Skillshare review: is the membership worth it?

Skillshare offers a free trial for anyone curious about the service. Even then, many people shy away from free trials out of fear of being charged. So, if you’re undecided about joining, hopefully this review helps you make a choice! Quick overview: Skillshare is an online learning platform offering courses on a variety of fields. As the name suggests, it puts a special focus on skills and the practical. How does it compare to other learning platforms? Unlike is the case with EdX and Coursera, most courses on Skillshare are curated by individual instructors, rather than universities. You also get unlimited access to all classes, whereas in most other platforms you pay by course. The ‘practical’ focus is the most evident here than in all the learning platforms I’ve tried. If you go to the “Browse” section on the website, you can see. The four main categories are “Creative”, “Business”, “Technology”, and “Lifestyle”. Since Skillshare has been growing quite recently, the variety of courses they offer might expand with time.

Are the courses themselves any good? As with most platforms, it depends on the course you choose. In my experience, I’ve encountered only good classes with high production value, and instructors who presented the content in a reasonable and professional manner. This speed reading class was the first one I took. If you’re doubtful about the quality of any course, looking through the reviews should give you some insight. Either way, your membership allows you unlimited access to classes, so don’t be afraid to try as many as you like! Strong points (Pros):

• Ideal for practical tutorials. If you’re looking for thorough lessons on basic skills, or courses to improve your everyday life, Skillshare is perfect. Plenty of courses on writing, drawing, how to brew a perfect cup of coffee, and the like. By all means, much more thorough than anything you could find on YouTube.
• Easy to follow. Because courses are structured, you’re more likely to actually acquire new skills from them, than if you were to look for short tutorials on your own. Most classes have assignments for you to complete, so it pushes you to get some work done.
• Unlimited access to classes. The big upside of a membership, you get to join any classes before deciding to commit to one. And you get instant access to every new class as soon as it comes out!

Points of improvement (Cons):

• Buffering speeds. The website doesn’t offer resolution options, so it often results in slow buffering. You might experience problems if you have slow internet. However, installing the Skillshare app would be a quick solution! There, you can download full classes for offline watching.
• The rating system. It might be easier to get an idea of a course, with a rating model such as the 5-star rating. The thumbs-up/thumbs-down makes it a little harder to tell the quality of a given class.

And a word of advice: Many complaints about Skillshare involve the free trial period. But after trying a whole month myself, I can confirm it’s no different from other trials. As long as you don’t forget to cancel it, you should be fine! Schedule a reminder if it concerns you too much. So, what do you think? Have you tried Skillshare before?  Is it a right fit for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, or try it!