Ever heard of Skillshare?
Skillshare is an online platform where industry professionals teach you courses. These courses range from photography, art, design, to marketing, entrepreneurship, cooking, and more. You pay a yearly or monthly fee which allows you to take all of the existing courses the platform offers.
There are many other online learning platforms but for some reason, Skillshare seems to be the most popular one.
Here are 7 reasons why Skillshare is worth it:
1. You can get FREE access to all of Skillshare’s videos for one month
Before you commit to Skillshare by getting a subscription, they offer a free 1-month trial. If you don’t want to commit to them you can easily cancel your subscription before your trial ends. This way you’ll get access to all of Skillshare’s videos for free.
After that, they’ll automatically charge you monthly ($32) or for a full year ($168, which comes down to $14 a month) depending on what you choose when signing up for the trial.
Almost no learning platform has such a long free trial plan. The only one that does offer a longer free trial plan is Pluralsight, but I’ve tried it before and they don’t have a lot of creative courses.
Here’s a tip: Set a reminder on your phone to cancel the trial before the date ends. This way you avoid accidentally getting a subscription. Trust me, been there done that (thanks Zalando!)
2. Your favorite artist has a Skillshare class
Since Skillshare markets through popular Youtube artists chances are your favorite artist offers a unique course on Skillshare. By signing up and taking their classes you will support them financially.
A win-win!
Currently, my favorite Youtuber that has a Skillshare class is Chris Hong.
3. On Skillshare you get access to thousands of classes instead of just one
Skillshare offers over 34,000 courses. Other popular learning platforms charge you per class. Eventually, this is more expensive than paying to get access to every single class.
Platforms that offer individual classes are Udemy and Domestika for example. They do offer subscription plans, but they have caveats.
4. Skillshare is the cheapest out of all other teaching platforms
The price of a Skillshare subscription is based on where you live. If you live in America, you’ll pay $168 a year which comes down to $14 per month. A monthly subscription will cost you $32 per month.
I’ve compared other learning platforms and as you’re about to see they are either more expensive or don’t offer their full library of courses, unlike Skillshare:
- PluralSight (individual premium subscription): 10 day free trial + $449 a year
- This subscription gives you access to all of PluralSight
- CON: PluralSight doesn’t offer the best courses for creatives
- Domestika (plus subscription): $82,80 a year
- This subscription gives you access to over 1000 classes + 1 credit each month which you can exchange for a class of your liking.
- They do offer single-course purchases
- CON: With this subscription, you only get access to a fraction of their classes
- Udemy (Personal Plan): 7-day trial: $240* a year
- You get access to 8,000+ courses
- *Paying annually isn’t available to everyone so prices may differ
- They do offer single-course purchases
- CON: Udemy offers a lot fewer courses for more money than other platforms
5. You can mix and match courses from different categories
The strength of Skillshare is that they have tens of thousands of classes. With other learning platforms, you often have to pay per class which in the end, is more expensive than paying once a year for that many classes.
So even if you signed up for doing art you can branch out to other things.
For example, I’m always interested in learning to do art. But I’m also currently setting up my Youtube channel. Luckily, Skillshare also offers Social Media and marketing courses!
6. Due to Skillshare’s popularity there’s a big community
Since Skillshare is so popular within the online art community, you can post your work on social media and easily engage with other artists that are doing the same course. You might also get a shout-out from the teacher!
How fun would it be to do a course with an art friend?!
7. Skillshare often has a discount going on
Skillshare often has a discount going on. Think of holidays like Black Friday, or summer sales. Right now, you can get a SkillShare year subscription at 50 percent off!
This means that depending on your location, a year subscription could only be $84!!
Is Skillshare worth it for artists?
In my opinion as an ever-learning artist:
Skillshare is worth it for artists and other creatives. Skillshare’s main categories of courses are drawing and painting, animation, digital illustration, crafts, and graphic design.
That’s why if you’re creative, Skillshare is the best learning platform in my opinion.
How does Skillshare work?
How Skillshare differs from free learning platforms like Youtube is that they screen their teachers before allowing them to teach.
Skillshare works by offering students over 34K courses in categories such as illustration, drawing and painting, marketing, social media, and more. These courses are taught by the best (and often popular) professionals in their field.
After signing up you get access to all of these courses.
What are the downsides of Skillshare?
The only downside of Skillshare I found was that they are not up-front with their prices. I had to search their website thoroughly to find out what their subscription plans are.
After a long search, I found out that their payment plan differs per country. In my opinion, it would be better if they are upfront and honest about this on their homepage. Why not clearly state this?
This creates less trust in them.
If it weren’t for their marketing and collabs with trustworthy artists and renowned brands like Forbes, BBC, etc. I wouldn’t have trusted them as much as I do now.
Most frequently asked questions about Skillshare
Find here answers to your questions about Skillshare:
Is Skillshare free?
Skillshare is not a free platform, although you can get a free 1-month trial. After that, you need an annual or monthly subscription which, based on where you live, costs $168 per year or $32 per month.
Is Skillshare safe?
Skillshare is a safe platform used by hundreds of thousands of students. They make use of safe pay and the teachers need to be qualified before they can teach.
Does Skillshare look good on a resume?
In my opinion:
Having Skillshare courses on your resume shows initiative and willingness to learn. This is a great asset to have according to job interviewers. Skillshare on your resume is especially interesting to job interviewers in the creative sector.
How much does a Skillshare subscription cost?
A year subscription to Skillshare costs $168 and a monthly subscription to Skillshare costs $32 a month.
I hope that this article helped you get a free monthly trial. After all, it doesn’t cost you a thing if you decide to cancel. Just be sure to set a reminder to cancel in time!
If you’d like to receive tips and tricks like these, be sure to subscribe to my free artletter!
See you next week,
♡ Laura
