Which is the best platform for online courses? Skillshare or Shiken?

With so many online course platforms out there, it makes sense that some have tried to streamline their offering. Skillshare is an online learning platform that encourages its members to learn from each other. It particularly focuses on creatives, so members can upload courses of the things they know well and then learn new creative skills in the process.

To best facilitate this, it works on a monthly membership, so you can create and consume as much as you like in that time period. This makes it slightly different to all the other course platforms. And there are certain subjects that are off limits, including mathematics, sciences and classical engineering. Religion, fitness, politics and pet care are also off the table. There’s a whole list of subjects that include some obvious ethical topics that promote making arms or dangerous activities. So, make sure you check out the full list.

Meanwhile, Shiken encompasses a much wider range of subjects, but there are still a lot of similarities between the two platforms. If you are looking to create an academic course, then your option is obvious. If, however, you prefer a more creative approach, the answer might not be as clear-cut as you think.

What Is Skillshare Good For?

Skillshare’s membership style means that members have access to thousands of video classes, with no limits on how many they can enjoy. So, whatever their next creative pursuit might be, they will be able to find a course that suits their needs. And if they need creative inspiration, they will be overwhelmed with options!

This way of charging students to access courses also removes some of the pressure on course creators. Rather than panicking that you are not offering great value for money, you can get on and create the course you want, knowing that if students don’t value it, they can simply stop watching and choose another one.

In order to ensure they provide the best possible education to their members, Skillshare insists on a few rules for creators. Each course must have at least one task for learners to complete, to ensure they have understood the course and give them something to work towards. Because the platform is solely video led, these projects for students are important for engagement.

Every new sign-up to Skillshare gets a free month trial, so they can decide if the platform is right for them. This gives them immediate access to all the courses, helping to bump up your view count.

One of the biggest draws for subscribers and something that makes Skillshare the best platform for online courses, is the fact that it includes courses from industry experts, increasing trust in the website. It puts creators in great company too, adding an extra level of authority to your work.

The course upload process is simple, complemented by a comprehensive Teacher’s Handbook which will guide you through it all. It also includes information about enticing people to your course, so you can ensure it gets seen by all the right people, boosting your potential profit. Your course needs to have high-quality video and audio and a free intro section. It shouldn’t use any copyrighted material and you can upload a maximum of one course a month. This means the platform is full of courses that people actually want to watch and is moderated by Skillshare. So, your course won’t show online as soon as you upload it, but if you’ve followed all the rules, it will be live quickly.

How much does Skillshare cost?

You can join Skillshare by simply entering your email address to create an account. There’s no need to add your card details straight away, giving you peace of mind that if you don’t want to continue your membership, you don’t have to.

Then, pricing depends on where you are in the world. It is difficult to get exact numbers without creating an account, which is a shame, but you’re looking at around £30 a month for a basic package. This does only include one course upload a month, however. This encourages you to take your time to create high-quality content.

Meanwhile, Shiken’s pricing plans are easy to find, so you don’t have to sign up to marketing communications before agreeing to a monthly plan. This is an important part of the sign-up process that gives you a little more trust in the online course platform you have chosen.

What’s not so good about Skillshare?

Apart from the lack of transparency in their pricing structure, Skillshare is really only good for a certain type of creator. This is bad if you wanted to use it to create beauty content, but it does mean they can offer more specific help to creatives on the platform. It also means that when they review courses, they know what good content looks like.

On the other hand, it means that the course you want to upload may already exist a few times. It’s a good idea to check out your competition and try and upload something that hasn’t been done before.

And it’s this high competition for subject matter that might mean Skillshare is not the best platform for online courses for you. Despite the fantastic training resources available to you, you might find it difficult to attract students to your course – remember, you’re competing against some big names. And since you don’t get paid if people don’t view your course, this could be a problem. Skillshare try to help with this, giving you a free month’s trial for your students via referral, but this means you have to attract them to your course from elsewhere. If you were hoping to create a course and then sit back and reap the rewards, you’ll be disappointed. You’ll need to do the marketing work.

It’s also worth remembering that students have to view your course for a certain length of time for you to get paid. So, once you’ve done the hard work of getting people to your course, you need to keep them there. This is hard to do by relying on video courses only, especially as the only reward at the end is the knowledge they’ve gained. That’s why Shiken offers certification for your learners and helps you to mix up your learning style, keeping them interested for longer.

Is There a Better Alternative To Skillshare?

When considering the best online course platforms, you would be crazy to forget about Shiken. This site offers a more flexible approach to course creation so you can teach the world your skills your way.

A range of teaching techniques

Video courses are the most obvious way to promote your skills online, but every platform does them and they can get boring after a while. Shiken encourages more student interaction with live courses, quizzes, leaderboards and a deeper learning engagement style. Students will progress with confidence and connect with the subject.

Learning with AI

At every part of the course creation process, you’ll find AI tools to help streamline your role. Create PDF versions of your course and write quizzes using the AI guide. You can build wikis, databases and project management boards, all in super-fast time reducing the hours spent on making something worthwhile for learners.

Share on the Shiken Store

The Shiken Store makes it easy for you to share your course with the wider Shiken community. Here, potential learners can sign up to your subscriptions, use one-time voucher codes or just buy your courses. You can also share your courses via the landing pages you make on Shiken.

Great pricing

Shiken offers all of this at an incredibly competitive price, with a free version that lets you create a course before deciding to take your course-making business to the next level. Then prices start from £99/year, which is slightly less expensive than Skillshare, and you get so much more for your money.

So, which online course platform will you choose?

Both platforms are great for course creators, especially if you are new to the industry and need help getting started. But, if you want to create courses in a flexible way, with full AI support and a whole marketing suite of tools to encourage students to use your course to reach their goals, then Shiken might be the platform for you. Helpfully, both sites offer free tasters, so you can try both and then settle on the one you feel most comfortable with.

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