The internet is a fantastic resource. If you head online, you will quickly find that there is a lot of information out there. We mean, the majority of people who head online are doing so because they want to educate themselves. As a result, it should come as no surprise that there are a lot of sites that offer online courses so you can learn brand new skills.
On this page, we are going to introduce you to the best learning platforms. These are sites that we, genuinely, believe are going to offer you brilliant courses. Some of these are going to be search engines that enable you to find new places to learn. Some will offer quick courses ultra-focused on certain skills, and others will enable you to complete a real online degree and master’s course. You will be surprised at how cheap it is to do the latter if you complete that whole process online!
We have taken great care in putting together this list of 29 online learning platforms. This is because there are so many places out there that you can learn online, and we really did want to offer you the best of the best. So, without further ado, let’s jump in, shall we?
List of 29 best online learning platforms:
Udemy.com
Udemy.com is probably one of the best learning platforms there is. At the time of writing, there are over 100,000 courses available on the site….and more are being added every single day. It is incredibly affordable to hop on most of these courses too, with Udemy offering regular discounts…particularly if you are new to the whole world of learning online. The best part is that there is barely a subject matter that they do not cover on this site. If you have a particular skill you want to learn, then Udemy has got you covered. You have the ability to read reviews for all courses, which means it shouldn’t take that much effort to find something that tickles your fancy.
Study.com
With Study.com, you won’t just be learning something online, you have the ability to learn things that can give you college credits. Yep. That is right. You will be able to work towards a degree at a price that is much more affordable than any college course you could go on. Nearly everything that you could possibly want to study at college will have at least a few courses available here. This includes business, history, philosophy, and a whole lot more. All of the courses are delivered via video instruction, and they have been put together by real college tutors.
Coursera.org
Coursera.org is much the same as Study.com in many, many ways. There is a broad selection of courses available, covering just about everything that you could want to study at college. However, there is one major, major difference. This is the fact that Coursera.org not only allows you to complete certain courses online for college credit but you can complete entire degrees in the comfort of your home. Yep. Two to three-year-long online courses put together by some of the best colleges in the world. You can learn part-time, and these courses are ridiculously affordable in comparison to going to a college.
new.edmodo.com
Edmodo is probably one of the best learning platforms that isn’t actually going to teach you anything. This online site, mostly, helps teachers and students connect (with a little bit for parents thrown in for good measure). Edmodo, basically, makes it a whole lot easier to carry out a spot of long-distance learning. Every tool a teacher could possibly want for long-distance learning can be found within Edmodo, and that is why it is one of the best sites out there for this purpose. This means creating quizzes, sharing documents, and even doing a spot of marking of papers. It is fantastic!
edx.org
On EDX, there are over 2,500 courses from 150 different learning institutions. This includes places like MIT and Harvard. On EDX, you can work your way towards a few qualifications from top-named universities. You can even do a complete Master’s Degree online, if you wish. Want the best part? A lot of the courses that you find on EDX are 100% free to follow. You can learn at your own pace. Of course, if you want those all-important qualifications, then you are going to need to actually pay for those courses, but if you just want to learn a few awesome facts every so often, then EDX.org is going to be perfect for you. There is just so much for you to see and explore here!
Guru99.com
Guru99.com is one of the best online learning platforms, but it does things a little bit differently from the other sites on this list. This is because it really tries to narrow down the niches that it targets. With Guru99.com, you can learn computer-related subjects. This means that there is a lot of information related to coding (all major programming languages are represented here), a little bit about AI, dealing with databases, testing, and plenty of courses related to some of the most popular software in the world e.g. photoshop and excel. A lot of these courses are 100% free to follow, so you have absolutely no excuse not to be diving into the wealth of what Guru99.com has to offer.
Tutsplus.com
Tutsplus.com is one of the best learning platforms for those who want to learn a few skills to make their websites function a little better. Most of these courses are free too. While the site isn’t allied with any major college institutions, it is run by Envato, a massive name in the world of website themes and script codes. So, you can expect the courses that they offer to be somewhat along the same lines. For example; on Tutsplus.com, you can learn the PHP skills that you need to make WordPress work a little bit better for you. You can learn how to design themes for your websites, and you even have a good chunk of information that will help you to create videos and plan the best way for you to run your business. There is a ton of information here, and it is no wonder people love the site so much.
discover.teachable.com
Once again, there isn’t really going to be any top colleges offering their courses here, but you do not need that with Teachable. This is a site that is jam-packed with courses that can teach you highly specific skills. You can head to this one of the best learning platforms if you want to learn a brand new language. You can go to pick up some cool little business skills, or you can dive into the photography or music-related tutorials. All of the content here is put together by people who are highly specialized in their field, and all of it is vetted before it is put online. This means that if you head to the Teachable website, you can be sure you are getting quality content…and a good amount of it is for free.
Codeacademy.com
When it comes to coding training websites, there are few sites that are better than codeacademy.com. This is one of the originals, and it is still up there with the best. This is why thousands and thousands of people have completed their courses. The site is packed to the brim with full coding courses that can introduce you the likes of C++, Java, PHP, and a whole lot more. The great part is that these courses are well-designed. They aren’t there just to teach you the concepts that exist. They are there to put you to work. You will be living and breathing these concepts. You will be actively programming throughout their courses. Nearly everything here is available for free too.
Pluralsight.com
While Plural Sight does offer a few courses for personal use, this is a website that is mostly targeted at the professional market. Here, you can learn all sorts of technological skills. This includes coding and general computer science. Since Plural Sight is a website that is designed to help companies train their staff, you will find that the bulk of what you find on the website is going to be very, very practical too. All of this is the knowledge that is designed to be used right away. It isn’t meant to be theoretical knowledge. There are business subscriptions available, so it should be pretty affordable for companies who are looking for a learning platform.
Skillshare.com
Skillshare.com is an online learning platform that focuses mostly on smaller skills being shared. Sure, there are some epic long courses to be found on Skillshare.com, but most people are also going to enjoy the plethora of other skills they teach e.g. flower arranging, watercolors, marketing etc. The bulk of skillshare.com focuses on courses that have a bit of a creative edge, although there are a few business-orientated courses thrown in for good measure. You can pay for each of the courses separately, but it is going to be a whole lot better if you sign up and opt for their premium membership where you can access every single course for the duration of your membership.
Udacity.com
Udacity.com is a purely tech-focused website. If you sign up here, then you will be learning all sorts of tech-related skills. This is actually one of the best learning platforms for those that are planning to enter the tech industry. This is because recruiters often go to Udacity.com and request details of the people that have completed their courses there. So, if you complete a tech course at Udacity.com, there is a pretty strong chance that you may start to be contacted by companies in your local area. It may help you to secure a job. The best part is that the courses on here are ridiculously affordable too! There are very few platforms that come close.
Lynda.com
Lynda.com is now known as Linkedin Learning. However, it does pretty much the same job. Lynda.com is a site that is designed to get you the skills that you need to learn in order to start jobs in various industries. A lot of the courses found through Lynda.com are going to have a little bit of a technological slant to them e.g. coding and the like. However, there are also plenty of courses on business, marketing, and a whole lot more. You can pay for the courses individually, but a lot of people who are looking to score a job will opt for the premium membership where they can further themselves in several different ways.
FutureLearn.com
FutureLearn.com is an online learning platform that tries to target as many people as it possibly can, and we think it does a pretty good job at that too. If you are on FutureLearn.com, you can dive into anything from a quick course to learn a couple of simple skills all the way up to a complete degree course. Just about every subject matter that you can image is going to be covered on the FutureLearn.com website too. This means law, history, medicine, science, business, and a ton more. We are positive that you will find at least something you want on the site…and it tends to be really affordable too!
Thinkific.com
Thinkific.com isn’t a site that you will head to if you are looking to take a course. Well, at least not directly. The purpose of Thinkific.com is to provide tutors with a way that they can create courses online and sell access to them. This means that Thinkific comes with a plethora of tools that you can do to make this. Since there are thousands and thousands of people currently using the platform to run their courses, plus a few million people who have completed courses, the site is doing a pretty good job too. The best part that it is ridiculously affordable if you want to run a course on the platform!
Takelessons.com
TakeLessons.com doesn’t offer any courses directly. Instead, it is a platform that you can use if you want to get in touch with a plethora of different private tutors. This includes people who are offering private tutoring online, as well as in the comfort of their own homes. As you may have guessed, a lot of the tutoring here is going to be focused on languages and skills that you can learn at school and the like. So, while you will not necessarily be learning any new skills here (unless it is a language), you will certainly be reinforcing skills in other aspects of your life.
Teamtreehouse.com
Teamtreehouse.com is an online learning platform that claims it can run you through a tech degree that will help you to score jobs. When you pay the $25 a month, you will be guided through a course structured around your needs. Along the way, you will learn how to code (and there are a lot of coding tutorials here), business skills, and a bit of marketing too. It is perfect for those who really want to gain a little bit of knowledge that can make it easier for them to obtain a job at a later date!
Simplilearn.com
Simplilearn.com may have simple in the name, but you are going to be guided through some pretty intensive courses when you sign up to their learning platform. When you sign up, you will be asked which path you want to follow. This could be to become a data scientist. It could be for learning AI. It doesn’t matter. You are going to be guided through the course, learning all the skill necessary to get you started with what you need to know to secure a job in your chosen field. it is incredibly affordable, and some people regard these courses as the best in terms of structure.
Classcentral.com
On Classcentral.com, you will be able to dive into a wealth of courses from some of the biggest colleges in the world. Although, there are a few thousand other courses thrown in for good measure. It is worth noting that ClassCentral.com does not really offer any courses itself. Instead, it is there to guide you towards other websites that do have courses available. This means that you can use ClassCentral.com as a search engine. Nearly every single course they include in their database is free, so it shouldn’t be too long before you find something you want to follow.
Infosecinstitute.com
Infosecinstitute.com is a site that is (mostly) designed for those who are running businesses and want to offer their staff members a bit of distance learning. Although, to be honest, there is no reason why a private individual wouldn’t be able to work through the courses on this site either. One of the reasons why this is one of the best learning platforms out there is the fact that it is highly-focused on practical skills. In fact, there are whole courses on this site that are aimed at working on a practical project. So, if you want to learn skills that you can put to use almost instantly, in a highly structured way, then InfoSec Institute is the way to go.
Creativelive.com
CreativeLive.com, as the name suggests, is a site that is mainly focused on creative skills. However, it takes a little bit of a different slant to similar sites online. Yes. If you sign up to CreativeLive.com, you will be learning how to create some awesome things if you do not have the skills to do that. However, the thing that we love about CreativeLive.com is the fact that it tries to get you to really, really focus on building up a business with the creative skills you have made e.g. a lot of courses focus on selling your arts and crafts, or maybe even services such as photography. All the courses ar every in-depth here.
ed2go.com
While ED2GO.com doesn’t necessarily have the largest selection of courses online, an argument can be made for the fact that it does have one of the best selections. ED2GO.com is all about training for a job. While you can take individual courses on the site, and that is something that we actively encourage you to do, you will be pleased to know that you can also sign up to follow specific skill paths. You can tap in the type of job you want to aim for in the future, and ED2GO.com is going to guide you towards the right courses that you need to complete your goal. It is a rather marvelous system!
Digitaldefynd.com
You can consider DigitalDefynd.com as more of a blog crossed with a search engine. While the site doesn’t actually offer any courses on it’s own, it does provide you with ways that you can track down courses that you may want to follow. It takes a blog form in most cases, because it enables you to see the best courses for specific skillsets, and it will tell you why those are some of the best courses that you can follow. There is even a treasure trove of free online courses that you can explore!
hackr.io
Hackr.io is another site that does not offer courses itself. Instead, it is a search engine for courses online. It seems like the information is inserted into the database manually. One of the reasons why we love this site is because it tends to go a little bit beyond what you would normally expect from a search engine like this. For example; you can find instructional YouTube videos and the like. It isn’t just about paid courses. This site, as you have probably guessed by now from the name, will mostly focus on allowing you to find content for tech-related skills.
Universalclass.com
You can’t really pigeon hole Universal Class into any category. It has about 500 courses available, with thousands of learners. However, the courses on here are so mixed and varied that it is difficult for us to say “you should go there for these skills” because, honestly, the site covers just about every single skill that you can imagine…and then a little bit more than that. We mean, there are very few sites that will have a complete housekeeping course and then stick it next to a course on marketing, right?
Mindmajix.com
Mindmajix.com is a site that focuses, mainly, on specific tech-related skills. For example; there are courses for Agile and Fortinet. Many of these courses are there to help you to work towards a certification, which means that if you complete any of the courses on MindMajix.com, you will be learning exactly what you need to learn if you want a high chance of scoring a job in the future. All of their courses are well-reviewed, which goes to show the amount of effort they are putting into making the site the best that it can possibly be.
Sessions.edu
Sessions.edu is a creative-focused online learning platform. These aren’t just courses that you can sign up to, though. This is a site dedicated to those who want to gain serious qualifications in their field. This means that if you sign up to Sessions.edu, you do need to go through an application process. If they do not believe you are a good fit, you won’t get in. That being said, it is still worth doing. These courses are top quality courses put together by incredibly knowledgable people, and you really will end up with a degree at the end of them.
CloudAcademy.com
This is another website that is (mostly) dedicated to businesses that want to train their staff in a whole host of different tech-related positions. A lot of the courses, outside of the certification ones, are designed to be completed within a day or so. This makes CloudAcademy.com one of the best websites for ‘on the job’ training. The platform is fantastic too, and it offers several different ways in which information is delivered to the people that need it.
GoSkills.com
Last but not least is GoSkills.com, which is an online learning platform that offers bite-sized skills. This is a site that focuses a lot on tech positions e.g. learning Excel and Office applications, but you also have a few courses on running a business, and ‘soft skills’ such as learning how to write and the like. To sign up, you need to purchase a monthly membership (or their yearly one, which is so much cheaper), and you will have access to all courses for the duration.
Conclusion
As you can see; this is a pretty hefty list of the best learning platforms out there.
Our recommendation is that you make a list of the type of courses that you want. Just a general idea about the skills you want to gain. You can then go through this list and get a decent idea about where to head for what you are looking for. Start with one of the course search engines if you want to make it a bit easier for yourself (most of them will link you to the other sites that we mentioned).
Don’t just go for the first course that you see at these online learning sites! Go through. See what each of them offers. Even though we believe that these are the best learning platforms out there, we do know that some of them offer some rather terrible courses.
Thankfully, every site that offers courses here will have some sort of course syllabus that you can go through. Most of them will have reviews too, so use that to your advantage. Your goal is to find the course that offers you the biggest bang for your buck. Thankfully, with so many courses to choose from on these great sites, you are very, very likely to find something that is perfect for you.
We will make sure that this list is kept ‘up to date’ with the best learning platforms out there. So, if you do not see something that tickles your fancy right now, we encourage you to bookmark us and check back regularly. If you do that, you can always see if we have added more sites to the list. However, we firmly believe that it would take a lot to knock any of these learning platforms off of our list! Enjoy learning!
