vs.
Course Marketplace
8.8
10
Course Marketplace
8.5
10
Coursera vs. FutureLearn - Complete Comparison
Written by
Janosch Herrmann
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Overview
ToggleDescription | Coursera Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses from top universities and organizations worldwide, like Yale or Stanford. They also offer fully digital Bachelors and Master’s degrees. | FutureLearn FutureLearn is a British online learning platform that offers courses developed by their more than 175 university partners worldwide. The platform was founded in 2012 and has since attracted more than 10 million learners worldwide. |
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Types of courses | Coursera INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Regular coursesSelf-paced courses for individual learning and skill development. The courses itself are typically free, with certification being offered as a paid addon. $50 - $150 USDIncluded in subscription Self-paced MASTERS DEGREE Master's DegreeFull master's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $60000 USD Full-time BACHELORS DEGREE Bachelor's DegreeFull bachelor's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $80000 USD Full-time PARTIAL MASTERS MasterTrack CertificatesMaster's degree-level courses with a path to credit $2000 - $10000 USD 4-6 months INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Professional CertificatesJob-relevant training programs, from universities and corporations. FreeIncluded in subscription 3-6 months | FutureLearn BACHELORS DEGREE Bachelor's DegreeGet a Bachelor's degree from one of FutureLearn's partner universities $10000 - $30000 USD 10-15 hours per week MASTERS DEGREE Master's DegreeGet a Master's degree from one of FutureLearn's university partners. $10000 - $40000 USD 1-3 years INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Short CoursesShort courses on a wide variety of topics, created by universities and other institutions FreeIncluded in subscription 2-4 hours per week INDIVIDUAL LEARNING MicrocredentialsCreate specialized courses created by top academic institutions worldwide. Some courses might count as academic credit towards a degree. $500 - $1000 USD 6–12 weeks |
Subscription plans | Coursera PERSONAL Coursera PlusAccess to a selection of 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs $35 - 55 USD per month | FutureLearn PERSONAL FutureLearn UnlimitedUnlimited access to 1400+ online courses from FutureLearn $20 - 40 USD per month |
Pros & cons | Coursera
| FutureLearn
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General information
ToggleType | Course Marketplace | Course Marketplace |
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Number of courses | 7000+ | 2000+ |
Popularity | Very popular | Relatively niche |
Available categories | 3D & AnimationAccounting & BookkeepingAffiliate MarketingAppleArchitectural DesignArts & CraftsBeauty & MakeupBrandingBusiness Analytics & IntelligenceBusiness Law | Business Analytics & IntelligenceComplianceData ScienceDesign ToolsDigital MarketingEntrepreneurshipFinanceIT CertificationsLanguage LearningLeadership |
Available languages | EnglishMandarin ChineseSpanishFrenchRussianPortugueseGermanJapaneseKoreanItalian | English |
Evaluation
ToggleFull score | 8.8 10 | 8.5 10 |
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Features
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Available apps |   | No apps available... |
Company
ToggleCompany name | Coursera Inc. | FutureLearn Limited |
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Company size | Large | Medium |
Founded in | 2012 | 2012 |
Headquarters | United States 🇺🇸 | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 |
Founders | Andrew Ng, Daphne Koller | The Open University |
External reviews | App Store 4.8126900 reviews Play Store 4.8267000 reviews  Trustpilot 1.7528 reviews | Trustpilot 4.7740 reviews |
Our opinion
ToggleCourseraCoursera offers a great range of online learning products, which means that almost anyone can find a fitting course on their platform. We particularly like the huge catalog of free courses they offer, where you only need to pay if you want the optional certification. They also offer full degrees, which makes them one of only a few providers that offer Bachelor's and Master’s degrees online. While their overall offering might be a bit confusing sometimes, we can fully recommend Coursera for all students looking to obtain career-relevant skills.
FutureLearnFutureLearn is one of the few online learning platforms that offer full online degrees. We also like that you can access a lot of their regular courses for free for a limited amount of time, with the upgrade to the paid course being offered as an optional add-on. In contrast to some other similar companies, their offering is also a lot more streamlined and easier to understand, which we think is another benefit of FutureLearn. That said, their catalog isn't as big as that of some of their competitors, which means that you might not find the course you're looking for, especially if it's a bit more niche. Overall, we can recommend FutureLearn for students that want to take full online degrees, as well as students that want to learn with courses from universities, instead of courses from individual instructors.
