Just a reminder, whenever possible I use affiliate links in my reviews to help cover the costs of running this site.

In this Skillshare review, we’ll explore whether Skillshare is worth it for online learners or if there are better options available.

As an online creator and consultant, I am constantly learning new skills to keep up with business and make customers happy. To do this, I have relied heavily on online learning for the past five years. Usually, when I want to learn something new I just go to YouTube and write a question and hope for the best.

Most of the time, I find videos taught by “experts” with endless ad breaks and pitches to buy their business. I mean, what else can you expect from a “free course”. Recently, fed up with the poor quality and questionable knowledge shared on free platforms, I turned to an online learning platform I keep hearing a lot about: Skillshare.

Impressed by Skillshare’s high-quality free classes, I signed up for an annual membership (and got 40% off that in the Skillshare pricing section) and delved into the Skillshare courses offered to members. Premium.

I will share my experience as a Skillshare learner here in this detailed review. While some online course reviews are retellings of sales pages, everything you’re about to read comes straight from my own experience as an avid learner.

Skillshare Pros and Cons
Like Leslie Knope, I like a good pros and cons list. So here is mine for Skillshare:

Pros:
✅ Large selection of over 30,000 courses
✅ Free one-month trial
✅ Wide variety of course topics and length
✅ Project-based learning
✅ Affordable
✅ Discounts and perks for additional products and services
✅ Refer a friend = 1 month additional free
✅ Curated Learning Paths

Cons:
🚫 Quality of courses vary
🚫 No certificates or accreditation
🚫 No “MasterClass caliber” instructors

What is Skillshare?

Skillshare is an online learning community for students to take online video classes at their own pace. The Skillshare platform offers a wide variety of niche skills such as UX design, creative writing, business analytics, graphic design, Photoshop, web development, and more.

Founded in New York in 2010 by Michael Karnjanprakorn and Malcolm Ong, the primary means of learning offered by Skillshare is completing a project while watching online video content.

Compared to other e-learning platforms, Skillshare is cost-effective and an excellent launching point for people looking for new courses to boost their career skills or pursue new interests.

Skillshare divides its courses into the following categories:

• advertising
• Business
• design
• entrepreneurship
• fashion and style
• film and video
• Food & Beverage
• Gambling
• music
• photography
• social media
• technology
• writing and publishing

Introducing Learning Paths by Skillshare

On the other hand, Learning Path certainly seems more suitable for students who are eager to learn but don’t want to spend time browsing to choose the right courses. Instead, Skillshare created learning paths where carefully selected courses come together to create a cohesive and comprehensive learning path.

At the time of publication, Skillshare has launched 35 learning paths covering a variety of learning topics such as piano playing and self-care.

Basically, when you take a learning path, you’re essentially signing up for three to five Skillshare courses.

I reviewed a few of the selected ones and noticed that all the classes are original Skillshare productions. That doesn’t mean they will reach out to the Skillshare community of instructors and create other learning paths. But for now, it looks like Skillshare is keeping the content of this new feature under wraps.

How much does Skillshare cost?

If you’ve Googled “Cost Skillshare” but haven’t found a pricing page, you’re not alone. Skillshare isn’t open about its price, but to save you all the trouble of searching the internet, here’s a quick breakdown of what you can expect to pay for Skillshare.

• Free Subscription: Yes, Skillshare offers a 1-month free trial if you subscribe to their monthly plan (you can cancel at any time before being charged).
• Monthly Subscription: After one month free trial, Skillshare costs $32 per month
• Annual: If you want to save, an annual subscription costs $168, which averages $14 per month.

At various times of the year, Skillshare offers a 40% off promotion (promo code “annual40aff”), which means you can sign up for an annual Skillshare membership for a hair over $100. (Prices vary for our readers outside of the US.) However, for other times of the year, you can get a 30% discount using the button below.

Skillshare also offers team memberships if you want to give access to your book club or group of office mates.

Finally, if you want to keep costs down, Skillshare gives students a free month for every new student they refer. That’s right, if you refer a dozen friends, you’ll get access to Skillshare for an additional year at no additional cost. It’s not a bad deal.