Are you wondering which of the two is the best option between Skillshare Vs. Lynda, for your online classes?
Well, you are not alone. If you want to take an online course, you want to make sure that you get value for your money and time investment. With a ton of online learning platforms available online, it can be a challenge settling on one.
In this detailed comparison, we want to look at Skillshare and Lynda online learning platforms and what they offer. What are their course offering and the quality of the courses? What about the requirements for instructors? Will you get instructions from anyone, or is there an approval process for the instructors and the content?
The two are popular online learning websites though they offer varying e-learning courses.
Our overview will help you decide which among the two is the best for your personal or professional development needs.
Skillshare Online Learning Platform
Skillshare is a popular online learning website that offers over 29,000 creative skills-related courses. The online courses can be uploaded and taught by anyone, with or without an educational or professional background.
Skillshare courses are offered in the form of video format, and they can be as short as ten minutes to several hours.
Do you get irritated by the pop-ads on every website you visit?
If yes, Skillshare is the perfect choice for you. The platform is ad-free, meaning you'll enjoy uninterrupted e-learning.
What's more?
If you have a tight schedule at home or in the office, Skillshare makes it possible to learn while you are on the go. It allows you to download the lessons to your phone or tablet and access them when offline.
Lynda (LinkedIn Learning)
Lynda's courses also have a creative base. However, the platform covers more ground than Skillshare as it covers more topics, including web development, technology, etc.
The content on Lynda is standardised, and the courses are taught by experts in their field. Unlike Skillshare, where the content is uploaded and taught by anyone, there is an application process for instructors on Lynda.
If you join the platform, you enjoy a wide range of courses as more than 10,000 courses are available.
The online platform was recently acquired by LinkedIn and is now rebranding as LinkedIn learning.
One advantage of Lynda is that it allows you to add your completed courses to your LinkedIn profile. This enables you to display your skills to potential employers. You can also use the profile to negotiate a promotion or pay rise in your current employment site.
Additionally, Lynda offers you suggestions of relevant quality courses that you might be interested in, depending on your profile.
Skillshare Vs. Lynda Online Learning Platforms Comparison
Both Skillshare and Lynda online platforms offer a wide range of content for the self-motivated learner.
Skillshare focuses more on creative and hobbyist topics. Lynda also focuses on creative topics, but it widens the scope to include business and career-focused topics.
But which of the two platforms is the best for your learning needs?
Here, we compare the platforms on a variety of factors, including:
Cost
If you sign up for the Lynda online learning platform, you get an initial 30-day free trial. When the free trial expires, you have the liberty to choose between a basic or premium membership.
The basic membership costs $19.99 a month, while the premium membership price starts at $29.99 a month.
With the two memberships, you'll receive unlimited access to all the course content.
The course content comes in various formats, including notes, lectures, videos, assessments, and playlists. If you choose the premium membership, you'll get access to the course content offline.
Why should you subscribe to Lynda?
Lynda offers fewer online courses compared to Skillshare and some other online learning platforms in the market. However, it is a perfect choice if you are looking for a professional and more diverse course catalogue and materials.
Once you completed the course, you get a certification that you can display on your LinkedIn profile for potential employers to see.
Skillshare also offers you a 30-day free trial when you sign up.
Additionally, it offers various subscription options for you to choose the most affordable. The subscriptions start with a month-to-month subscription that goes for $15 a month. You can opt for the annual subscription that goes for $8.25 per month, helping you to save $80.
Skillshare also offers need-based, student, and small business scholarships. This makes it affordable irrespective of the learner's budget.
A subscription to Skillshare offers you the entire course catalogue, including offline access to the course. The learning tools include videos and projects.
Annual subscribers also enjoy an added advantage. You get discounts on creative services, including Shutterstock, Squarespace, and Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
Which of the two platforms offers a better return on investment?
The choice between the two will depend on the skills you wish to gain and whether you want to impact your resume.
If you wish to impact your resume, Lynda will be the better option.
Subjects and Topics
Both Skillshare and Lynda offer creative topics such as graphic design, photography, etc.
However, for Skillshare, the content is limited to creative topics alone, and the courses are not standardised.
Anyone can teach the content on Skillshare. As such, the course quality can vary and may not be reliable.
While Lynda offers a certificate at the end of the course, Skillshare doesn't.
With Lynda, you can also plan your learning hours accordingly as the course and video length are standardised. Additionally, the platform offers better video quality than Skillshare.
On the other hand, you may not be able to access some topics on Skillshare. For instance, you will not access fixed duration courses all the time.
Skillshare video lecture duration varies from 10 minutes to hours.
The video quality of the courses on Skillshare is not guaranteed. However, that doesn't mean that you cannot get some outstanding instructors on the online platform. Skillshare allows you to select the course before you can start a lecture.
Examples of topics you can access on Lynda include web development, game development, business, animation, IT, CAD, web design, education, photography, music, etc.
Examples of courses on Skillshare include writing, illustration, design, film, photo, technology, etc.
Instructors
Before you can decide which one among the two platforms is the best, you should consider the quality of instructors.
On the Lynda platform, the courses are created, delivered, and managed by experts in the respective fields. Thus, if you are looking for course content for professional development, Lynda will be the better option.
Additionally, instructors are chosen using a rigid application process. Using experts ensures that the site offers quality teachers and lessons.
On the other hand, Skillshare offers anyone an opportunity to be an instructor. As such, you may note the variance in the quality of instructors and the content delivered. That doesn't mean there are no quality instructors on Skillshare. However, you may have to spend more time choosing reputable courses that guarantee the best returns on investment.
It will also help if you can look up the different instructors to ensure you are getting knowledge from a credible source.
You can check out to see if the instructor has a LinkedIn profile displaying their certifications and accreditations. If the instructor also has a thriving business, you can be confident of their content.
Lynda works with government organizations and universities. It is also associated with LinkedIn and has since rebranded to LinkedIn Learning.
If you are looking for entrepreneurship guidance, you may consider Skillshare as it contains more entrepreneurship and creative instructors who offer insights from personal experiences.
Certificates and Accreditations
If you want an online learning platform that will offer you certificates for your complete courses, Lynda is the clear winner. The platform offers courses on topics considered more professional and business-related.
Lynda's online courses are more structured, have instructors with proven credibility, and have assessments.
Although Lynda offers you a certificate when you complete a course, you don't have a guarantee that employers will note or recognise those certificates.
However, you can use the creative skills you learn from either online platform to build a portfolio.
Time Commitment
Taking an online course requires you to invest time in it.
Skillshare has lecture videos from as low s ten minutes and others that can go for hours. Lynda's videos can also last for hours.
Additionally, Lynda courses are more in-depth, and they offer various modes of learning apart from videos. These include notes, projects, and assessments.
Course Examples
Since Skillshare is available for anyone to create courses, there is a massive number of courses available on the platform. The creative skills courses include graphic design, music, writing, photography, etc. If you are in the creatives, you can never miss a course on Skillshare.
Lynda has more professional courses that range from business to career-related. The instructors on the platform have to go through a rigid application process before creating content on the platform. You can put the certificates you get from Lynda on your LinkedIn profile.
Additionally, you can access the video lectures and other course components using their mobile app, available for iOS and Android devices.
Final Thoughts
If you do not know which is the better option for you between Lynda and Skillshare, our detailed comparison makes it easy for you. If you are in search of a professional course with a certificate at the end, Lynda is a perfect pick. Skillshare is an excellent option for creative skills.
