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This article, first published in December 2014, was updated to represent recent changes across the platforms. It now compares Udemy Vs Udacity Vs Coursera online courses platforms.
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Udemy is an online market place open to ”industry experts” to teach their knowledge and area of expertise to learners.
Udacity partners with “industry leaders” like Google, Facebook, AT&T & Microsoft, to teach technology skills today employers need.
Coursera partners with “top Universities” like Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Manchester, and University of Sydney etc to offer courses to learners around the world.
In addition to their different models, the major difference here is in “who creates the content”. The decision is between learning from industry experts (Udemy), industry employers (Udacity) and top university professors (Coursera).
Comparison of Udemy Vs Udacity Vs Coursera
The table below is a side-by-side comparison of the three major online learning platforms.
| Udemy | Udacity | Coursera | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founders | Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, Oktay Caglar | Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens | Daphne Koller, Andrew Ng |
| Launched | 2010 | February 2012 | April 2012 |
| Objective | To help anyone learn anything | To bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective higher education to the world | To provide universal access to the world’s best education |
| Beginner Courses | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Intermediate Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Course Content Creators | Authors, professors, experts, professionals, entrepreneurs, public speakers | Industry Employers and experts from tech companies | Professors from top colleges and universities |
| Partners | Individual instructors | Tech companies | Colleges & universities |
| Subject Areas | Almost everything from business & entrepreneurship, academics, the arts, health & fitness, language, music, photography, yoga, technology, games | Technology related courses. Android, iOS, data analytics, Software Engineering & Web development | Courses are offered in academic-style category: Business, Computer Science, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Data Science, Life Sciences etc |
| Number of Courses | 65,000+ | 150+ | 2,000+ |
| Users | 15 million+ | 1.6 million+ | 24 million+ |
| Video on Demand | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live Classes | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes for Some courses | Yes | Yes |
| Download for offline | Instructor can choose to enable or disable this feature. Courses can be saved for offline viewing on mobile app | Yes | Courses can be saved for offline viewing on mobile app |
| Quizzes & Assessment | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Courses | Available | Available | Available |
| Paid Courses | $20-$200 (one-time) | $199 per month | $29 - $499 (one-time) |
| Refund Policy | Within 30 days of purchase | Cancel enrollment at any time. Does not refund monthly fee once a given month has been billed. | Two weeks after your payment date, or until you earn a Course Certificate. |
| Discounts & Coupons | Readily available – Get Udemy Courses for $11.99. | Limited | Limited. Usually available for Specializations |
| Certification | Yes. For most courses | Available for Paid option | Available for Paid option |
| Popularity/ Alexa Ranking (as at 06 March 2018) | 344 | 1,356 | 650 |
| Learners Community | No | Yes | Yes |
| Quality Control | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| User Rating & Reviews | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Website | Visit Udemy.com | Visit Udacity.com | Visit Coursera.org |
Udemy, Udacity or Coursera – Which is better?
Eventually, it’s totally up to you to decide. If you want to learn technology skills from tech companies, pay about $200 per month to complete the course and get a certificate, consider Udacity. Browse Courses on Udacity.
If you want to learn anything from android, iOS & web development to business & entrepreneurship, academics, health & fitness, language, music, photography, yoga, games etc, in a less academic style, consider Udemy. Browse Courses on Udemy.
If you want a more university style learning from the academia, consider Coursera. Browse Courses on Coursera
Other online courses platforms comparison for you
- Coursera Vs Udemy: Which is the Best Online Learning/Training Platform?
- Coursera Vs Udemy Vs Edx: Comparison
- Udemy Vs Coursera Vs Lynda: which is best for students?
