Best Online Course Platform in 2019 – The Ultimate Guide

The following article provides details regarding the various online platforms available for learning in 2019 and which ones would prove to be the best for you.

There are platforms multiple options to choose from when it comes to online learning platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, edX, Pluralsight, Udacity and a few more.

Choosing one platform from these many options can turn out to be tricky. So before investing your time and money in a platform I’d advise you to go through this article thoroughly.

No platform is bad and each has its own USP. Which platform suits you depends on factors such as the course you want to opt for, your career orientation, budget and learning speed.

I have had firsthand experience with these platforms and hence know about their teaching styles, their courses, the quality of their content and their prices.

What is an online course platform?

Online course platform is a type of Learning Management System (LMS). These platforms provide students with access to digital classes or e-learning classes. You can also refer to it as the virtual classes.

These virtual or digital classes are somewhat similar to the offline course. With the online classes, instructors share valuable knowledge with users. The instructors provide knowledge in the form of PDFs, videos, text, audio, etc. You can take a practice tests, quizzes, etc.

What is the Best Online Course Platform?

There is a large variety of online course platform available. This can lead to confusion when you have to choose one out of the whole lot.

After reading this article, it might become clear to you as to which platform is best suited for you.

1. Udemy

Udemy is one of the best platforms to learn at very cheap prices. It has 100,000+ courses with 24 Million+ students on its platform. It has courses in almost field (as per the data collected in June, 2019).

You can learn yoga, singing, playing guitar and Artificial Intelligence all in one platform. Name a course and you will get it on Udemy.

The instructors on this platform are industry experts. There is a huge number of courses available on this platform. For this reason, you need to find out the courses that suit you.

Udemy provides lifetime access to the course with its study materials. So, once bought courses will be there with you forever.

To know more about Udemy, check this review out.

2.      Pluralsight

This is one of the advanced platforms and comes with lots of features.

Pluralsight has this unique feature where you need to subscribe once and all the courses become available to you at once. So, with one subscription, you can access all the course materials.

Pluralsight mostly has tech related courses. They offer some of the most advanced courses on its platforms. Know more about this platform.

It comes with 10 days of free trial along with project-based learning. That means you will get hands-on practical training. You will also get a certificate of completion. It has a guided path to help you with the learning. It comes with a different pricing plan for Individuals and for Businesses. For individuals, the prices start from $29/month. For business, costs begin at $499/Year per user. There are lots of price options available, read more here.

3.  Coursera

Coursera was founded in 2012 to offer quality education to its students. It’s more like classroom teaching. You will find courses from the world’s elite universities.

With Coursera you can learn specific topics. These will be highly productive courses with quizzes and assignments. It has a wide range of options to choose from.

It also offers Master Degree options. You can complete your master degree from Coursera.

In short, Coursera has 2 different types of courses to offer: –

1. Specialization Course – To learn any specific technology.
2. Master Course – To complete master degree.

The pricing and Costing of these courses vary a lot. The price will vary depending upon the course.

4. edX

The main competitor of Coursera is edX.

edX was founded in 2012 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Here, similar to Coursera, you will find courses from all around the world. The elite universities are listed on this platform.

They provide a professional certificate for specific technologies. edX also provides master degree and credits for master degree.

The quality of education is great. They also provide scholarships for education.

Get complete ins and outs of edx platform here.

5. Udacity

If you want to get a job Udacity is the platform you should look for.

Here you will get lectures from Google, Amazon, Kaggle, etc. The experts of these platforms will teach conduct the lectures.

You will also get quizzes, tests, etc. to help you boost your knowledge. They will also provide real-life industry level projects for you to carry on. These projects will be helpful to gain knowledge and make a portfolio.

One of the key features of Udacity is that they provide a job call to their students. You can get placed with a companies like – Amazon, Facebook, etc.

If you want to get a job check Udacity.

Final Thoughts

The above list shows the best online course platforms from all around the globe. You should choose the platform which caters to your needs in the best way possible.

According to me here is how you should go about choosing platforms for yourself: –

1. Students– Go for edX or Coursera
2. Job Professional – You can try Udemy or Pluralsight to update your knowledge.
3. Job Seeker– You can try Udacity or Pluralsight.

The e-learning industry is growing rapidly. This has led to a lot of E-Learning platforms to crop up. But every online learning platforms has its own USP and offerings. This becomes very important to select the best online course platform for yourself, one which fulfils your needs.

Over To You

Do let me know in the comments below which platform you have opted for and the reasons behind it.