If you're looking for an online learning platform to assist you with continuous learning and you're down to comparing Udemy vs. Udacity, you've come to the right conclusion. These two massive open online course (MOOC) sites are considered the top of the pack, so let's take a closer look at Udemy and Udacity, so you could decide which platform is most suitable for your needs.
Online Learning Platform Udacity vs. Udemy
To be able to make a proper Udacity vs. Udemy comparison, let's first discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each online learning platform.
Udemy
Udemy officially launched in 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, Oktay Caglar. The business goal is to "help learners learn anything."
When Udemy was founded in 2009, they spent six months cold-calling instructors and educators to host their courses on the site. But without any credentials and no success story to show off, Udemy's co-founder Gagan Biyani turned one of his public-speaking conferences with investors into a course called "Raising Capital For Startups." When this course was able to rake in $30,000 within weeks, Udemy had its first case study, which eventually helped in attracting its first 1,000 instructors into the site.
Is Udemy Better?
When it comes to the number of courses, Udemy has by far the most number of courses of any other online learning platform. As of 2021, Udemy courses are over 155,000 and growing. However, this number doesn't guarantee that all Udemy courses are the best available content in those subjects.
Udemy Course Library
Udemy courses come in a wide range of topics, from personal development to music and everything in between. The good news is if you search for a particular course on Udemy, there's a BIG chance that there would be courses available about your chosen topic, from JavaScript to Machine Learning - practically any topic that you want, some even from multiple instructors.
If you want to learn how to draw, the platform has many courses divided into sub-categories like sketching, portraiture, digital art, painting, kids drawing, and so on.
Most of the courses here can be finished within a minimum of 30 minutes up to a few hours. They are also self-taught in either video form, modules, presentations, etc., so if you're not a fan of self-learning, check Udacity instead.
There's no need to worry about the Udemy course expiration date or any other such thing, as Udemy does not limit your access to the materials in any way.
Also, I love that the Udemy library has its own search engine, like Google. Use the search function above, and when results are shown, you can still break down the options by using the filter on the sidebar and find exactly the online courses on your mind.
Udemy Pricing
A Udemy course is bought individually, on a pay-per-course model, with courses ranging from $19.99 to $199.99.
You can save money by choosing a free course, but the company is known to use free courses as upsells to full-priced courses.
The next best thing to Udemy's free courses is sale-priced Udemy courses, which often go as low as $9.99. You'll love this because the company hosts sales almost every week. I actually thought that the Udemy course price tags were originally below $10 and only learned they start at $19.99 recently.
Udemy offers a subscription model called "UdemyPro" with a monthly fee of $19.99, but it is still only available for US-based students and only for limited classes in the IT field.
Udemy Pros and Cons
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Udacity
Udacity was founded by Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens in 2012. The company's business goal is to bring accessible, engaging, inexpensive, and highly effective higher education to the world.
Udacity gives enterprises and governments access to its programs as well. Udacity's Career section is an awesome resource for anyone seeking a job - there's a price to pay for the service, but you'll learn a ton of techniques in presenting your resumes and online portfolios that paying for it once will be a skill you'll use for many years to come.
Is Udacity Nanodegrees Worth It?
Udacity courses focus more on technology, computer science, and the IT industry. They are considered one of the best MOOC (massive open online course) learning platforms around today, especially if you want to get a certificate you can use in the real-world setting.
Udacity teachers are university professors, industry employers, and experts from tech companies.
Udacity's courses are called Nanodegrees, which allow students to earn certificates through comprehensive programs. It is similar to what colleges call "short courses" but with a good mix of online assignments, video lectures, modules, and discussion forums.
Is Udacity Certificate Worth it?
Like a traditional university program, nanodegree programs end with a certificate after a month to 3-month of course content.
If you want to learn everything you can about web development, data science, app development, data science, and other IT and tech niches, but do not have a big chunk of money for university education, then certificates from Udacity is your next best bet.
You can be sure that with every online course you complete, you'd have learned the skills needed to work on that project.
Udacity Pricing
Udacity offers 2- to 6-month Nanodegrees that cost $399 monthly. There are also single-paid courses available in Udacity, but not as much as Udemy's.
Udacity also has a good number of free courses, which are actually considered a comprehensive program (rather than an upsell to buy that particular course).
Aside from the beginner to advanced learning courses that lead to certificates, Udacity also has "Careers" support services. These vary in prices, depending on the service, but they collectively help you get hired by reviewing your resume, reviewing student’s LinkedIn profiles, reviewing students' GitHub portfolios, and so on.
Udacity Pros and Cons
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Udemy vs. Udacity Comparison: Which to Choose?
This comparison of Udemy and Udacity is apples to oranges because, on the other hand, Udemy is this massive online education platform with thousands of courses offered. Nonetheless, there are other Udemy alternatives that are also great online learning platforms.
Udacity vs. Udemy Quality and Variety of Courses
Udemy's course library is unmatched. There is no comparison when it comes to the number of online courses Udemy offers.
However, if Udemy wins in quantity, Udacity wins in QUALITY education. It boils down to the business sector providing real-world skills and knowledge to students. The courses Udacity showcases are limited (there are only several dozens of courses compared to Udemy's 155,000 courses), but many of Udacity's courses are filled with complete and top-notch information.
Udacity vs Udemy Instructors and Certifications
Udemy accepts courses from authors, professors, professionals, entrepreneurs, public speakers, and industry experts. Meanwhile, Udacity's roster of teachers comes from industry experts and tech companies.
The Udemy-Udacity comparison is amusing since these E-learning platforms are at the opposite sides of the pond. Udemy is more ideal for self-directed learning, while Udacity is more in-depth and complete.
Who is Udacity for?
If you're looking for a program that is almost the same level of college courses, choose Udacity. They even help you score the job of your dreams by providing support in crafting your resume, GitHub portfolio, and LinkedIn profile.
Who is Udemy for?
If you do not have time for full-time learning but need to update your skills, Udemy can work wonders for you. You'll have access to business courses, arts and crafts, IT, and almost all categories under the sun. Many courses here do not provide certificates, though, so manage your expectations.
Udemy is also great for people looking for non-English courses since Udemy supports over 75 languages. You don't need to go anywhere else.
Udacity vs Udemy Value for Money
It isn't fair to compare the Udacity-Udemy pricing. At one look,. you'd think that the $19.99/course fee of Udemy offers the best value for money, especially when you were able to buy courses with a sale price of under $10 each. But because the quality of Udacity's nanodegrees (which begin at $399) is in another playing field, I'm going with Udacity.
As you can see, the Udacity-Udemy online courses comparison is a mismatch. The learning provider you'll choose will really depend on the type of course you need, your own learning style, the time commitment you're willing to allocate, and the industry/topic you wish to learn.
