 degrees to choose from
• Affordable
• Flexible payment options available
• End of module quizzes to support learning
• Industry-recognised credentials
• Large community to share your experiences and struggles with
• Opportunities for entire businesses to “skill up”

2. Skillshare

Much like Udemy, Skillshare has placed plenty of advertisements on YouTube videos. So yes, you’ve probably heard of it before. Regardless, we’re going to look at it a bit more in-depth.

This site is arguably one of the best learning platform around for creative qualifications and courses. They have a huge selection of artsy categories to choose from including:

• Animation
• Design
• Illustration
• Lifestyle
• Photo and Film
• Business (okay, this one isn’t creative but it’s a standard category for almost all online learning sites)
• Writing

If you’re of the arts and crafts disposition and fancy learning a bit more about this world, Skillshare is definitely the place to be. You do get a lot of bang for your buck with these guys.

The Benefits of Learning With Skillshare

• Loads of creative courses to choose from
• Helps elevate your creative career
• Big community to help and inspire you
• Real projects to participate in
• Variable class length to fit any schedule
• Can get started for free
• Taught by industry experts

3. Khan Academy

This learning platform isn’t in the game to make money. They’re a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to give the globe top-quality tuition for anyone, regardless of where they are.

They operate with a “personalized learning” attitude that allows pupils to study however and whenever they want to.

Moreover, they work with teachers to help understand the gaps in each student so they can tailor their in-class learning more effectively.

Khan Academy has proved priceless to many across the world.

The Benefits of Learning With Khan Academy

• Personalized learning platform
• Non-profit organisation
• Pages for learners, teachers, and parents
• Works alongside teachers
• Lots of courses to choose from
• Focuses on children and their development
• Backed by the Bank of America, CollegeBoard, and more

4. Coggno

Coggno brings smart, simplified training to entire organizations. They have loads of courses to choose from including:

• Email writing
• Clear work principles
• Enterprise engagement
• Calming upset customers
• Financial management
• And more

The developers have included a lot of features in this one. You and your organization can collaborate, attend webinars, share screens, use private meeting rooms, and do some live training. 

How does it work? Well, The Coggno Marketplaces gets in touch with leading experts and connects them to your company (depending on which course(s) you pick of course). This might sound like it takes forever and a day but their whole system is unbeatably seamless.

The Benefits of Learning With Coggno

• Ability to train the entire company
• Lots of courses to choose from
• Host webinars
• Collaborate with your organization while training
• Available on mobile devices
• Share screens
• Use private meeting rooms

5. Udacity

This training platform focuses on the skills and qualifications you’ll need to be super-employable in the tech industry.

All their courses are self-paced, part-time, and are fully based online so you don’t need to take too much time out of your busy schedule to learn.

They have managed to nab training courses from industry leaders like IBM, Google, AT&T, and loads more.

Regardless of the program you choose, you will be given real projects to collaborate and work on allowing you to put your new-found skills to the test.

Furthermore, your coursework will be graded and checked by a human so you’ll be given personalized feedback and advice.

They’re true titans in their field.

The Benefits of Learning With Udacity

• Personalized feedback
• Real projects to work on
• Many programs to choose from
• Learn by doing, not reading
• All online
• Part-time to fit any schedule
• Self-paced
• Courses made by industry leaders (Google, IBM etc)

6. Masterclass

It’s not only Skillshare and Udemy that ramped up their advertising game on YouTube, Masterclass has done it as well.

These guys have managed to create a platform that houses over 80 of the world’s most talented, famous athletes, gardeners, chefs, fashionistas, and writers. You won’t find this type of quality tuition anywhere else.

Imagine how much a one-to-one private lesson with Gordan Ramsey, Natalie Portman, or Serena Williams would cost! It would be extortionate, right? Not with Masterclass. For less than 20 dollars a month,  you get video training lessons from industry celebs whenever you want them. It’s just amazing!

The Benefits of Learning With Masterclass

• Learn from people at the top of their game
• Globally-recognised celebrities in their field like Gordon Ramsay, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chris Voss, and Penn ; Teller explain their skills
• Less than $20 a month
• A simple sign-up process
• Amazingly high-quality video tuition
• Self-paced learning at its finest
• Available on Google Play, Apple App Store, Roku, and Amazon Appstore
• Condensed lessons available for those on a tight schedule
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Downloadable class workbooks to test your brand-new skills

7. Curious

Honestly, their website will leave you wanting nothing more than to try it out. The site itself does incite curiosity which we suppose is the point!

The concept of this learning platform is to expand your CQ (Curious Quotient) by learning for 5, 15, or 30 minutes every day.

Once you’ve set up your account, they send you custom workouts each day on the topics (and time limit) you’ve specified.

They’ve managed to make an interactive learning wheel which helps you to visualize your progress across your chosen topics. It’s a unique concept, which we really appreciate as it makes the process an enjoyable one.

Not only will you learn awesome facts, but you’ll also be able to have a listen to conversations between industry experts and sit in-depth, bite-sized quizzes that elevate your learning. 

The Benefits of Learning With Curious

• CQ workouts that enhance cognitive function
• The interactive learning progress wheel
• Learn about any topic
• Features leaders like TED, Science Friday, The Daily Curio, and more
• Unique approach to learning
• Enjoyable
• Fits into any schedule (choose 5, 15, or 30-minute daily lessons)

8. LinkedIn Learning (Lynda)

If you have heard of Lynda.com, you’ve heard of LinkedIn Learning as they recently merged.

They have hundreds of courses covering topics such as software development, web development, photography, business, and design.

Regardless of the industry you’re in, you’ll be able to find something that can elevate you above your competitors.

All their courses are taught by industry leaders who are more than excited to share their knowledge, experience, and tactics to get you at the top of your game.

Plus, you’ll receive unlimited access to their entire range of lessons. LinkedIn Learning doesn’t force you to limit yourself.

The Benefits of Learning With LinkedIn Learning

• Developed by a reputable business platform
• Industry experts teach you
• Unlimited access to the entire lesson range
• First month is completely free

9. Pluralsight

Like Udacity, Pluralsight focuses on everything you need to “gen-up” for the tech industry.

Since this business sector is constantly changing and improving, you need to be doing that too! Pluralsight lets you update your knowledge, skills, and credentials easily with their range of courses.

Whether you need software development training, data management lessons or cybersecurity updates this platform is the one for you.

The Benefits of Learning With Pluralsight

• Focuses on the tech industry, so you can guarantee quality
• Lots of courses to pick from
• Free trial
• Flexible payment options
• Live tech conferences and webinars

10. Edureka

Even though their site feels a little dated they offer top-quality courses for those working in DevOps, Cloud Computing, BI, and Big Data. Yes, it’s another techie one!

They have many happy customers backing them who all say they had wonderful experiences. Not to mention that their career opportunities vastly opened up!

With unlimited access and tutors available around the clock to assist you, you’ll never feel like the tech world is outrunning you.

The Benefits of Learning With Edureka

• 24/7 tutor guidance
• Unlimited access to all courses
• Tracks career growth
• Clients include Visa, Cisco, Dell, and more
• Top-quality tech courses

11. CodeAcademy

As the name suggests, this learning platform focuses on teaching everyone how to code.

You can choose from learning code specific to building websites, analyzing data and everything in between! It’s the easiest way to learn code out there and is exceptionally well-priced for the quality of the courses.

Moreover, you won’t be expected to read a load of course material. Instead, you jump right into the real-world applications of code regardless of your experience level.

The Benefits of Learning With CodeAcademy

• Instant feedback when you submit code pieces
• Real-world projects to work on
• Learn by doing
• Learn the right type of code for what you’re trying to achieve

12. Learning.ly

Learning.ly is an all-rounder tuition site where you can study everything from biology to financial investment to Excel modelling and business Chinese. The world is quite literally your oyster with this one.

All the courses have been hand-picked by industry leaders from The Economist Group, so you can expect nothing but the best. They have also guaranteed their sign-up process is a simple 3-step procedure:

1. Find the course
2. Buy it
3. Access on any device

The Benefits of Learning With Learning.ly

• Big community
• Lots of special offers
• Live event access
• Receive alerts about new and upcoming courses
• Simple sign-up process
• 100% refund if not happy

13. Edx

This platform gives you access to over 2500 courses and degrees from top-quality institutions and awarding bodies. You can pick from various subjects including:

• Language
• Computer science
• Data science
• Business management
• Engineering
• Humanities

There are thousands of opportunities for you to increase your earnings, get a promotion and live your best life with Edx.

The Benefits of Learning With Edx

• Get your degree from the comfort of your home
• Backed by Harvard University, MIT, Berkeley, and others
• Wide range of subjects to study

14. OpenSesame

Their free trial lets you learn everything you need to about how OpenSesame works — even though it’s truly very simple.

They have more than 20,000 courses to choose from that allow you to develop your brand easily. If you run a business that would benefit from online group training, you can’t go wrong with OpenSesame.

The best thing about these guys, however, is their amazingly flexible payment options. You can decide to buy a subscription, a bundle of courses, or even just one course.

The Benefits of Learning With OpenSesame

• Over 20,000 courses
• Free trial
• Super-flexible payment plans
• Emailed resources
• Easy, corporate learning

15. Alison

For those who are on a tight budget, Alison can help.

They offer free, fully-online courses from global experts on a variety of topics such as business, science, language, tech, health, math, and lifestyle.

Everything you need to boost your career, right from your sofa. And you don’t even have to splash the cash!

The Benefits of Learning With Alison

• Tons of courses to choose from
• Completely free
• Lots of subjects that will help elevate any career
• Easy sign-up process
• Easy to find the course you’re interested in

16. Academic Earth

Academic Earth began back in 2009 when the world of online education hadn’t blossomed. Today, as you know, it has exploded and Academic Earth has been along for the ride.

Their courses are the best of the best due to the fact they still hand-select the greatest ones from the highest quality universities.

Oh, and it’s all for free. 

The Benefits of Learning With Academic Earth

• Completely free
• Study degrees
• Hand-selected, quality courses
• Industry leader-led tuition

17. Simpliv

They have over 1 million video lessons for you to pick from so you never get left behind in the ever-changing tech world.

Once you’ve completed a course, you are rewarded with an industry-recognized certificate. Your efforts with Simpliv will not go unrecognized.

The Benefits of Learning With Simpliv

• Live training
• Learn by doing
• Over 1 million video lessons to pick from
• Valid credentials
• Self-paced learning

18. Cisco Networking Academy

Cisco recognizes that all industries are undergoing changes. That’s why they bring hundreds of courses on many different topics.

This platform is slightly different from the others since it offers both online and in-person training. Most people seem to prefer the real-life classroom environment but if you want to learn from your sofa, Cisco can get you where you want to be.

The Benefits of Learning With Cisco Networking Academy

• Online learning option
• In-person learning option
• Lots of courses to pick from
• Backed by companies like Verizon, IBM, and CDW
• Get Industry Level Certifications which are highly recognized for employment. 

19. CBT Nuggets

These guys have been in the game for over 20 years. They seriously know their stuff when it comes to IT Training and certifications so you won’t go wrong when you study with them.

The Benefits of Learning With CBT Nuggets

• 1-week free trial
• Over 20 years experience
• Loads of resources
• Focused on I.T training and certifications.

20. Linux Foundation Training

This learning platform helps corporate companies learn all they need to know about open-source software.

You can choose between free and paid tuition so it’s easy for companies on a tight budget. Regardless, you will receive instructor-led video training which offers gold-standard, in-depth training that you won’t find elsewhere.

The Benefits of Learning With Linux Foundation Training

• Self-paced
• Budget-friendly
• Instructor-led tuition
• Corporate classes available
• Focuses on high-quality training on 1 topic vs quantity
• Many Linux courses together with System Administration, Cloud, Networking etc.