MasterClass Review - Is it the right choice for you?

Have you ever wanted to learn exactly what made extremely successful people successful? Or even better: Learn directly FROM these successful people? Then you've come to the right place, as in this review we'll take a look at Masterclass and whether it's the right learning platform for you.

Let's dive right in!

What is Masterclass?

Masterclass is an online learning concept with a unique concept: They work together with celebrities from various fields, letting the celebrities teach an online course about their knowledge. These celebrities include people of the likes of Stephen Curry, George W. Bush, Martin Scorsese and many more incredible well-known people. In total, there are more than 150 classes taught by some of the most respected experts in various fields of life.

Since it was founded in 2014, Masterclass has become one of the most popular learning platforms worldwide, with more than 11 million monthly visitors.

Let's see what they have to offer!

Masterclasses

Core to Masterclasses are (who would have thought) their masterclasses. These are 150+ classes created with some of the world's most well-known people, like Bill Clinton, Samuel L. Jackson, Alicia Keys, Martin Scorsese and many more. All of their classes feel like movies, with an extremely high production value.

Masterclass Sessions

Masterclass Sessions is a new format from Masterclass that helps you to level up your skills in a specific field with a curriculum designed to be completed in 30 days. These curriculums include real-world projects, feedback on your work from trained teaching assistants, and access to a community for the Session you're taking. Masterclass Sessions are included in any of the premium subscriptions Masterclass offers. Even though the Sessions are meant to be completed within 30 days, you can access all the Session content throughout your entire Masterclass membership.

Masterclass app

To make the learning experience more seamless, Masterclass offers an app for iOS and Android. It's also available on Roku and the Amazon app store, so that you can use Masterclass wherever you are.

Pro & Cons

Who is Masterclass for?

Since Masterclass has classes on all topics you can think of by some of the most famous people on earth, I can't really think of anybody that wouldn't get any value out of checking out Masterclass. It's a great platform that anybody can learn something on.

That said, I do think that Masterclass makes less sense for people that want to learn a new hard skill, like a certain programming language, Photoshop, data science or other more technical skills. Masterclass classes generally focus more on core principles instead of tiny technical details. You also don't get as much learning support as you would on other platforms, and there is no way to get your new skills certified.

So to conclude, I'd say that everybody can learn something on Masterclass, but people looking specifically for hard skills to advance their career might be better off looking somewhere else, like Coursera or Udemy.

Masterclass pricing

There are 3 different pricing plans for individuals using Masterclass: Standard, Plus & Premium.

All of these plans include full access to all courses on Masterclass, access to Sessions by Masterclass, as well as bonus content.

The main differentiator between the plans is how many devices you can watch Masterclass content on at the same time, and whether you can download content for offline watching. The billing for each of these plans is yearly, so you'll have to pay the subscription fee upfront in order to gain access to the Masterclass course library.

Masterclass refund policy

Masterclass gives you a money-back guarantee up to 30 days after your initial purchase. You can get the refund by going to their refund page within the allowed time frame.

Masterclass for businesses

Masterclass also has a business plan that allows companies to offer Masterclass as part of their perks or as part of their internal learning strategy. It allows for central administration of accounts, but it doesn't have the same capabilities other business plans might have (reporting, custom learning tracks, etc.).

The price for the business plan is also not available and is tailored to the individual company.

Masterclass for students

Currently, Masterclass doesn't offer a dedicated plan for students.

Learning & Customer support

Masterclass offer support through their help desk, their email support and their support hotline. If you have basic questions about your account, I would recommend checking out their help desk. If that's not enough, you can easily submit a new request to their email support or contact their support hotline.

For learning support, Masterclass also has a Facebook community, which you get access to when signing up for a premium subscription. With their new Masterclass Sessions offering, they also offer support communities around these courses. You can use them when taking a Masterclass Sessions course.

Overall, I would say their support is pretty decent, especially when it comes to general technical support, but the learning support could be a bit better.

Certification

Masterclass doesn't currently offer any certificates for completing courses. If getting a certificate for the skills you learn is important to you, you might want to check out platforms like Udemy, which do give you a certificate for every course you complete.

Create a Masterclass account

To create a Masterclass account, just enter your email in the designated field.

You'll then have to select the plan that you want to go with. Unfortunately there's no free trial and no free account available, so you will have to pay directly (there's a 30-day refund policy though).

Popular courses on Masterclass

Inclusive leadership - taught by Bill Clinton

Learn inclusive leadership with former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Check out the class

Acting - taught by Natalie Portman

Learn acting with Oscar and Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman.

Check out the class

Cooking - taught by Gordon Ramsay

Learn cooking with Michelin chef Gordon Ramsey.

Check out the class

Masterclass instructors

There's not much to say about Masterclass instructors, as you probably know them all already. Instructors are their biggest asset, as many of them bring their own fan base with them. With an impressive selection of instructors like Bill Clinton, Gordon Ramsay, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Mariah Carey, Neil deGrasse Tyson and many more, some of the most well-known people on the plane teaches classes on Masterclass.

I could go on and on with this list, which demonstrates just how many high-caliber instructors have taught courses on Masterclass (more than 150 in total). For sure, Masterclass has some of the best instructors out of all online learning platforms.

Summary: Is Masterclass worth it?

Yes, I would say Masterclass is definitely worth it for a lot of people. It's a great platform if you just want to learn something new, get some inspiration or a new insight into a topic that you didn't know much about before.

You're going to love:

• The great production value

• The insightful celebrity instructors

• The awesome user experience on all devices

If that sounds like you, I'd absolutely recommend you check out Masterclass.

On the other hand, you might want to go with a different platform if you're looking for training in a specialized field to advance your career or to understand a certain topic deeper. Masterclass courses usually don't go into as much technical detail, as that might sometimes be a bit boring when shooting a fancy video production. If that's you, you might find the right course on one of the platforms below!