Coursera Cost in 2023 | Course Fees & Subscription Pricing

You may be looking to buy a Coursera course but you are not sure how much does Coursera cost. Let me give you a complete lowdown on Coursera pricing in this post.

Coursera pricing is not straightforward. It varies from free to almost $15000.

Coursera offers the below-mentioned pricing models for different types of courses.

Before going further, I would suggest you create a free Coursera login as the course prices are visible only to logged in members.

How Much Does Coursera Cost?

Coursera provides a huge range of courses. The price of a course depends upon the type of course you are buying.

I will not go into detail on the type of courses offered by Coursera in this article. You can refer to my article that review of Coursera to understand its offerings. You can also read my article on best Coursera courses to find its top offerings.

Based on the price, Coursera courses can be categorized into the following groups.

I. Free Courses

At the time of writing this article, Coursera was offering 1200+ free courses. As with any other course on Coursera, these too are provided by the leading universities and top global companies. Even free Coursera courses are completely legit.

These courses are free of any charge for learning purposes. You can enroll into these courses by using “Full Course, No Certificate” option. Coursera will allow you to access full study material and submit required assessments. You will get your final grade without the course certificate.

If you take this option and later want the course certificate, you can buy the certificate separately. The cost of the certificate varies with the course. It can cost anywhere between $39 to $79. You can find out the cost of certificate by logging in and going to the course page.

II. Free Audit

Coursera provides an option to audit most of its courses. It allows you to learn for free even if the course is not categorized as “free”.

You can audit a course without paying any money. When you audit a course, you will be able to watch the videos and study the reading material but you will not be able to submit any assignments or get grades.

Coursera does not provide course completion certificates for audited courses. However, you can upgrade your enrollment and pay for the certificate later. You can do so while auditing the course or after completing it. To get the course certificate, you may have to finish extra coursework that is not part of the audited version.

Some courses don’t come with an audit option. In order to determine if a particular course can be audited or not, you will need to login to Coursera and then click on Enroll button on the course page. It will show you is a course can be audited. You can enroll into an un-auditable course only by paying the course fee.

Note: You can audit individual courses within a Specialization but not the whole specialization in one go. In order to audit a Specialization, you will need to audit its individual courses one by one.

III. Free Trials

Many courses on Coursera are free while most others are free to audit. This leaves a minuscule number of courses which are fully paid but Coursera allows you to take a free trial of these courses.

A free trial allows you to try a course or a Specialization before you invest in it. You can enroll into any singular course or Specialization course for a period of 7 days without paying any money. During the trial period, you will get unhindered access to all the course features including assignments but you will not be able to see hand-on projects.

Some Specializations include hands-on project, which are called Capstone projects. These projects pose a practical question or problem related to the Specialization topic. These need to be completed to earn the Specialization certificate.

A Capstone project cannot be done within a free trial.

To start a free trial, you will have to enter your credit card details. You might see a small authorization charge of less than $1 on your card when you enroll for a free trial. This charge be refunded to you and you won’t be charged extra if you cancel the trial before the end of 7-day period.

Your free trial will automatically become a paid a subscription at the beginning of the 8th day after you start your trial. Your card will be charged monthly subscription fee if you don’t cancel the trial within 7 days.

The subscription cost ranges between $39-79 per month depending on the course.

Coursera free trials have a big advantage. You can potentially earn the course certificate if you finish the course during your free trial period.

III.  Per Course Fee

You can buy a singular courses on Coursera by paying a flat fee. You need to pay this fee only if you want a course completion certificate. Otherwise, you can take the free course option or course audit if either of them is available.

The fee for a singular course varies between $39-79. You can find out the fee by logging in and going to the course page.

After you buy your chosen course, you will be able to submit assignments and get grades. You will get 180 days to complete your studies, submit assignments, and earn the certificate.

If your course is a part of a Specialization, you can also pursue it by paying a monthly subscription fee. You can read about subscriptions in the next section.

IV. Subscription Cost

Coursera provides an option to take monthly subscription for a Single Courses, Professional Certificates, and Specializations. The subscriptions are generally useful if you want to take a Professional Certificate or do a Specialization.

The cost of subscription varies with the courses and it ranges between $39-79 per month.

After you take subscription for a Specialization, you will be charged every month until you finish all the Specialization courses and earn respective certificates, or until you cancel the subscription. You can find out the cost of a Specialization by logging into Coursera and going to the Specialization page.

During the subscription period, you will have complete access to the study materials of any course that is part of the Specialization. You have the option to either finish all the courses of the Specialization or finish some of the courses and discontinue the subscription. You can cancel your subscription anytime before completing the Specialization.

I would recommend you to complete all the courses of a Specialization after you start it. This way you will get Specialization certificate that can help you in your career. You should try to complete your specialization as soon as you can to save the monthly subscription cost.

V. Coursera Plus Subscription Pricing

Coursera has recently rolled an annual subscription program called Coursera Plus. It is a annual subscription program that gives you unlimited access 3000+ courses, Specializations, and Professional Certificates.

Coursera Plus comes at an attractive pricing of $399 per year. It comes with a 14-day money back guarantee. In some countries, you can buy this it in your local currency. You can click here to check price in your country.

With Coursera Plus subscription, you can take as many courses as you want. Coursera does not impose any limitation on number of courses you can enroll into or certificates that you can earn.

Coursera Plus includes most of the courses, Professional Certificates, and Specializations but MasterTrack Certificates and Degrees are not included in it. You will see a Coursera Plus badge on the course page if that course is part of Coursera Plus subscription. The badge is only visible to the Coursera Plus subscribers.

VI. MasterTrack Certificate Price

MasterTrack certificates are more costly than any of the other courses discussed above. These certificates include courses from University Degree programs and their credits are counted for the full Degree.

MasterTrack certificate is released only after all its courses are completed. MasterTrack courses can be done only as a unit and can’t be taken as individual courses. They usually run for the length of a semester.

A MasterTrack certificate can cost anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000. As with other courses on Coursera, you can find the course fee of a MasterTrack course by going to its course page. Payments for a MasterTrack certificate can be either made fully or in installments. You can availa an option of paying four equal payments in four consecutive months. If you take an installment plan, you’ll be charged for the entire program even if you don’t complete it.

You cannot avail financial aid or do free audits for MasterTrack courses.

VII. Degree Programs Price

Coursera offers Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in association with world’s leading universities. These are usual length programs running anywhere from one to four years. The course curriculum of an online Degree is same as the curriculum of on-campus Degree.

Degree programs start on a specific dates during the year. You need to send in a formal application and take prior approval to join these programs. There are firm deadlines for applying to a program.

The cost of a Degree program from Coursera is comparatively much less than a similar program that is on-campus.

The all-in price of a Coursera’s online Degree start at $15,000. You also get an option to pay the program fee in installments. On the other hand, the yearly cost of an on-campus Degree program can be as high as $50,000 that excludes living expenses and other incidentals.

You can find about course curriculum, application deadlines, pricing of a Coursera Degree by directly going to its course page.

VIII. Financial Aid

Coursera offers financial aid to needy student for its courses by which you can get you a 100% fee waiver. You have file an application with Coursera to receive the financial aid. You can read all about the fee waivers in my other article on Coursera financial aid.

Coursera Pricing – Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I transfer my course credit to another course?

Unfortunately, Coursera doesn’t allow transfer of credits from one course to another. You have to separately buy the other course if you want to.

2. I want to do only a single course from a Specialization. Can I do it and will I get a certificate?

Yes, you can do a single course from a Specialization. You will get the certificates for all the courses that you complete.

3. How long do I need to pay for the specialization?

You can enroll into a Specialization by taking monthly subscription. That means you only have to keep on paying monthly till the time you finish the Specialization. If you want, you can cancel the subscription in between but you will not get a refund on the fee that you have already paid.

You have the freedom of canceling the course even after 1^st month’s charges.

Coursera Fee Refund

The refund policy for a single course is quite simple. If you don’t want to continue with your course for whatsoever reason than you can ask for a refund. You can get a full refund within 2 weeks of taking the course but you will not get any refund if you have already earned the course certificate.

The refund policy for a Specialization is little bit tricky. You can ask for refund within two weeks of a Specialization subscription only if you have pre-paid for it. You will not get any refund if you have already taken a course certificate. You will also not get any refund if you are on a monthly subscription plan.

You can also request for a refund if you have taken Coursera Plus subscription within two weeks of taking the subscription.

Final Thoughts

Coursera provides a great learning experience for everyone. It comes with plenty of options. You should take a course that is suitable for your career and good for your pocket. In addition, Coursera Plus is extremely good for students or youngsters who have just started their career.

In my opinion, Coursera certificates provide a good value for your money. I would suggest you to create a free login on Coursera and explore its course.

Over To You

Which type of course are you thinking of taking? What subjects are you are interested in? Do you think Coursera is costly as compared to other eLearning platforms.

I would love to hear from you.