Finding an online learning platform that would provide you with high-quality courses, fair prices, a good variety of courses to choose from and offer accredited certifications is not easy. However, it doesn’t mean that such a MOOC provider doesn’t exist. In this SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, we’ll see which of the platforms provide you with more perks and is more suitable for your personal needs.
Both Lynda and SkillShare are well-known players in the industry. Lynda is often recognized as one of the oldest online learning platforms that was founded back in 1995. SkillShare, on the other hand, is a newer MOOC provider that was established in 2010.
What’s important to know about Lynda is that in 2015 it was acquired by LinkedIn and later named LinkedIn Learning. While Lynda.com still exists, you can no longer learn on the platform and will be redirected to LinkedIn Learning after choosing a course.
To provide you with a thorough SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, I will focus on five evaluation criteria. Let’s jump to the further section and find out more about it.
Table of Contents
SkillShare VS Lynda: Comparison Criteria
There are multiple factors that you should pay attention to when choosing an online learning provider, however, five of them are considered to be the most important ones: course variety and quality, certifications, ease of use, multiple language support and pricing.
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I will take a look at each of these factors when comparing SkillShare VS Lynda. However, before doing that, I would like to briefly introduce you to each of these aspects:
- Course Variety and Quality. Having a numerous list of options to pick from is always better than choosing from only a few available courses. However, the number is not the only aspect that you should consider when evaluating course variety in this SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, it’s also important to take a look at the variety of available subjects. Now, while course variety matters, the quality is far more important. It’s safe to say that it’s better to have fewer high-quality courses to pick from than thousands of courses that include outdated content.
- Certification Options. Whether you decide to choose Lynda or sites like Lynda, certifications are something that you should always pay crucial attention to. In general, there are two different types of certificates - accredited and non-accredited. Needless to say, non-accredited certification is better than nothing, however, they’re not as valuable as accredited ones. Further, in this SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, we’ll talk a little bit more about the difference between these two certifications.
- Ease of Use. Usability or ease of use should be considered when choosing the best online learning platform as well. When searching for new courses, enrolling in classes and studying specific course material, you expect every process to go as smoothly as possible. That being said, before choosing an online learning platform, you should test it out and make sure that there are no usability issues.
- Multiple Language Support. You probably noticed that the majority of courses that can be found online are in English. While the majority of young people have no problem with it, a significant part of learners is looking for courses in their native language due to limited English proficiency. In this Lynda VS SkillShare comparison, we’ll check out which of the two supports more languages.
- Pricing. Each online learning platform offers different prices. While some of them provide multiple free courses, others are rather pricey. What is more, you’ll notice that there are two pricing models. In most cases, you can purchase not only individual courses but also choose monthly and even yearly subscriptions. In this article, I will discuss the difference between these two options.
Note! There are multiple other factors that might be important to you, however, I distinguished the most crucial ones that must be taken into account.
Now that you know which factors matter and why, let’s jump to the actual SkillShare VS Lynda comparison.
SkillShare VS Lynda: The Comparison
When comparing SkillShare and Lynda I will go through every aspect one by one, just like introduced in the previous section.
Course Variety and Quality
The very first aspect to be discussed in this comparison is course variety and quality. When talking about course variety I refer not only to the number of courses but also different subjects that you can choose from.
Course quality can be determined by a few factors. The information that you’re studying should be useful and up to date. This usually depends on the instructor, so the quality might vary from course to course. Also, video quality. It should be decent, to say the least.
It’s important to mention that it’s better to have fewer high-quality courses to choose from than a significant number of outdated courses. Keep that in mind when deciding which of the online platforms to choose.
Now, since you came to this comparison to find out more about Lynda and SkillShare, let’s take a look at what these platforms have to offer.
First of all, SkillShare. This MOOC provider offers more than 27,000 courses to choose from. You can choose from a variety of subjects, including computer science, languages, IT, health, math, philosophy, and so much more. The majority of courses that you’re going to find will teach you technical skills. Students say that SkillShare is best for career paths as well as personal development.
When it comes to Lynda, it previously offered 3,500 courses to choose from, however, since it was acquired by LinkedIn Learning, you can pick from 12,000 options. Just like SkillShare, it offers courses on various subjects, including personal development, IT, business, engineering, and so much more. This online learning platform is recommended for its career paths.
Since everything is clear when it comes to course variety, how good are these platforms when it comes to the course quality?
According to multiple student reviews, SkillShare provides very high-quality content, not only when it comes to included information but also videos. You can expect to get the highest quality. Of course, there’s a chance that you’ll come across some less good courses. However, it’s important to understand that this mostly depends on instructors.
Now, Lynda is also recommended for its courses’ quality. However, you should make sure to choose newer courses if you want to get the most up-to-date information. This recommendation stands not only when it comes to SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, but also Lynda.com competitors and other online learning platforms.
Thus, it would be difficult to evaluate which of these platforms provide higher quality courses, as they’re both highly recommended.
Certification Options
As mentioned earlier in this SkillShare VS Lynda comparison, certifications are something that you should always consider when deciding which MOOC provider to choose.
Of course, if you’re not planning to use a certificate after completing a course and doing it just for yourself, you might find certificates unnecessary, simply something that is nice to have.
However, if certification is something you need in order to land a better job offer, get a promotion, or share with others by adding it to your CV and portfolio, then you’ll definitely find this aspect crucially important.
What’s important to understand, though, is that not all certificates are the same. There are accredited and non-accredited ones. While any certification is better than nothing, they highly differ in value.
Non-accredited certificates do not have that much practical value. While they can be included in your CV, employers do not appreciate them as much as accredited ones. That being said, if you have an option, it’s recommended that you always choose accredited certificates.
When it comes to SkillShare VS Lynda I have both good and bad news. The bad part is that they’re not accredited institutions and, therefore, won’t provide you with accredited certificates. However, you do get a certificate of completion.
The good news is that you can choose Lynda.com competitors as well as sites like Lynda that provide you with accredited university-level courses. Such online learning platforms include Coursera and edX.
Ease of Use
While usability is quite a subjective matter, it can be evaluated based on a few factors as well as students’ reviews. Check if all the information is presented clearly and if you can find courses that you’re looking for without much trouble. Also, after enrolling in a course, you should be able to monitor your progress and easily navigate between the courses or classes.
When you visit the SkillShare homepage you can instantly find all the information about courses, the most popular classes, categories and start learning to see whether or not you like the interface. Since you get a 7-day free trial, that’s actually highly recommended. Overall, I’d say that SkillShare is very easy to use.
The situation is slightly different when it comes to Lynda. Even though you can still visit Lynda.com and find the available courses, as soon as you start learning, you’ll be redirected to LinkedIn Learning. Since that can be pretty confusing, I’d suggest going straight to the LinkedIn Learning page and choosing courses there.
It’s pretty obvious that when it comes to SkillShare VS Lynda usability comparison I’d recommend SkillShare more.
Multiple Language Support
The majority of online courses are in English. That’s because it’s one of the most popular languages in the world. While that’s logical, there are millions of people who do not speak English and are looking for classes in their native language. You might be one of them if you’re reading a translated version of this article.
Now, while SkillShare and Lynda offer courses in English, they should also provide you with a list of subtitles to choose from. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping. So which of the platforms support more languages?
I was disappointed to find out that SkillShare captions are only available in English and no other language is supported. The only good part about it is that SkillShare is planning to add more languages in the future.
Moving to Lynda, it supported 5 languages before it became a part of LinkedIn learning. Now you can choose from 7 languages. While that’s not the most impressive, it’s still better than nothing.
- Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
- Offers quality content
- Gamified in-browser coding experience
- Free certificates of completion
- Focused on data science skills
- Flexible learning timetable
- High-quality courses
- Nanodegree programs
- Student Career services
- Nanodegree programs
- Suitable for enterprises
- Paid certificates of completion
- A wide range of learning programs
- University-level courses
- Easy to navigate
- University-level courses
- Suitable for enterprises
- Verified certificates of completion
Pricing
The final aspect to be discussed in this Lynda VS SkillShare comparison is pricing. You’re probably wondering which one of them is more expensive and what payment options you get.
Let’s start with SkillShare. This provider offers monthly and annual subscriptions as well as a 7-day free trial. The prices start from $8,25 per month when choosing an annual subscription.
It’s almost the same when it comes to Lynda. You can choose from monthly and annual subscriptions. The pricing starts from $24,99 per month. You can also try it completely free for 1 month.
While both online platforms offer relatively inexpensive prices, SkillShare prices are some of the lowest that I’ve ever seen.
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Conclusions
Therefore, both SkillShare and Lynda are well-known online learning platforms that are recommended for their career paths and courses on multiple subjects. This means that whether you’re looking for IT or psychology classes, you’ll be able to find them all on the same learning platform.
It would be difficult to say which of the platforms is more recommended because they both have pros and cons. In general, if you want to have more courses to pick from and get better prices, you should choose SkillShare. However, if you’re looking for high-quality courses and want to have more language options to pick from, you should consider Lynda (or LinkedIn Learning).
Moreover, if you’re looking for SkillShare or Lynda.com competitors, you should definitely give it a try to Coursera and edX. Both of these platforms offer high-quality courses as well as accredited certifications that are not so common when it comes to MOOC providers.
That being said, consider all the options and choose a platform that suits your wants and needs best.
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