Udemy vs Coursera: Which is Better for Online Learning?

“Much to learn, you still have” – Master Yoda knows what he is talking about. Everyone needs to learn one skill or the other for work, self-improvement, or fun. A person never fully understands the mysteries of the Universe. However, we can master the required skills to deal with anything life throws us.

Fortunately, sites like Udemy and Coursera exist to teach us a wide range of skills. They have the right courses regardless of how trivial or complex a skill you want to master. Want to know how to mix paints to get the exact shade you are after? Do you feel like embarking on the journey of learning more about AI? Udemy and Coursera will help you.

The Coursera Udemy dilemma is quite common because both websites have unique strengths. That is why we are helping you analyze the pros and cons of using both websites to decide which is victorious in the Udemy Vs Coursera debate. You may have many regrets in life, but the choice you make after reading this article will not be one of them.

About Udemy And Coursera

Udemy is an online learning platform where anyone can upload courses. This freedom to upload makes it possible for skilled experts to provide a variety of courses. You will find a course for almost any skill you search for. Do you want to draw like a veteran artist? Do you like learning about music theory, pencil shading, SEO, coding, and AI?

All you have to do is search for the courses on Udemy and filter them according to your needs. Furthermore, you don’t have to subscribe to the website. You simply pay for the course that is right for you. Udemy is the most affordable learning platform due to its frequent flash sales.

Coursera is a well-recognized learning platform that offers structured and in-depth courses on various topics and skills. It is a fantastic choice if you want to advance your career, as its courses are from reputed universities and institutions. Want to know about Machine learning, programming languages, and cloud engineering? Coursera won’t let you down.

Another great thing about Coursera is you can earn online degrees from prestigious universities. The graded assignments and projects help you prepare for real-world situations. You don’t simply learn something, you understand how to apply it. You won’t have any trouble creating a stunning portfolio once you complete the courses on Coursera.

Key Features Comparison

Coursera and Udemy are excellent choices for gaining new skills. But, which one is better Udemy or Coursera? We will compare everything from the courses offered to the certification value of these two websites to decide.

Course Offerings

Firstly, let’s compare Coursera and Udemy based on the variety of courses they provide. Udemy offers many more courses of a wide variety compared to Coursera. You will find several courses even on obscure topics, as experts in various fields share their skills and insights. 

Udemy is well-known for its courses in arts, personal development, design, music, and marketing categories. You will be presented with a plethora of highly-rated courses if you type ‘novel writing’ or ‘music theory’ in the search field. Now, if you do the same on Coursera, the result will be underwhelming, to say the least.

However, Coursera is an excellent option for getting professional certificates and specializing in a field. Its courses on AI are fantabulous and it has some exemplary courses on web design, data analytics, marketing, and data science. Coursera aids in career growth, as giants like Google, Meta, IBM, Yale, Stanford, etc provide the courses.

✅ Winner – Udemy

Content Quality

The content quality varies on Udemy, as even wannabe experts upload courses from time to time. That is why, you have to carefully analyze course content and read the reviews before you choose to purchase a course. Fortunately, the 30-day money-back guarantee is available even if you make a mistake and purchase a mediocre course.

That doesn’t mean Udemy doesn’t have high-quality content. Its top-rated courses can give other learning platforms a run for their money. I enrolled in a pencil shading course for beginners and the instructor was great at explaining how to shade perfectly. His explanation of the various pencils used and how to mix and use the soft and hard leads was spectacular.

Other highly-rated courses, too, didn’t disappoint me. Honestly, its top-rated courses on MS Excel are some of the best I have come across. In the Udemy vs Coursera for Excel battle, Udemy wins. Of course, there are some useless courses mixed in, too. On the contrary, all the courses on Coursera are of high quality irrespective of the category you choose. 

This is no surprise as industry experts and popular universities develop the courses. Reliable and straightforward content is one of Coursera’s greatest strengths. You can audit most paid courses, and the free courses have great content, too. Therefore, Coursera beats Udemy when it comes to content quality quite easily.

✅ Winner – Coursera

Instructors Experience

Coursera has excellent instructors who know exactly how to teach you what is required. They aren’t as stuffy as the professors you usually have to put up with in traditional classrooms. But they don’t go out of their way to make things fun for you either. You get exactly what you asked for if you enroll in a course – you gain knowledge and skills.

I completed a course on graphic design foundations on Coursera. The California Institute of the Arts had developed it. The instructor clearly explained typography, visual contrast, and connotative and denotative images. The course helped improve my art a lot. But was it fun? Nope. Udemy instructors are fun even when they discuss or explain complex concepts. 

The video lectures are always entertaining. Some instructors tell you humorous stories about themselves to help you remember why certain tips and tricks are handy. For example, Kyle Pew, my favorite MS Excel instructor, told a story about how he didn’t know why he wrote a line of code in VBA. 

It had been several months since he wrote that code; so, he had to check all the lines of code he had written in that module before that particular line of code. That is why you should always write comments explaining the code you wrote – to help others and yourself. As you can see, Udemy instructors let you see their flawed side to assist in your learning.

✅ Winner – Udemy (when comparing only the top-rated courses of both websites).

Learning Methods

Usually, you are quizzed on the concepts you learned in between the video lectures on Udemy. That ensures you pay close attention to the lectures. Moreover, the instructors provide you with any additional downloadable resources necessary for completing the course. Sometimes, they provide links to other learning resources, too.

Coursera courses usually have multiple graded quizzes and assignments. You have to be attentive during the entire lecture, as you never know which concept you will be quizzed on. I made the mistake of being half-awake during one of the video lectures and got quizzed on precisely that part. 

As the course was an introduction to Psychology, the question was about one of Freud’s theories. Fortunately, I didn’t have to put up with Freud for long. The instructor moved on to much more interesting topics. He even spoke a little about Batman’s trauma and PTSD.

No clear winner emerges in this round of the Coursera Vs Udemy battle, as both websites predominantly use video lectures to help you master a concept or skill. So, you can’t decide whether Udemy or Coursera is better for you based on the results of this round. After all, Udemy cannot maintain its popularity if its learning methods are not on par with Coursera’s.

✅ Winner – Both

Practical Focus

Udemy’s assignments are not graded. The instructors assume you are mature enough to complete the practice assignments and don’t bother to check them (you paid for the course, after all). However, you can check the discussions for every lecture or directly text the instructor if you have any doubts. 

Coursera provides better practical focus as most assignments are peer-graded, while some rare ones are manually graded. The peer reviews have been slammed for not providing you with enough feedback. However, peer grading ensures you complete any assignment assigned, and some peers provide valuable feedback.

✅ Winner – Coursera

Certification Value

If both websites have top-rated courses and competent instructors, which one’s certification holds more value? Is it Coursera or Udemy? The consensus is that Coursera certification is more valuable than getting a certificate on Udemy. Why? Because Coursera has professional instructors and some courses are accredited.

Besides, completing a course on Udemy is no big deal; you are not rigorously assessed. You may not have completed a single practice assignment. And yet, you can get your hands on the certificate. This is not the case on Coursera; that is the difference between Coursera and Udemy. You have to pass the graded assignments before you get a certificate.

✅ Winner – Coursera

Customer Support

Dear God, is there no website that provides good customer support? This question has been rattling around in my head for some weeks now. Coursera has horrible customer support. Users have trouble canceling their free trial (I didn’t have this trouble), and sometimes, the website doesn’t work for consecutive days (I couldn’t access my courses for a week).

Some people have been charged even though they canceled the free trial or never subscribed. And, you can’t get hold of anyone responsible for dealing with the issues. Getting a refund is a losing battle, too.

On the flip side, some people are quite happy with Coursera’s customer support. So i feel it just comes down to individual experience on that given day.

Is Udemy better than Coursera? Not really. Udemy provides terrible customer support, too; however, it is better than Coursera’s. In other words, it is the lesser of the two evils. Fortunately, you never have to contact customer support if you choose which course to buy after careful deliberation. 

Most importantly, check out the course’s preview to determine whether the instructor’s accent is understandable. There is no point in dissing Udemy if you forgot to preview the course or its ratings.

✅ Winner – None

Pricing And Value For Money

Udemy courses are often offered at reduced prices during flash sales (can be as low as $12.99). However, the original prices range from $9.99 – $199.99. In my opinion, the original price isn’t worth paying. On the other hand, the benefits you derive from the course when you purchase it during flash sales are worth double the price you pay.

So, make sure to purchase the top-rated courses at their discounted prices. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the Udemy personal plan to access 11000+ courses. The personal subscription plan will be billed monthly ($20) or annually ($199). It’s up to you. However, some users have complained that they couldn’t access all the courses as promised. So, be wary.

Coursera lets you audit most courses if you don’t need a certificate. However, you must purchase the courses individually or subscribe to Coursera Plus if you need a certificate. The monthly plan costs $59/month and the annual plan costs $399/year. The former comes with a 7-day free trial, whereas the latter has a 14-day money-back guarantee. 

You can cancel the subscriptions any time you want. So, are the subscriptions worth it? Yes, they are worth it. After all, the individual courses’ price ranges from $29 – $99. The advantage of purchasing individual courses is you only have to pay once. If you are a procrastinator like me, subscribing will deplete your bank account significantly.

✅ Winner – Both

Community

Udemy has instructors’ communities: Studio U and Published Instructor Club. The former is for new instructors working on creating their first course. They can bond with other instructors while getting some guidance. The latter is for instructors who have published courses on Udemy.

Unfortunately, no community exists for learners. However, you can use the Q&A section to discuss your doubts and issues.

Is Coursera better than Udemy? In this case, yes. Coursera has a great community for sharing your learning journey. You can ask questions, support your fellow learners, or converse with them on various topics. 

Just make sure you follow the community guidelines. Otherwise, you will get kicked out. The incident may not be as embarrassing as getting kicked out of a bar by the bartender, but it will still haunt you.

✅ Winner – Coursera

User Interface

Udemy & Coursera have excellent user interfaces. However, Udemy has a slight edge in the Udemy Coursera debate due to its intuitive UI. Navigating the website is similar to smooth sailing in the sea. 

On the contrary, Coursera is an acquired taste. Its website is not as user-friendly as Udemy’s, but it’s good. Both websites have excellent filter systems for finding the course you need. I prefer Udemy’s filter, though. 

✅ Winner – Udemy

User Feedback

People know well enough to give low-rated courses a wide berth. However, it would be better if Udemy weeded the courses with average content. It will save people’s time and energy. Moreover, it could offer courses at a nominal price instead of trying to reel in more learners through flash sales every week. 

Frankly, I love the flash sales, but many people have criticized Udemy for this tactic. Coursera could send alerts if the allotted time for a course is coming to an end. Such a tactic would ensure learners extend the time before getting thrown out of the course. I had to re-enroll in Google’s Python crash course as I wasn’t paying attention to the end date. 

Never mind that I was disheartened halfway through the course and unenrolled (don’t get judgy. The course was frustrating). Moreover, refunds should be made easily available. If it feels like pulling out your teeth when you request a refund, why on Earth would you leave a good review?

✅ Winner – Udemy

Who Should Use Udemy?

Anyone who likes to learn from fun instructors and needs a flexible schedule. You can’t find a more affordable learning platform than Udemy (during the flash sale). Therefore, it is the right website for you if you are on a budget.

Is Udemy better than Coursera? If you are searching for courses on arts (drawing, painting, and music theory & practice), handy skills (woodworking, sculpting, and carving), personal development (hypnosis, leadership, and scriptwriting), marketing, etc. Udemy is the best choice.

Who Should Use Coursera?

Coursera is the better choice if you are hell-bent on learning about accounting and finance, AI, programming languages, web designing, etc. Moreover, your resume looks good if you have a certificate from Coursera. You will benefit significantly by enrolling in Coursera courses if you want to see your career grow.

The difference between Udemy and Coursera is that the former is popular with learners, but employers trust the latter. Furthermore, you should use Coursera if you want to enroll in multiple courses. The specialization courses on Coursera are exceptionally good for building your portfolio, too. 

Alternatives

Udacity, edX, Skillshare, and Pluralsight are excellent alternatives to Udemy and Coursera. Therefore, if you are frustrated with the ‘what’s better Udemy or Coursera’ debate, just pick one of them. Udacity is a fantastic learning platform for improving your technical and business skills.

edX is a fabulous alternative to Coursera. Its certifications are valuable enough to land you a job. So, you won’t regret picking this website. Every programmer must check out Pluralsight at least once. The subscription plans may be high-priced, but they are well worth it. Besides, they have flash sales, too (but not as often as Udemy).

Skillshare is an excellent website for artists. It will serve you well if you want to learn photography, UI/UX design, illustration, music, and freelancing. All four alternatives are great choices. The final decision will depend on the course type you are looking for.

Final Words

In conclusion, saying which is best Coursera or Udemy isn’t an open-and-shut case, as most people assume. Both cater to a different learner category, though they do their best to attract all learners (hence, the Udemy Vs Coursera debate). Choose Udemy if you want personal development. Pick Coursera if you need to develop technical or business skills.